Another long day for the books, both distance wise and mentally-
Stage 3 wasn't exactly a great day for Team X-C.com as the course was much too gradual (up and down) and had a long road section at the end. I ended up pulling Dom from the start with a tow-rope to try and stay with our competition. Although our system worked well, I ended pushing Dom a bit too much early on and we paid for it in the final kilometres when the course flattened to paved sections. With 5km to go, we were with all the contenders fighting for 3rd overall and we just couldn't keep the pace. We could only watch as 'Wings of Glory' another Salomon team who we have snubbed out of 3rd place in Stage 1 and 2, pulled away finishing a solid 5min up on us. This dropped us back to 4th overall in the Open Men category (3.5min off the podium). A bit frustrating...but that's the way it rolls.
After a good massage, recovery food and lots of fluids, we're both ready to go for tomorrow's stage which will suit our strength much more. The course is built like a pyramid, so we go up...way up to 12,000ft, and then back down, down, down to our Stage finish.
Here are some interesting stats I've compiled about TR...so far.
-Stage 3 finish in Leadville, altitude of 10,200ft...or 3,100m - highest city in the US.
-TR Participants: 79-US, 21-CAN, 10-Germany, 2-UK, 2-Australia, 1-Sweden, 1-France, 1-NZ
-Most participants are staying in tents (100), the rest are in RV's or trailers
-Stage 4 altitude will be the highest at 12,000ft!
-Stage 4 distance will be the longest at 28miles or 46km (I think)
-Food has been fantastic - even serving beer!! (non-alcoholic of course), but as Michelob is one of the sponsors, we actually have lots of 'real' beer on-site as well...
-Sponsor/prizes give-aways have been great so far: Adidas gave out tons of little goodies like coffee tumblers, socks, towels, adventure 'kit'; Timex gave out a watch today and a podometer a few days ago and the participant pack was full of cool Adidas clothing...lots more to come too!
That's about it for now...I'm pretty tired but still feeling relatively good. Tomorrow I get to do my 3rd trail marathon ever...today was #2. Realistically, I doubt we have a chance to move up to 1st or 2nd, but 3rd place is only 3 minutes up...that's nothing is this event. Our goal will be to start off mellow again tomorrow, easing into the gradual climb, then push hard on the steepest pitch to hopefully gain so time on Wings of Glory. Then it's all downhill from there - a fun mix of single track and FSR roads for 20+kms to the finish. We're going for it...
ps. Stage 4 finish is out in the boonies again so I won't have access to internet until the finish line-I'll try to get something out as soon as I can - you can get full results at: www.transrockies.com. Thanks for tuning in...
3 comments:
So great to hear how things are going. I had hoped to be there, but long story short, I am not. So fun to be rooting for a couple of Canadians (and a fellow FatAss member). Keep up the good work & the great posts - its nice to get the "behind the scenes stuff" since the RD's posts don't relay any of the struggle.
Thanks for the posts! I was looking for more reports from the race than were posted on the web, and stumbled across your blog. My friend John DiMeo (Runwith Gore, in the Masters division) is there running with you. Great to hear the behind the scenes info!
good job phil !
sounds amazingly tough, but your head seems to be in the right place, go get 'em, and good luck !
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