Last year, I completed
my first ever duathlon, my first ever and the one and only American Zofingen
duathlon! Every year the race offers 3
different distances:
·
Short (5m trail
run/29m road bike/5m trail run)
·
Middle (5m trail
run/29m road bike/5m trail run/29m road bike/5m trail run)
·
Long (5m trail run/87m
road bike/15m trail run)
Last year, I opted for
the middle distance. As much as I
complained how freezing cold I was throughout the race, and how much this race
hurt (I may have also said, I’ll never do it again because the hills are just
plain silly), I found myself toeing the start line this past weekend for a
second year in a row.
You can read my race
report from 2011 here:
One glaring difference
from last year to this year was the weather! We were greeted by beautiful blue
skies, and the sun was out early on. I was more worried about overheating than
freezing, but really I was just happy I wasn’t going to shake uncontrollably
while riding my bike.
Coach Jorge couldn’t
make the trip, so it was just me and Jess. Since this was going to be her first
time doing the race, we decided to drive the bike course ahead of time to give
her an idea about what she is getting into. I must say, I have a very selective
memory, because I definitely didn’t remember how either steep or long these
uphills were! Maybe the cold/rain/fog last year made them look a bit less
intimidating or they grew since last year? J To give you a better idea of what I am
talking about, and put everything into perspective, American Zofingen is touted
to be the hardest duathlon in the U.S. And here is why! When you climb around
1,100 feet over 5 miles on the run (3x), and around 3,000+ feet over 29 miles
(2x) on the bike, your legs are bound to rebel at one point or another. That’s
over 9,300 feet of climbing over 73 miles in total. Ouch! Mine are sure giving
me the middle finger right now for putting them through a 5 hour and 46 minute
roller coaster ride.
To quote Mark Allen:
“American Zofingen has been created to fill the glaring void in
the US duathlon race calendar, i.e. the lack of an ultra distance duathlon a la
Powerman Zofingen in Switzerland. Mark Allen, 6 time victor of Ironman Hawaii,
has been quoted as saying the hardest race he’s ever done is Powerman Zofingen.
Powerman Zofingen’s severity is due more to its terrain (mountainous road bike
course, hilly trail runs) than its formidable length (10K run / 150K bike / 30K
run). American Zofingen, although slightly shorter, is arguably harder. New
Paltz, as a venue, offers stunning scenery and a grueling challenge. It is one
of the toughest duathlons on the planet. If you want to know if you are ready
for the one and only Powerman Zofingen World Championship in Switzerland, come
join us.
Trip to Switzerland
would be kind of cool, right?
With the foggy/rainy
weather last year, I really only experienced the “grueling challenge”, so I had
to return this year to experience the “stunning scenery”, and of course to try
to defend my middle distance title.
Here is a pic I was
able to snag while we were driving the course. Doesn’t quite do the scenery any
justice, but you get the point. Training weekend in the Catskills could be FUN!
Before I get into the
nitty gritty, I am going to blow my cover and as most of you already know from
facebook/twitter/BT, I was able to defend my title (I am very happy about that),
and I did my best to enjoy the scenery! Or the little bit one can enjoy while
either constantly climbing super slow or descending super fast. To achieve an
overall avg. speed of barely 17 mph over the total of 59 miles, I was either
climbing in the single digits, wondering how I am still upright on my bike, or
my eyes were watering from going downhill way too fast in which case I was just
hoping to stay upright because otherwise I wouldn’t be here blogging about my
experience. The run itself is a beauty of its own. You are either going up and
up and up, or down, and down and down, negotiating your footing in between
roots, rocks, fallen trees, small creeks, tiny wooden planks connecting
different trails, you name it, this trail has it. To me it felt like doing
agility drills for 5 miles, 3x over. The first time around, I felt great; light
and quick on my feet, skipping over rocks, leaping over creeks, and fallen
trees like they weren’t even there, and just like with doing agility drills
over and over again, 2nd lap my legs became a bit heavier slower,
and well the 3rd one, you get the picture.
Last year, I had no
idea what I was getting myself into. This time around, I knew exactly how this
is going to go down, how much this race will hurt, and how much more it could
hurt if not paced correctly. This race teaches you how to pace properly, and I
can guarantee you that if you “gun” the first 5 miles because you feel good,
you will be walking the last 5 miles wondering why! It’s also a race that tests
your mental toughness. Yes – it’s super hilly on both the run, and bike, that’s
a given. What is however very unique about this race is that except for the
first 5 miles on the run, you are most likely going to find yourself alone.
Alone for a long time! Alone running through the woods; alone climbing and
descending the roads. Combine the loneliness with the beautiful scenery of the
Catskill Mountains, and just like that you are reaching for the camera or
iphone in your back pocket to capture the beauty. But wait – this is a RACE.
It’s time to GO, GO, GO! Hello mental toughness!
This is a RACE, and
there is a finish line to get to! Put the cameras away, fight through the pain,
and keep the foot on the gas. I can almost guarantee you that no matter how
much you will suffer through this race regardless of the distance, you will be
crossing that finish line with a huge smile on your face though you may have
just spent the last 5 miles or more wondering WHY, why exactly you are putting
yourself through this J
And here I am, only a
few steps from crossing the finish line. And YES – I am smiling!
.
Maybe I should stop
going on and on about the uniqueness and awesomeness of this race, but is it on
your “To Do” list yet?
