It's good to do things that scare you every once in a while.
Last Saturday, I did my first extreme triathlon. I’ve been racing triathlons since 2010, and really focusing on long course starting in 2012 when I did my first 70.3 in Austin, TX. Long before I even started racing myself, I was fascinated with the IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, HI, and in 2018 I had one of the best races of my life at IRONMAN Maryland and qualified for Kona for the first time. Racing Kona was an amazing experience. (If you’re interested in reading a recap of that, check out the article I wrote on Boulder Racing’s blog.). And this year, I’m lucky enough to be going back. This time with three of my teammates!
Having checked the Kona box off my list of goals in this sport, I started thinking what else is out there? What direction do I want to take my racing? I came across an article about some crazy ass race in Norway called the Norseman, and how it’s widely regarded as the world’s hardest triathlon. So I thought, “OK, let’s see if I have what it takes to get there.”
The pandemic really made it difficult to get into a qualifying race the last couple of years. Most of them are held overseas. But this year, a race was announced in Utah called Starvation XTri. This is the first year this race is officially on the XTri World Tour. And the timing of the race was ideal for my buildup to Kona. So after chatting with my coach, I said, “What the hell…Let’s go do something gnarly!”
I’ve been putting in a ton of volume to prep for this one - several rides up Left Hand Canyon, running the Skyline Traverse. But even with all this work, I was still nervous about taking on this course. Starvation starts with a 2-mile swim in the dark, then a 100-mile bike with 9,000’ of elevation gain and ends with a 26-mile trail run with 7,000’ of gain. I’ve done big days on the bike and running trail, but these two back-to-back is something I hadn’t done before. An Ironman has similar distances, but nowhere near this amount of climbing. On top of it, XTri races are entirely self-supported. There are no aid stations. You need to find some awesome people to provide nutrition and support along the course. (Lucky for me, I have some amazing people in my life.)
So I went into this race with the same expectations that I did when I did my first IM - I’ll get through swim ok, I’ll get through bike ok, but all I expected on the run was that it’s going to be long and I’ll probably be suffering at some point. I also anticipated the field would be pretty strong and there would be some accomplished Ironman athletes in this field. This isn’t the type of race you just roll into without some significant long course experience. I figured I’d have my work cut out for me after the swim (I’m not a strong swimmer) to get to the front of the race.
The swim started at 5am. It was a 3-loop course with three turn buoys. The buoys had blinking lights on them so we could find them in the dark. All in all, the swim went fine for me. I had some trouble on each loop locating the second buoy, to a point where I was simply treading water with my goggles up so I could see better. But I got out of the water in 1:05 and was surprised how many bikes were still in transition. So I was feeling good that I was near the front of the race.
The first 40 miles of the bike course are mostly rolling that gradually climbs, so I was thinking I could knock out a big chunk of the course fairly quickly. Unfortunately, this point-to-point course was through a valley where we had a constant headwind, so I found myself working harder than I thought I would early on. I passed four guys but kept telling myself, “Be patient. You have a monster run ahead of you. Don’t burn too many matches now.” The first big climb from mile 40 - 52 wasn’t too bad, about a 5% grade, with a screaming 17-mile downhill from there. I got a flat tire at mile 72 that cost me a few minutes. At mile 85, the climb up Guardsman Pass started. This was the crux of the bike course - a 10-mile, 4,000’ climb. This was brutal. Nothing about it was fun. It took me an hour, 25 minutes to climb it. That kicked my ass.
I came into T2 feeling pretty spent. I took some extra time to relax, get some food and water down. At this point, I was in 5th place. I had to finish in the top 2 to guarantee a Norseman slot. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to catch the lead guys with the way I was feeling. But 26 miles of trail is a long way to go and anything can happen. I was never really able to get into a rhythm on the run. Even on the runnable sections, I was getting lightheaded and had to hike way more than I was planning in the first 16 miles. At least the scenery made the suffering somewhat enjoyable. No matter what, I always take a step back and appreciate anytime I'm in the mountains. It's these moments that, no matter what else is going on in life, I'm always grateful and am so damn lucky that I have the physical ability to do this stuff.
When I got to mile 16, I was able to meet up with my support crew - Kim, Allie and Tom. I checked the race tracker and saw I was now in 4th (one of the lead guys dropped out). 2nd and 3rd weren’t too far ahead but I would need both of them to bonk hard for me to catch them. The guy in 5th was also pretty far back and I felt confident he wouldn’t catch me.
Tom started running with me from there. XTri races allow (or sometimes require) a pacer on the run. Tom and I have been running together for 10 years and always have fun adventures in the mountains. Up to this point, I had been running 4.5 hours by myself, so it was nice to have some company. The course continued to be a grind. Lots of steep climbing, some steep descents. We got down into the valley between Brighton and Solitude (about 6 miles to the finish) and I checked the tracker again. I wasn’t going to catch 2nd or 3rd. So we continued on, appreciating the stunning scenery around us.
After 15 hours and 33 minutes, I crossed the finish line 4th place overall.
In one sense, I was bummed that I missed the Norseman qualification. I know my fitness was in a better spot than I showed on the run and feel disappointed I didn’t execute as well as I could’ve. One the other hand, I had just completed a race that very few would ever attempt, even among Ironman athletes. And since this was my first attempt at an extreme triathlon, I was proud to be an XTri black shirt finisher. It was an incredible experience.
I’m still debating if I want to continue this style of racing. I love running way more than hiking. Maybe I would’ve run better if I backed off a little more on the bike. That's what makes this sport a giant puzzle. But I love the difficulty of these races, and love challenging myself against the best athletes in the world. And to experience Norseman would be an unbelievable experience.
For now, my focus returns to Kona and getting my second chance to prove myself against the world’s best on the Queen K.
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!” - Hunter S. Thompson