Xterra west champs recap

Xterra West champs Race report for this race will not be a fun one to type though my frustration is very high and after having time to reflect on the race I am still having trouble seeming the glass half full. Last October I made a commitment to myself and others that support me. I lost around 10 pounds swam way more and got much faster and to run injury free and become stronger off the bike. In my training I have started to see indications that I might be on to something special. My training has been consistent and with high motivation so I felt good where I was going into this race. Now on to the race. The day was super dry and hot so I knew my nutrition would have to reflect the kind of heat of the desert. My clif shots and blocks worked great along with my Honey Maxx drink. I had a really strong start to the swim my work has really paid off in my first lap of 750 I was 25 seconds or less back from Dan and Craig but in the second lap lost little more time to them I have yet to see a full break down of results so I really don't know what I was back from the leader but I think it was around 1:00 or so. I still need to work on finding away to have a stronger second lap and hold my position better but with talking to most of the guys seems everyone is stepping up there game in the water so I feel good that I was still able to get my self closer to the front of the race. Vegas has long steep lose gravel climbs so there is no faking it on this course cuz if your not fit your going to go backwards very fast. In the first lap I got passed by soon to be race winner and Josiah he was flying and had no chance staying with him but he passed me much later into this bike then in 2011 so I knew I was still riding strong and the 10-12 pounds I lost showed going up the climbs. For the rest of the first lap I was working on closing the gap to Matt Leito. On the start of the second lap I was sitting in 8th. The second lap the winds kicked up making it little more challenging. A group of 3 guys rode there way up to me and once they passed me I started to feel tired so I took another clif shot and seemed to do the trick as I started taking time back from the guys that passed me. Now this is where my race took a turn for the worse first my seat post came lose so I have to stop and bang it back in place and then later tighten it. As seen in picture. Got back on the bike and right back to the chase my legs felt good and I felt strong no longer feeling weak. Then we hit a section on the course called the second river bed. It has very deep ruts so if you get off you line it can be a problem. As I came into this part I had caught some of the sprint Xterra athletes so there was a guy walk thing through this. I called out I was coming but he moved right into the line I wanted. Rather then get off my bike and not risk it I kept going only to find myself go over the handle bars and blow out my front tire. No big deal right. I get my co2 and resealer and it seemed to work then it went totally flat again so I got out my tube and used my last co2 and maybe in the rush of putting my tube in I put a hole in it and that did not go. At this point all I could do was walk my bike and cheer on the women now as they passed me. On the bright side I was having a great race and feeling good and all I can do is guess where I might have finished and that's what eats me was not the way I wanted to come back. But a good lesson was learned that sometimes playing it safer is the better choice. I look forward to get the monkey off my back and have a ripper in bama