The Mt Taylor Winter Quadrathlon. Quite simply, 42+ miles of pain and suffering. Although it takes roughly the same time as a half ironman triathlon, the nature of the race is much different. Simply put, you bike, run, ski, and snowshoe from the town of Grants, New Mexico to the top of Mt Taylor. Then, you turn around and snowshoe, ski, run and bike back to Grants. The elevation gain is 4770 ft to the top, starting at a not quite sea level 6500 ft and going to a lung busting 11,300 ft. So, unlike a triathlon were your goal at the start is to pace yourself evenly for the whole race, at the Quad, it starts hard, keeps getting harder, gets even harder, gets freaking hard, gets easier, gets a lot easier, gets harder and gets ?. And you have 6 transitions as well.
Okay, timeout. So far, I've just listed good reasons to NOT race. Why do the race? First, it is the "Ultimate Challenge" according to their brochure. Second, the volunteers are the best. With all of the different transitions, you send up your equipment for the run and ski/snowshoe the night before and then when you get to each transition, the volunteers try their best to get you going to the next leg as fast as possible. Third, the whole feel of the race is awesome. For someone who has gotten tired of the hoopla (and cost) associated with WTC/NAS races, it is really refreshing go to such a homegrown race that is very affordable. And finally, where else can you do a Quadrathlon?
Timeout over. The day before, you send up a bag of running stuff and anything you might want for the bike down to the first transition. You also send up your skis, your snowshoes in a backpack and anything you want for the run down to the second transition. You have to bring your snowshoes up with you on the ski as they can't readily bring them up.
Race start is at 9 am, which is pretty late for us. We got a bit of a run warm up in after getting the bikes ready. Last year, we got some flats while biking to warm up, so we didn't feel like risking that too much and spun around just to check the bikes out.
The bike starts out going up a little hill. I started right behind Amber in the second row. A doofus in the first row almost took us out when he stopped pedaling and swerved left while tightening his toe clips. After that little scare, we got situated into the main pack. Like all of the legs uphill, the bike starts with some elevation gain, but ends with the steep stuff. Once we were out of town, it became really clear that there were going to be tough headwinds for most of the bike. A and I lost the front group after a bit but were able to stay together and draft off each other and a few other guys.
- We interrupt this post as A got her race report out first. So, if you have managed to get through hers and the first part of mine, you have shown enough endurance for the race. But, I'll leave out some of the planned details from now on since she had them. Now back to the post -
Near the top, Jenny S caught back up to us and A did a nice job of jumping on her wheel. I got dropped.
T1 went pretty smoothly and I wasn't too far behind A coming out of transition. I felt pretty good and tried to have a decent turnover. I passed A and ended up going back and forth a bit with Jenny S until it got steep near the end of the run. A was just behind me.
During T2, I got interviewed. I was in good spirits and answered four or five questions. Off to the ski. Started trekking up the ski course and my head was really warm, so I took off my hat and easily put it in a back pocket on my jacket. A bit too easy. Hmmm. Crap, I forgot the backpack with the snowshoes in it. Stupid interview. Head back down the trail. Go by A. Ski around the timing chip mat. Yell for my bag. Get my bag. Take off my poles. Put the backpack on. Put on my poles. Go back out of transition. Head back up the trail. Not sure how long it took, but a crappy way of losing time (and getting passed by A). Rest of the ski was brutal, but at least my legs didn't cramp like normal.
T3 was okay. There is nowhere to sit easily to it always a bit of a pain to switch from ski boots to snowshoes. Up the snowshoe is a hard grind, but is pretty short compared to the run and ski. I saw A in her windbreaker up ahead and wondered how she could wear it without overheating. She saw me without my windbreaker and wondered how I wasn't freezing.
At the top, the call out your name and the woman there asked if A was my wife. I answered yes and said something about catching her.
The snowshoe down went pretty well. The snowblown steep part was a bit difficult. Mind you the last time on snowshoes was Mt. Taylor last year, so some practice couldn't hurt.
T4 was a mess. My area was on a hill and I nearly fell over a bunch of times trying to get my skis on. The ski down was pretty quick, but I did fall once due to the soft conditions.
T5 went fine. I caught one guy on the run, but otherwise it was down right lonely out there. I kept hoping to see A up ahead but she put more time on me on the run.
T6 went smoothly. I had to convince the family helping me that I didn't need a bunch more clothes for the way down. During the decent I actually stopped and tighten the axle of my front wheel as it showed a gap that freaked me out. Otherwise the ride was lonely. Usually, there is a team or two that catch me on the bike as they start an hour behind, but none this year. Almost did get hit by a car that turned into the coned off lane, but there was room in the driving lane to swerve around them.
Well, that's the recap. Not sure about my feelings of the race. Some good parts - felt strong even though we didn't train for the race or taper at all, some bad parts - mental mistake with the snowshoes. Overall, I guess I'm pleased. I guess.
Hope to see YOU in Grants in 2011.
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