Taking on a Different Kind of Challenge: The ROC Scotland

Photo Credit: Carel Du Plessis - XTERRA Europe

The ROC Scotland

Cold water, mountain biking and a run over Ben Nevis: almost 73 km of racing through the Scottish Highlands.

It’s a long way from a conventional triathlon, and that is exactly what attracted me to The ROC Scotland.

After a season of racing XTERRA, I wanted to take on something completely different; an event that would challenge me physically, but also force me to think differently about preparation, equipment, nutrition and how I deal with the unknown.

THE ROC takes place in Kinlochleven on 3rd October and is described as an adventure triathlon, combining swimming, mountain biking and mountain running in a single course.

The race starts with a 1 km swim in Loch Leven before moving onto a 27 km mountain bike section towards the foot of Ben Nevis. Then comes the part I'm most intrigued, and probably most nervous about: a 17 km mountain leg taking in the ascent and descent of Ben Nevis.

Once back down, it's onto the bike again for another 27 km before a final 1.5 km trail run back towards the finish.

In total, that's around 73 km and 7,874 ft of elevation, with the mountain coming right in the middle of the race rather than the run simply being the final discipline.

That format is what makes the ROC so interesting to me.

Why the ROC?

I'm an elite XTERRA athlete, so I'm used to combining swimming, mountain biking and running, but the ROC brings those disciplines together in a completely different way.

I've never raced this distance, I've never climbed a mountain as part of a race and, in fact, I've never even hiked a mountain. My only previous experience of Ben Nevis was travelling up it on the train when I was a child on a family holiday.

This time I'll be going up under my own steam.

The challenge is a big part of the appeal, but so is the adventure. Scotland is an incredible part of the UK and the ROC looks like a great way to experience the Highlands while doing something genuinely different.

I also think events like this can look intimidating from the outside, particularly when you see the mountain bike and Ben Nevis sections, but you don't have to be an elite XTERRA athlete to take part. That's part of what interests me about the event, it brings together endurance, adventure and the outdoors in a way that is very different from a traditional triathlon.

Family holiday in Scotland!

Preparing for the unknown

My preparation for the ROC is slightly unusual because it comes immediately after the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice.

That means I'll already have a good endurance base, but much of the training for Nice has been on the road. Between Nice and Scotland, the priority will be recovery before adding some more specific work.

I'll be getting out on the mountain bike and running trails along the South West Coast Path, using those sessions to test equipment, practise nutrition and get used to carrying the kit I'll need.

Photo Credit: Carel Du Plessis - XTERRA Europe

The equipment is another new part of the challenge.

There is mandatory kit for the mountain section, so I'll need to find a suitable bag to carry everything, including waterproofs. With the race taking place in Scotland in October, weather will inevitably influence the final decisions, and I'll need to be prepared for conditions that could change considerably over the course of the day.

The two transitions also add another layer of planning. I need to make sure the right food, fluids and equipment are available at the right time, rather than simply relying on the straightforward transition setup I'm used to.

Being organised could be just as important as being fit.

Learning to stay calm

The other part I'm interested in is the mental challenge.

I still get nervous before XTERRA races, particularly the big World Cup events, so I'm not expecting the ROC to somehow make nerves disappear.

Instead, I'm interested in exposing myself to a different kind of uncertainty.

I won't know exactly how my body will respond to running up and down Ben Nevis. I won't know what the Scottish weather will bring. I won't have the familiarity of a course I've recce'd and raced before, and I'll have to manage nutrition and equipment over a much longer day.

I'm hoping that experience will give me some useful tools to take back into XTERRA: staying calm when something goes wrong, dealing with setbacks without letting them derail the race, making decisions when I'm tired and trusting the preparation I've done.

Nutrition will be a particularly important part of that preparation. I'm expecting the race to take several hours, and making sure I can fuel consistently while managing the different sections and transitions will be a challenge in itself.

I'll be working with XMiles, my nutrition partner, to make sure I've got a plan that works in practice rather than simply looking good on paper.

One step at a time

I suspect race morning will be a mixture of excitement and nerves.

I'll be standing beside cold, dark water, knowing that somewhere ahead is a mountain I've never climbed and a race I haven't experienced before.

I won't be able to control the weather, the terrain or exactly how the day unfolds.

So I'll try to keep it simple.

Focus on the first buoy.

Then the bike.

Then the mountain.

Then whatever comes next.

I'm not going to Scotland expecting the ROC to be easy. That's not why I chose it.

I want to be prepared enough that when it gets hard, I can stay in control and race it rather than simply survive it.

And, hopefully, somewhere on the way up Ben Nevis, I'll have time to look around and appreciate where I am.

I've seen the mountain from a train.

I've never climbed it.

The ROC is going to be a very different way of seeing Scotland.