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American Zofingen Short Course - DuathlonStandard


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New Paltz, New York
United States
Total Time = 3h 04m 7s
Overall Rank = 10/51
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

I won't bore with the details but we arrived the day before, ate a little dinner and went to bed early. Even though I didn't start until 8:30, I needed to be there for 7:00 to pick up the race packet
Event warmup:

Umm, I haven't run 10 miles since this spring so it seemed silly to warm-up
Run
  • 36m 56s
  • 5 miles
  • 07m 23s  min/mile
Comments:

Hardest 5 miles I have ever run and you just keep thinking about how you have to do this again after the bike. Halfway through I was already selecting hills I was going to walk next time.

I started off pretty slow and figured I would build as I was going along. This is a 100% trail run and the ground was a little wet as we are running over boards and leaves so I was pretty cautious. We hit a few rollers early and then turn right into the single track. The race immediately turns up and we are now climbing walls. I quickly realize that all the road training I did was worthless. These are really steep climbs, covered in rocks and very little sure footing. I am up on my toes and really huffing and puffing and it is still early. As much as you try to back down the pace, it just requires a certain amount effort to get over everything. I pass a few people and settle into a pace. Finally we reach the top of the first hills and things level off. The problem is that you are either running the steep uphills or long grinding downhills that blow your quads apart. Over the top of climb number 3, we hit a section that is probably about 1.5m of downhill. I have caught one guy and we are just flying down these hills. One more steep hill and then we approach the finish. Yeah, I only have to do that one more time and throw in 28 hilly miles in the middle. As I run by my wife I tell her that is hardest 5 miles I have ever done, and it was.
What would you do differently?:

Trail run training. It is very different and my quads and hammy's were just not prepared for this type of running.
Transition 1
  • 00m 50s
Comments:

Nothing fancy, just slipped on the bike stuff and headed out.
Bike
  • 1h 41m 19s
  • 29 miles
  • 17.17 mile/hr
Comments:

You head out of the park on a dirt road, turn left and start climbing. It is not a horribly steep hill but it just keeps going and going and going. I am SOOOOO happy I had my compact crank or this would have been 10x worse. Even with that, by the end of this hill I am "spinning" at 68 rpms. I can't go any slower and my legs are burning. Greg Pelican of Bethel bikes is right in front of me so I just try to keep pace with him.

Finally I crest the hill and then the fun starts...the backside of the hill. So I am cruising down this hill...at about 45 mph...in my aerobars...around corners!!! But I making up ground on Greg so I just stay tucked as low as I can go. I start going around one corner and I am starting to think I hit it a little fast. Very quickly I am having doubts that this is going to have a happy ending. I get my right arm of the aerobars, star breaking a little, look down to see I am still going 45. The corner gets sharper as I am sweeping though it, orginally hugging the yellow line but now rapidly approaching the guardrail. All I am thinking is if I die, my wife has no way to get home because we took the standard and she can't drive stick...weird things go through your mid sometimes. Just as my front tire hits the white line that is about 6 inches from the guardrail, I feel the biking slowing down just enough that can lean as hard as I can to the left and miss the guardrails...phew. The good side of this is that I FLEW through that turn and I am now right behind Greg. He is on a road bike and I am the GURU so the difference on the downhills is huge. I go flying by him on the flats (if there were any) and downhills and then he catches me on the hills.

The bike is much like the run where you are either going up or down. The ups are long, grinding climbs and then downs are these great stretches of really high speeds. I loved this bike course, even as painful as it was. Every hill I just spun up trying to save my legs for the second run. Didn't matter, the climbs were too long and my quads were screaming by the end. It was at this point that I started to do the math of how long it would take me to finish if I just walked the next 5 miles.

Coming up the last climb, Greg passed me and I let him go. I saw him pretty much the rest of the race but I was never in danger of actually catching him as passing people was the last thought on my mind.
What would you do differently?:

Ride more miles. Ride more miles uphill. Ride more miles uphill with a sack of 50 weights on my bike or just find tougher hills. The ones around me aren't hard enough.
Transition 2
  • 00m 43s
Comments:

I had to move quickly or I was going to sit down and sleep.
What would you do differently?:

Sit down and sleep.
Run
  • 44m 6s
  • 5 miles
  • 08m 49s  min/mile
Comments:

I start off and I am of course tired but don't feel too bad. The first half mile or so is pretty flat so I just cruise along. Then we hit the trails and the first climb. I really am just pretending to run at this point. I am doing some sort of bouncing thing but I can't imagine it is much faster than walking...but dammit I am going to run. I reach the top of the first climb and I am so tired I don't even want to run the downhill. Slowly I start building up steam and get into a decent rythm. I am starting to get really thirsty and pretty hungry but the first water stop is at the top of the first hill. I grab a water but I am breathing so hard I think I only managed to throw some on my ear.

I survive the downhill (don't hear that too often) and start climb number 2. I don't actually know how many climbs there were but 3 seemed like a manageable number so I went with that. I ignored any hills that didn't fall into the 3 and they seemed easier by discounting them. So half up climb #2, I am trying to decide between continuing or curling up in a heap of crying mess on the side of trail. I can barely put one foot in front of the other so it truly was a tough a decision. But then I notice there is someone up ahead..I catching someone...I will now be top 10 (they told me I was 11th off the bike). I don't know how many people entered but something about top 10 sounds cool so I scrap the curling up in a weeping ball plan and keep running. My 12:15/mile pace up the hill was clearly too much for him as I CHARGED my way into 10th...oh god I'm tired.

