XTERRA Triathlon Race Debrief (and what you should add to your debrief) Ep 96

Coach Chris Newport takes listeners behind the scenes of the XTERRA North American Championships in Alabama, sharing insights from training preparation to race day execution. The race represented both a personal challenge to face mountain biking fears and a test of athletic growth after six months of dedicated preparation.

• Consistent training, especially on the mountain bike, led to improved technical skills and higher functional threshold power
• Thunder and lightning delayed race morning, but race directors made smart adjustments to ensure safety
• Swimming felt strong with plenty of drafting opportunities in the mass start format
• The muddy bike course created a playful, challenging experience through technical single-track and rock gardens
• Qualifying for XTERRA World Championships in Italy became an unexpected bonus achievement
• Creating your own post-race reports helps capture valuable insights about performance, mindset, and future improvements
• Growth happens when you step into the unknown and face your fears on purpose

If you've been sitting on a big, scary goal, take this as your sign to go for it. You don't need all the answers or perfection—just show up, trust your training, and be willing to learn along the way.

Transcript

Race Introduction and Reflection

Speaker 1 0:25

Hey y'all and welcome back to the Find your Edge podcast. I am your host, coach Chris Newport, and I am so glad you're here Today. I'm taking you behind the scenes of my recent race at the XTERRA North American Championships in Alabama. So last week you heard all about my fueling and hydration plan for XTERRA, and in my November episode so that was six months ago I talked about choosing challenge as a core value and committing to this race. And now here we are, six months later and I've crossed the finish line. So I wanted to make sure to update you on this process. I'm excited to share how it all unfolded, give you a full race recap and encourage you to create your own post-race reports. In fact, this is something that we do with our own athletes. Because here's the thing Most athletes finish a race, store it away in the memory and move on, but if you don't pause to reflect, you miss out on powerful insights, what you did well, where you can improve and the lessons that can shape your future performance. Oh, and maybe noting a few funny stories. So first thing that I encourage people to ask is why this race? So why did I choose this race? So the Xterra North American Championships was a personal challenge. I wanted to compete alongside of some of the best off-road triathletes in the country face my fears on the mountain bike, train consistently and, if I had a great day and who knows, who else is going to show up on race day, possibly qualify for the world championships. So it wasn't just about racing, it was about growth as an athlete. So the other things we like for people to ask themselves are what are some of your training journey highlights? So, looking back at my training and training peaks, the biggest win was consistency, especially on the bike. My main goal was to improve my technical mountain biking skills, which I did. I definitely saw some gains there. I also boosted my functional threshold power, or as a lot of you know it as FTP, which made an absolute, noticeable difference. I did have a setback with a flare-up of peroneal tendonitis, something I've been managing for a couple of years now, but interestingly that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It gave me the opportunity to focus even more on cycle training and ultimately helped me improve in ways that I probably wouldn't have otherwise. All right, so next things to ask yourself in a post-race debrief what were your pre-race thoughts and preparation?

Speaker 1 3:02

So, heading into race week, I felt a mix of excitement and a little bit of disbelief. I was kind of like, okay, we're here now, okay. Also, I had a nine hour drive to Alabama, so and I traveled down on Thursday with the race on Saturday. I was nervous about not knowing the course and worried that if I were to ride the entire full 21 miles ahead of time I'd cook my legs. Fortunately, the course was already marked and I was able to preview some key sections, although if I were to do it again, I would do separate sections and go up a little. I didn't quite go up far enough to get to some of the rock gardens, and that would have been nice to sort of session some of those, but riding part of it alone felt brave.

Speaker 1 3:51

That's one of the challenges I've always had since being on my mountain bike. I always feel like I have to have someone with me. So does anybody have that kind of sense of like? Oh, I don't necessarily feel confident enough to do it myself. I almost need I'm not going to call it a babysitter, but almost feel like you feel more comfortable when you have somebody else with you. It's almost like gives you the excuse to relax a little bit. So I usually rely on others to pick the best line. Maybe I'll follow somebody's line. And being out there solo meant that I had to choose my own lines and that for me was a bit of a confidence boost.

