Morning all,

Competed in American Zofingen ("A-Z") yesterday. Reputed to be the most difficult Duathlon in the country. It's modeled after Powerman Zofingen in Switzerland. Mark Allen (6 time Hawaii Ironman winner has called P-Z the most difficult race that he's ever done). The top 10 finishers last year all qualified for Ironman-Hawaii at other
races.

Pre-race - I look around at the other 55 uber-studs and think to myself, "what in the hell am I doing here?" From the sidelines, Jim is looking at me like he's about to leave his dog with the vet to be put to sleep. You know it's going to be a long day when at 7:30 AM the race director is hurrying the start because he says that he wants to get everyone in before sunset.

The first 1/2 mile of the race (which will be repeated three more times) is at a 9% grade. A-Z has three significant climbs with grades anywhere from 8% to 11%. Starting to feel good...

Crashed at mile 18 (oncoming car, loose gravel, you know the rest) thought I might have separated my shoulder. Too nice a t-shirt to quit. Kept going. The hard part was being unable to stand and climb. Wore the OA colors proudly until the 2nd trail run set as I couldn't lift my arm up to get the jersey on.

Trail run was 5 mile laps with mostly rocky, rutty trails. The 15 miles took you through the finisher's pavilion four times. So you had to run past racers who were done and chomping down on pasta.

Finished in 10:17. Hardest thing I've ever done (and just for perspective - I've completed an Ironman, three half-ironman races, two marathons, three 24 hour mtb races, one 50K trail run, numerous 5 and 10K's, and rode around the GMSR course with Mitch ;)

Shoulder is so-so today. Took me about an hour to get dressed. I tried to 'shield' my wife from most of the injury but the road rash is all over my hip, elbow, forearm and shoulder. Got one gasp, two head shakes and 'tut-tut'.

Oh and I ruined Jim's long sleeve jersey...

Speaking of Jim - much props to my boy - he rides up to New Paltz to see me start and then drives to my house and installs a microwave. If he ever needs a kidney he knows where to turn.

Race details below,

American Zofingen

Ultra Distance Duathlon
5 mile trail run
84 mile road bike
15 mile trail run
Shawangunk Mountains, New Paltz

Total Elevation gain -
Bike - 8000+ feet
Run - 2000+ feet

Time - 10:17

Have a good day all.