Xterra Canada

Well we all have those days when the body just doesn't want to get moving and Sunday unfortunately was one of the them for me.  I knew going into the race that I was going to struggle a bit with the bike course, then it decided rain the day and night before.  While the course handled the rain well and there wasn't much mud, it did make the roots a tad slippery.  With all that has happened this year with crashes and injuries I was going to play it safe and not take any risks even if that meant losing some serious time.  What I didn't count on was feeling pretty sluggish overall and suffering even on the double track and roads sections.

Canadian Sunrise

We woke up Sunday morning to a spectacular sunrise, complete with snow capped peaks!! Brrrr...  Warm-up was definitely on the chilly side but got in a good bike/run then headed down to the Quarry for the swim start.  It was a mass start of some 150 people for the 3 loop course, but everyone was surprisingly good with their self-seeding strategies considering the limited amount of space available.  I got off to a clean start and onto Branden Rakita's feet where I sort of stayed the whole 3 laps.  While the pace didn't seem all that fast, I just couldn't get into the next gear, a feeling that would continue for the whole race.

Quarry Lake - Xterra Photos

Swim Lap - Courtesy Jordan Bryden

Not going to elaborate much on the bike and the run as I pretty much just got through them.  I did manage to pick up the pace a bit and ride better the second lap of the bike but too much damage had already been done by that time to make up any ground on the rest of the field and I finished up in 7th. The course though, was very spectacular!! Thanks Trey for the photos :)

About to drop into EKG - Xterra Photos

Heading out on the run - Xterra Photos

Back in Tucson and moving on!!! Deuces Wild Triathlon up this weekend in Show Low before heading up to Park City, Utah for some altitude adaption ahead of Xterra USA Nationals end of September.