Race Morning and Weather Challenges

Speaker 1 4:35

So that evening another little bonus of being there early I went to the athlete welcome dinner for free as part of my race entry and, mind you, my race entry was $140. There was delicious food. There were friendly pros there that we got to talk to, and the XTERRA staff. They are incredibly welcoming. They really call us like the XTERRA family. So if you've never done an XTERRA race, just are the things that happened pre-race.

Speaker 1 5:10

So for me, race morning started with thunder and lightning literally woke up to it. Not exactly ideal and in fact I have a screenshot, no-transcript. And if you were at Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga, you had the same band of weather that actually canceled y'all swim. We had the benefit of being able to move our start time out, which was a great decision by the race directors. So by the time I got to transition oh, backing up. First of all, the great part about that race is that you can park like practically next to transition, so there's not like a bus ride or a long trip. And similarly, oak Mountain Park. If you ever get to go there, it is truly amazing, with like over 50 miles of trails, they've got horse stables, they've got bridle trails, they've got a lake, they've got playground I mean it really camping. It really is an amazing park if you ever get to visit.

Swim and T1 Experience

Speaker 1 6:15

So, anyhow, by the time I got to transition, it was pouring, everything was getting completely soaked and, of course, they made the smart call to delay the start. Initially it was by like half an hour and then they committed to more like about an hour. So once the storms passed, conditions actually worked out pretty well. It was humid, but there were overcast skies, super calm water. Sadly, I forgot to bring a rain jacket. That was not the greatest choice walking around setting up transition, but luckily I did have my child's donut print umbrella and, yes, I will add a picture of that too. So even though the race was delayed, there was just still a lot of like walking back and forth, going to the restroom, figuring out what to put in transition, like starting off by, you know, putting my bike in transition to secure my spot and then not wanting to put my stuff out quite yet, because it was pouring, and how do I keep it all dry? So, interestingly, I had already logged 6,000 steps just walking between the car and the restrooms and transition area. But in that meantime we got to see the sprint race go off first and it was so fun to cheer those athletes on before our own start. And we got to see the pro start, which was super cool.

Speaker 1 7:26

So next up in your post-race debrief, you definitely want to get into the swim and this might be one of those things that you can talk about. What were the conditions? What was the water like? What was the water temperature? What kind of gear did you choose? Would there be anything that you would do differently? Were there any other interesting things that happened in the swim?

Speaker 1 7:49

So for us, the swim ended up being wetsuit legal, not for the pros, but for us. So water was like in the mid seventies and it was set up as two loops of 750 meters each, so two left-hand turns with big yellow buoys. I wore my favorite shorty wetsuit love it and I had my mirrored snake and pig goggles, which was also great. It was a mass start, which I similarly love, and that for me meant plenty of drafting. I like to start right in the middle of the pack and felt great in the water, no excess fatigue or anything like that. I even use some fun turning techniques that we like to teach at our open water swim clinics, so I felt a little fancy doing that. That we like to teach at our open water swim clinics, so I felt a little fancy doing that. Pulling those off mid-race All right.

Speaker 1 8:40

So next up, t1 or transition one. So this again good to have notes for yourself and your race debrief. But our transition area was set up on a basketball court, so knowing that it's on pavement, so that was great. But coming from the water to the transition area and being the last wave to go off after the sprint, after the pro men, pro women, and then knowing that I would probably be like mid packer on to on the swim, by the time we had gotten to the transition area there was like this mass, uh pack of mud leading up to it. So of course you get all muddy on your feet and then but it's all good I lucked out with a prime rack spot literally right near not only the pros, but right near the run exit and bike exit. I did take a little bit of extra time, because I do prioritize socks and I prioritize putting on gloves. Still takes me a bit to get the gloves on, even though I did the best I could drying off my hands but still was able to keep moving. So I don't think I would necessarily do anything differently there.

