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!

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. :)

Chasing Rainbows and Gearing up for a 60 miler

Oh, didn't you hear? Chasing rainbows is the new thing in training these days.  You see, you go further and faster than planned and you don't even notice it ;)

Anyway, with all the rain here in Seattle we do get some rainbows ... I found one the other night and decided to give chase. The Rainbow won. :)

This weekend is the first race of the NW Epic Series - StottleMeyer 60 miler. I'm nervous and excited all in one ... i feel woefully unprepared with no real idea of where my fitness is ... but i guess i'll find out soon! I know my top end is seriously lacking ... but hopeing that my bottom end is still good to go!

With my Norco Phaser I can't really go wrong ... and I have a trusty new car to get me there ... so it appears i'm all out of excuses!

Well, all I can do at this point is get ready and let 'er rip!

Budu Racing ... the season openers!

So race season has started already!!! And no, i wasn't ready :)   Last weekend was my first race of the season ... and yes, it was good to be on the trails ... and trying to go fast! I've missed the racing, the trails, the girls, and the effort - and am very excited about the 2011 season!!!   So now for the story ...

i got to the race venue with about 30 minutes to spare so  my warm up was a little light (10 minutes) ... but i was stoked to be there, even if it was cold outside (7 celcious! ouch).  I met Yvonne before the start as she was using my 2008 Norco Faze 1 for the race - i love that bike - so we got her all set and ready to go! I was on my 2010 Norco Faze SL ... a sweet ride for the technical course we had!

At the start line we were all chating - so much to catch up on and so little time :) everyone was sizing eachother up to see who looked like they might have trained all winter and who slacked off ...but you can never really tell until the rubber hits the trail. And then we were off!!!

Out of the gate i was hammering. I wanted to get a good position in the single-track. I'd never riden in this particular part of that trail network but knew that other parts were tight single track with minimal passing opertunities ... so i wanted to get in ahead of the pack.  I had a great 30 seconds and then the effort started to hit me (I generally get 30 seconds for free ... where my body doesn't know what the heck is going on) and i slowed down a few notches. I was in 3rd going into the singletrack and then passed Yvonne on a downhill and moved to 2nd.

10 minutes in I realized my lungs were still not fully recovered from Bronchitus and that it had been a bad decision not to take my puffer before the race. My lungs were burning!!! But you do what you gotta do ... so i kept on peddaling, as fast as i could. This is a race, afterall :)

The race course was tight ... very narrow, tight corners, and lots of wet roots. It was slow going ... a fairly technical course!

Yvonne was on my tail the 1st and 2nd laps but into the 3rd we both wiped out, one of my pedals fell off, and she dropped me! I put my pedal back on (the hardest part was getting it off my shoe!) and tried to chase her down for the rest of the lap ... but didn't quite make it, finishing 3rd - nice work Yvonne!

It was great to get out there ... and dust the legs off! What a great way to start the season - good friends, good trails, and a good effort!

Thank you, may I have another? 100 miles of Capital Forest

Better late than never :) Here is my race report from the 100 miler i did the other weekend.

The day started off early with a 3AM alarm and sleepy drive south to Capital Forest. When i got there the fog was heavy and it was still pretty dark. Are they sure we can start at 6:30am? Hmmm, seems like it might be still dark. Perhaps I should have brought my lights?

I definately should have brought my lights ... not for the actual race, but to get ready for the race :) It was dark and chilly .. and foggy. The start was casual ... this was the first year for the race and the made the course 2 laps of a 50 mile loop. They had to delay the start by about 30 minutes to let the fog drift off a bit so that we could see the trail ... it jwas barely sunrise when we set off ...

They gave us a running start, le mans style, and just for kicks it was straight up a hill. Nice. It's 7am folks ... we are barely awake, let alone ready to run straight up a hill. But up we went ... and onto our bikes and off to the trails.  The trails were everything they were promised to be. 90% of the course was singletack ... beautiful, twisty, rocky, rooty, singletrack! The climbing surprised me. I was expecting the course to be fairly flat ... maybe a bit of hills. But the course offered just over 15,000 feet of climbing... yup, a lot of hills :)

The first 25 miles were a bit rough for me. I could blame it on being half asleep but the real deal is that i had a cramp in my bum and it was pinching my siatic nerve. Ouch. Every pedal hurt but being the stubborn chick i  am  i stretched on the bike, pedaled through it and kept my pedal strokes even and fast ... eventually it went away (phew). 

The next 25 miles passed in a blur ... fun single track with great descents and amazing climbs. A few stunning views that almost made me do an endo ... great riding!  I was trading spots with a girl from BC for the first 50 miles ... she'd pass me on the climb, i'd pass her on the descent ... and on it went. On the second lap i missed a turn where the course goes two ways (no little pilons to direct me!) ... and ended up doing an extra 11 miles and 2000 feet of climbing ... ouch. That added about an hour ... bleh. You guessed it, I didn't catch the chick from BC ....

