Carl Pasio represents for SA at Xterra Italy!

June 04, 2012

Thanks to the awesome Carl Pasio for his write up on Xterra Italy below! For more from Carl – check out his blog here! 

I had entered and planned Xterra Sardinia months ago and it was to be my first race in Europe, as it kicked off the European Xterra series. Sardinia is an island situated off the South West coast of Italy.  I had planned to meet friend and fellow athlete Stuart Marais on the island. Although training had not been going 100% according to plan over the past 5 weeks, I decided to see how my body would respond to some intense racing. I had raced the race back in 2010 and knew exactly what to expect. With 25 pro men on the start line and a world class field, the pace was bound to be fast and explosive.

 

I exited the first transition in 4^th place and after just two kilometers on the bike, I suffered a mechanical blow. My rear derailleur had managed to bend upwards and jam the chain. In the time it took me to free my chain and fix the rear derailleur, six athletes had passed me and I was suddenly in 11^th position.

From here on in the race, I could just not recover and found myself fighting the bike for the remaining 30km. I entered transition 2 with a group of four and knew the race was over for me.

 

The swim went really well for me, I swam within my comfort zone and never felt under pressure throughout the two 750m swim laps. The crystal clear and mirror like water made for a quick swim and I managed to exit the water in the 4th position, just over a minute behind the three leaders.

The run was a beautiful 2 lap circuit of 5 kilometers. We crossed open river mouths on suspended bridges and ran on long stretches of soft beach sand. I was happy to finish the race considering the complications in the build up to the race.

Racing at the top level in the world is never easy and you need everything to go well in order to pull off that great result.

Fellow South African’s Stuart Marais had a magical performance and finished just outside the podium in 4^th position, while Carla van Huyssteen had a bad fall on the bike leg but still managed to finish in a respectable 8^th position.

My next race that I will be aiming for is Xterra France in 4 weeks time! Onwards and upwards!!

Thanks Carl – for more on Team RSAWEB – check out our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter!