Zofingen Race Report

The American Zofingen Long Course was the absolute hardest race I have ever put my body through! Ever, ever, ever!  Way back in the fall when I was formulating my Placid training I added this as a long training day.  I heard it was hard, there were mountains to climb and I thought "perfect!"  I had a good idea how hard the bike course was but I was happy about that.  I need to work on my climbing and this was a perfect opportunity.  But I never expected what I encountered on Sunday with the run.

Warning - this is long!

SATURDAY - DAY BEFORE THE RACE
Simon, James and I drove up to New Paltz and did the regular pre-race stuff.  Checked in, got a bib number, checked in the hotel, ate and ate some more.  The weather forecast was not looking great for Sunday but we expected that.  James was tackling the 112 Iron TT bike while I was attempting the long course.  We were in bed by about 930 and since we opted for a cheap motel, the bed wasn't very comfortable and we could see the outside light even with the blinds closed.  So needless to say, I didn't sleep very well but I expected that.

SUNDAY PRE-RACE
I got up ate a plain bagel and started to hydrate.  When I looked outside it was pouring rain.  I'm not gonna lie, I was freakin' nervous.  "What the heck did I get myself into??"  Simon was nice enough to drop me off at transition and as we were driving there I teared up about two times.  I wasn't sure if I could do this. I really wasn't. I wanted to turn the car around and go back to the terribly uncomfortable bed.  Simon was the absolute best, reassuring me that I was going to be ok and reminding me that this is just a long training day. "Just a long training day." Ok, I can do this.  If I can do this, I can do Lake Placid.  This was my test and this was going to be a long distance learning day.  That's it.

The American Zofingen is only in it's 7th year and it's such a low key race.  Transition was in a grassy field and the finish line ended up 3 steps inside a gazebo.  The only bad thing about this was that the bike out was down a dirt road, literally.  With all the rain we were getting this was now all muddy.  I was not looking forward to riding on that. After I set up my bike, I went to go grab my chip.  For some reason about 10 racers did not have a chip that corresponded to their bib number.  I was one of them.  My bib number was 109, my chip number?  Lucky 13.  A-Rod, Dan Marino and many other famous athletes wear the number 13 so I thought, well heck, I'm in good company!

TRAIL RUN 1
5 Miles 54:50 
802 feet elevation gain

After the national anthem someone yelled go and we were off on the first trail run.  Since I knew nothing about the course I stayed near the back and followed two chicks that looked like they knew what they were doing.  We ran through a muddy field, across some wooden planks and then up into the woods.  I came to the realization that this was a hardcore trail race.  The climbing went up and up on a wet, muddy, slippery, rocky trail that had tree roots sticking out all over the place.  It was a very technical run and was about a 12% grade.  Being that I've run on trails like never, I was excited and nervous.  I just followed the 2 girls in front of me and started talking to them.  They said they were using it as a long training day as well.  When we got to the top of the first climb the trail widened and I wound up getting ahead of them.  When my garmin hit 1 mile and I saw 11:28 I thought, no way!  The garmin MUST be wrong.  And then I realized it wasn't.  It did take me 11 minutes and 28 seconds on the FIRST mile!! uh oh.  This is gonna be tough.  Looking at last year's results I figured I would finish the first run around 45 minutes.  Right now, in Central Park I can run 5 miles comfortably in 42 minutes and mile one here was 11:28?!? Yikes.

When I hit the second climb I was forced to walk.  I dropped the group behind me and I felt like I was running on my own in the woods. A little freeing, but also a little scary!  Finally, I saw the aid station and a wide path again. Phew - I can motor on here for a bit and just keep my HR in check.  There was one technical descent that had me using gravity to my advantage.  I just kept thinking fast feet and hopped over roots, branches and rocks.  At the bottom I had to cross a small stream then run along wooden planks.  It was pretty fun and at this point I felt decent.  Oh, I should add that during the entire run it was pouring.  I wound up wearing my Odwalla tri top, arm warmers, Zoot tri shorts and a pair of Nike capris over the shorts since it was chilly. After passing the aid station for the last time the rest of the run was fairly easy except for one last steep ascent that I walked up.  The kicker in this run is that when you get to the end, it's a long uphill grassy field. All you want to do is gun it but you can't!

TRANSITION 1
3:01

It was pouring rain when I got into transition and it was chilly.  I decided to throw on my bike jersey to stay warm on the bike and kept my capris on.  This was a smart move.

