McQuaid starts 2012 on fire
Melanie McQuaid rules XTERRA, as her three World Championship titles, three second place finishes at Worlds, four overall series titles and five US Championships will attest. Last October she was on a mission to win her fourth XTERRA World title and carved out a big lead on the bike. But just two miles from the finish, she started to falter from heat exhaustion. A mile from the end Lesley Paterson passed her. And just a quarter mile from the end Melanie passed out and had to be carried from the field of play.
Over the winter, McQuaid took stock and decided her first point of order was to improve her disappointing performance on the bike in paved triathlons. Last Saturday, her decision to switch to Trek bikes was validated with a career highlight win at Ironman 70.3 California where she improved her 2011 bike split there by 8:05 and beat Mirinda Carfrae’s 2011 winning time by 7:05 and topped 2011 runner-up Heather Jackson by 2:44.
While McQuaid’s preeminence in XTERRA is unquestioned, her status in the half Ironman ranks has been good but not top tier – until Oceanside raised her horizons.
In 2010, she scored a 5th at Wildflower and won Lake Stevens 70.3 against a strong field. In 2011, she was 6th at Oceanside 70.3 and 2nd at Lake Stevens 70.3 but had a disappointing day at Ironman 70.3 Worlds at Las Vegas on a tough course which seemed made for her bike and run skills. Now things look different to the 38-year-old who seems to be just coming into her own on pavement.
Slowtwitch: Nice to see you have a better finish than Maui?
Melanie McQuaid: Yeah that sucked. You know, vengeance is sweet.
ST: What’s wrong with your foot?
Melanie: These shoes are too wide for my skinny feet. Got a blister and I need to get it wrapped — I don’t want it to get infected.
Man in medical: I am the most experienced blister guy.
Other medical personnel: Another guy was just in here and he didn’t cry. So you’re good!
Melanie: [After her blister is exposed] Ow! I ran on that for 12 miles.
ST: Socks?
Melanie: No time for socks.
ST: Seemed like a quantum leap for your bike on pavement?
Melanie: My bike didn’t fit the last three years. Now you can see what I was missing. I was really, really strong in the XTERRA stuff. But it wasn't transferring to the 70.3. I changed brands this year to Trek and it made all the difference in the world.
ST: The fit or the bike?
Melanie: Just the bike is better. It’s so much more adjustable. It’s just more comfortable and faster and everything about it just feels better.
ST: Do you rate this win high?
Melanie: I knew I could do it [dominate the bike in 70.3 races] but until you do it nobody else thinks you can. So
I made some changes over the winter to address exactly that.
ST: Did you consult advisers on the issue?
Melanie: I coach myself as well as other athletes. So I knew the problem wasn't just me. I knew it was something else.
ST: Your swim was OK [9th best pro woman, 2:18 back of race leader Meredith Kessler]. But you ran away on the bike.
Melanie: I actually got tired in the swim. I hadn’t swum in a wetsuit in a race yet this year. I was plenty warm in my wetsuit. It is just I was not race fit on the swim.
ST: Seems like you were pretty excited at the finish.
Melanie: I didn’t know if I was going to hold on there. I heard rumors. Heather [Jackson] not only lost weight [12 pounds in training] It looked like she lost vertical height too! [chuckles]. I thought for sure she was going to catch me. But you know it’s not over ‘til it’s over. So I was just pretty stoked to hit the finish line. And I was glad I didn’t have to go up that hill [at the run turnaround] again. I totally didn't want to. I was happy just to run into the finish.
ST: When did you think you had it won?
Melanie: Not until the end. I didn't count any chickens. When I saw the finish line I looked back and she wasn't there. Then I knew. That's it. That was the only time I thought it was over.
ST: What does this win mean to your career?
Melanie: I dunno. I think I am pretty versatile. I knew I could do better at this 70.3 stuff than I had been doing. The last few years were a bit frustrating because I would be so strong on a mountain bike but not on a time trial bike. So over the winter I looked hard at what it was and wondered — Was it me or what was it?
