Showing posts with label adventure racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adventure racing. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Honey Stinger Waffles
Yep, my reason for posting right now is a new fuel. After so many Adventure Races and runs requiring multiple fueling I've had my fill of bars and gus are getting hit and miss. I came across Honey Stinger's latest product in the bike shop a few weeks ago - Organic Honey Waffles. It's not a real waffle, it's flat and crisp and to me it tastes a little like crispy pie crust with honey. That may not be a good way to describe it, but I do think it's really good. We'll see if I stay this positive about it after eating 6 or 8 in a day, but right now I'm pretty firm. It's kind of a solid go to like peanut butter and honey sandwiches, but not quite as messy! ;-)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Time off
I guess I hadn't realized how long I had gone without dropping at blog post...
So, I'm not going to recap all that's happened between then and now. I'm going to fast forward to September 25 and the Berryman Adventure Race. This is a race I did with Scott, Jamie, and Brandon. I was ready for this one with the exception of wishing I had a little more mountain biking time on the season. Of course we know that's normal for me. We met at headquarters at 6am and were bussed to the start. Race started a little after 7am. Trekking/running first. We hit the first few checkpoints without issue. We ran into trouble on I think CP 4 and had to do some back tracking to CP 5 then back to 4, then on to 6. Due to time we decided to skip 7 & 8. :-(
Next up was a challenge (climbing and rappelling off a wall), then we ran to a couple more check points. Then a zip line. After that we hit the bikes for some extraordinarily grueling dirt road hills. They seemed to go up, up, up - thanks to my one one gear and stubbornness I didn't have to walk. This was followed by single track. We made it thought that unscathed (although I was slower than I would have liked). Canoe was about 13 miles followed by a short jog to the finish. We crossed the line in 11hours and 19 minutes (still kicking ourselves for the missing checkpoints, but what can you do??). It was a fun day overall and we finished happy and ready to go again!
NOTE: I tried to entertain the team by singing random 80's hair metal songs on the canoe - next year I need to expand my repertoire pre-race!
Now, fast forward to 10-10-2010 - the Mother Road Marathon in Joplin, MO. I trained right. Going in to race day I felt good. I did an Adventure Race 2 weeks prior, but I still felt rested. I had intentions of breaking a PR (4:09). Race day started out great. My 13.1 time was 1:55:01. Up until about that point I had felt good. I did go out to fast - my first six miles were all 8:30 pace or faster. I finally got slowed down to race pace. A little after mile 13 my stomach started cramping up and made it terrible to try to eat anything. Brady was on his bike with me and he tried forcing me to eat, drink and take walk breaks. By mile 15 it had gotten hot and I quit sweating. Bad sign. I was able to finish - poorly. Final time was 4:24:08. Argh.
I'm ready to try that one again already. Unfortunately my toes haven't been the same since race day. I guess it's Morton's neuroma, but it boils down to electrical like nerve pain that shoots up through my 3rd and 4th toes mostly when I run or go down stairs bare foot. I've been diagnosed before and had cortisone shots, but it's been under control for the last couple years. I took 2 full weeks off of running (still biking) but it was still there when I started running again last week. I'm looking at new shoes, doing lots of stretching, icing, not wearing high heels and taking ibuprofin as needed for the time being. A fast 1.5 miles in the 5 fingers yesterday was tolerable. Planning to try again in the morning - we shall see. Advice is welcomed.
Till next time run on!
So, I'm not going to recap all that's happened between then and now. I'm going to fast forward to September 25 and the Berryman Adventure Race. This is a race I did with Scott, Jamie, and Brandon. I was ready for this one with the exception of wishing I had a little more mountain biking time on the season. Of course we know that's normal for me. We met at headquarters at 6am and were bussed to the start. Race started a little after 7am. Trekking/running first. We hit the first few checkpoints without issue. We ran into trouble on I think CP 4 and had to do some back tracking to CP 5 then back to 4, then on to 6. Due to time we decided to skip 7 & 8. :-(
NOTE: I tried to entertain the team by singing random 80's hair metal songs on the canoe - next year I need to expand my repertoire pre-race!
Now, fast forward to 10-10-2010 - the Mother Road Marathon in Joplin, MO. I trained right. Going in to race day I felt good. I did an Adventure Race 2 weeks prior, but I still felt rested. I had intentions of breaking a PR (4:09). Race day started out great. My 13.1 time was 1:55:01. Up until about that point I had felt good. I did go out to fast - my first six miles were all 8:30 pace or faster. I finally got slowed down to race pace. A little after mile 13 my stomach started cramping up and made it terrible to try to eat anything. Brady was on his bike with me and he tried forcing me to eat, drink and take walk breaks. By mile 15 it had gotten hot and I quit sweating. Bad sign. I was able to finish - poorly. Final time was 4:24:08. Argh.
