For the Vaseline-Men XTerra Off-Road Duathlon last October 12, I was glad that the venue was at La Mesa Forest Reserve.
A week before the race, I and together with other members of Team Hunyango Multisport (THM) -- Cris, Dan, and Jonas were supposed to have a recon ride at the venue, but due to each other's bike problems which manifested the same morning of our reconaissance, we were not able to meet but just made our own way back home to fix our bikes. My bike got its rear derailleur replaced for having a "life" of its own while traversing San Mateo-Marikina road (J.P. Rizal St.). This paid-off though as my bike had better rear shifting during the race.
Come race day going to the venue, I hailed a cab which carried my bike at the back-seat from the house to SM Fairview, and from there I pedaled my way to the remaining distance of 2.5-km towards La Mesa Forest Reserve.
With more than an hour before the gun-start upon arrival, we were able to lighten-off our tightening nerves as we (with THM) were all first-timers for this race. Some Multisport teams who graced the race were members of Team Suunto Philippines, Alaska Tri-Aspire, Sante Barley, and other strong individuals known in the Running and Ultrarunning community, and celebrity Onemig Bondoc who represented his Power Pops Tri Team.
The muds of La Mesa Forest Reserve, when compared to the muds of Timberland Heights (which is orangey), has blackish color, an indication of high organic matter content due to the naturally decomposing plantations in the area. Being a Forest Reserve, the venue is also known to be a mixed of fire-roads, single-track trails, and varying distances and elevation with unpredictable hills and curves. The mud was an all throughout bonus challenge as it has been raining the week before race day.
The first leg was a single-loop of 6-km run which took us to a beautiful lake view of the Reservoir at the midpoint of the route. This part was still relatively easy as my body is still fresh, finishing the 1st-leg course of 5.65-km at a little less than 38-minutes.
At the transition area, I munched my choice of energy source of 6-pieces of jelly candy (not the sports gel) before heading out to the bike course. I forgot to start my watch upon starting so my recorded bike distance is short of around 600-meters.
The bike route is a two-loop course, traversing the fire roads and single-track trails within the center portion of the forest. This is where many of the participants bonked, fell, and even almost tapped-out due to the varying condition of the mud and trails -- slippery, sticky, slimey, or even rice field-like-mud! On the first loop, I also almost fell down from my bike when I lost my balance on a rough downhill, when I was about to ascend in one of the uphills and lost the momentum, and in another downhill where I thought that the break was not gripping.
During second-loop, the course became more challenging as
It's okay to push
Learn to plow thru the mud
Getting dirty is fun
Keep balanced
When you fall, stand up and move
When we keep staying on the same course for a long time, the experience no longer becomes exciting or fruitful. We become bored, unchallenged, and stagnant. But when we endeavor for a new challenge in whatever aspect of our life, the new knowledge, wisdom, and experience that we gain gives us another kind of bliss.