So more downhills and I am actually feeling a littl recharged...then I get the dredded twinge. Oh oh, hammy cramp. I slow down and try to stretch things out little, bad idea, it gets way worse. So I take a different approach and just start relaxing everything. This seems to work and within a half mile, it is gone. Managed a little water and GU at the next aid station which helped tremendously. I hit the last big climb (there are a few more climbs but since this is #3, none of the others count). I walked half this climb. You may call it wussing out, I call it race strategy. I could barely run up this damn thing the first time around and had decided I was going to walk it on the second loop. Sure enough, that is what I did and it felt good.

It is at the top of this hill that you hit the long downhill. I figure I have maybe 2 miles to go total and the faster I run, the sooner I am done. So I slowly start to open it and feel pretty good. I am really starting to fly but my quads are taking an absolute beating. So for some godforsaken reason I think to myself "hmm, with all of this pounding, I can't believe my quads aren't cramping". I don't even have to write what happened next. It wasn't bad but they definately started to cramp. However, I decided to take the hill approach. If the hill doesn't have a number it doesn't exist. If I just ignore the cramps, they don't exist...which for all intensive purposes worked.

The cruelest part of the day comes at the end. You finish in the gazebo...which is up 3 steps...which are the toughest 3 steps ever...but I made it.
What would you do differently?:

Run trails
Post race
Warm down:

I could barely walk. It took me 15 minutes just to get out the gazebo as I didn't have the heart to walk down the 3 steps.

AmZof has the best post race food spread EVER. 6 different types of soups, cornbread, pasta, assortment of other dessets, 3 half kegs and other stuff I didn't even get to. Not many people do the race so there are no lines and spectators are allowed to have the food as well.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The course was too hard...if they make it flatter, I will do much better...or at least suffer less

Event comments:

Best race ever. You don't know what you are missing by not doing this race.




Last updated: 2008-10-13 12:00 AM
Running
00:36:56 | 05 miles | 07m 23s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/51
Performance:
Course: Uphill, downhill, repeat
Keeping cool Drinking
T1
Time: 00:50
Overall:
Run with bike?
Jump on bike?
Getting up to speed and into shoes:
Biking
01:41:19 | 29 miles | 17.17 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/51
Performance:
Wind:
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 00:43
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:44:06 | 05 miles | 08m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/51
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2008-10-13 2:29 PM

Expert
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Subject: American Zofingen Short Course


2008-10-13 3:15 PM
in reply to: #1739136

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Master
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Connecticut
Subject: RE: American Zofingen Short Course

Wow, it sounds exquisitely brutal!

Nice job out there Mark.  In addition to being fast, you also know how to suffer. Awesome report, it was a fun read.  I was almost cramping in sympathy.

2008-10-13 5:16 PM
in reply to: #1739136

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Master
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CT
Subject: RE: American Zofingen Short Course

wow Mark! this sounds very challenging!

congrats on NOT choosing to curl up and cry! and on hanging on to a top 10 finish!

were there any old "bats" competing or should I not put this on my "bucket" list?

2008-10-13 6:16 PM
in reply to: #1739136

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Expert
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Oak Ridge,
Subject: RE: American Zofingen Short Course

Congrats Mark!  Great race.  Sounds like a lot of fun and seriously good suffering.  I so regret not doing it with you.  Maybe next year. 



Edited by CNIDog 2008-10-13 6:17 PM
2008-10-14 9:00 AM
in reply to: #1739136

Pro
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Andover
Subject: RE: American Zofingen Short Course
Damn... Sounds like a good time--or not!

CONGRATS for gettin' it done--top 10 too.

BTW:
Good thing you had the compact.
2008-10-14 10:29 AM
in reply to: #1739136

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Expert
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Welcome to Super Mario World
Subject: RE: American Zofingen Short Course
Wow, if this is just the short course I can't imagine what the long course must be like. Awesome job and awesome report!


2008-10-14 11:55 AM
in reply to: #1739136

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Extreme Veteran
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CT
Subject: RE: American Zofingen Short Course
That sounds awesome!!! congrats on a strong race. I just did SOS (http://www.ulster.net/~sosnyta/) at Mohonk in september and it was the most amazing course I have ever raced on and one of the best races!
2008-10-16 10:36 AM
in reply to: #1739136

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Champion
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MA
Subject: RE: American Zofingen Short Course

Congrats!

Sounds like challenging is not quite the right word.

Glad you made it through the tight corner, missed the guardrail so you could drive home

Super race...way to step up to the uber challenging course.

 

2008-10-16 11:15 AM
in reply to: #1739136

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Subject: RE: American Zofingen Short Course

Wow! Great  job and a great RR. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who thinks the 3 steps into the gazebo are cruel.  Congratulations on your top 10, and looks like you were 3rd in your AG as well.

I agree, people really don't know what they are missing with this race. Definitely worth a trip, and if I can finish (an hour slower than you), lots of people can do it.

2008-10-17 6:44 AM
in reply to: #1739136

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Expert
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Avon, CT
Subject: RE: American Zofingen Short Course
Wow, this course sounds like a real beast! Congrats on making it into the top 10!
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