I didn’t have an amazing race on Saturday at the XTERRA Mountain Cup in Beaver Creek but I was happy to have finished. Going into the race, I knew I probably wouldn’t feel very good after suffering from some sort of chest cold for the past two weeks. Having been unable to finish the Firecracker 50 and the XTERRA Northeast Cup in Vermont, I really just wanted to finish this race.
I feel like the swim was a little longer than last year but I was faster which was a huge relief. By no means was I fast in the water, just not as slow as my first race last year. I was the last pro out of the water as usual with many of the amateur men passing me but only a few of the women. This set me up for a better climb up Beaver Creek as I did not have to pass as many people as last year and kept me going on my own rhythm.
As has been the case for the last couple of weeks, I felt very sluggish on the bike. I haven’t put as much time in on the bike as other years and have skipped all the local races which really gets the high end going but I’m still slower than I should be. Around a half hour into the climb I passed a few other pro women that are great swimmers and started to settle into a pace. The pace turned out to be slower than last year but not as bad as it could have been. Once we arrived home, Ian discovered my rear disc had been rubbing so bad he couldn’t get my wheel to spin a full rotation on its own. I don’t think this changed where I placed overall but I’m sure it made me hurt a bit more.
Coming into T2.
We transitioned into the run up at Beaver Creek resort with a great crowd cheering everyone on. The run is on a combination of singletrack and dirt road and seems to climb and climb. Although I was a few minutes slower than last summer, I was able to pass a few men and only get passed by one. Not bad considering how I felt.
Finally finishing.
I finished in 9th place quite a ways back from the top three women: Shonny Vanlandingham, Danelle Kabush and Sara Tarkington. With an amazing field of women I was excited to still be in the top 10 and to have finished the race. I plan on taking a bunch of rest the next few weeks to fully flush this cold out of my system so I can hopefully start to feel closer to 100% again. Check out the race results with splits here.
