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SRRC Race Reports
XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon/Duathlon, Rocky Gap State Park - Flintstone, MD—Sun. July 15, 2007
by
Dave Ashley
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| Tearing up the course on a bike . . . |
Back in Rocky Gap park, one of my favorite destinations, for this race—a .75 mile swim/14 mile mountain bike/5 mile trail run or 3 mile trail run/14 mile mountain bike/5 mile trail run. It was a beautiful day, with temperatures in the mid-80s. It was my first time running this race, but judging by the crowds, it is a favorite.
I originally signed up for the triathlon, but I didn't have time to swim in training, and when I saw the course (.75 mile lake swim, 2X.375 mile laps) I changed my mind and switched to the duathlon. The only difference is that the duathlon has a 5K instead of the .75 lake swim. I figured I would enter the transition ahead of the swimmers—I'm a quick runner—and enter the single-track mountain biking before they did and make some time gains.
The 5K was no picnic, and during the last mile the terrain got so rough that I had to use my hands to climb up a rocky ravine. I finished near 30 minutes, much slower than I expected and much more winded. (I'm normally a sub 20 5K runner.). I still managed to beat most of the swimmers out of the water and got into the faster group of bike riders, which was well worth the extra energy spent on the run. The mountain biking is medium-technical, with lots of rocks and tree roots on some portions, and a few steeps. But the majority is smooth, dirt single-track/fire road. It was a joy, and I passed many of the swimmers in the early part of the ride. I imagine they were more winded from the swim than I was from the run.
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| Running to the finish. |
My transition to the run was smooth, and the 5 miles followed the 5K course with a 2 mile add-on loop. This included the same climb up the ravine again. At this point, everybody was walking up the hill. (We jogged during the 5K.) That was painful! With a 1/2 mile to go to the finish, I began to lose my wind and started walking. A runner asked if I was ok, then threw me a gel pack. It made a big difference immediately, and I was able to jog the rest of the way in, placing in the top 10 for the duathlon. I was the 2nd fastest mountain biker for the duathlon, the 5th fastest on the 5K, and around 15th on the final 5 mile run—lost some time here...need more endurance training!) I will be racing this again next year, perhaps trying the triathlon if I join Cub Run to get in some pool time.
July 2007
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