BrentXTchamps05

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BRONZE FOR McMAHON AT XTERRA Brent McMahon Reports On His Podium Finish: Well, I haven't done two World Championships in one year since I was a junior in 2000 where I competed at World Junior Duathlon and Triathlon Champs. Five years later I have found myself doubling up again and I loving it. It is always hard to get physically and mentally ready for a World Championships but that is what I thrive on. I enjoy the challenge of performing at the big events and I see that as one of my strengths.

With World Champs number one having gone well with a 19th at Triathlon Champs in Gamagori Japan, I was fit and well prepared for the difficult course of the Maui Xterra World Champs.

I finished a month of altitude training in Colorado Springs where I was training at the US Olympic Training Center (Thanks John and Libby) and stayed with an awesome couple Peggy and Mark. They opened there home to me even though they were away on holidays when I first arrived so they said to let myself in for the week. They were excited to have me and were so encouraging about my training and prep for the upcoming races. It was truly a wonderful few weeks in Colorado Springs made by fantastic training (Thanks Sam for the awesome rides...number one U23 US mtn biker!) and great people. I was sad to leave my new home in Colorado but I was headed home to Victoria for two days to drop off some gear, do a load of laundry and repack to head off to Honolulu for five days.

I was headed to Honolulu for five days to get some heat training in to prep for Maui and as the course there is not open for pre riding I figured the training would be better in Honolulu. I emailed a friend in Honolulu to see if they knew of anyone I could stay and train with while I was there. My email was passed along and I got a reply from Marcy and Bo. They weren't so sure about us Canadians but I guess they thought they would try me out and see what happened. Well, I have found yet another home away in Kailua, outside of Honolulu with Marcy and Bo and all their wonderful friends that make for quite a great cheering squad. I had a great time training with Marcy and hanging out with her great and crazy training partners. My training went well and I felt I was used to the heat by the time I headed over to Maui on the Thursday morning before the Sunday race.

The lead up to the race was pretty relaxed as I had put in some long hours of training in Colorado the week before I arrived in Hawaii. I just focused on resting and getting my few tune up workouts in. The bike and a portion of the run course takes place on private land which is only opened for the one Sunday event. This means there is no pre riding the course and learning the hills and more technical aspects of the course. This being my first year racing Xterra and first time in Maui I was at a big disadvantage to most of the competitors but I talked to as many people as I could to get a feel for the course without seeing it. I was able to run a good portion of the run course and talk to a friend that did the 10km scramble race on the Saturday over the same course. So I felt good about the run course and I knew the swim course well.

Race morning was a little cooler than the previous days with a light overcast and some darker clouds up on the volcano where we would later ride up to. The swim was two laps counter clockwise with a run along the beach of about 100m between laps. My swim had been feeling strong coming out of Triathlon World Champs where it was pivotal for a good performance so I focused on having a good start and hopefully keeping my streak of leading out of the water at every Xterra.

I had a good start and swam strong and controlled knowing I had a long race ahead and lead for both laps even with the camera seadoo side swiping me once and the camera boom hitting my hand four times! It was a little frustrating but maybe that will mean some good footage on the CBS coverage before Super Bowl Sunday.

I ran hard to transition to try and get a little gap on Eneko Llanos (2 time World Champ) heading out to the bike so I could get my shoes and gloves on ahead of him. I wanted to try and ride just off his wheel as he is obviously experienced on the course and would be pushing hard. I was able to hang with him for about 15 minutes when he really started to push hard and I was having trouble riding smoothly on the bumpy loose lava rock climbs. I then worked hard to let him only gradually get away until Mike Vine and Olivier Marceau (2nd 2004) came up and I went with them for a short period and again let them pull away slowly.

