Wholistic Fitness

NOTE: Blogger is not allowing me to post pics right now, and i gotta take off for my annual Hopi Pilgrimage…be back in a couple of days. Thanks to all who came out to the Flagstaff Yoga Festival this weekend for our classes! Enjoy this final Race Report and may all your Sweat be Sacred…
– coach

THE DRAGON SLAYIN’
Each race contains one or a few of what commentators might call “a TP”…short for “Turning Point.” A TP is an emotional or physical crux through which the dynamics in a race change in a categoric shift. In Ai Imawa philosophy, TP’s are known as “Dragon Moments.” An experienced warrior senses when anything in our lives – or in a competitive event – is trying to move us away from our Center. Recognizing such Dragons, the warrior then creates an inner space to consciously
“meet, calm, and walk the Dragon.” A Dragon is anything in our lives – or our races – that attempts to move us away from our Center.

At the Pagosa Duathon, there were two TP’s for me. Two m(om)ents of Dragon Slaying.

THE RUN
The Duathlon opened with a 6-mile trail and forest road footrace. I went out hard. My Game Plan was to keep the good runners within 2 minutes of me by the end of the 6-mile run. Then get on my mountain bike and hammer like a hellfest at high noon and chase those fleet footed runners down on the bike.

The run course is beautiful, starting with a kilometer uphill on a forest road to thin the pack before dodging right into a cobweb of undulating and sensory scintillating singletrack along trails that i recalled from once living here. When racing in pain – and truly, there is no pain quite like footracing pain – it helps without condition to force feed oneself this suffering among wildflowers, ponderosa, and aspen forests. Birdsong mixed and mingled with my heaving breathing as i danced my feet along the sinewy Weminuche game trails.

We “Full Coursers” ran two laps along a 3-mile course. The midsection of the course was an astounding tromp through “The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music” type of terrain. The final mile was the cut-the-fun-stuff-it’s-payback time; a mile long gravel road gruntfest befitting of beasts. I loved it. Though my spirit body craves nothing more than trail and preferably mountain peak running, my aging, battered body prefers less technical terrain.

I passed the surprisingly large crowd at the Start/Finish area for Lap One, at an 6:30/mile pace. Fast enough to keep everybody behind me accept for five others. Among the five in front, i knew of two that were in the Full Course Solo Division. The others, i figured must be Pairs or Teams racers. I focused on Adam, a triathlete from nearby Bloomfield, New Mexico. I met him out here the day before the Race. He was pre-biking the Run Course. I was not. i was being caught up in a New Daddy Bardo known as, “Taking The Family Camping Hell Realm” (see prior Race Reports).

“Keep bearing down,” i reMinded myself through Lap Two. “Good things happen when you just persevere through the Pain,” came my self talk. Positive Self Talk while suffering is tantamount to succeed in endurance sports. That, and a whole-hearted reliance upon ones Mantra. In fact, no sooner had i finished another round of my astral Mala Beads in my head with the Mantra, suddenly, Santa came early as i saw Adam pulled over to the side of the trail, hands-on-knees, hurling.

“Hmmmm.” i thought, as i accelerated past him pretending not to be breathing hard to further dismantle his moment. Usually, i race on “empty.” Food in gut steals needed oxygen, nutrition, and pran from working musculature. PowerBar’s GelBursts, PowerGels, or perhaps a PowerBar, is usually fine for me on Race Mornings. if i do eat, it’s gotta be something simple, like oatmeal or pancakes consumed a good 2.5 hours before the Gun goes off. Race Day nutrition is consumed the day(s) prior to the event. Not the day of.

My spinal injury pain was minimal thanks to ongoing abdominal/thoracic uplift from my conscious breathing. When i use a variation of Uddiyana Bandha along with chronic tugging of my tailbone under, i can usually knock down 10ks or so of running before more advanced neural impingement produces deeper debilitating pain.

THE TRANSITION
Felt strong coming into the Run/Bike Transition. Time for Cleansing Breaths (strong nasal inhales with mouth exhales) as i use Zen Mind to flow without flaw in the transition from Runner to Cyclist. Do the least demanding of motor neural tasks first in a Transition while breath rate is highest; taking off running shoes, putting on cycling helment, sunglasses, stuff jersey pockets with PowerGels BEFORE putting on gloves, then as my breath rate has calmed, it’s time for the more complicated neural tasks; putting on the cycling shoes, and finally taking in fluids/gels before trotting the bike through the Transition Zone, hopping onto him cycle-cross style and, hammering. Transitions are an art form. They require zen.

