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XTRI ICON Race Recap - Bike

123 mile bike - 9:24:59 (9:12.12 riding time) 15276 feet elevation gain, 5 mountain passes Forcola Pass (10.2 miles, 1634 feet, 52 minutes) It didn’t take long for me to warm up as once I got out of the town of Livigno, I started to climb the first mountain pass. The grade was gentle but it was a noticeable climb for 10 miles. My legs were tired and I didn’t feel like my normal self so I just focused on trying to find a good rhythm. The grade averaged around 3-5% which is one of my favorite climbing grades so that helped as nothing was steep. The support cars are not allowed to pace the athletes so Karel and I had a strategy that he would drive up next to me, I would tell him what I needed/wanted and then he would find a good place to stop to give me what I needed. Support crews also can not give aid while moving in the car, the car has to be stopped. Anytime I needed a drink or food, Karel would give it to me on an uphill (because it’s easier for him to run next to me and hand me...

It's time to discover my limits at XTRI ICON

I love warm weather. I love working out in humid conditions. I love the feeling of warm air on my skin and I thrive in warm conditions. Some of my best race performances have been in hot and humid conditions. Above is a photo of the predicted weather forecast for the XTRI ICON event that I'll be participating in tomorrow, September 1st in Livigno, Italy. You'll notice a few things. Those temperatures are in Fahrenheit (not Celcius). The race starts at 6,000 altitude. I'll be starting the 3K (swim was shortened due to combined air and water temp) dark, cold water swim at 5am. I'll be starting the 123 mile, 9+ hour bike with 14,000+ feet of climbing in the upper 30's. The warmest it will be is 55 degrees. Then I will run a mostly off-road marathon with almost 4000 feet elevation gain, finishing at 9,000 feet. This event will be my greatest athletic accomplishment IF I reach the finish line. But it will require a tremendous amount of physical strength, mental toughnes...

XTRI ICON Livigno, Italy - Day 2 and 3

  8/29 We woke up around 6:45am to somewhat clear skies. We could see the snow on the mountains. It was cold out (upper 30's) but no rain. We were hungry for breakfast around 8am and ordered some eggs along with our "continental" food options. We then layered up for our bike ride. We had been following the Haute Route online (they just finished up the 7-day stage in the Alps which we did last year and heading to the 5-stage Dolomites next). They shorted stage 1 from Bormio to the iconic Stelvio pass due to wet and snowy conditions. Karel was planning to ride up and over Stelvio but he modified his route (but still went to the top of the Stelvio). I rode with Karel to around Tornante (~1 hour, which was mostly climbing). We were in good company as there were some UAE cyclists just ahead of us and a lot of other cyclists. Even with the cold conditions, there were so many people out riding, hiking and walking. I felt really good climbing and was reminded of all the climbing ...