Xterra 17K Trail Race

Just when you thought it was over… It seemed like this season was never going to end (not that I’m complaining). A few weeks ago my buddy RJ convinced me to sign up for the Xterra 17K in Laguna. The race profile showed some serious climbs but I really had no idea what I was in store for!

Our day started with a 6am wake up, which was really nice. Then we piled in RJ’s whip we jammed up 5N and onto PCH until we got to the park. We arrived with plenty of time to spare and managed to get in a nice little 5 min warm up run before lining up at the start. Our race went off at 8am and it was already getting warm as we all toed the line, so I knew that the climbs would be HOT!

The field was pretty small; maybe 300+ people were taking on the tough 17K. We started uphill for about a quarter mile then ran down the steepest hill ever! I have concluded that I am terrible at running down hill because I went from like 10th to 20th on the downhill. I usually have my “low point of the race” towards the end but the mile climb up the mountain at mile 3-4 killed me. My patellar tendon in my left leg locked up and I was forced to walk about a quarter mile. Luckily after a quick stretch and a “call of nature” I was well on my way.

The next few miles were mostly flat or rolling and I really picked up steam and was feeling great! I was completely ignoring my MPM and was just trying to catch people up the road while not letting anyone behind me catch up. I linked up with another runner and we paced well off of each other. She would surge ahead on the downhill’s and I would catch back up on the up hills. With 3 miles left to go I turned on the after burners and jammed as hard as my body could handle. I noticed I almost pushed it too hard because there were a few hills that I felt like I was going to pass out upon reaching the top, luckily I didn’t ha-ha!

The final mile was down hill, and when everyone else was excited to run down I really hated the final mile. My goal was to go under 1:45 and as I was coming in the final mile I saw that there was a slim chance I could go under 1:30. Unfortunately, I finished 1:30 and some change. Once I crossed the line I met up with RJ who finished 1:20 (HE WAS FLYING!). After getting some water and food I checked our results. RJ got 1st in our AG and I managed to pull 3rd, so we were really stoked. I mean this was the end of the season, I was sick, and my training was far from consistent.

I had a great time at the Xterra 17K and got myself some good points for the 2011 series. I have to miss the Boney Mtn. Half Marathon for some family stuff but I’ll be sure to get in as many of these as I can!

So that’s it for the 2010 season, its been an amazing journey and I have really exceeded my expectations and cant wait for 2011 its going to be epic!!! The next month I’m going to focus on my running form and slowly start to get back into things. I’ll probably officially start training for 2011 in February but things will start to ramp up in January. Many many thanks to all my sponsors for 2010 you all have really helped so much. And to my friends/family who’s support and inspiration I drew on every day in training/racing. Happy Holidays/New Year to all!


Happy Training/Racing!