Xterra Saipan 2011

Status: Finished.

I did it.


I swam, biked, and ran my way to the end of my first triathlon. In Saipan. An event called by Triathlete magazine “the crown jewel of Xterra.” This Xterra event also drew the #1 male and female Xterra athletes, a former reigning world champ, and a whole lot of other top athletes. So cool.

This is how the morning played out.

Get up at 3:45am.


Talk to parents for one final pep talk and checklist. Eat breakfast. Get dressed and double check transition bag. Head to check in at 5am. Get marked, set up bike, and lay out transition items. Chat with other athletes and try not to freak out.

Swim 750meters.


As if I weren’t already nervous, we had a tsunami warning last night and apparently got hit by a very small wave. No damage, but the water was CRAZY. It was so rough, big waves, and the current was so strong at one point I could have sworn I was moving backwards. It was also low tide which meant sometimes you couldn’t swim as the water was too shallow. Needless to say, I may have done more walking than swimming. But I did it. I had a slight breakdown at the beginning (yes, there may have been tears involved), but I got in the water. 16 minutes later I got out and raced to…

Bike 20km.


In addition to the rough water, we got a ton of rain in the past 24 hours. This made the bike extremely slick. The trails are slick anyways, add water on there, and they are deadly. This was the most frustrating leg. I had to walk my bike way more than I wanted and by the end, I was cursing that bike and those trails. I was soo ready to be done. Fun was not a word anywhere near my lips at that point. It was beautiful, but it was painful. This should have been a strong leg and under dry conditions would have been much faster, but all in all, I was happy to finish in 2 hours 40 minutes so I could drop my bike and head out to..

Run 5km.


Easiest leg as I knew it would be. Running is my strength and first love. The course was not marked real well which was frustrating, but I still managed to average 7.41 minute miles for a finishing time of around 24 minutes. Not bad considering what I had done previous to that.

Crossing the finish line was one of the proudest moments of my life. I did it. I did the impossible. I overcame my fear of water, learned how to trail ride, and ran my heart out.

My official time

 3 hours 20 minutes
(they started us 1 minute late on the swim).