Tom Doyle of  Team Rostello presented by Fiorucci/CyCor is a NATIONAL CHAMPION again, winning at the Xterra East Championship – Off Road Triathlon.

For the 10th year Richmond hosted the Xterra East Championship – Sunday, June 14, 2009. For the Xterra off-road triathlons, the pro racers feel Richmond has the most technical Mtn Bike course and therefore look forward to it each year. The air temperatures (72 -80 degrees) and water temperatures (78 degrees) were excellent.

1)       Swim 100m took 33 Minutes
The James River was at the highest level than for any prior Xterra. I have been working on my swimming over the winter and with confidence I started my 500m swim from Browns Island to Bell Island. I was feeling good until I got into the first fast current and realized I would have to swim vigorously to not get swept off course. As all but four other swimmers swam rapidly away, I started wondering if my swimming had actually improved. I stayed with my new Triathlon swim technique – kick as little as possible to save the legs for the bike/run and I had to trust it would pay off (it did because I was 5 minutes faster on the bike and 3 minutes faster on the run). In the past when we reached Bell Island we swim slightly up river and then start the other 500m swim back to Browns Island. This year, because of the swift current, we exited onto Bell Island, ran up river 100 yards and then entered the river with a better chance of not being swept to far down on the return leg. Later I found out about 15 other racers scratched because they were scared of the swim. The other four, that fell behind when I did, came out of the water so far behind me that they were outside the time limit and weren’t allowed to continue.

2)       Mtn Bike 28k took 1hr 40min
Past years I have been able to chase down my age group on the Mtn Bike. This year I felt I had lost more time than ever before in the swim and hoped I actually had saved the legs for the bike and run. I am always psyched on the bike because I feel I have a home court advantage, my greatest competitors are always guys from other states, and it is still fun to have my 1999 Cannondale hard tail Mtn Bike work its way past much newer equipment. Over the years I have discovered that at three of the really technical climbs it is over all faster for me to do a cycle cross dismount, run up and do a cycle cross running mount than to go down on even one of them and have to get up, get going and get my rhythm back. One third into the course and two thirds into the course I had a 24 oz bottle of Innergize (best energy/fluid replacement drink I have ever used) stashed for a quick bottle exchange. Over the years I have found that with the proper energy drink I can hammer the entire time on the bike and still feel good for the run leg. Fifteen minutes from the end of the Mtn Bike leg I finally ran down and passed the last age group person (Charley Redman, from New Jersey) that was in front of me. I opened up a lead on him, but in transition to the run I realize that I had only a minute lead on him.

3)       Trail Run 11k
Two miles into the run Charley had closed to within 20 yards of me. I felt I could run slightly faster, without having a cramp in my right leg, and grab a 12 oz bottle of Innergize I had stashed before the 3 mile point. When I grabbed the Innergize I noticed I had a 40 yard lead on Charlie. Shortly after drinking the 12 oz of Innergize my right leg’s hint at cramping went away and I ran well enough to beat Charlie by 1 minute. After the race Charlie said he thought when he got so close to me that he could pass me because based on my last years run time he was a slightly faster runner, but then his energy started going away and I just somehow keep the pace…

Race report by Tom Doyle