I was only passed by two others during the first hour of climbing and traversing one of which was eventual winner Nicholas Lebrun. After 1:05 of riding I reached the top of the longest climb which marked the start of the steep descent and return back to transition. Once starting the steep technical descent called the Plunge, I was determined to hold my position and maybe gain on those that had past. I descended very well having not seen it or even been on similar terrain before and held my sixth place position all the way back to transition where I was able to see the lead runners coming at me on the course. I saw that Nicholas was out ahead with a good lead followed by Eneko and Mike closer together and then just ahead of me was Olivier and Nichos of Germany. I was confident in my run coming off of World Cup racing where the swim and run speed is a necessity. The run course started with a 1 mile gradual downhill pavement section which then turned right onto a fireroad which then climber in stages for the next 1.5 miles. After the climb was a long lava rock ankle twisting downhill which spat you out onto a road crossing where you then ended up on a Makena white sand beach. I was focused on chasing Olivier and Nichos down by the top of the hill as a goal to get my legs turning over after a tough 1:38 mountain bike. My coach Lance Watson gave me some splits and I quickly drew in Olivier and as I crested the hill I surged past Nichos into the downhill. I felt very strong and smooth on the climb and then accelerated my turnover for the downhill and concentrated on stepping light and quickly as to not twist my ankle. As I descended much to my surprise I saw Mike and then Eneko not too far up the road. This got me more excited as I now sat in 4th place but the medals just up ahead. I continued to work the downhill and was making time and Mike quickly. I focused on him and committed to catching him by the flat section I could see coming up. As I caught Mike I gave my fellow Canadian some encouragement to see if we could catch up to Eneko. I was now in third with Eneko only 50 or 60m up the road. I surged to try and close the gap as we came up to the road crossing over to Makena beach. We headed out on to the deep sand where my legs soon started to feel the energy sapping half foot deep sand. Eneko did a shoulder check and saw that I had closed on him from 6th place and just as I thought I might be pulling him in he surged and opened the gap as we headed into a twisty wooded section called the Spooky Forest. I tried to keep my form together through this section but I was starting to run low on energy having never raced over two hours very often. We were about at least 2:30 into the race when we reached Spooky Forest and there was still another shorter beach run, some lava rock running and the final golf green traverse to go! I was not happy to hit the sand again!!! I gave a lot to hold what pace I could on the first beach and now I was in survival mode to get through the sand and up onto the hard packed golf green. As I struggled and stumbled across the sand Mike actually started to come back on me and I really had to dig deep and focus on reaching the green quickly. I knew once I hit the green I could get my turnover back and push to the finish. I hit the green with more enthusiasm than I thought possible and then bolted for the finish line about 800m away finishing in 3rd place.

For my first Xterra Worlds and first time in Maui I had a fantastic race and learned a lot of great information to take into next season and the next Worlds. There were some small things I could have changed to maybe increase my performance when reviewing but having been my first time I believe I gave my best effort and performed to my potential and I am really stoked! Thanks to all the wonderful people that helped me get to this race as well prepared as I did: Peggy and Mark, Marcy and Bo, Scott and Donna, Paul Plocktis, Jeff Cooper, Steve and Nancy and of course my Mom and Dad. My coaching by Lance Watson has been fun trying to work in a new race format but I think we have done well adapting. My therapists Rob Hasegawa (Chiro) and Gibson Brown (Massage) managed to squeeze me in for appointments the two days I was home. And my sponsors New Balance, PowerBar, Intense Bikes, Easton Bike Components, Continental Tires (no flats!! yes!!!), Sram/Rock Shox/Avid bike components, Orca race suits, Oakley eyewear, and Steed Cycles everything worked well and I looked good doing it. Extra thanks for Intense Bikes for shipping up my bike last minute so I could have a new rig for race day. It arrived at 1pm Friday when I left for the airport at 3:15pm the same day. Just enough time to get the parts on and the new wheels Easton had also shipped last minute that arrived Thursday.

Thanks guys. I am heading into a nice long break now as I will be back hard at training in not too long to get ready for Commonwealth Games in March 2006.

: Lance Watson