From XL to XTERRA

Goggles: Check. Bike: Check. Sneakers: Check. Yep, everything is all ready to go for tomorrow morning’s race, but what about the XL to XTERRA team? That’s what John and I will find out when we hit the water at Micro Beach bright and early at 8am.

The Camelback is full, the elastic laces are all tied up in my running shoes, the gel packets are taped to the handle bars, and the transition gear is all ready for layout.

I have everything set, am ready to go, and can hardly stand the wait until the alarm clock emits the annoying scream in the AM, but I have no idea how I will be able to sleep tonight.

Before the final NMITF enticer series race I was awake from 2am until we started the swim, and that was just a double sprint. This is the real deal, and all I can think about is if I trained enough, do I have everything ready to go for the morning, and will the finish line still be open when I make it back to American Memorial Park?

It’s hard to believe that five rollercoaster-esque months have dwindled to a few hours of nervous anticipation before the wildest race of our triathlon experience. We’ve had our ups and downs since we began the journey, and as recent as a couple of weeks ago, John’s race day status had been penciled in as bystander due to injuries he sustained running trail and climbing rocks. Fortunately, that will not be the case thanks to the support of a couple of brother hashers, as the big guy will be competing as part of a team in the XTERRA Sport relay race.

While his knee suffered the brunt of the damage, John is still as committed to the race as ever, and will take on the 750-meter swim to get his team off on the right direction. From there Max Simian will tackle the mountain bike course, followed by Brian Smith on the trail run.

Way back in the beginning, we spoke about the support from the Saipan athletic community, and once again they have come through in a pinch. Kathryn Barry from Coca-Cola/PowerAde called the office to offer us well wishes, as did several friends, and business acquaintances.

Romey from Saipan Bike Pro also wished us luck, and gave me a sweet discount on some helpful tools that should benefit me greatly on the race. After he gave the bike the ol’ once over yesterday, he outfitted me with a pair of clip-in bike shoes and pedals. A quick trip down Beach Road blew me away. What a difference a pair of shoes makes! While I only have a couple of days to break them in, there is no fear factor when I clip in, and hooking up to the bike is way easier than I thought. We’ll see how great they really are tomorrow, but man, do I love them today.

It’s also nice to hear people tell me that they hope I’ll win the race, but unless the first 50-plus racers go the wrong way, it’s not really going to happen. I will be really happy if I cross the line somewhere close to four and a half hours after we start the swim, but five hours seems a little more likely. At the very least I would like to beat KUAM’s Brandt McCreadie’s time of 5:18:01 in the 2004 XTERRA Saipan Championship.

While the pros like Olivier Marceau will take the tape somewhere between 10:30 and 11am I will be happy if I can make the final run through the arch between 12pm and 1pm.

As I hear it from past participants, the hardest part will be the final run down the beach from the Fishing Base to Micro Beach. It’s going to be a hot, hot, and hot finish, so, if anyone wants to toss me a cold bottle of H2O along the way I will be your friend for life.