AXTRI = Aurland Mountain Xtreme Triathlon Race Report by Ed Torres

Saturday. August 13^th 2011.  Race day!  9am

 

I tried my best during the year to get prepared for this race in order to enjoy it, rather than suffer.  I spent JAN, FEB and MAR indoors at Targetraining riding my bike, mastering the steady smooth lines of power output without any spikes, and many hours in VT riding my fixed gear over the mountain passes in any weather condition.
A bit of suffering sometimes makes it more enjoyable :-)
The stats of the race might appear frightening but are quite appealing if you want to push your own limits, and dive into your obsession.

Clear blue sky, but cold morning…normal here, air temperature was 17c and water temp was 10c (62f / 50f).  The beach was still on the shade of the mountain, and the sun was just heating the deep open water at the Aurland Fjord.  My watch registered a low 50F and highest was 54F, I can tell you that the 54F at the Laguna beach did not feel as warm as the deep part of the fjord.

The Swim:

The start was from a 3 foot tall wall, from there we jumped off into the sand and ran into the water….I stood right in front of the line, even though I was told the day before where the white caps should start from.  I was up in front no one was policing it so why not!  I can swim fast and I just eliminated some traffic with this move.

Off we go (BOOM! a big cannon fired from the boat), I started at a normal pace (like a warm up pace for me). I was looking to see who the fasters swimmers out the bunch were and it seemed that I was in the right group from the start…with one guy way ahead.  I get to the 1^st buoy, take a right turn and the sun was right on top of me, it felt good…I get to the second buoy and I can see the leader was on a mission so my group was picking up the pace at the turn around of the 2^nd buoy, but the sun was no longer with us since we made a right turn closer to the mountain that we are about to ride (shade = cold).  The water temp dropped couple degrees and my face and hands were so cold I could not wait to hit the sun again.  I finally got to the 3^rd buoy and a left turn in to the Laguna beach.  My name was the mentioned over the loudspeaker “Edgardo Torres from Honduras”  I think I was picked because they were not expecting white caps out of the water yet plus who do you know from Honduras can swim in cold water LOL.

--Hey, how do you think I cross the border over the Rio Grande?--

T1

I am known to take my time in transitions, and this one was no exception, because it is very important to take your time to have your proper gear, since there is no support on the mountain.  I made sure I have my wind breaker with me on my waist and my sub 60f degrees glove.  No pockets on my ITT suit since I decided to used it instead of a tri suit long arm sleeves to keep me warm.

The Bike:

95 km cycling, from Aurland to Laerdal and Laerdal to Aurland, that is two times up in 1350 m altitude.

I got on the bike, I drank to fuel in the first 100 yards before the left turn and up…the bike leg started the climb right away….I got to my first sign 100m (100m= meter above sea level) and my legs are still cold and not warming up, so I stay at that same pace until the next 200m when I change gear 34x28 to 34x25 and then depending on the grade I was able to used my 25,24 and 23.  I started to pass people, but I knew that they are still adjusting their legs…sure enough at 500m they started to pass me in groups. I just couldn’t stay with them, since all my training was based on a steady pace and hardly any anaerobic, so I wanted to go with them, but I stuck to my plan, which was to go at steady pace so I could make the trip back

It was painful to see the numbers 700m, 800m..1200 and 1350m, then the plateau at the top of the mountain, all rolling hill, it fell like the ½ IM at rev 3 - the last section of the bike course but colder the air temp was 7c.  It was a beautiful, scenic ride with snow on the ground and glaciers around you.

At the end of the plateau was the food station, I stop by for 1-3 minutes to grab some chocolate and food and to put on my wind breaker to the decent to Laerdal.  I was on Max Veiga’s brand new wheels that he let me borrow --Thanks Max!--  I started to descend and was a bit skeptical on the brakes pads, but Max also had that covered… he lent me his cork brake pads - they stop well and don’t wear out.  So after the third switch back, I let hell loose in the decent, all my skill were back…even though I just broke my collar bone last September and the road was still open to traffic and the road were just big enough for 2 minis, I was descending like old times in the big mountains of Colombia and Honduras.  I got ½ way down when goats and sheep were on the middle of the road…I hit the brakes so hard that the sheep had no idea where to go, lucky I listened to the race promoter and did what he told us to do, in this case go slow until you pass them, because the animals can just run towards you, sure enough one did and I stopped and pet/touch her head for good luck and continued to the bottom at full speed again.

