SkyHigh Adventures Off-Road Triathlon
XTerra Points Series
Grafton Lakes State Park, Grafton, NY
1km / 20km / 4mi
Well with giving final exams the week prior, a new puppy, a wedding the evening before and getting my wife to the airport at 4:30am I guess you could say I was a bit sleep deprived. Since I'm moving southward shortly though I am not sure when I will get another chance to partake in an off-road tri again. So running on about 10 hours of sleep in 3 nights I loaded up the essentials before crashing Saturday night for another minimal 3.5 hours of sleep before leaving for the airport. Both my parents, dedicated spectators, woke at 3:30 am with us to leave well before the sun had round the corner. Dropping my wife at the airport, even she was in a drug like sleep state, we said good-bye as she hurried to check in.
Having to bide our time before the 8am race start we drove the empty streets for a chance at breakfast and the never so desperately before needed extra strong coffee. Having found sustenance we made our way to the Grafton Lakes State Park where the race was to be held. Arriving before the organizers were set up allowed me to grab the prime real estate in the transition area.
To set this race up it consists of a 2 loop 1km swim with a short beach run before each loop. Then you head out for a 20km quite non-technical mountain bike ride with a 2 loop spectator friendly section. And lastly, a 4 mile, rather technical, rocky, rooty, trail run which puts you back on the beach for a well spectated finish. It is a fun course for all levels and abilities - purposely so.
This race was my 2nd triathlon ever, only having competed in the same race last year in which I grabbed 10th overall. This year though I just wanted to have a good time as I knew I was pretty tired. But I had been working on my swim which last year had put me almost 15 minutes behind after just the swim. I came out of the water in 2007 in almost last and passed nearly a hundred people on the bike. This year I had actually learned how to swim and was prepared for the bumps and bruises the mass start races have in the water.
On the first swim lap I focused on going straight as that was my biggest problem last time. By the second lap I was comfortable enough to focus more on form than direction and didn't lose as much time.
Overall I had lost only 5 minutes to the fastest swimmer and improved my swim time by a staggering 10 minutes over last year.
It had rained for days leading up to the race so the mountain bike course was a bit muddy and slick. But with an overcast day and sunglasses that were too dark, my lack of vision may have aided in my ability to forego the typical apprehension and just race the course. My parents were everywhere on the bike course, running from one section to the next I'm not sure how they got there faster than I did.
Passing again numerous racers on the bike I came into transition in 4th with 3rd right in front. Heading out for the run I started to get my usual very low side stitch. In last year's half marathon I had to walk for several minutes due to this pain. Being careful, I decided to walk before the stitch made me. About 90 seconds later I was able to carry a fairly easy jog over the technical trail but had lost 3rd place.
With about a mile to go I had no reason left not to kick. If I had to walk, I could hobble the last mile if I had to . So I kicked and with only a quarter mile to go, came alongside 3rd place. We agreed to sprint it out over the beach. Well, since I couldn't push the run early on due to the stitch I had a lot left in the tank and took him on the beach to finish 3rd place overall. I believe I took the fastest bike time again but the run is where I probably lost it. But hell, I had a blast. My Salsa El Santo was hooking up in the worst of conditions. The tires were a bit hard so I could roll fast on the easy trails so I made the suspension soft, and the SID's fine tuning and the El Santo's geometry really kept the tires grabbing over the mud covered roots and rocks.
And yes, the old beagle and the new puppy went with us and stole the show. We couldn't go more than 10 feet with the puppy, Loki (god of mischief), grabbing someone's attention and needing to be pet and awed over.
This race is great one to do. I have recommended it to several people in the past and I still will. The promoters, Skyhighadventures.com, put on a fantastic race in an open fun geared atmosphere but always with a little bit of competition mixed in. They also have a triathlon camp for youngsters and are big in encouraging new athletes, young and old, to come out and play.
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