This past Sunday, May 18th, was the running of the Mountain Man Challenge around Mt. Ascutney; a duathlon of 9.3km run, 40km bike, and 5k run. This seemed like a great event to get some race experience in before Mooseman in a couple of weeks, so off I went. I had never done a duathlon before, so wasn't really sure what to expect, but I told myself I'd be happy to finish in under two hours. Did that happen? Tune in next week to find out...or, I can just tell you now, either way works for me.
The race was slated to begin at a very civilized 9:00 a.m. Things were going well with my pre-race "getting ready" routine until I realized that I had lost my timing chip. Yikes. I scoured the grounds, my gear bag, my bike--every blade of grass--but no luck. I was feeling pretty bummed out but, as the timing guy said who gave me a new chip, things that start off badly often end well. Of course, he also told me that I would have to pay for the replacement chip if I couldn't find it after the race so I'm not sure how that qualified as "ending well." But, once chipped-up, I felt ready to go. After a pre-race briefing we were sent out to line up on the main road outside Ascutney State Park.
After a 3-2-1 Go! The group was off. We had all been packed over onto the left hand side of the road, and so I tried to find some open pavement from the get go. After a couple of brief surges I found myself at the front of the pack and pulling away, except for one guy who was hanging behind me. After the first two miles we had made quite a gap between ourselves and the rest of the pack. I was feeling pretty good. I managed to open up a bit of space and was leading the race. This was a first for me, and, while it felt good, was a bit disconcerting since I didn't have anyone to pace off of. It wasn't long, however, before that guy surged and caught me as we headed down a dirt road towards a steep climb. While he had pulled ahead, I managed to pass him again in the first half of the hill. I was hoping that his surge and the climb would have taxed him, but it didn't. He picked up the pace for the rest of the climb, and started to open up some space for himself. As we headed towards the transition, he managed to open up about 30 yards between us, but I was feeling comfortable, trying not to get to over-eager finishing up the first leg. I finished the run in about 32:30.
Coming into T1, I was trying something new--the "shoes attached to bike method." This gave me a really quick transition time and I was right behind him again coming out. But, once on his bike, he took off and it took me a little bit to get going and get my feet in the shoes, so it wasn't long before a big gap had opened up. Now, I know that you can't judge people's performance by their gear alone, but I've learned that it's a good rule of thumb that was somebody throws on one of those fancy teardrop helmets when they get on their bike, they're no cycling slouch. The first bit of the bike course was a nice downhill. This was nice--I got to get the old legs spinning but also a bit treacherous coming into the first road intersection. With a lot of speed coming down the hill, we were supposed to turn right onto Route 5, but it was really hard to see the oncoming traffic and there wasn't anyone there to control it. So, I mostly crossed my fingers (which is hard to do when you're trying to keep your hands on the brakes) and went for it. I continued to lose ground to the leader, but expected as much. I was in a comfortable second heading into about six miles of steady climbing.
I had biked the course during the previous week and, at that time, got a nice taste for how windy the conditions can get. I wasn't disappointed this time either. Climbing is already a struggle--climbing into a stiff headwind is just a cruel joke. What made it so frustrating was that I found it hard to accelerate after the hills leveled off into much more reasonable grades, so I could never really pick up any speed.
About thirteen miles in I got passed by another cyclist hammering on a fast downhill, and then a couple of miles later by another two cyclists. From here on, however, the bike course got a lot faster, which was nice and I managed to largely keep up with the two riders that had taken the third and fourth positions. I was also glad to have ridden the course earlier because I wasn't surprised by the rough road conditions. Cracks turned to bumps which turned to holes. Bouncing around in the seat my new pass time.
I came into T2 shortly after the third and fourth place riders , had a nice dismount, and made my way back to my racing flats to try and polish off this course. Okay, so maybe my strong run in the first leg had given me a false sense of confidence about where I would be right now, but I new coming out of transition that I still had a good chance at placing in the top three. The last run leg was an out-and-back 5 k and within the first quarter mile I had managed to pick up two runners, putting myself back in the number three slot. I also got a nice hand slap as a I passed one runner--it's always nice to race with such good spirits. I entertained some thoughts of pushing and catching another runner, but, as a neared the turn-around, knew it wasn't going to be. I was getting this nagging pain in my right quad, and just overall felt like I was pushing my limit. I also wasn't looking forward to the return--all uphill.
Rounding the corner to make the return trip was interesting, to say the least, since there was nothing marking where the turn-around was. Out of breath, I struggled to ask the volunteer working the aid stop where I had to go to, to which she responded, "oh, just to about the car is fine." Armed with such precise instruction, I set out on the return trip. Things started out badly. I was struggling to maintain a pace and, even worse, a guy that I had passed on the trip down was putting on a surge and making up some serious ground. About a half mile from the finish he passed me and kept pulling away as I didn't have it in me to hold him off. My "top-three" visions were quickly fading.
I turned into the park entrance and headed for the finish. Above me, the clock read 1:59:50. I sprinted the last 25 yards and finished six seconds later--just making it within my two hour goal time. Phew! I grabbed some water and, feeling a bit chilly, went back to my gear back for pants and a long sleeved shirt. Pulling the shirt over my head a miracle occurred: my original timing chip fell out of one of the sleeves (the velcro must have gotten snagged when I took the shirt off before the race).
So, overall, a good race day. I finished fourth overall, and first in my age group (though, with such a small field, I have just been competing with myself in that category). Even better, I didn't have to pay to replace a timing chip.