Due to its location, it
is limited to a small number of competitors when compared to any triathlon you
can think of. The atmosphere is super laid back, and everyone is super
friendly. This is where Jess and I picked up our numbers the day before the
race! Yes! This is the entrance to the Catskill Multisport Triathlon store J And yes they do have
quite a bit of product in there!
Drive of the course, dinner in dt.
New Paltz, and race morning arrived rather quickly. Here we are ready to rock!
We set up our transitions, and had
the pleasure of listening to the National Anthem being played by the race
director on bagpipes! He was amazing! It was also rather emotional as the
Middle distance duathlon was named after the late Chris Gleason who collapsed a
quarter mile from the finish line of the 2011 Philadelphia marathon and sadly
passed away. He was scheduled to race, but instead it was his family and
friends that were there racing in his honor. Each of them taking one leg of the
race, and eventually running the last 5 miles, and finishing the race together.
It was super emotional even though I never met Chris.
8:00 am was there,
before I knew it, and it was GO TIME. We were all lined up ready to go, and I
lined myself up in the first row.
Here I am READY to get this show started.
And off we went. Thanks Jess J
If you feel like
reading my detailed race report, Czech out the link below.
For the rest of you,
I’ll leave you with bunch of numbers that may or may not mean anything to you,
but describe the toughness of this race really well, and help me paint a
picture of how my offseason training has been coming around.
Besides of course
having a blast, my main goal was to run faster, while keeping the bike times
around the same (deep down I really wanted a faster bike of course), and if
that meant defending my title from last year – that was just icing on the cake J. Somehow I managed to
do just that and though I am not impressed with my second bike split. Coach
Jorge was right (AGAIN) when he said I should go 5 min faster overall! Does he
have a crystal ball or something? If so, I have many more questions to ask him J.
The icing on the cake
was not only winning the 1st Overall Female, but also a Top 10
finish Overall. Only 9 more guys to Czech chick though they kicked my butt
pretty well.
All smiles getting my
prize J
And let’s not forget
about the amazing post race massage!
So what did I take
away from this race besides my 2nd gigantic mug? (btw my drinking
ability lacks far behind, but these mugs are still way cool)
1. PACING
is KEY, and it will decide the outcome of your race. You go out too hard, you crash and burn. Notice
the differences between the first 3 runs and even the 2 bikes for the top 40
finishers. The gap just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and that’s because
hills are relentless and punishing. When looking at the times of the first 5
mile run – there were 22 people who ran faster than me, only 9 of those 22 ran
faster than me during the second 5 mile run, and only 7 out of the 9 run faster
on the third and final run. Since I was a bit disappointed with my slower
second bike time, I looked at the same comparison. 17 people biked faster than
me on the first bike, but only 7 out of the 17 biked faster than me on the 2nd
bike. What makes me feel a little better about my slower 2nd bike,
is that only 1 person had a smaller gap (slow down) between the first two bike
segments. I apologize for the statistics class, but it helps ME justify that
pacing really works J.
Here are the actual results, and if you really want to, you can go see how going out too hard will cost you many more minutes in the latter part of the race.
I think I finally
believe that going out slower, and finishing faster means faster overall time! Definitely
a concept I wasn’t in love with, but one that coach Jorge has been trying to
drill into my head for a while now. But, but why go “slower” when I feel good,
and then try to go “faster” when I feel like poop, coach? Take it from the non-
believer, crash and burn a few times, try it out for yourself and let me know
when you believe! J Hard work on Jorge’s part, few sufferfests on
my part, and here I said it – PACING ROCKS and WINS RACES J
2. My
offseason training is paying off. All 3 of my runs were faster than last year. It was dry, and it
was hot, and I am super happy about all of my three run splits. Heat usually slows me down. Not this time. My
bike times were relatively the same when compared to last year, though last
year I was able to speed up on the 2nd loop then which didn’t happen
this time. I haven’t quite looked at my power files because I was not very
happy with the final numbers I quickly glanced at, but guess what – I am
bringing the watts I didn’t leave on the Zofingen course with me to Quassy! J And I will bike and run faster than I did last year! And of
course I gotta swim too, but if the faster running times are any indication of
my offseason training, then I should see improvement in the water too! Less
than 2 weeks and counting. I’ll see a lot of you there!
3. The
more you learn to suffer (have fun) in training, the more you will be able to
suffer (have fun) while racing! I can’t tell you how many people I have passed on the 2nd
and 3rd loop of the run that
were walking – not power walking, just plain walking. This course WILL reduce
you to walking – I too walked the steep uphills especially on the 3rd
loop when the shuffle no longer worked and my legs just simply wouldn’t move
much, but it’s about how quickly you can get back to running. You learn to work
through the dark moments in training, they will be easier to deal with when
racing.
4. Racing
from the front is FUN! I did sneak this one in here, because this
NEVER happens, but I had a blast racing from the front and being the one that
was being chased. Now if I can just learn how to swim FAST J
Thank you Jorge
Martinez (E3 Training Solutions – www.e3ts.com) for talking me off the ledge when
I thought I forgot how to bike because you would only put swimming and running
on my schedule J. You may just be onto something here. And of
course thanks to all my friends/family/supporters for putting up with my
triathlon craziness. You all know who you are.
And Mr. Fireball –
next time, please don’t leave any precious watts on the highway! I know how
fast you can really go! Till next time J
Awesome job!! This race is definitely on my 'to do' list!! Thanks for the great report and pics!
ReplyDelete