XTERRA Vashon Island Off-Road Tri Recap

Through the eyes of age group phenom Dave Cloninger, who finished 2nd overall.

The race started with swim waves (young men, old men, then the ladies).   The water temp was perfect in the mid to high 60's and the sky was overcast with marine air and 65 - perfect race conditions. It was a dock/water start as the tide was out.  I killed it in my wave and ended up fastest split on the day - only saw a handful of jellies and one large kelp.  The run up was muddy and then a small section of shell encrusted beach before reaching transition. The young guys had a seven minute head start so I had a lot of ground to make up.  I was able to catch a few stragglers in the first wave and hit the gas on the bike out of transition.

The bike course was dry and we started with a granny gear climb through the dense forest single track.  A few roots and rocks strategically placed made the athlete focus on the track and wheel placement.  The downhill was spectacular as the trees and stinging nettles were constantly trying to grab your handle bars as you went past.  Three smooth laps later I had caught the entire group except for two.  Jason Jablonski had the fastest bike split of the day, which I expected so he was able to maintain that seven minutes going into the run.

The run course was even darker and more enclosed than the bike - not spooky, at least not to me, but just right... just had to make sure to take the inside lines, watch the roots and off camber trail, and stay steady.  I felt pretty good starting the run and at the halfway point was caught by two of the younger fellas I had passed in the bike.  I kept my pace high and used them as rabbits and in the end was able to keep them in my sights at the finish which helped me achieve the 5th fastest run split.  $90 came my way in the end for my effort - always a nice surprise. 

Jablonski is incredibly fast this year, I hope he can improve on his form and kill it at Utah.  I was four minutes behind Jablonski and five minutes ahead of Bruce.  A good day indeed.

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