State Championships

This past weekend was the New Mexico State XC and Super-D Championships. I raced in both events. The Super-D was quite fun, but definately not a downhill event. It started with loose rocky hairpin switchbacks and then turned into a moderate climb for the last 1.75+ of the 2.3 mile course. I took second in that event.
Sunday was the XC event. I rode hard and felt good for the first 13-14 miles of the 19.5 mile course. I kept the third place rider in my category in sight through the first 7-8 miles and watching her knew I could get a pass in dropping the last decent to the half-way mark. Indeed I did pass her there and kept in front of her for a few miles. She passed me about a mile and a half into the final half - an 8 mile climb up loose rocky, rutted 2 track that has turned more into a drainage ditch than anything. I stayed on her rear wheel until I took a small spill. This caused a mechanical and put me about 5 minutes behind her. I tried too hard to catch her, and glimpsed her in the trees about 15 minutes later, however, the last 2-3 miles of climbing ate me up and I dropped back even further, dashing my hopes of placing in the championships. I did everything I could to have enough calories in me, and to build my stores in the days before the race - but to no avail. Until I able to bring my metabolism rate down to a "normal" level this is going to be an issue for me. Or until I do not make mistakes, like the spill I took.
However,if my calculations are correct, this event will put me in the top 5 of the points series. I will be racing 2 of the last three events in the series over the next 3 weeks. My hopes are to end up in the top 3 of my Sport category after only 5 races in the 13 event series.