I would have posted this a few days ago, but didn't want to distract from Brandon's win at Red Bull. This post is about another new bike, the Top Fuel. Within days of coming out of the factory, this bike won 24-hours of 9-Mile (the National Championship) and now the Smiths have piloted the 09 Top Fuel into top-5 results in the Xterra National Championship. In a couple of weeks, they will head to Maui to compete in the Xterra World Champs.
Jenny tells a good story here:
The closest racing! The 2008 Xterra USA championship was aptly called the Pre Worlds Showdown. 3 weeks out from the upcoming World Championships it was the perfect timing for international athletes to race. It made for great competitive fast racing.
Womens top seven
1 Melanie McQuaid 35 Victoria, B.C., Canada 2:56:17
2 Renata Bucher 31 Lucerne, Switzerland 2:59:34
3 Carina Wasle 22 Kundl, Austria 3:00:30
4 Lesley Paterson 28 Stirling, Scotland 3:02:24
5 Jenny Smith 34 Westport, New Zealand 3:02:36
6 Danelle Kabush 33 Canmore, Alberta, Canada 3:02:43
7 Shonny Vanlandingham 38 Durango, Colorado 3:03:42
Mens top 6
1 Mike Vine 35 Victoria, B.C., Canada 2:32:38
2 Seth Wealing 29 Incline Village, Nevada 2:34:03
3 Josiah Middaugh 29 Vail, Colorado 2:35:12
4 Dan Hugo 23 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:36:14
5 Branden Rakita 27 Mawitoo Springs, Colorado 2:37:00
6 Brian Smith 32 Gunnison, Colorado 2:37:33
7 Chris Legh 35 Melbourne, Australia 2:38:02
8 Conrad Stoltz 34 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:40:17
How it panned out.
Just like in 07 a storm blew into Incline on Friday afternoon dropping the temperature/ and bringing with it rain and snow on the mountains.
Brian and I ventured into the lake on Saturday morning to pre swim and check it out – Wow The 3 foot swells and breaking white cap waves were something else. I was freaked out. But with a good deal of self talk I got myself out to the first buoy and along the back side of the swim loop before coming back in.
The flip side was the rain had significantly improved the bike course. It had been incredibly dry and deep sandy. We had mixed feeling about this as it made for better passing opportunities early on but it also made the bike course a lot easier too.
Sunday morning dawned cold but calm. Yes! Smooth water for the swim. We did have to stay right of the capsized boat with its hull sticking straight up in the air!
I was super disappointed in my swim. I got clobbered by a man arm early on and my right goggle filled with water for the first of the two laps. I swam off to the side and out of trouble for the first lap. Out of the slip stream too and my swim time reflected it. I put a lot of pressure on myself over the swim because a huge part of succeeding in it where I swim is mental: suck it up, get hit, drink the lake, stay calm, and be aggressive. I’ve been practicing and I just got thrown off… luckily I still have Worlds to get my redemption for myself!
Brian had a good swim and came out in 35th! he's getting faster!
We both had fantastic bike legs. I moved myself up into 3rd on the bike riding 2 minutes faster than last year. (The top fuel was amazing – I love this bike) My bike split was 2nd fastest to Renata Bucher of Switzerland. Brian had the 3rd fastest bike split and rode himself into 8th.
Xterra provide the water support on the course. it has always been bottle feeds BUT this year they had cups at the feed zone. It got me into trouble as I’d carried one bottle on the bike and was relying on another at the feed. I downed 1 gel with ½ cup of h20 and had to make do… ended up riding without fluid for a good 50 mins and no way to take another gel before the run.
I got through transition with one hiccup… my heel raise in my racing flats moved as I forced the shoe on… so I ran 10km with the heel raise under my arch! Otherwise my run was smooth; I warmed into it and ran strong … Carina Wasle of Austria caught and passed me… she is an amazing runner. At about 8km I realized Leslie Patterson of Scotland and Danelle Kabush of Canada where gaining fast and I better give it if I wanted to hold them off… I picked it up, it was crazy… Leslie caught me with about a minute left in the run and I outsprinted Danelle to hold onto 5th place and the podium!
What a field. I think if you can podium here this year, you can podium at Worlds.
Brian had a stellar run (2nd fastest by 6 seconds to Chris Leigh of Australia) to run himself up to 6th place. We are excited for Worlds, warm, sea level, with a longer harder bike and a longer harder run…
The US Championship series rounded out with yesterday. I finished 3rd in the overall. Brian was 4th overall in the mens Series.
Full results and reports are atwww.xterraplanet.com
thanks for reading
Jenny Smith
Attatched below is some fan mail I received overone of our Tri top's we put into a silent auction to raise money For Jamie Whitmore this past weekend. The auction raised 12,500 dollars which felt great for us to do and it was awesome to see Jamie there too. Inspiring! check out her blog www.jamiewhitmore.com for more information. She's still a long way to go in her recovery from cancer as she's yet to endure chemotherapy.
Hello Jenny Smith!
My husband, Jonathan Kiley, has been doing XTERRA Triathlons for about 4 years now. He just competed in Nationals this morning with all of you pro's! It was his 3rd year qualifying for Nationals. I wasn't able to go to the race this year as we have just moved from NC to TX and I just started a new job and hated to take off work so soon. Anyhow, I really enjoy attending the XTERRA races and rarely miss any of the 7 or so races he does each year. We have all of the XTERRA Nationals and Worlds DVD's as Jonathan and I watch them for tips for transitioning and also to get motivated to train. We put on the XTERRA Smith Lake Triathlon on Fort Bragg for the past two years. I am all about the XTERRA spirit and the surprising fellowship and upbeat attitude among all of the racers at these events.
As most XTERRA fans have, I have been following Jamie Whitmore's blog for updates and information on her recovery and continued dealings with cancer. She is an amazing athlete and very down to earth and friendly. (She paused after an exhausting finish at Tahoe last year to take a photo with my 8 year old niece!) I told my husband about the silent auction and asked him to check it out and make some bids! :) He called me last night to report that he won for me a Jenny Smith Tri-top!!! (-and a Conrad Tri-suit for himself). I am very excited and he said that you even signed it for me! THANKS!
I have not competed in an XTERRA yet. I do mountain bike, we did the Flume trail and many other Tahoe trails after the race last year and had a blast. Unfortunately, the move to TX may put an end to my Mt. Biking!!!:) Falling on the trails on the East Coast meant falling on rocks, sand, mud, pine cones-at worst, but here in Abilene, the trails are lined with CACTUS and rattlesnakes!!!! Not very fun to fall over into a cactus (and fall I do frequently). :) The guy at the local bike shop is trying to convince me to buy a road bike!
Anywho, I just wanted to say thanks for the tri-top complete with signature! I can't wait to see it! Also, a big thanks for supporting a fellow athlete in her time of need. With your help, Jamie can work harder and more comfortably toward recovery! It is great to see athletes supporting such a good cause!
Thanks again, Caroline Kiley
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