THE BIKE
One key to duathlon performance is to put yourself on AutoPilot for 10 minutes after climbing onto your bike from the run. Chances are likely you ain’t gonna feel that great. The biomechanic switch from running to cycling is a steep one; it needs time to iron out the physiologic transition. Leg muscles might feel like dessicated liver and your brain like dessicated coconut. You’ll likely wonder why you paid money for to be doing this as you continue to pedal in squares like a blockhead. That’s just the Dance of Duathlon. “Just bear down and get on with it.”

I had dropped into a Time Trial posture and was blue collaring it through this Ten Minute Auto Pilot phase when a Team guy came zooming past me. What happened in the next nanosecond was second nature from road cycling. I accelerated onto his back wheel and held onto the draft. This is a customary ritual of suffering in road cycling. Another Dragon Slayed by pure warrior instinct. Sucking on his back wheel like a mongrel in heat, he delivered me through the 10 Minute Auto Pilot Zone and onto a dust-and-cow dung covered double track with a series of kneecap cracking headwalls filled with roots and baby heads. With impeccable timing that rarely works out, i could feel my ‘real cycling’ legs come back online just in time to attack this section which i figured might trouble the two still in front of me.

Imagining churning up a rooster tail of dust behind me, i kept charging for the steep technical descent section that Race Management was worried about. A sign alerted me i was near it: “DANGEROUS SECTION…DISMOUNT STRONGLY SUGGESTED!”

The sign fluttered like a race gate on a Super G Course as i sped past it, brushing it with confident disdain as i plunged – ass over rear wheel – down the headwall. For a brief moment i thought, “Maybe i shouldn’t be so confident,” then hit the Delete Button, as Grunt’s (my MTB) dilapidated front shock took on the first wave of watermelon-sized rocks and struggled to hold a line through the mish-mash maze of cross-ruts on the 21% slope. By Flagstaff’s standards, this section is not nearly as anal sphincter stiffening as the sign warranted and within moments another Dragon was left behind me, slain and quivering. Man, racing is fun. Sometimes.

THE CRASH
The only other time i’ve crashed harder on a bicycle was during the Iron Horse Bicycle Race. On that one, i hit the deck with the entire peleton at 41 mph. Yup. Next time you are in your car, open your door at 41 mph. Look down. Pavement is whirring by pretty fast, huh? You can imagine how bad that hurts.

Well, this one was worse in some ways. The crash happened in a split second during a big-chainring descent down Brockover Forest Road. I had caught and passed several riders. I had lost track of where i was in the race. I do recall being passed by some dude that had horrible…i mean HORRIBLE cycling posture and that pissed me off. figuring that he was a Team or Pair guy did not seem to matter to my ego. It was more like, “There is NO WAY that “dude” should be passing ME!”

Perhaps it was the karma of that impure thought that inspired Shiva to once again attempt to Teach me something. Perhaps it was the flat light caused by the Ponderosa shadows across the road. Perhaps it was the aging front shock of Grunt. Regardless, at about 35 mph, i hit an erosion wash in the road and went down. Hard. Like snap-crackle-pop hard.

i recall two things happening;
1) there were two racers near me when i went down and one of them screamed, “Oh Shit! Dude…are…(voice trailing away as he sped onward)..you..o…kay?” What, like he was going to stop or something? Oh yeah, i’m just FINE! i LOVE crashing at 35 MPH!
2) one thought upon impact: Dewa.

Things change when you are a New Daddy.

I’ll be honest; i cursed when i hit. Kind of a lot. Not from thinking i lost the race or of the pain ahead of me or shattering my bike…i cursed because i knew crashing and taking myself out of commission was a really, really stupid thing for a New Daddy. Ilg was supposed to be Grown Up now.

In the Bardo of Crashing you have a choice: get up or stay in the daze. Staying in the daze is much more satisfying to the ego. Bouncing up like a cat, remounting, and getting on with what must be done is less enticing. By training, i did the latter. From experience i knew that if no bones were broken, i could take advantage of two things to keep a high place in this race; shock and adrenalin. Both are worth about, say, 10 minutes each. That gave me 20 minutes of blood-and-guts racing before the shock and adrenalin hands the baton over to a weakened body and mind.

So, back on a slightly taco’d front wheeled Grunt, and bleeding impressively from my right elbow and right hip, i repeated the Paiute saying, “Just keep a’goin, Just keep a’goin.” Arriving at the final technical section, i felt the hand of Vishnu aiding my bike skills and tore through the singletrack like an enraged bull. My style was not finesse; it was fierce. Pissed. Angry. And loving the fact that my Witnessing Self was still spiritually stable and high enough to acknowledge this mental drama and just enjoy this Warriorism. It feels go(o)d to bleed on the battlefield.