But I had a fantastic time and I'd do it again. It was a great warm up for worlds. I finished in just over 11 hours and felt like I could do another 111 miles at the same pace. Not bad ....

Finally .... a race report on my first XTerra

So ... this is really late in coming so I want to appologize up-front :)

My friend Yvonne talked me into doing an Xterra (yes, my first) the night before the race. It was, in a word, FUN! Yup, i think i'm addicted ... here are the fun details.

My strategy for the race was simple: Survive the swim, kill the bike, and fight to maintain my position on the run. 

The race started off with a swim ... Yvonne hooked me up with a wetsuit so i didn't freeze to death in the water :) Don't laugh but it's been a while since i've really swam and i couldn't really remember the whole breathing deal for the front crawl ... so I did the side crawl and the breast stroke the entire way .. yup, the whole 1000m :) It was slow but I did survive. And to my absolute surprise i wasn't the last one out of the water ... i was the 3rd or 4th last ;)

Brian, Yvonne's husband was there cheering and as I left the water he ran beside me and told me .. you're not the last one! LOL. Awesome. :) My transition seemed to be going smoothly until i got the wetsuit to my ankles at which point i could not seem to get it off ... heh. Seems that this transition thing should be practiced ;)

Once on the bike i started feeling more in my element. I was picking people off throughout the technical course and having a blast ... it was great. The course was fun, I finally felt like i could move faster ... ahh... i was really racing.

The bike-to-run transition was smooth (except i forgot to untie one of my shoes so i had to untie and retie one of my shoes! Noobie mistake! No big deal. I went off to the run thinking i had to move fast enough to ensure that all of the girls i'd just passed did not pass me back. I got into the zone. I was having fun running on the trails ... and i started to pass people! Wow - wasn't expecting that. While i've been doing some running for cross training I am pretty far from running shape so i was pretty surprised by this ... Awesome! I was really surprised when i found myself halfway on the running course and picked up the pace.

I finished in a solid pace and was pleasently surprised to find myself 4th!!! Yeah, 33rd out of the water ... and 4th overall ... nice. Apparently I need to work on my swim if I want to take this Xterra thing seriously ;) All of the girls around me finished in 15 minutes ... a solid 15 minutes ahead of me!

Yvonne rocked the course and ended up 2nd ... Rockstar!

Canadian Nationals - Race Report

Summary:
Place: 2nd
Details of ride: ~275Km, 18,000 feet of climbing, and 18 hours on the bike

Details:
The drive up was amazing - great scenary and great company. I drove up thru Vancouver to pick up Kate - amazing friend and support crew extraordinare - and her roomate Lila. The drive flew by - we were catching up and just enjoying the great views along the way. Road trips with good friends always fly by ...

The weekend was relaxed .. Kate and I woundered around town, found some good food, did some shopping, and went up to the site to set up the pit and get in a ride. We found the course in pretty good shape - about 18km and 1450ft of climbing per lap. Loads of single-track but most of it was not really technical ...but super fun none the less. It wasn't a course that played to my skills but it was a fun and challenging course - worthy of Canadian Nationals.

Race day brought warm weather (about 30C) and blue skies ... so we got the ice scarfs going right away. The first few laps flew by ... stomach was holding together pretty well and eating was on track. Kate was giving me double feeds (2x per lap) so my drinks were always cool and I never ran out of liquids. Around lap 4 my stomach started to feel funny but i couldn't quite place it. Looking back eating Perpetuem in the heat was the wrong call ... later in the race we figured this out and the Hammer guys hooked us up with some Heed (thanks Hammer!) ... it's the only thing that got me through the race ...

After 10 hours of racing I ws right behind the leader - about 8 min back. But my stomach felt funny so i decided i should take a quick break. After an hour i went back out and my first lap felt great. I think i ate too many salts though ... my second lap was painfull. I had to stop. Unfortunately I was sick for a few hours before Kate convinced me to shower and offered chicken broth which was amazing ... i was back in action after 4 hours off the bike.

I had some catching to do ... 2nd and 3rd were both ahead of me. I like to chase though so off I went ... my legs felt great and i ws turning out the laps. I passed 2nd and 3rd in my first lap out and continued to gain on them. 1st was too far ahead so i knew it was out of the question ... but i still pushed hard.

All in all it was a good race - a great effort despite the stomach.

Thanks again to Samammish Valley Cycle for keeping my awesome Norco's up and running - and of course, thanks to Kate for her amazing support!

The race that was over before it started ...

Yup, it's true. I'm talking about the 50 miles of endurance a few weekends back. It was so bad that it's taken me 2 weeks to write about it. Yes, that bad!

