With just enough time at home to do some laundry and re-pack after the G4 Challenge, I found myself last Thursday jetting down Highway 395 with fellow XTERRA racer Dan Hugo and his girlfriend, Ruth, who are currently living in Truckee.

Our destination: XTERRA West Championships.

This year marks my third competing in the XTERRA West Championships and my first as a pro.

Despite improvements in my fitness and stamina, the race does not seem to get any easier. Making it even harder this year was the mercury reaching into three digits on a course with no shade. Luckily, the start time was bumped to 8 a.m. in effort to beat some of the heat.

But a difficult course and onset of global warming wasn’t my main concern: Racing pro for the first time made me worried that I’d be completely out of my league.

The women’s lineup was strong and included regulars like Melanie McQuaid and Candy Angle, both XTERRA World Champions, and legend Michellie Jones, who is an Ironman World Champion and Olympic medalist.

A tough field, to say the least.

Verifying my fears were volunteers who directed me to the age-group section in transition set-up — apparently I don’t look the part yet.

To offset that, the pro women were warm and welcoming. Jenny Tobin and Danelle Kabush said they were glad I had made the jump to pro and said, “The more the merrier.”

This meant a lot.

As I stood on the shores of Vail Lake anticipating the start of the swim Sunday morning, I looked around me.

Melanie was to my left, Olympians Conrad Stoltz and Victor Plata were right in front of me and I thought, ‘What am I doing?’

I was also the only one without a speed suit, complete with my name on the butt, in the non-wetsuit swim.

It was just me, in my TYR standby — taking one last deep breath.

We were now on a twisty single track when I saw a distinct pink and blue tri suit up ahead.

‘Am I really going to pass Michellie?’ I thought.

I had a couple men in front of me, including age-grouper Tom Monica, and I was itching to pass Michellie — even if I didn’t beat her in the race at least I could say I passed her.

The gun went off unexpectedly and I dove into the water behind the pro men.

I swam side by side with Danelle Kabush to the first buoy. The second buoy looked a long ways away as the swim was just one big loop rather than the usual two loops and a beach run. I did not want to look behind me as I feared no one would be there.

Soon we were being caught by the top amateur men in a second wave (unusual for XTERRA), which started two minutes behind the pro wave.

After we rounded the second buoy, I drafted off the men to the shore. I came out of the swim pleased I was not in last place — yet.

After a somewhat awkward transition forgetting some of the basics like putting my bike helmet on before I left the area, I headed out on the mountain bike course, a 19.5-mile hilly and slightly sandy, but mostly smooth, course.

It wasn’t super technical, so I put on some skinnier tires with less tread the day before, which took about two pounds off my bike’s overall weight.

I noticed right away that the cleat on my right bike shoe was loose on the pedal. I did not have a tool to adjust it so I kept going. I soon got passed by Kabush, who has placed second at both XTERRA nationals and worlds and was competing in her first XTERRA since giving birth eight months ago.

After a long climb and descent I was passed by another pro, Amber Monforte of Reno. I really hoped I was not in last place.

Local competition Other racers from the Tahoe area who competed in the XTERRA West Championships include Dan Hugo, who placed second in the men’s pro race with a time of 2:25.20, and Incline Village’s Eric Ronning, who was eighth in the 40-44 age group with a time of 3:07:28. For complete results go to www.xterraplanet.com. For a slide show from the race go to www.sierrasun.com. To read Dan Hugo’s race report go to www.dghugo.com.

The guys squeezed by and I was right behind her around a few turns until I was so anxious I rode over some sagebrush to get around. I caught up with Tom on the next climb and said, “You have no idea how good that felt!”

I had a sudden surge of energy and realized why I race, even if it means waking up at 5 a.m.

It was getting hot and I was running low on water during the second loop of the “lollipop” course.

We were now catching athletes competing in the sport race, which started after us. I was feeling stronger on the second loop, although I was unable to make it up “The Wall,” a very steep climb where most competitors have to push their bikes.

When I approached the bike-run transition, I tried to dismount on my right side. I usually do so on my left, and fell down with my foot still attached to the pedal to the cheer of the crowd. I scrambled to get my foot out of my shoe because it would not release.

Again, not a very “pro” maneuver.

But I did hear Whit, the announcer, say I was in the top 10, which was good enough for me.

I was again flustered in transition and had to be told where to go and to take my helmet off before I exited the area. I realized I forgot to put on my visor when I felt the already 100-degree-at-10-a.m. heat on my head.

Believe it or not, the little bit of shade a visor or hat creates can make a huge difference.

Running is my strength but I felt awful going up the first climb and along a ridge line. After a mile we descended onto a road and up another ridge line. I was incorporating “speed hiking” on a lot of the hills, as it seemed more efficient than trying to run up. I felt like I was on the brink of passing out because of the heat. There were four water stations on the 5.5-mile course and I doused myself with water at each of them, cooling off briefly.

After about three miles I had caught pro racer Lesley Paterson, who was also struggling with the heat. We ran together for about a half mile until I got a second wind and picked up the pace.

There was a long descent toward the finish and I ran to it as fast as I could, placing seventh with a time of 3:05.39 — good enough for XTERRA series points and prize money.



I couldn’t have looked too good as I was quickly escorted by Ann Mickey to a mist tent to cool down.

I was relieved to hold my own against the pro women’s field, as once you go pro, there’s no going back — so hopefully I can only go up.

<i>Emma Garrard is a photographer at the Sierra Sun. She may be reached at egarrard@sierrasun.com.</i>