70.3 shut out... making lemonade out of lemons

I had intended to do the Musselman 70.3 in Geneva, NY. Well, I had to check with school to see about my summer schedule before registering for races. Musselman was open last week when I checked, but it was closed when I went to register last night. I sought out any other 70.3 (which is a half-Ironman triathlon) races between Colorado and Vermont and found that all of them are full.

Plan B. I could have bumped up to Ironman, but I don't think I have the money for that. Also Ironman is inconsistent with my current training goals. I have to get faster before I can do any longer distance races. It takes me half of a day to run and recover from a 20 miler at my current pace. The combination of being short on time and having to cover long distances has had a detrimental effect on my overall fitness, I think.

In keeping with my desire for shorter, faster races, but wanting to try something new, I have registered for my first complete Xterra off-road triathlon. It will be August 27 at Lory State Park... but, if the mountain biking goes well, I may also register for the Indian Peaks Xterra earlier in August.

I have competed in 3 previous Xterras as part of relay teams. My teams have done pretty well (1st and 2nd) in the races that I have been the runner, but I was not stellar in the race in which I was a biker. I am not the strongest mountain biker in the world, but that race was rough... figuratively and literally. My front wheel rattled loose twice and, with about 3 miles left to go, my seat rattled loose and I ended up running a lot of that last 3 miles.

Lory State Park - Site of my first solo Xterra

I am pretty nervous about this race, but I have learned a lot about mountain biking since the 2009 Charlottesville Xterra. Now that I am registered, I will definitely get out there on the trails... but this should be interesting!