Going into the race I was exhausted. Mentally i was tired, emotionally i was drained, and the physical follwed suit even though it had no business doing so.  June was a bit of a rough month ... The best part of the race was being seeing Karen and Matt again ... what a great couple! :) And their kids ... too cute!!!

The race started out well - i was determined to beat my time from last year but a good measure and knew I had the fitness to do it. Unfortunately i had nothig else and when your mental focus is gone ... i just couldn't pull it together.

The good
The technical single-track... i passed sooo many people. That was fun.  Unfortunately there is like 4 miles of technical single track in the whole 50 mile race. Yeah, I needed more :)

The bad:
Lost my left contact lense about 15 miles in. Too much mud ... Also, I forgot my climbing legs at home. No juice. Normally this year I've been flying up the hills. Not so much my friends. I was slower than heck. ouch, it hurt.

the ugly:
i just didn't have it. Zip. Nil. Nadda.  Nothing to give, nothing to fight with. I was suffering like 5 miles into the race. I've never wanted to quit a race so bad ... I was totally suffering and had no metal ability to push. I was going sooo slow.

But I finished. it took wayyy longer than it should have, it was hard, and i am proud of myself for not quitting :)

Next up: Canadian National 24 hr Solos!

Spokane Race Report

So apparently when you have a 'bruised' bone in your foot, whiplash, and many other bruises, racing isn't really an option ...

OK, now I've got you hooked, here are the details :)

The race started out well - the weather was perfect for me - not too hot. First lap was a good pace, felt great. Lap 2 I had a double flat (ugh) and lost 15 minutes but still finished in a good time. Lap 3 was awesome, started feeling good. Lap 4 I was minding my own business in the single-track when some guy asked to pass ... sure, go on the right. Next thing I know I hear 'oh crap', my handlebars are locked with his and then i am on the ground, with him on top of me. And we were moving at a pretty good pace. The next 2 minutes went like this:
Random dude:  you OK?
Me: (squashed between him, my bike, and the ground): um, can you move off of me?
Random dude: (chuckling) yeah .. sorry
Me: thanks
Random dude: (off me now, dusting himself off) you bleeding?
Me: (checking my Ferrari shorts to ensure they weren't torn), looking at my hip and my arm) nothing major.
Random dude: good ...
Me: can you pass me my bar end?
Random dude: uh, oh! Sorry, sure. (picks my barend off the ground and hands it to me. then after some hestitation:) your bike ok?
Me: seems like it
Random dude: ok, sorry about that, see you later
Me: (still stunned) ok
Later that lap I came up to a climb that I couldn't make and had to walk. Ouch, I must have turned my ankle, I thought. After that I avoided walkking as much as possible ... but didn't give it much thought.

Laps 5 and 6 were great, and I was feeling pretty good. I was a good hour ahead of my desired pace and feeling strong.  Come lap seven my stomach wasn't too happy with me. When you are injured or sustain a crash several things happen: you swell (so you need more fluids), your body temperature goes up (so you need more fluids), your blood gets diverted towards the areas that need attention (and away from your stomach).  All this leads to ... yup, stomach shut down and dehydration.  And so it went. I finished lap 8 at just before 11pm and had to pull the plug. I was determined to recover .. even emptied 7 electrolyte tabs in my mouth for better absorption and drank lots of water. It got worse and worse ... and eventually I got sick to my stomach and had to pull the plug for real. I remained optimistic until about 2am. Yes, i am one stubborn chick.

Several 'low-calorie' Gatorade and many electrolytes later I realized how swollen my foot had become. I had forgotten all about that. I was so determined not to have to go to the hospital for my stomach (no Canmore repeats!) ... and finally I came to the realization that I had to go for my foot. They took a look at me ... bruised hips, knees, and arm - swollen but minor. Whiplash - ouch but ok.  Microfracture in my foot which is basically a bruised bone - really ouch. Ice and elevation, wrap it no running for 6 weeks. blah. On top of that they told me I had a concussion ... my head still hurts!

So in a nut shell ... didn't make my goal of 18 laps but definitely felt that my fitness was there. I completed 8 laps in less than 11 hours and was feeling pretty strong throughout the race. Moral of the story is that you should never crash :) Um, i think I've heard that somewhere before?

Race Report - Stottlemeyer 60

Stottlemeyer 60 - so fantastic to have a 60 mile race in our backyard!!!

