XTERRA Scales Lake

    My XTERRA season kicked off a few weeks ago on June 23 at XTERRA Scales Lake in Boonville, IN. It was a really fun weekend of camping, riding, racing and hanging out with family. Amber is still in town staying with us and we met Shannon's parents at the race site. They were looking for a few days away and decided to make the trip down to see us since we were racing in Indiana. It was still a long drive for them, but they made a fun trip of it, stopping in Indianapolis along the way to tour the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and some other historic places.

    We headed up to Boonville on Friday afternoon as soon as I got out of work. It's a fairly short drive from Clarksville at just over 2 hours. We got to Scales Lake Park with plenty of time to set up the tent and go for a pre-ride of the race course. I was expecting a flat layout cruising around the lake, but the course was anything but flat. There were many, many steep ups and downs that felt like a roller coaster. I really enjoyed the loop as it reminded me of the old SERC race course in Reddick, FL. Shannon on the other hand, was not too fond of the steepness of the hills, both up and down. She is still new to mountain biking so it was a bit scary. She handled it well though, walking when she wasn't comfortable with the terrain. I was pleased to not have hamstring or knee pain. I was really worried after it bothered me so much in the week prior.
   
     It took much longer than I expect to ride the 6-mile loop and we almost got caught out in the dark. The race loop came right behind our campsite at one point and Shannon bailed out there so I could hurry around the last bit. It was nearly dark when I finished the lap, but I wanted to see the run course so I went back in. The run course was crazy. The trail was freshly mowed, narrow and off-camber. There were a lot of trees down as well. I walked some of it because the hills were crazy steep. I had a hard time walking them, let alone riding them. It was definitely an advantage to get in a pre-ride on this course.

     Race day came bright and early. We actually woke up before 5am, which was well before the alarm went off. It was probably the best night of sleep I have ever had in a tent. I felt great! I hit registration early and got my transition set up. The race consisted of a 1/2 mile swim in Scales Lake, followed by 2 laps of the 6-mile mountain bike course, and then one lap of the 3.6-mile run course. My goal was a top 3 overall and to win the 25-29 class. I was sure that this goal would be achieved. My bike is always fast and I thought I would be even faster on this type of course and also in the swim with my improved form.

Awaiting the start in Scales Lake

     The race began with us already in the water. And it was a fast start! I was on the front row and went to the back in the first 10 strokes. I kept my cool though and concentrated on my form. I swam my own race and didn't worry about anyone around me. They started us in waves, with my wave being everyone under 40 yrs old. Some of the 40+ wave guys came strolling by towards the end of the swim. I did my best ever swim time, coming out of the water in 16th out of my wave with a time of 16:33. That's a full 5 minutes faster than I've ever swam that distance. I did make one little mistake near the end. The water was clear and I thought it was shallow when I was about 15 feet from the shore. I tried to put my feet down and was surprised to find no bottom. It looked about 3 feet deep, but was well over 8 feet to the muddy bottom!

Swimmers rounding the last buoy

Me coming out of the water

Running from the lake to the transition area

Video: Swim start

    Transition went well and then things got serious. I started picking off the people on the bike, but I wasn't feeling well. I made a lot of mistakes and didn't have good legs the first lap. Still, I moved up to 4th overall by the end of the lap. Lap 2 was much better. My time was a minute faster than the first lap. I made up some time on those ahead of me, but it wasn't as much as I had expected to make up. Some of the other guys were faster on this terrain than I had anticipated. My time was good enough for second fastest bike time of the day, which was a disappointment. I wanted nothing less than fastest bike time, but I was beaten handily by 1:25. I came off the bike in 3rd overall. It was starting to get hot now with temp in the mid-90s and the sun shining brightly in a cloudless sky.

Grabbing a drink at the end of my second lap on the bike

Bike course

    My run started fast. I only had about 30 seconds lead on the 4th place overall. I wanted that podium bad so I ran with everything I had. The first half of the run I did well. I actually pulled away from the people behind me. There were 3 sections that were gnarly with narrow, off-camber hills and lot of roots and rocks. I made it through the first two without getting caught, but I was hurting after 2.5 miles. We came across the dam next to the lake at mile 3 and I was finally caught. Two people came by, neither of which were the guy I had been trying to stay ahead of. I didn't get my podium, but I held on for 5th overall finisher. My run time was 32:22 and overall time 1:42:37. I was 15 minutes off the winner. I ended up 9th overall after they did the math of subtracting the times off the guys in the second wave.

Heading out for the run segment of the race

Nearing the finish

Run course

     I didn't know that I had been leading my class until the run. One of those two that passed me in the last mile was in my class and he won. That put me 2nd in the 25-29 group. So close! I wanted a win, but 2nd is nice too and gets me some good points towards qualifying for nationals.

       After the race, we rolled over to Biaggi's, a nice Italian restaurant in Evansville. I would recommend it if you ever pass through the Evansville area. It was good food and good service. I have been losing coolant in my car for a week or so and have been trying to find the leak. We stopped by a sewing store for Shannon to look at some material and found a big puddle under the car when we left. I couldn't find the leak until the next day when a friend from church stopped by. He found the leak quickly and pointed it out to me. When he touched it, the line exploded and blew coolant all over us. It was still hot too. We got the part the next day and put it on. The travel mobile still lives and is ready for more races!

     This race was to be my only XTERRA race in June, but with my recent strong of injuries and set-backs, I didn't feel ready for the Cincinnati crits that were scheduled for the following weekend. Instead, I stayed home to work more on my triathlon form and try to earn some more points at the XTERRA Lock 4 Blast. I will say that it went pretty well. I'll post a report from Lock 4 soon. Thanks for reading!