Race Report: Fort Ebby - up, up, up!

This is one of those 'by the numbers' races :)

Place finished: 2nd
Women at the race: 13
Feet climbed ~4,000
Miles ridden: 21
Hills walked: 0
Steepest gradient: 27%

Yup! My first 'hilly' race of the year! Didn't realize how much climbing it was ... and after 'playing' (riding the course several times) on the course on Saturday by the time the race was over on Sunday, my legs were feeling the climbing.

So ... This was my first time racing at Fort Ebby ... i've never done this race but heard great things about it. And it did not dissappoint. First of, we took off Friday afternoon ... and didn't work AT ALL again until Monday. Oh, how i love the weekend! I forgot how amazing it was :)  We found a little cottage on the island and were in heaven ... you could smell the ocean (in a good way), hear the frogs, and walk to all the restaurants (all 3 of them) and ice-cream shops (all 1 of them) in town! It was a great pace to spend a weekend away from the usual hustle and bustle of life.

Friday night was spent driving and then a quick bite at the local tavern before we crashed. After sleeping for 12 hours, having an amazing breakfast, and touring the town, we headed to 'the fort' for some mountain biking fun. 3 hours and 4,000 ft of climbing later (read: AMAZING VIEWS!) we headed back to our cottage. The weather was perfect racing weather - a cool 10degrees celcious but a hint of sun every now and then :)

The evening was spent eating dinner, soaking in the hottub while listening to frogs, and enjoying  a local wine. I know, I know ... you aren't supposed to soak in hot tubs or drink wine, much less do both ... before a race. But i figured it didn't matter since i was racing into shape anyway :)

Sunday morning was another great breakfast and off to the race! A good hour early, i had no idea what to do with myself. I haven't been running from one thing to the next for a while. Warm up? Really! I did a decent warm-up, and then went to the start. it was amazing out! the sun was shining and the air was cool. Unfortunately all i wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sit in the sun like a cat. But I figured i'd get into the race once it started! Why is it that after you take a day or two off  you feel more tired? :)

The race had a bit of a hectic start. We were lined up across a field and had about 50 feet to fight for position into the single track. Yeah, not quite my strength. Full on sprinting. i figured i'd try to land somewhere in the middle and see what happened. That is exactly where i landed :)

The first bit was a bit of a mess, as expected, and we weeded out a few less technical riders. This course was fairly technical with lots of wet roots to take you out and steep climbs to throw you off if you were not on your game. Turns out i was pretty on my game. My technical riding was improveing ... project 'race into shape' seems to be successfull :)  After about 1/2 a lap (there were 3 laps in total) the field was pretty much sorted out and I was chasing a girl in front of me and hand another just behind me. The girl behind me (Karen, another 24hr soloist) said  'hey, they are catching us, lets go' ... and so i took off. We passed the girl in front of us and never saw any of them again. Well, that was fun!  Karen and I traded back and forth for the remainder of lap 1.  Part way thru lap 2 i was feeling warmed up and turned it up a notch ... i passed Karen and never saw her again.  After that I just kept on pushing ... the legs were feeling the wine, the hot-tub, and the 5,000 ft of climbing from the previous day. But as they tend to do, they kept on turning, and the miles kept on passing. On lap 3 i turned it up again and found another few girls to pass. A lot of women were tiring out ... usually these races are only 1 hour long and this one was 2.5 hours for me. It was good fun! I saw the girl in front of me but could not quite catch her ... she was always just that little bit ahead and when i'd catch her she'd take off. Nice riding :)

All in all it was a fantastic race! Lots of single track, amazing views of the ocean and the olympics, lots of sunshine, and great friends!

It will be a few weeks till the next race ... time to get some longer hours in!