The Numbers:
Miles: 60 (my garmin may not have tracked them all - there was a lot of twisting and turning)
Verticle: ~7000 ft
% singletrack: 90%
Time to finish: 6:18
Place: 1st
# Women: 8

The Race
The weather was typical Seattle spring weather: 10 degress and drizzle.  The start was delayed 30 minutes due to traffic at the Ferry crossing so although we would have been a bit late, we had time to warm up and get everything ready. A quick race breifing later and we were off! the start was downhill and I was strategicly placed at the front ... my goal for the race was to flirt with how fast I could go out and hold it - and see how my stomach held up. Oh, and to win too :)

I was excited to see Kari Studely at the start - she's the one I was trying to catch at the last short race and is pretty fast. I decided to take her wheel and see how things went. I was behind her until the single-track and then found an oppertunity to pass ... and off I went. I was riding my Norco EXC hardtail today and was (if i must say so myself) riding really well. The singletrack was tough - twisty, turny, muddy, and fresh cut.  It was slow going ... but great for technical riders - it was to my advantage as I was having a good day.

After the single-track I followed a group of people down the wrong path (apparently the locals don't like the tags so were taking them down) ... 6 minutes in we realized it was wrong and turned around. Ouch, it hurt to lose 12 minutes, especially when I knew Kari wasn't far behind me coming out of the singletrack. So ... time to buckle down, speed up, and see if I can play 'catch up'.  15 minutes later - at the first aide station, I saw Yvonne getting food. She had passed me as well while I was off playing on the trails. We got in a group down the road and then into the single track I built up a pretty good gap on the group. Out of the single track I caught a guy and we turned right .... wrong way! We didn't get too far but far enough for the group to catch us and it was a battle to pass them all again.

With that out of the way I was full-on in chase mode. I wanted to hunt Kari down. I had no idea how fast she'd be in the longer stuff but I figured worst case scenario would be that I bonk ... and since I was in 2nd anyway I didn't care. Pedal Faster, Pedal Faster .. Pedal Faster!!! :)

30 miles in I found out that Kari had dropped - apparently she got lost too (also lost around 10 min) and decided to pull the plug. Too bad ... but I had a race to ride. I wanted to finish in under 6 hours so I had to keep moving. And so I did. The course was actually 4 laps of ~14 miles each. There was a nice 24% grade climb on the course where I'd eat my Tums, a cliff block, some electrolytes ... and of course my Perpetuem. My eating was going really well and I was pretty happy that I was able to push the pace and hold my stomach together. Very promising for the longer stuff ...

The last two laps I'd keep on catcing up with guys and then trying to chase them down. Sometimes I was successfull but there were a few that got away :) The last lap I turned it up as much as I could ... but I didn't make it under 6 hours.

All in all it was a great day! Frase also got lost and suffered a flat tire and cramping. He pulled it all together to finish at around 6 hours ...

Race Report: Fort Steilacoom

Last Sunday I completed my 3rd race of the 2010 season at Fort Steilacoom. My legs were ready to go and my mind was very eager - I'd missed out on the last race so I was full of racing energy.

Quick Summary:
# laps: 3
Total distance: 25km
Time: 1:41
Terrain: lots of twists and turns, very technical, some good climbs
# women in Open/Expert: 12
Place: 2nd

The Details:
The weather couldn't have been better. I left the house expecting overcast skys and potential rain. While I was warming up the sun came out and the arm and leg warmers came off ... perfect racing temperature. i had a good warmup because I heard it was a shorter course than usual. I was riding my hardtail for a change so I also wanted to try it out in the woods. It's been a while since I've been on a hardtail on the trails ... this wasn't the smoothest course for a hardtail .. but I was eager to try it out - I'm planning to race it at some of the 100milers I do this year.

The start was fast and furious as usual. I settled in behind two women and held their wheels.  At the first turn one of them took the wrong direction (you really had to keep your eyes open on that course) and then there were two. I could hear two other women right behind me. The 4 of us were together up the first climb, which was steep and not so short ... it was also deceiving. There was a 'false top' where we were all still together and then another climb where we dropped the two behind me. Down the descent we made up even more time and never saw them again. I was chasing Keri around the course, playing cat and mouse. She was stronger in the twisty stuff ... I was strong on the climbs and descents ... back and forth we'd go. Finally up a long hard hill I pulled it off ... a good pass follwed by a fast descent! Just after that I bailed on a hard fast corner doing a full-body skid. She passed me and that was the end of that!

It was a fantastic race - i felt really strong on the hills and descent everywhere else.  Project 'race into shape' is coming together :)

When it rains, it pours

Especially in Seattle ...

We had a 6 hour race lined up for the weekend of April 3rd ... but it rained. And when I say rained ... i mean it rained enough for them to call of the race - we didn't even make it to the start line! I was pretty bummed because I had skipped the 2hr race the weekend before due to being busy at work and knowing that I had a 6hr coming up soon ....

Ah well! We did a 6 hour road ride instead ... no where near as fun as mountain biking!

Race Report: Soaring Eagle Park

Last Sunday I completed my 2nd race of the 2010 season at Soaring Eagle park. My legs were tired as I was wrapping up 3 intense weeks of traning and getting ready for a recovery week - but the course was phenomenal...

