Xterra Guam, redemption

This morning started like every other race morning, I woke up before my alarm, had oatmeal, a little coffee, got in my Tri suite and headed over to transition with Al. I was hoping that the bike would hold, for one race, wondering if all the required sacrifices made to the Xterra Gods would be enough.  Since no Harlem Xterra theme has been done yet , we  were all recruited for the video in transition before the start of the race.  Stay tuned for the results, I will post the link as soon as it is up.  After the dancing it was time to head in the water for a quick swim, where I ended colliding with Dave Torre from Guam causing him a slight cut on his forehead, I felt so bad, the race hadn't even started! Guam is a water start and once the gun went off, I was able to find a pair of feet and draft for the 2 laps, I would exit from the water in 27 min.  It was now time to head to the bike course.  One mile into the bike, on the road section, I hit a bump and one of my seat rail snap, putting my saddle at an angle.  I decided to keep going and not even looking at was wrong, I though to my self, really?  The first 6 km is a road climb and slowly but surely I passed some people.  I would get pass by 2 people on the bike but would catch on to one of them eventually.  The course was well marked and I was able to ride just about everything, except a slick coral up hill.  They added a section this year, riding by 2 WWII tanks, which mean that it added a 5 km overall to the distance.  My bike would survived although by the end my gears were starting to make some noise, I'd book the bike course in 1:53, a bit slower than last year but considering the add on, I was riding strong despite the seat issue.  It was now time for the run, my legs felt sluggish and I'm sure that the canter of my seat did not help.  The run in Guam starts on the road bu quickly ends up going down water falls, that's right, and then through two river sections.  Once out it wad through a bamboo forest, than back on the road with a final turn and running on the coast line.  I managed to give myself a good scrape and woud book the course in 3:16 , good for 21 overall, second in my age group.  I would find out that the guy who beat me in my age was a former Danish Olympic them swimmer and had recorded the fastest age grouper time.  So here we are, another March of Xterra over, it's almost time to go home.  I hope to be back next year, the sun and the racing is good for the soul.  I highly recommend people to come and enjoy theses races, they are something special.  Good friends Ben Allen and Jacqui Slack would win the pros.  Al had a great time and won his age group.  Hope you enjoy the journey, happy trails!

Carpe Diem