I got to the bottom of the hill to the U-turn and then headed back to where I just came from. At that moment I looked for my wife, Heidi for bottle swap and some food. This was the only support that I was allowed on the bike course.  I took a couple bites and removed my wind breaker since I was going up again.  After the U-turn, the sun burned down, and the wind blew stronger and stronger the higher you climbed. The temperature also fell significantly on the plateau as a thin layer of clouds established.

I started to climb in to the first kilometers when a bus full of tourist decided to pass me on a switch back, I saw the bus running out of room for me and closing me in inside the curve, I immediately stopped before the bus crush me against the mountain.  It took the breath out of me, since I was so cold still; I decided to put on my wind breaker for the ride up, this side of the mountain was not getting any sun to warm me up.  I got to 500m when I started to see people again, but this time it was good news for me every time I saw a rider in front, they were zig-zaging up.  This meant that they just ran out of energy.  I must of passed 10+ guys in the last 800m of elevation, I am sure that they were going to be on that climb for a long time, among them the second guy was one of the racer from last week of the full IM.  I am sure why he was doing this race after the full and even more bizzare was that he had a tri bike and a aero helmet, he was just laying down on the side of the road. The final downhill was at times troublesome because of wind gusts from the side. Keeping fast hold of your handlebar was of utmost importance.

T2.

Here I was going to change my ITT (Individual Time Trial) suit to my Tri suit, but because of the air temperature on the bike course I decided to stay with my ITT suit, because of the long sleeves.  I picked some food offered by the race volunteers on top of what I got on my small backpack.

The Run:

For me this was the moment of truth, I had knee problems in the past dating back to the ITPMan in 2006.  I had to stop racing all at once until now: 2011.  I started running and felt good during my first 5k, going along the lake, and through dark tunnels.  Then the next 16k and counting were the most difficult ones: altitude and off road running/hiking. Apart from hikers coming down the top from time to time, you are basically in the wilderness and on your own.  The kilometers felt like miles from 15-10k to go. The only station for drink/food was with 10K to go.  Here, a doctor checked everyone’s blood pressure and eyes to see if you can continue.  The next 10K would be the most difficult one because the trail kicks up steeper and dangerous high cliff, but at the same time the most rewarding scenery of this beautiful land.   On these 21k I was passed by no more than 8 racers, for me that was impressive since I am used to getting passed by many in a Olympic Tri.  I guess on longer and more difficult course I have better endurance especially on a very difficult bike course.  I walked Kilometer 11-9 to go, because I hyper-extended my knee.  I didn’t want to look hurt at the check point, so I rested for 2 kilometers and pick up the pace at 9k to go.  I stayed with another racer from England since he knew the course better than I did…this proved to be a good choice because I would have made wrong turns at the end.  2K to go I hear my wife “Go ED” and that was a relief since I now knew that the finished was close.  There was one more climb and then 1K to go, all flat.  I sprinted to the finished line with my rubber-like legs.  I crossed the finished line at 9hrs 30minute 12seconds. 

This race by far can be describe as mentally and physically though.  I felt like I had climbed Mountain Washington 4+ times after a cold swim.  This can go down on my belt as the second most difficult event I have ever trained for.  My fist most difficult race was 2001 “La Vuelta de los Conquistadores” AKA “La Ruta” a 3 day mountain bike race.

La Ruta, the only bike race that traverses the American land mass from coast to coast — from Pacific to Atlantic —is no easy day at the beach. Between its sea-level start and finish, the 240-mile route crosses 5 mountain ranges that force you climb a cumulative 39,000 feet!

The wonderful setting of the race, the outstanding organization and its crew, and the perfect conditions make it a long lasting experience.