BIKE 84 MILES
6:09:48 
8,603 elevation gain

Oh the bike... where do I even begin?  I estimated it would take me just under 2 hours per loop to finish so about 6 hours total. Obviously it took me a bit longer than that, but I'm ok with it.

LOOP 1
around 2:01:00

First when I got on the bike, my poor Roo was soaked from head to toe.  She started making funny noises and remember that gravel dirt road I mentioned earlier?  It was muddy and slippery and I just took my time getting out of the little park.  After that, you have to climb uphill for about two miles on the hardest hill of the course.  Hello Climbing Legs!! I was going so slow, I thought my rear brake was rubbing on my tire.  I stopped to check and nope, it was fine, I was just going THAT slow.  This was the very first time I was really tested.  I wanted to give up right then and there and I was 2 miles into the bike.  It was that hard and I was huffing and puffing in my easiest gear trying to just get up to the top.  Finally I made it and of course when I got to the top, the rain lightened up and so did my mood.

What goes up must come down so there was a nice descent except it's hard to enjoy it when the roads are windy and wet.  Then the course gets a little flat where I stayed in aero and started my nutrition. They throw in a couple of rollers that keep you honest and in the small chain ring, then comes the second mountain climb.

That's me before the long second mountain climb!  Now this 2nd climb isn't as steep as the first but it sure is tough.  I was in my easiest gear again and just spun my way up the hills.  A lot of the Iron TT folks passed me and the middle distance bikers but I shouted encouragement and I got lots of compliments on my pink camo bike :)  Again a nice long descent with normally beautiful views came next.  But it was foggy so you could barely see in front of you.  That's a little scary when you're going over 35 mph on your bike!

The road turns into some nice flats where I cruised in aero getting up over 20 mph.  I was happy with the way my legs were recovering from the climbs.  They burned but not bad and once I got to a flat section they felt great.  After more rolling hills, it was to the base of Mohonk Mountain where I would have to climb back up to the start line and up the killer of a hill.  Even though I got out of the saddle to stretch my legs and back there were really only 2 hills on the course that forced you to do it.  One was a short windy hill before the Mohonk Climb around mile 26 then the top of Mohonk around mile 29/30.

LOOP 2
around 2:04:00

So the fun began again on the second loop.  Mentally I was in a good place, hurting a bit on the climbs and not trying to think about the 15 mile run I still had to do.  The climbs felt harder, but not undoable and I just kept trucking.

I'm still smiling on loop two and this is a good example of one of the hairpin turns that I climbed not once, not twice but three times.  **I'm still flabbergasted that I actually did this race So as I'm chugging along I really had to pee.  Very badly.  That was a good sign that I was keeping hydrated.  I hadn't seen any porta potties so I figured I would try the another thing I never thought I would do.  Pee while riding the bike, as in on my beautiful pink camo bike and on myself (obviously I'm more concerned about the bike).  I was heading down the big descent and I knew an aid station wasn't too far away.  I figured I'd pee, grab a water bottle and wash myself off.  It was raining so it's not like you could notice.  It was a lot harder to pee on my bike than I thought it would be!  I kept telling myself, "it's ok, it's ok, just let her rip"  Finally the pee started to flow. I don't mean to be gross but, it actually felt kinda nice since it was warm. Ah, I felt SO much better after that.  Once I got to the aid station I grabbed a water bottle and hosed myself and the Roo down.  The rest of loop two was pretty uneventful... the silly hard climb was coming up and I. was. dreading. it.

LOOP 3
around 2:04:00

The Mohonk Mountain climb almost left me in tears it was so hard the third time.  I wound up passing a girl in the long course climbing and we chatted for a little bit.  It was weird, the people I started off with on the run, I never saw again and the girl I saw on the bike I never saw again either.  I don't know if people dropped out or what.  The race organizers still haven't posted the results so I have no clue where I placed or how many people wound up dropping out.  After the silly Mohonk Climb, all of a sudden, my adrenaline hit me.  "I am going to do it!  I am going to finish an 84 mile torturous bike course!! holy sh&t!!" I was so excited that I cruised on the flats and felt great again until I started the second long climb.  Then my mood soured.  I was tired.  My legs were burning from all the climbing. I still had 15 miles to run after this. Every complaint you can think of went through my head.  But I just kept pedaling.  Keep Moving Forward.

