Mieko braves XTERRA World hurdles

Mieko Carey had all the reasons to quit in the 2011 XTERRA World Championship in Hawaii, but the fighter in her kept her going until the very end.

“There were a lot of times when I thought of stopping and I hated these thoughts, so I tried everything I learned in the past races to make myself feel better and focus back to the race. I look around the beauty around me and try not to think of anything else. But this time it wasn’t working for me. I felt my body was not mine, I had no energy, and felt out of shape even if I was not,” Carey said in an email to Saipan Tribune a day after she completed the backbreaking XTERRA World in three hours, 20 minutes, and 42 seconds in Maui last Sunday (Monday on Saipan).
Carey was among braved 600 triatheletes who finished the off-road race that produced new champions after former winners Conrad Stoltz and Melanie McQuaid gave up.

Right at the very start of the grueling race, the 33-year-old triathlete was put to a tough test. No, it was not the expected big waves in the waters of D.T. Fleming Beach. The free-for-all 1.5-kilometer swim with 675 individuals heading to one direction was.

“At the beginning the race was great, as no one had to pull my leg or kick my face. But the fear came at the first buoy. Just imagine 675 people started together and had only one target so everyone rushed to the first buoy. It was not a swim, but a real fight and people began hitting me and I went under the water several times. I felt like I’ll be dead so I decided to swim outside where there were not too many people. It made me swim slower, but comfortable and safer,” Carey said.

The CNMI triathlete completed the crowded swim leg in 25:24 and was sixth out of the water among 26 pros.

“When I left Transition 1 for the bike, I felt my stomach started to ache, as I drank lots of water in the swim leg,” the 2010 Micronesian Games gold medalist said. “I remembered three years ago I did the same thing, I drank so many water and I threw up on the bike.”

In the 30-km bike, Carey this time did not threw up and the first few meters was a relief as the first part of the course was not that technical. However, the free ride did not last long, as after a few kilometers, Carey had to pedal up as high as 3,000 feet. As if the elevation was not enough punishment, Carey had to go through up-and-down hills several times. The bike course was so unforgivable that even seven-time Tour de France champion was not spared from crashing.

“A lot of bikers passed me and my motivation started to get low. I thought of stopping, but then after thinking about it, I managed to push myself and keep going,” said Carey, who finished the bike leg in 1:53:45, the 22nd best time in the women’s pro and 41st overall in the women’s division.

“After the rough bike, I thought I will have a good run,” Carey said.

She was wrong.

Carey was still running along the bike-run transition are when her stomach started cramping. She wanted to walk, but saw a lot of people cheering her on, so she began pushing herself.
The run course was only 10km, but Carey admitted it was the toughest she had ever done.

“It looked like you run up to Mt. Tapochao five times, that’s how hard it was. We had this after biking up to 3,000 feet high, so you could just imagine how tough it was to run uphill again,” Carey said.

Carey survived all these challenges and although she was not happy with her time and ranking (16th this year from 13th in the women’s pro in 2010), she had to regrets joining the exhausting race. For the CNMI triathlete, XTERRA World will not be the same without these obstables, which she said pushed her to train harder next year.

“This race gave me more motivation for next year. I want to train harder and faster. I want my revenge next year and I will come back to Maui to be on the podium. I know I can do it,” said Carey, who thanked IT&E, Brabu Pharmacy, Bike Pro, Hornet Sports in Guam, Salomon, Zoot and Sunnto, Taga, Inc., her Saipan friends, and husband, Kevin, for all their support.