Quick Summary:
# laps: 4
Total distance:  25km
Time: 1:43
Terrain: lots of twists and turns, very flowy
# women in Open/Expert: 15 (awesome!)
Place: 3rd

The Details:
The weather wasn't so co-operative but the trails were fantastic. We lined up for the start in a steady drizzle and quick count down  ' 3 ... 2 ...1 ... go!' My legs were rebelling and not ready for a fast start so I was 7th heading into the woods.  There was only one part of the course that was double track so passing was interesting. The good news is that you could generally find a way around people if you had your eyes open ... and since the Norco descends so well I did all my passing on the downhill sections.  It was super fun.   

After a few downhills where I could pass through the trees and I was sitting in 4th.  I followed 3rd around and passed her on the 2nd lap on the one section of double-track, - this was the woman that beat me last race. I dropped her on the descents and never saw her again. I kept on seeing the 2nd place girl in front of me but she saw me too.    I played cat and mouse with the 2nd place woman for 2 laps but she out-raced me and claimed 2nd place.   A great course, a great effort ... and I didn't get lapped by the pro men this time .... it was a good day :)

Leadville 100 - I'm in!!!

So yeah ... I just got word: I am IN for the Leadville 100!! Whoohoo ... bring on 100 miles of pain and oxygen debt :)

I'm super excited - for those of you who have not heard of this race, check out the Race Across the Sky movie.  What is this racek you ask? Here is a quick summary:

• Distance: 100 miles
• Climbing: 18,000 feet
• Altitude: 9,000 to 13,000 feet (hence the oxygen debt)
• Date: August 14th
• Record setters: Lance Armstrong (6hr 28 min), Rebecca Rusch (8hrs 15 min)

Time to start pedaling faster :)

Race Report - Black Diamond

There are many lessons I have learned in my 7 years of racing (wow, I've been racing 7 years!) .. one such lesson is that you need to race to get good at racing. And this means both years of racing + the racing miles you get under your belt in one season.

As my first A race is Spokane (late May), I needed to find some early season races to get the legs and mind ready ... and being Seattle, well, that was easy!  Today was my first venture into the 2010 project of 'race into shape'.

The stats:
Finishing place: 2nd
# women in my category: 10
Duration: 70 minutes (yes, only 70 minutes!)
Location: Black Diamond
Technical rating: 8 -->Rocky (baby head rocks) and rooty twisty single track.
Terrain: mostly flat with a few steep ups and downs
Incidents: 2- my fork had too much air so my hands & arms were numb from the beating of the course; and i had a chain problem :)

Getting to the start line
Getting to the start line is sometimes the hardest part of the race. This wasn't the case for me today but it certainly was for my friend Yvonne. We car pooled together only for her to remember that she forgot her pedals once we got there!!! Well, pedals are pretty important aren't they :) She luckly found a friendly biker to lend her his pedals and was good to go. I met her at the start line and she had forgotten her water in the car... one of those days. She's also left her gloves at the registration table ... ugh! Being the trooper she is she just shrugged and said 'well, what is the first race of the season for anyway?'. 

The race
The start was fast and furious, as usual, with one girl going all out at the word 'go'. the rest of us were half asleep (aparently) and filed into line behind her. I was positoned in 3rd - not a bad position ... or so I thought. That though quickly changed once we got into the single track and I realized that the girl in front of me was way past her limit and falling all over the trail. Because the trail was so narrow there wern't many oppertunities to pass so I took her on the first hill. Now I was sitting pretty in 2nd. 

I found the 1st place girl and followed her around for a while, taking the lead after she managed an endo in one of the more technical bits. As I mentioned above, I had wayyy to much air in my shock (what are 1st races for if not for remembering all the stuff you forget to check?) and my arms and hands were sore after 2 laps. We had 5 laps in total and I was enjoying the ride. The girl I had passed for 1st took me by surprise and passed me on an open section and I was back in 2nd chasing. At first I thought 'settle into your own pace Monilee' but I quickly realized that 'my pace' was a 24hr solo pace and nowhere near fast enough for a 1 hour race :)  I shook myself out of it and pushed harder, catching the 1st place girl. I stayed on her tail through the end of lap 3 and through lap4 I was itching to pass. But I knew I had one more lap so I wanted to time it right. I drafted her up to the lap area only to find that were were being pulled - the lead men had lapped us on lap4 so the race was over! Major bummer! Ah well - just goes to show you should never go slower than you can :)

All in all it was a really fun race, was great to be out playing in the dirt, and was a well attended event! Yvonne had a great race despite the setbacks and finished a solid 4th!

All told: Project 'race into shape' is not only going well, it is very very fun. I'm stoked to be racing again!

