Xterra Mid-West Cup

Well, not exactly the result I was looking for but you take the good with the not so good.  After a doozie drive from Port Angeles on Wednesday we raced the Xterra Mid-West Cup just north of Coeur D’Alene, ID on Saturday.  The course was great, lots of fast single track which I really love and one of the most beautiful run courses I’ve ever been on.

My form wasn’t exactly awesome unfortunately.  Unfortunately a bit flat on the day but still managed to pull out a top 10 finishing in 8th.  The race for 5-8 was reasonably tight while the top 3 were in a different race altogether.  The swim was very rough, windy, choppy conditions in one of the USA’s deepest lakes- 2000ft in some spots, aparently a Submarine Testing ground for the US navy.  I came out 30 seconds down, a bit disapointing but still in range.  The bike was slightly demoralizing, i felt like i was riding in quick sand for most of it and the run had some hit and miss moments.  I think i’ve lost a bit of power from crash and resulting back injury and of course needed a wake up call to regain some race fitness.  The most important thing is that nothing compares to the workout you get in a race.  2.5 hours of threshold effort is hard to do on your own so I will take that and put it in the bank sans a pay cheque which only went 7 deep:(  A big shout out to Mel and Ross for keeping me in check and say what you want about Mel’s looks she is a dam tough cookie….gutted it out on a rough day to win her 4th in a row, I’m just happy I beat her:)

And so onward.  A weekend off then back into the half ironman scene with the second in the West Coast Subaru series here in Victoria.  I’m excited to get on my TT bike and get cracking.

For a full story here on the race this weekend you can check out:  http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/press_article.cfm?id=2447

Here’s how the top 10 panned out:

TOP PRO MEN

Pl  Name  Age  Hometown  Time  Pts  Purse
1  Dan Hugo  23  Stellenbosch, South Africa  2:25:32  100  $1,800
2  Nico Lebrun  35  Digne, France  2:29:38  90  $1,250
3  Seth Wealing  30  Boulder, Colorado  2:31:20  82  $800
4  Branden Rakita  28  Manitou Springs, Colorado  2:33:19  75  $500
5  Conrad Stoltz  35  Stellenbosch, South Africa  2:34:03  69  $400
6  Craig Evans  31  Spring Hill, Tennessee  2:36:13  63  $300
7  Ryan Ignatz  30  Boulder, Colorado  2:36:20  58  $200
8  Jasper Blake  35  Victoria, B.C., Canada  2:37:42  53
9  Cody Waite  30  Lakewood, Colorado  2:38:16  49
10  Brendan Halpin  25  Missoula, Montana  2:40:29  45
Also: Will Kelsay (41), Adam Jensen (37), Matt Boobar (34), Jeff Smith (31)

TOP 10 PRO WOMEN

Pl  Name  Age  Hometown  Time  Pts  Purse
1  Melanie McQuaid  35  Victoria, B.C., Canada  2:51:10  100  $1,800
2  Danelle Kabush  34  Canmore, Alberta, Canada  2:52:50  90  $1,250
3  Christine Jeffrey  36  Guelph, Ontario, Canada  2:55:46  82  $800
4  Jenny Tobin  39  Boise, Idaho  2:57:53  75  $500
5  Emma Garrard  27  Truckee, California  2:59:05  69  $400
6  Rebecca Dussault  28  Crested Butte, Colorado  3:05:22  63  $300
7  Tracy Thelen  29  Colorado Springs, Colorado  3:07:21  58  $200
8  Erin Kummer  24  Boulder, Colorado  3:11:27  53
9  Alexendra Borrelly  33  Digne, France  3:13:27  49
10  Jennifer Luebke  23  Missoula, Montana  3:14:54  45
Also: Jari Kirkland (41)