ST: Your bike split this year was a race-best 2:22:44 – 8:05 better than your split last year, 3:54 better than the next best woman today, Rachel McBride, and 5:19 better than Heather Jackson. Where did it come from?
Melanie: I was just so fortunate to get an opportunity to ride for Trek and obviously switching to Trek was a game changer for my career.
ST: What model?
Melanie: The Speed Concept.
ST: What about it feels better?
Melanie: I have a really wacky body with really long legs and a short torso and I just couldn’t get my other bike to work for my body type. I ride a really small bike for my height. And the Speed Concept has all these things you can adjust in the front. I am so comfy. And because I am comfy on the bike I can run faster. Because I don’t come off all stiff and sore, I can start the run with some energy. I can ride faster and it cost me less energy to ride faster.
ST: You came off to T2 first with a 3:36 lead over Heather Jackson. On her fastest day, she might run you down. So how good was your run today?
Melanie: Keep in mind this my first race of the year. I am coming off winter and I hadn’t done anything in a long time. So this isn’t the world championships. It’s the first race of the season. So the good news is there is obviously a lot of room for improvement. Also I didn’t come here for a win. I came here to get a race in. So frankly I am just stoked. Also, I’ve had just one 800 meter swim in my wetsuit. It’s early! I am not in very good shape. These girls have been racing since the middle of February. I actually started the swim just after Meredith Kessler and Kirsten Peterson. I just missed staying with them and I was tired and I just fell backward through the pack. I actually got dropped from the main group because I was getting tired. I am not going to lie. I was dropped.
ST: How many women did you have to Pac Man through on the bike?
Melanie: Not too many. I had a pretty good transition, so I only had to pass like four or five on the road. That is a big difference. I was getting drafting penalties last year. It is hard to work past them. It is so much nicer to come out sooner rather than play some stupid game as you are riding through a thousand people.
ST: Can anything be done about it? This year the pro women started two or three minutes behind the pro men.
Melanie: I do think we need a bigger gap. Because the mid to back of the pack pro men are a pain in the ass. They really get in the way and it is frightening because guys are working together and catching back up after you pass them. I would like us to have a bigger gap because we are swimming over them. And then they are in the middle of a women’s group on the bike and that is not really right.
ST: How tough was it this time?
Melanie: So it was nice. All things considered, I think my swim was pretty good. Again, there is always room for improvement.
ST: Who was the last person you passed and at what mile of the bike?
Melanie: I think it was Meredith Kessler because she was out in front. I caught her when we were at that bike path that leads up to Dana Point [about Mile 16]. Then I was kind of on my own.
ST: Did she put up resistance?
Melanie: No. I like to go past people, pretending I am super strong when really I am going to slow down. [chuckles] Psych em out!
ST: Are you going to do more than your usual quantity of pavement races?
Melanie: I am going to try the really hard bike courses and I will do stuff that I think I will do well at.
ST: Do you want redemption on your 14th place finish at Ironman 70.3 Worlds in Las Vegas last year?
Melanie: I am not sure if 70.3 Worlds is a big focus for me yet. It really depends on how much faster my run gets. If I cannot get top three, I don’t want to go, because so many women there are going to be top caliber. I really care about XTERRA and I do not want to have another Worlds like that last one.
ST: You have won XTERRA Worlds three times. But given your collapse last year, is Maui bad luck for you?
Melanie: Exactly. I don’t know why I have bad juju on that island. But I definitely have plans for that. I just really enjoy XTERRA and I don’t want to get too far away from that.
ST: You are a proud competitor, so what was your reaction to being carried off at Maui?
Melanie: I don’t remember the last two miles of the race. So I didn’t have much of a choice. I was really out of it and I don’t remember any of it. I wanted to drop them by so much and I obviously made a mistake. I went there to destroy the field and I just should have gone there to win. I had no regrets about how it went. I learned a lot about that course, racing it that way. So I will be back.
ST: How did the cold affect you at Oceanside?
Melanie: Actually I think all of us felt really crappy because your legs and feet were really cold. You didn’t know how fast you were going because your feet were really cold. My feet didn’t warm up until 7 miles into the run. I think it was the same for everyone.