Nationals Race Report

24hr racing lesson 1001: Never race when you have a cold and your significant other is recovering from the flu. The odds are against you ...

The numbers:
Laps completed: 6
Elevation climbed: ~9000ft
Miles ridden: 90

The Lead Up:
I had a great week in Moab leading up to the race but my immune system was low due to fighting the flu (that I brought home from work to Fraser) and I got a cold 4 days prior to race day. I was diligently eating zinc lozenges and vit C and come race day I didn't feel too bad - but I didn't feel great either. I decided to race anyway and see what happened.

You'd think it would be a no-brainer to say 'oh, i shouldn't race, i have a nasty cold that could turn into the flu'. But it isn't - we travelled all the way to Moab and this was US Nationals. It was my last race for the year, the course was super fun, etc, etc. I can list dozens of excuses for starting the race :)

The Race:
Off the start I wasn't feeling 'great'. My legs were fine but my lungs and body were achy and non-energetic. The run was slow and my first lap was slower than any of my pre-rides. I was really hot so I figured it was the heat ... I got an ice scarf and this seemed to help on my 2nd lap. I should have clued in at this point (needing an ice scarf at 75F or ~20C is not normal for me - this is my perfect racing temperature) .. but I didn't.

I described the race course in a previous post but i'll summarize here: mix in some sand, climbing, technical descents, slick rock, technical climbs, and fun fast 'hammer sections' and you have the course. It was 15 miles long and about 1500ft of climbing per lap. It was the most technical course I've ever ridden for a 24hr race - the technical climbs and descents were tough. Think Quebec Cup or Mt Ste Anne for the technical descents. It was a perfect course for the Norco Faze. The technical bits were my favorite part of the course by far ... likely because I was passing a lot of people here.

My 2nd and 3rd laps were marginally better and then it cooled down for the night. My laps were 15 -25 minutes longer than they should have been but I kept on pushing through. At 9pm I was in the top 5 and making ground. This gave me motivation to keep pushing even though I wasn't feeling great.

It's a good time now to talk about the pit. Fraser and Alan shared my pit and were racing as a tag-team. They were amazing in helping me while they weren't racing. I'd come in and ask for a few things and they would help as much as they could! We had a few mix-ups with lights but nothing major and we got it sorted out before I hit the course.

Around 10pm the coughing started. The course was dusty so this was somewhat normal. I'd been taking my puffer each lap but this lap I just couldn't stop coughing. My abs were more sore from coughing on this lap than from the technical sections (and that is saying something)! I had to stop.

I pulled into the pit, sat down, caught my breath enough to take the puffer about 5 times and after about 15 minutes stopped coughing. I knew the race was over. I was totally congested at this point with a major sinus headache, had a fever, and was moving very slowly around the course. My legs were the only part of me that felt good ...unfortunately you need all of you to continue racing!

Fraser's flu had turned into acute bronchitis so he was also done racing for the night. Alan was planning to do another 2 laps but was happy to pack it in. We packed the valuables in the truck and headed to the trailer. This is the first race that I had to stop due to something other than my stomach. And it's the first time that I knew, when I stopped, I wouldn't be going back. Racing with a cold is a very bad idea :)

And now I'm on the way home - I fly out today and Fraser will stay another week to enjoy the Moab riding. Back to work and the 'real world'. I definitely want to come to Moab and I really want to race there again - the course and I have something to settle. :)

By popular request - the tale of 3 crashes

OK OK, I know it wasn't fair to say I crashed 3 times at worlds but omit the gory details. It isn't as exciting as you may think but here we go.

All three crashes happened after 6am on Sunday (read: i'd been riding 18 hours already). You'll have to excuse me if I was feeling a little stunned and like I'd been hit by a truck. I usually love the first morning lap - the sun rise energizes me and gets the legs turning again. At Canmore I was bonked though so the morning lap was a little rough.

I mentioned that there was a lot of technical singletrack so it should come as no surprise that all 3 of my crashes were in the singletrack....

Crash #1: there were a lot of little (8-10 feet) steep dips down with a steep up immediately afterwards. Several of these dips had roots, rocks, and fun stuff in the middle, on both sides, or all three. This was one with all three - and root on the 'up' side. Momentum is my friend so I usually sail through these with no issue. Not so on this lap. I went down the rocky side nice and smooth (and fast)and somehow aimed for the biggest part of the root which was a 1 foot up and over and yup, you guessed it, landed flat on my back. I did a backwards endo if you will. for some reason it took about 30 seconds for me to get my feet unclipped and during this time my bike was upside down on top of me. I am sure if anyone had seen this they'd be laughing their butts off.

Crash #2: the course was dusty and some sections were really loose. There was this one spot with a 1.5 foot drop where you had to do a 90 degree turn right after. Normally, not an issue. I was behind someone who decided to pull off the trail and decided that the right thing to do was to look at them instead of the trail infront of me. Wham, over the drop and over my handle-bars and into the woods i went. Another classic moment.