I'm ready to try that one again already. Unfortunately my toes haven't been the same since race day. I guess it's Morton's neuroma, but it boils down to electrical like nerve pain that shoots up through my 3rd and 4th toes mostly when I run or go down stairs bare foot. I've been diagnosed before and had cortisone shots, but it's been under control for the last couple years. I took 2 full weeks off of running (still biking) but it was still there when I started running again last week. I'm looking at new shoes, doing lots of stretching, icing, not wearing high heels and taking ibuprofin as needed for the time being. A fast 1.5 miles in the 5 fingers yesterday was tolerable. Planning to try again in the morning - we shall see. Advice is welcomed.
Till next time run on!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Dusk till Dawn 2010
The Thirsty Turtletinas have come back to reclaim their title for 2010. :-)
OK, so this year there were only 2 all female teams registered and the other team didn't even bother to show up!! We still won - right?? Per the race directors - we sure did and we have the swag to prove it (new Columbia pack - whoohoo).
Anyway, 12 hour Adventure Races are about more than winning - they are about mental and physical stamina, teamwork, and seeing what you're made of. When said 12 hour Adventure Race begins at 8pm and ends somewhere in the morning hours of the following day - these tests are greater. It just makes it that much more rewarding.
Some info about the race: held at Perry Lake State Park near Lawrence, KS, course was changed due to rain, technical biking was cancelled, optional checkpoints were added, teams getting all checkpoints would be ranked above teams missing checkpoints regardless of time, additional biking and trekking was added to compensate for the missing tech bike section, there was a bike drop, and we were bussed to the start.
So, still don't know the official results - other than first All Female, but it doesn't matter we had a great race. It began with trekking on single track. We opted for the safe path on checkpoints 1-3 (staying on the trail vs. bushwacking). It worked well. Maybe to 5 as well (without the map my brain is already a little foggy on some details - lol). Pretty sure we bushwacked between 5 & 4 (they didn't have to be in order). Then went on to find 6 - this was an issue - it was a long loop and we trekked the whole dang thing and didn't see the punch - must have been an oversight. Determined not to let it set us back we continued on and hit 7. By now it was raining hard and we were on already wet and slick trails, we continued on to the trail 8 was on, but decided to skip it for fear of missing our time cut-off at checkpoint 9 (now called 16 b/c of elimination of technical biking) of midnight. It was the right decision - we got there with only minutes to spare. So, after stage 1 we were missing 2 optional checkpoints and down about 1-1/2 hours from our friends team (the only real gage we had on where we were).
Stage 2 was biking on mostly dirt roads. We hit CP 17, then opted to skip optional 18 to make up time. We hit CP 19, 20, 21, optional A & B, then 22. It was fairly uneventful except for a road closing on our way to CP 22 that required biking through standing water or backtracking and going a different way. We backtracked to be safe.
Stage 3 was canoeing. When we arrived we were told no one had found 23 and that 25 was optional. Again, in the interest of time we went straight to 24 and found it without much effort. It was necessary to get out of the canoe into the flooded lake and wade too it. Just a little creepy, but I got it done!
We then decided 25 would slow us down too much and headed back to 26. I will note our volunteers told us later they were impressed with our transition speed. We may not be the fastest, but we keep right on plugging along!!
Stage 4 was more biking. We found out we were going back to CP 17, 20, then HQ (they would now be called CP 27, 28, & 29 though). The most scary part of the trip came around this time. In between 26 & 27 we are cruising down a dirt road lined with corn fields. It's pitch dark except for a little moon, our bike lights and headlamps. We approach what looks to be a couple of faces on the side of the road (and remember it's around 4:00am). I think it looks like a couple of scary clowns. When we get up next too them, we realize it's two white-faced, black cows standing there. Right on the side of the road, not fenced in. It caught us both by surprise!! After that we spooked a little more easily. Butterflies turned into bats, etc., etc.
This was the stage where we got to see the sun rise come up - talk about beautiful and refreshing!
We did make it back to HQ without issue and were given our last mission.
