High Performance in China (Part One)

Scott Cole / 25.09.2014

I was in China in August competing in the Wu Long race (see previous posting), which ended on the final day with me getting 6 IV bags and collapsing at the finish line.

So my mom thought I was crazy when I told her (8 days later) that I was returning to China. This time in September for the Zunyi and Taining races.

Part of me wondered if I was crazy, too.  Am I hopelessly addicted to the adrenaline kick of racing? Yeah probably.  Am I un-able to say no to competition and “another go at it”? Yeah, probably also true.

But mostly, I thought I could do better. That’s what drives most of us multisporters — the search for the “perfect race.”

Well, I got the perfect race. In fact, together with Martin Flinta, we had three nearly perfect stages at the Taining race (finishing 1st, 2nd, and 1st). It was the first time I’d ever stood on top of the podium at a race in China — let alone win the overall classification. It was a nice reward after a lot of “didn’t quite really nail it” race performances, but it was also worth it for another reason: I learned more about my body, in particular how to maximize performance in the heat.

Here is my story, with some random reflections from this fascinating country and high-speed style of stage racing. Thanks to Jessica and the other photographers on the course for some great photos from Taining and Zunyi.

Zunyi Race (12-13 September)

The Zunyi race (Guizhou Province) started with a 7 hr 30 min stage on a brutally hot day. On a warm night we camped in the forest (with a few too many mosquitoes, but with a fun music band, a tasty buffet table, and other Chinese entertainment) before waking up and completing the loop on a shorter 5 hour stage back to town. It was a unique race, with beautiful terrain and a highly-improved race organization. I recommend this race next year — email me if you’re interested.

Our three-person team at Zunyi included Martin Flinta and Caroline Holmqvist, both of whom arrived at 7 pm the night before the race. I sent them a text message with logistics after the afternoon’s race briefing so they could start preparing their gear, water, and food on the bus from the airport!  For Caroline, her first time to China was a bit painful. Her body was shocked by the heat, the time change and a really long first day. While Martin and I were adapted to the heat from the Wu Long race 2 weeks earlier, it almost knocked her out early.  She had severe dehydration early in the first stage and I thought our race was over, but she battled back and we finished 9th at the end of day #1.

Day #2 went better, as we placed 2nd, but Caroline was far from fully recovered. The day featured a challenging ROGAINE orienteering section through a tea plantation, with steep hills, stairs, and a maze of trails (some of which didn’t show on the map).  At one point I was running full speed with my nose in the map and turned a 90 degree corner to follow a downhill trail. I came face-to-face with a big bull. We stared at each other for a short second and then the bull made that “pawing motion” on the ground like he was ready to charge. I decided I could probably find the control via another trail instead …. :)

Back on the bikes we were treated to closed roads (no traffic!) and lots of spectators as we pedalled full speed through small villages.  The ride went much longer than the teams anticipated, which means we all ran out of water. Despite a lack of English the villagers picked up on this fast and started handing out bottled water and drenching us with their garden hoses — it felt great on a 35+ C degree day (95 F)!

We even had an archery challenge, where we had 5 tries to sling an arrow at a target 30 meters away. Martin nailed it on the second try! (Emil — I need lessons from you so I can do this myself next year).

We finished the race with a tricky orienteering through an urban bamboo forest with lots of steep stairs. We sweated it out, but earned time on a few other teams.  We took a dip in one of the foul-smelling ponds to cool off and even picked up 3 ice-cold Cokes at one of the stores we ran by (never hurts to carry cash in these races!)

I was impressed by Caroline’s determination and drive on Day 2 (and her strong downhill MTB skills!), despite feeling less than 100%. I reckon she will build in a little more transition time for her next cross-continental travel to China :)

We bid Caroline farewell at the airport and Martin and I flew on to Taining (Fuijan province), where we arrived late and had to unpack our sweaty gear for a tough race the next day.

Continued in Part 2 ...

[Scott Cole is an endurance athlete, speaker and coach and you can follow his activities on his website and on Facebook.]

­

See All Stories On This Race