Muddy Mountain Bike Adventure

Speaker 1 9:41

Okay, so next up is the bike. So, debriefing on what was the bike course like? Maybe any wind? What was the train like? Were there any gear choices that were good or maybe not so great? Fueling and hydration how did that go? Were there any things that happened? Maybe a flat or issues with other riders? So those are things that are great to put in your debrief.

Speaker 1 10:06

For me, let me just say the bike course was a muddy blast. So, generally speaking, on the East Coast we're usually told not to ride wet trails, so, respectfully, we do this because it tends to tear them up. So, being that we were on these muddy trails, I felt like being a kid, told that you can throw food. So it was absolute, pure fun, and I felt a little rebellious at the same time. We were literally all covered in mud when we came back to transition area. You could not see the color on anyone's bike. It just looked like everybody had mud colored bikes. It was amazing.

Speaker 1 10:47

So the course started with a little bit of single track, smooth, flowy, and led into a bridal trail uphill climb with some cool stream crossings, and then the back half had a couple of technical sections and rock gardens. Some I attempted, some I walked, especially considering that it was super wet, but it was rooted, it was shady. It was rooted, it was shady, it was humid and it was so much fun. I felt challenged but definitely prepared. I also lucked out because I ended up in like a small group of people along the back half and got to follow somebody's wheel for a while and it was, um, it was a woman, that was, you know, a couple other women and I, and it was just fun to just like talk to them and um and be able to enjoy their company and it just and that's part of the fun of mountain biking, especially in a really small group you can kind of hoot and holler to together and it's just, it's super fun. So that was bike, just like we did with transition one and with bike and with the swim.

Speaker 1 11:51

Now it's on to T2. So, same kind of thing. How did it go? For me, t2 went super smoothly. I had my race belt tucked inside my hat along with my shoes, so I swapped out my shoes and then grabbed everything and headed out without any issues. So that's cool. Actually was the fastest in my age group for T2 and for the run, which is kind of cool.

Speaker 1 12:11

So next up, run. Same kind of thing like you did with the bike. What was the terrain, what was the weather like, what was your mindset? Any challenges, any wins? So I didn't necessarily expect to struggle on the run, but when I first started running I felt like it was super slow and then when I looked at my watch, I was like, oh okay, actually we're doing all right. Felt good to pass a couple of people. Same kind of thing. Got to kind of chit chat with some folks, stuck to my fueling plan and felt strong all the way to the finish line. So that was awesome, okay.

Run, Results, and Lessons Learned

Speaker 1 12:47

So next up in your debrief performance and results. This can be time-based, but certainly I would encourage you to go outside of what's just on the watch. So, for example, did you meet your expectations? What were some of the things that you were most proud of? What were some of the results that maybe you may not have expected, but came out great anyway. So those are some of the questions that I would encourage you to put in your race debrief. So for me, did I meet my expectations? Absolutely, and what I'm most proud of isn't necessarily the finish line, but it was the courage really to go through this whole process and show up and do a race, especially a mountain biking race, that I had never seen or tested before. So to trust my training and to trust my fueling plan and to ride certain sections of the course solo that I would have been terrified of doing six months ago or definitely several years ago. So I'm definitely giving myself some high fives for that.

Speaker 1 14:00

Another note to put in your debrief make any notes about fueling and hydration, like did you lose a bottle? Did you forget something? Did you drop something? Did everything go exactly as planned? Was it hotter, cooler, et cetera. For me, I stayed consistent with my fueling and hydration, which made a huge difference on a humid day. I brought the right mix of fluids and shoes and spaced everything out well and never really felt under fueled. So it was a great test of the strategies that I teach and thankfully it all worked out.