My super fans were at the hairpin turn again but this time I had to force myself to smile.  I was hurting here.  I peed again on the descent (hehehe) and washed myself off again at the aid station.  Boy it felt good to empty my bladder!  The other thing about the third loop is that I was cold!  My fingers were turning blue and the thought of not even starting the run because of this crossed my mind. As I was approaching the last climb back to transition my super biker friend James, caught up to me. We chatted a bit. He was on his fourth and final loop on the iron TT and I was on my final 3rd loop.  We were both happy to be almost done with this course!

After the short but steep climb, I made the left hand turn into the park where transition was and I had to go super slow cause the road was almost all mud.  It was uphill (of course) and skinny road tires don't really mix with muddy rocks.  I was so freakin' happy to get off the bike!

TRANSITION 2
3:22

I ripped off my bike jersey, helmet and gloves.  Then sat down to change into my sneakers.  I brought a fresh pair of socks to wear on the run and even though I know they were about to get soaked it felt great for those first few minutes to wear dry socks.

RUN 2 - 15 MILE TRAIL RUN
2:59:10 
2,365 elevation gain

Since this race report is long enough I'll just give you the highlights of the 3 loop run.  The first loop was actually my slowest of the three.  I walked up every major incline and there were about 3 of them.  I was basically running by myself the entire run except for seeing 4 other racers and some hikers.  Near the end of the first mile of the first loop my garmin beeped and as I looked down at my watch, I rolled my ankle on a rock.  I got such a sharp pain and had to stop.  "oh crap. Did I just sprain my ankle??" I stopped and bent over in pain and then started to walk.  The more I walked the more it loosened up so I began jogging. "Ok, ok, this feels ok"  Phew - that was a close one.  I kinda thought my race was gonna be over at mile 1, or should I say mile 90?!?!

When you finish each loop there's a major tease.... you run up the grassy hill, up 3 stairs into the gazebo, through the finish line and everyone who has finished already is drinking beer, eating, partying it up and here I am, with two more loops to do! Bastards! :)

Coming through on the first loop.  Yes, very foggy and despite the look on my face, I felt good!

All the low lying grassy areas were now mud pits.  You literally could not run through them or else you'd slip and fall.  I tried to look for the hardest piece of ground to run on but to no avail my shoes and myself were covered in squishy mud. 

The climbs were still tough the second and third loop but my legs recovered quick again and I was able to hold an 845 pace on the flats and even faster on the downhills.  I was surprised how good my legs felt on these sections.  "holy sh&t... I'm actually gonna do this!!! I'm gonna finish!"  and this time when I told myself that, I believed it.  What's one more 5 mile loop in the woods?  Absolutely nothing after all the work I did that day to get to that final loop.

A little less fog and more smiles after the second loop.  One more loop to go!

I decided to push my pace on the 3rd loop and it was my fastest one of the 15 miles.  Finally, after the last downhill I saw the grassy hill.  The small demon I had left to slay loomed in front of me.  I got this one.  I pushed, swung my arms and climbed my way to the finish line.  I was done!  I just finished the hardest race of my life in ten hour and ten minutes!  I was so happy to be done with that course!!!

Yes, I was hurting a bit in that last portion.  My face says it all.  The dude in green was my new friend Bruce.  We met with about 2 miles left in the last loop and we ran it in together til he pulled away on the last bit and finished ahead of me!  Nice guy... but typical! :)

Every person I met that day said that the Zof long course is harder than any ironman, including Placid.  I am so, so proud of myself for completing this monster of a course.  I learned so much in that ten hour sufferfest.  I learned patience, nutrition, pacing, how to deal with despair, wanting to quit.  I don't think I would have learned all of this through a regular training day.  I do have a lot more hard training days to come, but on a course like this?  I don't think I'll be tested like this again until July 24th.

It was a pretty well organized grass roots race.  But it was hard, if you couldn't tell.  This race is not for the fainthearted or for people that haven't done hill training.  Would I do it again?  Nope. Hah - it was just such a hard day from start to finish, I don't know if I would subject myself to that again.  But please don't let that dissuade anyone from signing for 2012's race.  It was an epic day.  I will always remember it and all the wonderful things I learned about myself.  Nothing will compare to that!

A long, tough training day is now in the books for Placid.  Race day, any time I get negative or my mind starts to wander, I'll think of the Zof and how I freakin' conquered it!

66 DAYS TIL PLACID!!