Race Report - Fort Steilacoom - the attack of the "ice mud"

Better late than never ...  race report for Fort Steilacoom (March 18th)

Race started off well .. even got there a good 30 minutes early!  It was a bit chilly - just above freezing and some snow and hail in the air.  I dug out the winter gloves, winter hat, vest, warm arm and leg-warmers and debated if riding around prior to the race was warming me up or cooling me down :)

I raced at Fort Steilacoom a few years ago and remembered it as a fitness course ... i was not disappointed ... lots of climbing and wider trails. Very fast course!!! The race had a fast start .. on pavement no less! Off we went, and up right away ...i wasn't quite ready for that but it definately warmed me up. My strategy this race was a bit different ... to follow the women around me and see where i landed. It turned out to be a pretty good strategy and I was feeling good about 12 minutes into the race, and sitting in 3rd. No sooner did i think to myself "i could do well at this race" then i went down. Hard. I like to call this event 'the attack of the ice mud'.    I was going super fast down the single-track ... slight turn to the left and up again. I was carrying as much speed as i could so i could carry momentum up the hill ... and wham! down i went.  It would have been the perfect slide if I was a baseball player ... but i'm not :) Of course I landed on my favorite side to crash (left)  ... more bruises and scratches to add to the colleciton.

I was up pretty quick ... Had to adjust my handlebars - they got turned around in the crash. And of course my chain was off  too and all in all I'd estimate it took me about 3 minutes to get back on my bike.  After the crash though i was a bit skittish ... and scared to take the corners too fast.  A few deep breaths and a bit more riding to gain confidence in the 'ice mud' again  ... it took me another lap (20 minutes) to feel 'back to normal' and start catching some of the women around me.  I climbed back to 3rd place but couldn't catch any more women before the race was over. At an hour or so it was a pretty quick race!!!

After the race my toes were top priority b/c they were so frozen ... in to the warm wooly socks and hikers and out of the bike clothes. The next day I really felt my 'ice slide' ... my whole left side was pretty swollen and sore!  I must have been flying :)

Running again ... 1/2 marathon report

Yup, running again! I love running! I've been doing it since i was little ... not 'training' per se, but running around the farm, around the woods, and generally causing trouble with my bro is how i grew up. Just ask my sister ;-)

So this past weekend we did a 1/2 Marathon along Lake Samamish. Beautiful! Amazing dirt trails - 1300 people, amazing race support, amazing weather, and fantastic run. The run started a little late with a last minute diaper change - i was running with a friend and we were taking turns pushing a chariot!  We started 10 minutes late but still clocked a time of 1:50 - not bad!  I love starting my weekends with an epic run or ride - it forces you to unplug from work and sets the tone for what a weekend should be - spent persueing your passions!

I'll definately be keeping up on running thru the summer - it might not make me faster on the bike but it makes me smile more. What more can you ask for? :)

A day of firsts ...

March 4th was a day of firsts:

• First mountain bike ride of the season
• First ride on my new (sweet) Norco Phaser 1
• First mountain bike race of the season
• Unfortunately, i didn't take first place ;-)

And yes, all in the same ride :)  Getting to the race was a bit epic and we arrived a good 5 minute early ... lol.  Nothing like 'racing' to the race!  The course was pretty fun ... and the bike ... amazing! This is why I LOVE Norco bikes .... out of the box (trimmed handlebars, adjusted suspension) and it feels like an extension of me, even when my legs are screaming for mercy (i haven't done much fast riding yet this year). Amazingly fun bike! Once i settled in I was haveing the time of my life - so much fun i kinda forgot i was racing ...

So lap 1 is always interesting. My brain forgets sometimes that my legs are not trained to go fast. It thinks my legs are in Canada Cup shape and I take off like a shot ... and then pay for it. So lap 1 goes something like this: Sprint out - i'm in the lead, often i take the lead into the single track.  5 minutes later I'm hurting and almost the whole field passes me as I curse myself for going out too hard.  20 minutes later I'm recovered (and into lap 2) and finally start to catch people. The longer the race, the more I catch.  So I was bummed that we only had time for 3 laps ... oh well! I caught enough to land in 4th but was reeling others in!!  The course was super fun ... 95% single track - not super technical, lots of short steep climbs and fun corners.  Some roots to mix it up a bit - in short, perfect for the Phaser! I finished muddy, feeling good, and wanting more!! Ah well, so begins project "Race Into Shape". These short races make for good intervals!

PS: yes, i am smarter in 100 mile and 24 hour races. In those races I ignore my brain and explictly choose to go SLOW at the beginning. :)