Crash #3: this crash was on my last lap when i was 'riding scared'. I was pushing the pace through the tight singletrack, took a wrong line (i honestly don't know what happened here) and ended up hugging a tree. This was the only crash that produced a nice bruise and some good bleeding - i think i was going pretty fast!

Race report: World 24hr Solo Championships

I'll add to this as I get time - for now you get the quick update :)

By the numbers:
Placement: 5th place
KM ridden: ~ 235
Feet climbed: ~22,500
Hours ridden: ~23
Mechanicals: 0
Crashes: 3

The lead up:
We drove up to BC the week prior to the race and set up camp (our RV) at my brother's place in Invamere. My mom, dad, and niece were there as well so it was great to hang with the family. We headed up to Canmore and scoped out the course the Monday and Tuesday. You can read about our 'scouting' trip in my previous blog post here.

We spend the remainder of the week hanging with the family, napping, eating, and riding my brother's favorite trails in K-Country. Not a bad way to spend the week :) On Friday we headed back up to Canmore, set up our pit, and then hung out at the hotel - napping, eating food, and watching the Tour. Saturday I had a great sleep-in and we had to rush to get to the race in time. The solos were starting early but we weren't aware so it was a last minute rush getting my plates on and getting up to the line.

The Race
As they called the solos up one by one, I felt good - energy was high and I felt well rested. I was excited! The gun went off and we were running. As usual, i dropped a few positions in the run. To my surprise I was feeling good by the end of the run and actually passed a few people back. My legs were ready!

The first lap was fast and slow. The course was well-laid out but with all of the single-track (even though they separated the Solos and Teams for most of the course) passing was tough. There were bottle-necks but by the end of the lap the field was well spread out. I was feeling good and came through the feed zone (Fraser, my amazing husband and pit crew was giving me double feeds during the race) too early so Fraser missed me. No worries, I had grabbed an extra bottle of water due to the heat and had a gel in my pocket. I was good to go.

It was a hot day but we had a good 'keeping it cool strategy'. Fraser made me some 'ice scarfs' - socks filled with ice, tied together, and worn around the neck. It was amazing. I also carried a little thing of water to dump on my head - and with the double-feeds I didn't need to wear a camel back so life was bliss. I was definitely keeping it cool - even if I was soaked.

The first laps were taking me around 1:18 per lap on average. They were a good length and I was enjoying the course. I was feeling strong - my legs felt good and my energy was high until around lap 4. My stomach was feeling queasy. Uh oh. I came in and sat down. I ate salts, water, and gel. I sat some more. After 30 min i was feeling ready to ride and headed back out to the course. I felt a little 'on the edge' so i backed of the pace and focused on breathing and riding - my first and primary goal was to ride all 24 hours and not to have to stop for stomach issues.

Around 7pm we had a brief rain storm which helped to settle some of the dust. I was wishing for a bit more rain as the course was super dry and dusty - i had to use my inhaler several times. Of course, that may have had someting to do with the fact that I was racing at 5000 feet above my normal altitude :) The air was a bit thin for this Ocean dweller.

The darkness set in and I was feeling good. I'd recovered from my nausea and had upped my salt intake so things were going well. The night riding was tough because of the dust. It was like riding in the snow - the dust was sooo thick. Whenever I was behind a rider I wouldn't be able to see a thing. But I just kept on riding and hoped for the best.

Now is a good time to talk about my bikes - Jon at SVC dialed in my Fazes the week before we left so they were in tip-top shape. I would swap bikes every 3rd lap or so and Fraser would check the tire pressure and lube the chain. Loads of people were getting flats and breaking their chains this race ... i got through without one mechanical incident.

Around 6am I knew I'd made it. It was time to turn it up as best I could and see what I could do. I asked Fraser where I was -- turns out I was 6th and making time on 5th, 4th, and 3rd. Sweet! I ate some bananas and headed out for a lap. I caught Rebecca Rusch on a climb (yes, caught!) She'd done 3 more laps than me and it was a tough course - she was suffering. After I caught her I figured i'd see if I could keep with her. She led me right to the 5th place girl who I passed in the single-track. Rebecca dropped me in one of the rough sections of single-track and I continued at a good pace, hoping to put some time on #5 (#5 was the plate number of the girl who I passed in 5th place).

The next lap I caught Rebecca again - she must have had a longer pit. We chatted for a bit and then she dropped me in the same section of single-track. At that point I was worried about #5 chasing me down and was riding with 'one ear open', listening for her behind me. At one point I saw a girl in a yellow kit (same color as #5) and couldn't believe it. I dug deep and climbed like heck trying to put time on her. i kept on hearing her behind me and kept on digging deeper. I was toast but I wasn't about to get caught. i wanted my 5th place finish.