THE FINISH
Tearing up the final uphill forest road toward the Start/Finish, i could see – about 300 meters behind me – a racer bent low over his handlebars pedaling furiously to catch me. Game on, baby! I dropped lower than he, recalling Upward Facing Dog through my thoracic spine to breathe more freely…i put a Dog Tilt into my hips to let my pedal cadence soar. Head down, breathing, breathing. 10 seconds, keep pedaling…20 seconds..okay, look back…see where he’s at…

i had gapped him just a bit…and now shifted focus to the Start/Finish Line now less than a quarter mile away…up and out my saddle for a burst, then back in…then back out…then back in…just like in Practice…and then,
the Finish Line.

I won Overall by 20 seconds.

The Medic’s tent was next.

I figured i actually won this race in the Transition Zone and in the manner i bounced up after the Crash. WF is a priceless choice for training during days like these. It was Strength Training that graced my bone and muscle and connective tissue strength not to break during the high speed crash and gifted me the deeper fiber fitness toward the Finish to manage my gap. It was Yoga that produced the cat-like reaction to the crash and allowed my body to absorb the impact. It was Meditation training that kept my mind poised through all the Dragon Slaying of the race as well as neutralizing the emotional ups and downs of family and crashing and racing. It was Cardio Training that allowed me the podium, and Nutrition that kept all aspects of my performance on a High.

I figured my days of winning Overall’s were over.

Guess not.

Not in this Path!

***

INTERVIEW WITH RACE DIRECTOR CARMEN

Next year, i want you to consider coming out to beautiful Pagosa Springs, Colorado and sharing the Start Line with me. After the Race, i spoke with Carmen Hubbs, Race Director of the Pagosa Duathlon:

•)  tell me a bit about the creation of this race…did it arise from the memories of the once great Pagosa Peak Duathlon back in the early nineties?
The race actually came from the Pagosa Lakes Triathlon.  The 11 year event just became too big for the facilities and the course, thus the Triathlon race director asked if we would like to take it over or at least start another similar event.  We wanted to keep it a triathlon but the surrounding lakes do not allow swimming and of course local pools are not big enough for the size race we are hoping to continue to build.  We chose the national forest for that reason – the space, as well as the venue of forest and the multitude of trails to build a course from.  Interestingly, I’m not aware of the Pagosa Peak Duathlon but I’m curious what happened with it. 

 
•) what type of field does this race attract and what would you say are the courses most salient features?
We are still a young event – this will be our 3rd year, so we are still working on our target audience of racers.  This year we added 2 new races – a kids fun race and a shorter course to try and attract all levels of athletes.  The original course is a 6 mile run and 12 mile bike.  The new Half Duathlon is a 3 mile run and 7 mile bike.  So far it seems we are getting some interest for this added event, but we’ll know better on race day.  So we are still figuring out who we need/want to target, but personally I like the availability of race options that accommodate all people who would like to participate.

The most salient feature of our course is hands down the views and the venue of one of the most beautiful national forests Colorado has to offer.  The course has intermittent single track trails, ATV and forest service roads, as well as gravel roads.  This allows for a variety of challenges on the course with some technical portions as well as portions that allow for speed and agility.   As you noted in your next question, mountain races are rare.  Too often races are on hard, hot asphalt with little to no variety beyond curves and hills.  The Pagosa Duathlon incorporates nature, beauty and cool mountain air that you’ll only find on a mountain trail well off the beaten path.
 
•) you are filling a great gap in American Outdoor Sports;  the mountain duathlon is a rare find and an absolutely precious one…what 
has inspired you to do what it takes to pull off this event?
It is a lot of hard work and takes the commitment of our dedicated planning committee.  My inspiration is of course why we are raising these funds – for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.  Nonprofits continually try to figure out ways to raise funds, but this particular event holds more meaning then fundraising.  I strongly believe that when people get out and exercise, work towards a personal athletic goal whether that be weight loss, endurance, or competing in a race, they are less likely to be a victim.  Why?  Because when you honor your body, when you love yourself enough to work hard at achieving a goal, you may be less likely to allow anyone to abuse you.  I believe a strong personal self-image that can come through many means, including exercise, makes you less vulnerable to fall pray to violent offenders.
 
•) tell me more about the Archuleta County Victim Assistance Program and your connection with it.
The Archuleta County Victim Assistance Program is a nonprofit organization serving victims of violence, mostly domestic violence and sexual assault. Trained advocates respond with law enforcement on-scene to provide immediate crisis intervention and support services.  Advocates then continue to work with a victim and their children to assess their particular situation and work towards reaching a healthy, non-violent lifestyle.   This may include obtaining long-term safe housing, employment, and financial assistance; or court advocacy to obtain protection orders or participate in the criminal system that’s holding their offender accountable; support groups for women and children; and many, many other support and advocacy services to help them transition from victim to survivor.

I am the Executive Director of the program and have been for the past 11 years.

Program Website

Duathlon Race Results