XTERRA NZ

I had been struggling in the lead up to XTERRA with some fatigue and a lack of training time. After doing Goldrush and the AY UP 24hour mtb race I was feeling pretty flat so I had an easy week and tried to race hard at the Highlander but it wasn't to be. I struggled with a sore back and had to walk for a while, that was a low point for me this year. Still I stayed positive and tried to complete all the sessions Gordon had given me, staying as fresh as I could for the race. I was doing some reps up at the track - 6*1km at around 3.30min/km. These were REALLY hard which I knew was not a good sign as before Ironman I was chopping out 8 of them without too much trouble. In the pool I was slower too. He had me doing 10*100 at 1.30 on 1.40 (10 sec rest) which I found tough, where before Ironman I was doing 30 of them. I was also trying some faster stuff at 1.20/100m on 2.30 but I just couldn't swim that fast. Luckily I had only the mtb work to do so it was hard to tell where I was at, which was probably a good thing. I know my power would have been down so it was good not to have that to remind me how tired I was.

Still come race day I was confident that the nerves and my Ironman base would pay off, which it did, although I really struggled with the pace of the race. Halfway through the swim I knew things were going well when I found myself with Tim, Richard, Scott and some age groupers. A 14.22 swim saw me 2mins faster than last year, which was great, so I was happy to be steady on the bike and not blow. It was tough early as about 6-7 guys went past me on the climb up to Billy T but I hung tough and stayed positive. Near the top I was able to give it everything and hall some in and by the bottom they were all behind me. It just goes to show you have to stick to your plan and not let others effect your mental state. I could have easily gone with them and blown, but I resisted - I think I'm learning this game. I kept pushing the bike from there, picking people up regularly and building momentum which build my confidence. Half way through the bike I was 5mins down on the leaders. Coming into transition this had pushed out to 8mins but I was happy with another PB by 5mins. Out onto the run and I started to fade, things were catching up with me, but I just dug deep and pushed through the pain trying not to puke.

In the end I ran the same time as last year, which was fine given the other 2 were faster. I finished 7th and more importantly for me 8 minutes faster than last year. I hope to come back next year much fresher and with some more speed under my belt, hopefully another 8minutes quicker which would almost give me the win.

So now to the C2C in 2010... I'll be putting the feet up for a few weeks first I think.

Here is a quote from Gordon Walker about my 'top 5' C2C aspirations and also a great summary of what I feel I achieved at XTERRA this year.

"Top 5 can be quite a vague goal"...Anyone can show up on the day.

"Better to focus on improving personal standards and bests and then see what happens."

Cam.