Stage 5 was more trekking - the out in the woods kind - not on single track. We went right out and clicked off one and two, found three with very little effort, and found four with slightly more effort, but quickly. We were so excited we ran back into HQ (ahead of our friends team that had started that section before us). Whoohoo. We were done and happy!! :-)
We showered up and cheered the rest of the teams in before eating breakfast and awards. By the time we left I was feeling the fatigue, but I was able to stay awake until we got to KC and met up with a friend of the man's for lunch. Then I crashed for the 2 hour drive home and an additional 3 hours at the house. It was such good sleep. I'm not sure I'm recovered from the loss of sleep, but the body feels good (minus some itching from poison ivy that always seems to make it's on me no matter what prevention is used!!).
I have an awesome teammate who did a great job of orienteering! I wish it wasn't so long till we could do it again! We have too much fun!
I was able to get back to it post race with a 23 mile (slow) bike ride yesterday that ended in the rain, and followed that up with a 4.25 mile run this morning (thanks Brooke). Tomorrow is back to speedwork, bike ride on Thursday, run on Friday & maybe Saturday, then bike 50 on Sunday. Looking to be a good week, maybe not as much recovery as anticipated, but more fun! :-)
Run on, ride on, adventure on!
PS - hopefully I'll have pics to add soon!
OK, so this year there were only 2 all female teams registered and the other team didn't even bother to show up!! We still won - right?? Per the race directors - we sure did and we have the swag to prove it (new Columbia pack - whoohoo).
Anyway, 12 hour Adventure Races are about more than winning - they are about mental and physical stamina, teamwork, and seeing what you're made of. When said 12 hour Adventure Race begins at 8pm and ends somewhere in the morning hours of the following day - these tests are greater. It just makes it that much more rewarding.
Some info about the race: held at Perry Lake State Park near Lawrence, KS, course was changed due to rain, technical biking was cancelled, optional checkpoints were added, teams getting all checkpoints would be ranked above teams missing checkpoints regardless of time, additional biking and trekking was added to compensate for the missing tech bike section, there was a bike drop, and we were bussed to the start.
So, still don't know the official results - other than first All Female, but it doesn't matter we had a great race. It began with trekking on single track. We opted for the safe path on checkpoints 1-3 (staying on the trail vs. bushwacking). It worked well. Maybe to 5 as well (without the map my brain is already a little foggy on some details - lol). Pretty sure we bushwacked between 5 & 4 (they didn't have to be in order). Then went on to find 6 - this was an issue - it was a long loop and we trekked the whole dang thing and didn't see the punch - must have been an oversight. Determined not to let it set us back we continued on and hit 7. By now it was raining hard and we were on already wet and slick trails, we continued on to the trail 8 was on, but decided to skip it for fear of missing our time cut-off at checkpoint 9 (now called 16 b/c of elimination of technical biking) of midnight. It was the right decision - we got there with only minutes to spare. So, after stage 1 we were missing 2 optional checkpoints and down about 1-1/2 hours from our friends team (the only real gage we had on where we were).
Stage 2 was biking on mostly dirt roads. We hit CP 17, then opted to skip optional 18 to make up time. We hit CP 19, 20, 21, optional A & B, then 22. It was fairly uneventful except for a road closing on our way to CP 22 that required biking through standing water or backtracking and going a different way. We backtracked to be safe.
Stage 3 was canoeing. When we arrived we were told no one had found 23 and that 25 was optional. Again, in the interest of time we went straight to 24 and found it without much effort. It was necessary to get out of the canoe into the flooded lake and wade too it. Just a little creepy, but I got it done!
We then decided 25 would slow us down too much and headed back to 26. I will note our volunteers told us later they were impressed with our transition speed. We may not be the fastest, but we keep right on plugging along!!
Stage 4 was more biking. We found out we were going back to CP 17, 20, then HQ (they would now be called CP 27, 28, & 29 though). The most scary part of the trip came around this time. In between 26 & 27 we are cruising down a dirt road lined with corn fields. It's pitch dark except for a little moon, our bike lights and headlamps. We approach what looks to be a couple of faces on the side of the road (and remember it's around 4:00am). I think it looks like a couple of scary clowns. When we get up next too them, we realize it's two white-faced, black cows standing there. Right on the side of the road, not fenced in. It caught us both by surprise!! After that we spooked a little more easily. Butterflies turned into bats, etc., etc.
This was the stage where we got to see the sun rise come up - talk about beautiful and refreshing!
We did make it back to HQ without issue and were given our last mission.
