"Strangers in the Night"

First let me start off by saying this race was absolutely phenomenal, a challenging race in paradise. The race director Phillip Ruiz, his "Familia", all of the volunteers, Andrew and Jen of Xterra and the city of Rincon really put on a show for this inaugural event.

The race was held in Rincon, Puerto Rico, which is about 2.5 hours west of the metropolis of San Juan. Rincon is known as one of the worlds most beautiful surfing spots with crystal clear water and a number of awesome surf breaks. It was quite surreal actually stay and race in a place that I had only seen in Surfer Magazine and dreamed visiting one day.

Saturday morning I drove out to Rincon from San Juan to meet up with my Southern roommates, Casey and Jerry from Alabama. For those of you who have never driven in Puerto Rico, it is quite an experience and pretty much a free-for-all on narrow streets and highways. For someone who works in a world of safety, rules and regulations, I was a bit freaked out after seeing cars bombing down the emergency lane at warp speed and cars exiting the highway from the fast lane. My National Safety Council defensive driving skills were definitely tested and I take back all of the whining about having to sit through an 8 hour class last fall!

After arriving in Rincon unscathed I arrived at the hotel/bar/vista which was the designated registration area and immediately spotted Casey. I was very happy to see a familiar face and to be back on my feet out of my Ford death trap on wheels (by the way did I mention the speedometer did not work?). After a quick greeting and an introduction to my new translator of all things Southern, Jerry, I was informed we would be changing residences to be closer to the event but not to worry as our trusty race director Phillip would take care of all the details. Okay, so we were temporarily homeless, but it all worked out in the end, as Phillip found us a great apartment with a terrific view, an over the top dolphin motif, beds, a bathroom, and a full kitchen.

After driving up and down a treacherous narrow street a number of times we finally spotted the apartment building thanks to the van driver/racer Eduardo. Anxious to catch up and relax for a bit, the three of us opened the door and were hit with the stench of sea life. I wondered if this was a feature of the Dolphin¡ apartment. As we entered into the main room we discovered a sopping wet floor and saturated rugs. It was not soon thereafter that I spotted our fourth roommate on the curtains. I yelped a bit and explained my fear of lizards (both small and large); Casey and Jerry were both willing to help a sister out and performed a catch and release of the gecko size creature.

After the boys mopped up and we moved the rugs out to the porch, the three of us settled in to the ¡Dolphin Apartment¡, which was one of four units in the building (this fact will be more significant later in the story).

That night two more of Casey's friends from Atlanta Jeff and Amy arrived after a long and involved trip from San Juan. We all headed down the hill to the pre-race pasta party and to hear Philip speak of the course and introduce close to everyone in the room. Feeling satiated and a bit sleepy we left and carefully drove back up the hill to get set for a quiet evening to ease any pre race jitters. It was decided that I would be sleeping on the sofa pull-out bed located in the main room so after going over what time we would all arise, we said goodnight around 10PM. I tossed and turned for a bit reflecting on the lizard experience earlier in the day and soon thereafter was fast to sleep.

Around 1 AM I awoke to the sound of a pack of nomadic neighborhood dogs barking, at one point I also thought I heard a few voices.I decided to turn over and try to go back to sleep. About 15 minutes later I opened my eyes only to see a silhouette of a person outside on our deck peering through the window. At that point I let out a blood curdling scream that could have awoken a small village and scared the be Jesus out of any man, woman or child. All I could think is "they are coming to get me!!!".

The boys sprung into action and ran into the room to see if I was being attacked by an iguana. To their surprise they found a woman and her two kids toting suitcases out on our deck trying to get into the apartment building. Needless to say they choose the wrong unit in the building and probably learned their lesson about peering into windows. Casey, being the southern gentleman that he is, helped get the Mom and her two kids pointed in the right direction to the apartment upstairs while wearing nothing but his underwear. As Jerry, master of all things Southern, choose to talk me down from the ceiling, as my fight or flight reflexes were put to use, needless to say there was more flight than fight. I guess I should try to get my money back from those self-defense classes that I invested in years ago.

So race morning finally arrived and we all were able to get at least 4 solid hours of sleep after the visit from the strangers in the night. We ate breakfast, changed and then rode our trusty mountain steeds down the hill to the transition area. After a brief warm up (let's face it, it was like 90 degrees outside with 100% relative humidity so one really did not need to do much warming up) we headed down to the beach to see the which swim course they had chosen for the day. It was relayed to us that the swim course would be marked the morning of the race due to the surf conditions.

At around 7 AM (proposed race start) we stood on the beach looking out onto the ocean with no buoys. No worries, as Phillip sprung into action and had the jet-skis out in the water with the buoys in no time. Initially the swim was to be 2 loops of 400 meters with a beach run in-between. After a brief comment from Casey, and I quote, "Phillip you can't have us run onto to the beach", Phillip took his comment to heart and within a few seconds the changes were made. Thanks Casey.

The next thing I know we are aligned on the beach and someone yelled GO! I shot out pretty quick and tried to grab onto the feet of another athlete from Florida. I attempted to surge a number of times, but my attempts to pass were thwarted as, this man decided that he was not going to let me pass. At that point I just stuck right on his feet and enjoyed being dragged back to shore only to pass him on the run up to our bikes. I came out of the water second overall.

I had an okay transition and headed out onto to the 3-loop bike course through varying terrain. This included wet muddy roots, thick brush, and a pasture fully inhabited by 2 bulls, a cow and a few calves. Loop one was okay, but there were times where it felt as though my heart was going to explode and come right through my chest wall!!! I can definitely confirm I reached my max heart rate. Out on the course I could hear the race announcer on the PA announce who was coming into transition, he announced the next woman on the course, who was almost 5 minutes behind me. I felt okay knowing that I had a buffer of time, but as in any event, anything could happen at any time, so I stayed steady and hammered on.

At the end of loop 1 we passed by the transition area where there were a number of spectators, and of course Philip on the microphone yelling peoples names. I chuckled to myself as I hear him announce my name and where I was from it was like a beauty pageant. The crowd was so STOKED it was awesome! The next 2 loops I stayed in the lead and only had a few close encounters with both the mud on the ground and the trees that lined the trail.

Out onto the 5K run course. This course was a combination of deep sand, not so deep sand, mud, bricks, trail, and a large asphalt hill at the end. Oh, and did I mention it was hot outside? Within the first mile I had pumpkin head and was running FAR from my typical 5K race pace. The good news is that at the race turn around I was able to see that I had a substantial lead. This was good news, as I felt as though I was running in slow motion and each time I attempted to push the pace my body was not responding. I approached the final hill and ran up feeling like I was pulling a small watercraft behind.

At the top of the hill I took some water from a policeman and shot down the hill to the finish line. I was extremely excited to see the finish. The crowd roared as I crossed the tape and I was whisked off to take photos with the race sponsors and to be literally rubbed down with ice from willing volunteers. I finished just 4 minutes ahead of the second place female despite my lack luster run.

Overall this was a terrific event in a beautiful location! Thanks again to all of my sponsors, Powerbar Endurance, Zoot Sports, Rudy Project, Energy Shotz, Fleet Feet Sports, coach Lynda, and to all of my friends and family for your continued support! Next stop Xterra West Championships in Temecula, California!

Nicole