I came through the pit exhausted, ate some more bananas, ate part of a hammer bar, and headed back out again. I had to keep on going - it was 9:30 and my laps were taking just under an hour and a half at this point. I could do 2 more if I needed to. i didn't want to need to ... but I would if I had to.... I wasn't going to give up 5th place.

At this point everything hurt. The course was demanding - it was technical, 75% single-track, and unforgiving. Thank goodness for the Norco Faze! I hammered to the 'feed zone' where Fraser informed me that I had put 40 min on #5. Phew!! Apparently the girl in the yellow kit was a team rider. I could dial it back, take my sweet time, and finish my last lap. 4th was totally out of reach and i had 5th place locked up. I'd like to say i enjoyed the last part of my lap but I was in pain. My upper body hurt. My core hurt. My legs hurt. It was the toughest course I'd ever ridden for a 24hr race....

My parents were there to cheer me to the finish and I had a huge smile on my face as i crossed the line. I had overcome my stomach, dug deep, and pushed myself hard. It was a good race.

Thanks for reading and thanks again to Norco and SVC for helping me make this possible. Your support goes a loooong way!

8 hours of heat, dust, and climbing ...er, Independance

By the numbers:
Miles riden: ~60
Feet climbed ~10,000
Laps completed: 9
Hours riden: ~7.5
Temperature: 95 F (that's 35C)
Humidity: 70%
Bottles of water on the head: 9
Finishing place: 3rd (15th of 60+ riders overall)

The Lead Up
You can read about my lead up here on my blog ... I had put in 16 hours of training in the 6 days leading up to the race ... what better way to end a 24hour training week than with an 8 hour race? I sure as heck wouldn't have gone as fast on my own ...

The Race
As per tradition (well, for the past 3 years anyway), July 4th was hotter than heck. It was 85 F(30C) at 10am and promised to get up to 95F (35C) with 70% humidity. Trying to stay cool was definately a factor in this race - and for those of you who know me and my track record for hot races ... well, staying cool was a major focus of my race.

We didn't have the oppertunity to pre-ride, haven driven down the night before - so the first few laps were about getting to know the course. It was a ~6.5 mile course with ~1112ft of climbing per lap. The course started with a short 0.5 mile gravel road climb - one of only two road sections on the course and then dumped us into some singletrack. The climb continued for another mile or so and then we came out to the 2nd road section - about 0.25 mile of road. Off the road we were treated to some of the funnest and fastest singletrack downhilling I have ever done. We were racing on a dirt-biking trail and it was very well maintained. The downhill seemed to go on forever with some tight turns and deep (2ft) ruts to keep us on our toes. At the bottom of the downhill we crossed a bridge and then began the 'arizona' climb back up. It was called the 'arizona' climb because it was fully exposed, sandy, and did not offer any wind or repreive from the heat of the day. It went on forever - the grade ranged from 15 to 28%, at which point I was off my bike and walking. At the top of the climb we were treated to a short but sweet downhill and then were spit back out on the road where the feeding zones were.

It was a super fun but unforgiving course. There were no flat sections so eating was done on the climbs. I am really good at getting bottles out of my jersey now ... that is where I stashed my bottle of cold water each lap ... critical part of my 'keep it cool' strategy. Ok, back to the race ...

The goal of the race was to go out hard and try to blow up. The problem with this strategy is that I really have no ability to 'go out hard'. Going out hard for me is going at the top of my z1. But I went out faster than my 'pacing' effort would have been. The first two laps felt slow. I was pushing but didn't seem to get anywhere - and I was feeling the heat. I took a bottle of ice water with me each lap and doused myself with it, trying to stay cool. Just into the 2nd lap Fraser passed me ... 'did you just lap me?' I asked incredulously (you never know with Frase, when he's on, he is ON ... and he is getting fitter every day). Turns out he took a wrong turn (follow the ribbons) and got a flat tire. Oh ...

We were both self-supporting and had made up some drinks and water beforehand - with 5 bags of ice everything stayed nice and cool. Because we didn't know the course we didn't estimate well with the calories per bottle - I had to stop every 2nd lap and adjust my bottles for the next few laps. Around lap 3 I started to feel good and my lap times started dropping ... 30seconds faster, 2 minutes faster, 5 minutes faster- I just kept on getting faster and faster. It was great - I ended the race feeling strong ... a great sign given that Worlds is a short 3 weeks away!

I ended up in 3rd ... the two girls in front of me also did 9 laps and were ahead of me by 15 and 7 minutes respectively. Another few laps ...

Frase had a good race until about 5 hours in where he broke his chain 4 times. Pretty frustrating!

And now I am cleaning the dust off my bike and clothes, getting caught up on work, and getting ready for worlds!