{"id":24609,"date":"2019-05-31T17:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T23:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/as-season-gets-underway-vail-valleys-middaugh-feels-good-about-off-road-triathlon-tour-victory\/"},"modified":"2019-05-31T17:12:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T23:12:00","slug":"as-season-gets-underway-vail-valleys-middaugh-feels-good-about-off-road-triathlon-tour-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/as-season-gets-underway-vail-valleys-middaugh-feels-good-about-off-road-triathlon-tour-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"As season gets underway, Vail Valley\u2019s Middaugh feels good about off-road triathlon tour victory"},"content":{"rendered":"
Josiah Middaugh participates in the mountain biking portion of the Xterra off-road triathlon race at Oak Mountain State Park in Alabama on May 18. Middaugh posted the field’s fastest times in both the mountain biking and trail running portions of the race, but finished second overall to Sam Osborne, who was three and a half minutes faster than Middaugh in the swim.<\/strong>
Courtesy Xterra<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Off-road triathlete Josiah Middaugh, of EagleVail, finished the Xterra Pan American Tour in second overall last year, and he skipped four of the 12 events.<\/p>\n

This year, Middaugh is gunning for the win once again, and once again, he\u2019ll take an abbreviated approach to the competition season.<\/p>\n

The U.S. component of this season began May 18 at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama, where Middaugh has been dominant in recent years, winning five of the last six pro-level Xterra events there.<\/p>\n

Before the event started, Middaugh predicted his top competition would likely come from New Zealand\u2019s Sam Osborne.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been really strong the last few years, and I\u2019ve seen his progression, but I only get to race him once or twice a year,\u201d Middaugh said. \u201cHe\u2019s got the better of me the last two times in Maui (the birthplace of off-road triathlon), and he\u2019s coming off the New Zealand summer, so he\u2019s going to be a lot sharper. I knew he\u2019d be further along in his season than I was.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Xterra events, in which Middaugh has been racing for 19 years, if he doesn\u2019t win, the swimming portion of his race is usually to blame. That was again the case in Alabama, where Osborne exited the water three and a half minutes ahead of Middaugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had my typically challenging swim, and Sam is one of the best swimmers in our sport,\u201d Middaugh said. \u201cAnd on those trails, it\u2019s really challenging to make up really big chunks of time against a really good technical rider, which (Osborne) is, because there\u2019s so much time when you\u2019re not peddling \u2014 twisty, turny, oak forest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osborne said he was lucky to not have a mechanical issue on his bike.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I had a bit of a reaction to the anti-fog I put in my goggles because I was suffering from clouded vision most of the bike,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a result, I was taking some real dodgy lines and hit some rocks. I was hoping I wouldn\u2019t blow a tire out, but I managed to ride well enough and I think I heard something like \u2018two minutes\u2019 heading into (the transition from biking to running) and I was confident I could hang on to that on the run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Middaugh, true to his form, had both the fastest bike ride and the fastest trail run on the day, but it wasn\u2019t enough to make up the gap Osborne had on him after the swim. With that in mind, Middaugh said he was happy with his result.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m coming off winter, (Osborne) is coming off summer, so I\u2019m in a good spot,\u201d Middaugh said.<\/p>\n

Mountain Games next<\/p>\n

While most of his Xterra competitors will spend any time they have in water working on their swimming skills and fitness over the next few months, Middaugh will start off June with a bit of paddling.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year the Vail-based GoPro Mountain Games announced a few changes to the format of the event\u2019s Ultimate Mountain Challenge, and the changes were enough to lure Middaugh back into the competition.<\/p>\n

Middaugh was a 10-time winner of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge before he decided to stop competing in the event in 2017. A new format for 2019 includes six events, and athletes must compete in at least one bike event, at least one whitewater event, and the mandatory Pepi\u2019s Face-Off run as a sixth and final event on Sunday, June 9.<\/p>\n

In February, as Middaugh confirmed he would indeed compete in the Ultimate Mountain Challenge once again this year, he told organizers he loved the new format, which was a big part of the reason he\u2019s returning to the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different,\u201d Middaugh said. \u201cI\u2019ll have to compete against kayakers, runners and bikers, all fighting to gain points in their categories before the big showdown on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

With running, biking and water-based events all mandatory, an off-road triathlete might indeed be the person to beat in the Ultimate Mountain Challenge, said organizer Tom Boyd.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nobody better than the champ to give guidance on how to prep for this event, whether you\u2019re a pro going for the $10,500 prize purse or just a weekend warrior who wants to earn your custom UMC hat and take on this quintessential outdoor challenge,\u201d Boyd said of Middaugh.<\/p>\n

Avon Xterra in July<\/p>\n

Following the Mountain Games, the Avon\/Beaver Creek stop of the Xterra tour will be the next big event for off-road runners, bikers and swimmers. While Middaugh will be competing in the pro division, a robust schedule of amateur events, running-only competitions and other endurance-based challenges are available to all participants when the event arrives on July 20.<\/p>\n

Middaugh has been an ambassador for the local Xterra event for a long time, hosting athletes at his house and getting his family involved in the competition. He says between the Mountain Games, the July Xterra competition and the newly announced triathlon festival 970AvonFest (coming to town in September), a triathlon culture has started to take root in Eagle County. It\u2019s an obvious observation, but Middaugh also added a caveat to the statement \u2014 a truth that mountain sport athletes have long known.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe swimming is where many locals struggle,\u201d Middaugh said. \u201cIt\u2019s been my lifelong challenge, for sure \u2026 You have to put time into it because it\u2019s 80 to 90 percent technique.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut someone going out and skiing or snowboarding for the first time, they\u2019re going to feel the same way,\u201d Middaugh added. \u201cYou can\u2019t just strap on some skis and hit the black diamonds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Middaugh was a distance runner at Central Michigan University before moving to Vail in 2000. He liked trail running and mountain biking but had very little experience swimming.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would huff and puff and hold onto the wall and catch my breath and try to do it again,\u201d he said of swimming laps in the pool. \u201cThe first time I went to a masters swim, I remember I\u2019d get up early, drive down for the 6 a.m. masters swim, and I\u2019d swim the warm up, which was about 1,000 yards, and then I\u2019d get out of the pool, because I was exhausted, and go home and take a nap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Middaugh said joining the masters swimming group \u2014 where there were others like him, struggling to improve their technique \u2014 was a crucial step leading him down a path toward triathlon racing.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in triathlon, \u201cThe thing to do would be to join a masters (swim) group, something like we have at The Westin,\u201d Middaugh said. \u201cYou might just barely make it through the warmup and have to call it a day, but that\u2019s how you make progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Josiah Middaugh participates in the mountain biking portion of the Xterra off-road triathlon race at Oak Mountain State Park in Alabama on May 18. Middaugh posted the field’s fastest times in both the mountain biking and trail running portions of the race, but finished second overall to Sam Osborne, who was three and a half […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 09:54:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}