Adrian Barrons Xterra Race Report

Xterra Muleshoe 4/18/10

800m (swim)/14 mi. (bike)/ 4mi. (run)

The first Xterra race for the South Central Region is in the books. I for one am glad this one is “out of the way” so to speak. Personally I am not a fan of these distances and to be honest I just don’t like going that hard for that long. It is simply tough. I like pacing.

I have no times for this one to report as I just can’t see the point in trying to monitor that aspect of this distance of race. These are just all or nothing. The feel good numbers are 3^rd overall and 1^st in age group.

The swim was a quick out back run in/mass start. The water was quite comfortable and I was glad to have the short sleeves with me. Since the first buoy was the farthest from shore the start was very clean and traffic free as well as the first turn buoy.

The bike was a two loop course on a relatively flat and fast course with a few technical sections. Since I am not one of the “fast swimmers” I depend on the bike to chase down the leaders. I did what I could and simply never closed the gap to more than 3 minutes to the leaders who were within a minute or so of each other at the finish. I know both guys that finished 1 and 2 well and simply don’t have the speed that either of them has.

The run now is worth discussing. Though only 4 or so miles my hat comes off to Race Director Mike Carter, for only Mr. Carter can find the most off camber, loose rock, twisty and turny trails to be had. If he’s not happy with what the local park has offer he simply makes his own. Only Mike can find a 100 year old Oak tree that has an exposed root system due to years of erosion that spans 25 feet long right on the river bank. Imagine running through a spaghetti bowl with noodles that want to do nothing more than break your ankle. Oh, and Jake North was right across the cove to capture on film the manliest of men tip toe and bailey style run through this section.

This will be a short report as their simply wasn’t a lot of time out on the course. Up next in 2 weeks is the Xterra Epic in LA. This one we have been training and waiting for.

Thanks go out to Coaches Brandon and Amy Marsh, Red Licorice Events and Performance Bikes for their never ending support.

Finally, for those of you still on the fence about an Xterra race I strongly encourage you to come and see what the other side of triathlon is like, you won’t regret it.