Speaker 1 14:31

So next up in your debrief, keep in mind some lessons learned. So, for me, lessons learned were that this race reminded me of how adaptable I've become as an athlete and certainly as a mountain biker, seeing that that has always been my biggest point to improve on. The weather wasn't perfect. I mean, it was a sloppy, insane wet mess, which, of course, makes mountain biking a little bit more slippery. So, but the conditions, honestly, were insane and I don't know if I would have had it any other way because it was so freaking fun to just be muddy and ridiculous and just have a blast. So I stuck in there with my mindset and really embraced the fun and as as as far as I felt, left nothing on the course. So, similarly, another lesson I learned is was so inspiring to see an amazing wide range of athletes. There were so many different ages, sizes, shapes of athletes and so impressed that they even had a kid's race the day before and that was, oh my gosh, the most adorable thing I think I've ever seen, between the parents running around and the kids on their little bikes and their cute little bathing suits, and it was just amazing. On the adult race, it was super cool to see athletes all over, whether in front of me, behind me, whatever, but certainly there were multiple women in their twenties and even in their sixties ahead of me out there freaking, crushing it. So, and kudos, I'm telling you this sport really is for everyone.

Speaker 1 16:21

Another thing that I like for people to put into their debriefs is there anything, maybe kind of unusual or maybe like a funny story, to add in For me? My funny story, good gracious, I was so proud of myself for staying upright on the bike the entire 21 miles. At the very end of the course there's this hill that they have you sort of roped off. That's not necessarily a trail, it's just keeping you on the grass, and it had just gotten so torn up, with it just being so ridiculously wet and everybody had already gone through there. It was all mud and there were a bunch of spectators who were lining that area and they were cheering everybody on, like it's so slippery. You know, barely anybody has been making it up this hill and I like, said out loud to someone, I was like I accept your challenge and I was rode my way up that hill, made it to the top, and everybody starts cheering and I was like cheering for myself too, and no more than probably 20 yards ahead there was a similar type of hill, but not going up but sort of angling to the side, and someone was like, hey, be careful, it's super slippery here. Well, I took like the high end line, which was probably not the best idea, but with mud you just kind of got to commit to it. And there I am, like probably no more than 50 yards from the dismount line and boom, I'm down in the mud. So I was like, well, maybe I celebrated a little bit too soon so had a couple of boo-boos to make up for that, but still it was kind of hilarious and also made for certainly a good story. So then, what I would love to see on your debrief is a note of what's next.

Speaker 1 18:27

So for me, I would say I'm certainly hooked on exera. I definitely don't want to go back to necessarily any road triathlons. That's not in the cards for me. A little bonus and I just got the email today I qualified for worlds, so hey, so I might be going to Italy, we'll see. We've got to plan all that out with family and travel and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1 18:47

But I definitely love the community in XTERRA, the challenge, the vibe. It's so chill, so friendly. Everybody on the course was just amazingly kind and gracious, was just amazingly kind and gracious. So I encourage you and certainly for me is do races that light you up. So I know a lot of people really like to do races with people. Would I love to have had friends there with me. Absolutely Would I have loved to have my family with me, maybe Certainly for the fun part, but sometimes when they get bored and when they get wet, they're not quite as happy. But honestly, there was so much to do with this race it would have been really fun and I'm sure that they would have been super entertained to see me fall at the end, and I'm sure that they also would have been super entertained to see me absolutely filthy, disgusting and muddy, and I probably would have hugged them all and I think that would have made me more joyous than anything. So, anyway, this race really affirmed my belief that we grow when we step into the unknown and we really face our fears, and that growth is what I'm here for.

Speaker 1 19:58

So some final thoughts for you and certainly you can add this to your debrief is some final notes. So if you're listening to this and you've been sitting on a big, scary goal. I hope that this is your sign to freaking. Go for it. You don't need all the answers, you don't need to be perfect. You just need to show up, trust your training and be willing to learn along the way. So thanks for tuning in. I am truly grateful for you and, as always, keep finding your edge.