Stage 5 was more trekking - the out in the woods kind - not on single track. We went right out and clicked off one and two, found three with very little effort, and found four with slightly more effort, but quickly. We were so excited we ran back into HQ (ahead of our friends team that had started that section before us). Whoohoo. We were done and happy!! :-)
We showered up and cheered the rest of the teams in before eating breakfast and awards. By the time we left I was feeling the fatigue, but I was able to stay awake until we got to KC and met up with a friend of the man's for lunch. Then I crashed for the 2 hour drive home and an additional 3 hours at the house. It was such good sleep. I'm not sure I'm recovered from the loss of sleep, but the body feels good (minus some itching from poison ivy that always seems to make it's on me no matter what prevention is used!!).
I have an awesome teammate who did a great job of orienteering! I wish it wasn't so long till we could do it again! We have too much fun!
I was able to get back to it post race with a 23 mile (slow) bike ride yesterday that ended in the rain, and followed that up with a 4.25 mile run this morning (thanks Brooke). Tomorrow is back to speedwork, bike ride on Thursday, run on Friday & maybe Saturday, then bike 50 on Sunday. Looking to be a good week, maybe not as much recovery as anticipated, but more fun! :-)
Run on, ride on, adventure on!
PS - hopefully I'll have pics to add soon!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Start from here
Sometimes life gets in the way. That's how I'm summing it up. Some good life, some not so good life, but still life just the same. Mostly I just haven't made the time or had the motivation to post. BUT, I'm going to try to change that. I am trying to get back to having some semblance of a routine - and part of that routine includes having written documentation of what I'm doing with my running, biking, adventure racing life to keep me honest.
So, I do have plans and goals coming up. Nothing crazy, just some fun stuff.
There is the Dusk 2 Dawn Adventure Race up around Lawrence, KS that I will doing with my Thirsty Turtletina teammate for the 3rd year in a row. We have decided this is our year to rock this race!!
Running wise I think I'm doing alright with training. I was a pacer for the Boomtown 1/2 marathon in Joplin, MO a couple weeks ago. (Side note: I did the 2:15 pace group, it was a little slow for me, but it worked since I spent so much energy chatting it up and trying to motivate my group - I would love to do it again someday!) So, I can run 13.1 miles which should easily cover my running need for the race. Mostly from here I need to hit the trails and keep up my mileage.
Cycling wise I have been doing road rides fairly regularly - rides of 20-30 miles. I plan to keep those up as long as I'm in town. My downfall here is mountain biking - I need to hit the trails. I did do my first mountain bike race this year and I do have a new mountain bike so I think those two things will help, but more bouncy seat time is going to be critical. Yesterday I did a road ride to Joplin at 4:30am (I volunteered to help coordinate the biking section of a triathlon). It was good to use my bike lights and practice a little night riding - and I remembered why safety glasses are basically a necessity at dawn (bugs, bugs, bugs).
Paddling - I have canoe/float trips planned the next two weekends. It won't exactly be race day conditions, but at least I'll be able to go through the motions.
Regarding orienteering, I feel better about it than I ever have before. I learned a lot from doing a race back in May - mostly what not to do, but sometimes that's the best way to learn.
I'm also tentatively planning for the Berryman Adventure Race in September with some guys from the Rufus Racing team. Hopefully training will continue after the Dusk 2 Dawn and I won't have any issues there.
As far as running races, I plan to do the Mother Road Marathon on 10-10-10. The course runs from Commerce, OK to Joplin, MO on Route 66. It's the first year for this local race and I want to support it. I started training this weekend. I have plenty of time to work up the mileage so it should be fun.
So, goals are set - just have to stick to the training schedule. Planning for 4 miles running, weight lifting and a chill 12-16 mile group ride tonight - that should be enough for one day. :-)
Till next time - run on!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Going slow
Life has been going fast - training has been going slow. The never ending battle right?
I had decided to run St. Louis marathon a few months back and have been trying to keep up with training. With work travel and just general 'life' it's been hit and miss at best. I'm pretty sure I can do it regardless, it's just going to hurt and be slow. Because of that and a prior commitment the night before in Carthage (meaning drive all night and not get a good nights sleep the night before the race) I decided - just do the half!! Great idea, EXCEPT it was already closed. :-(
So, back to the original plan - eek my way through the rest of the training.
Game plan as of today - run today (4-6), maybe bike a little Friday, St. Patty's Urban Adventure Race Saturday, and 20 mile run on Sunday (LSSD - that is long, SUPER slow distance - hehe).
Next week I'll do normal weekly runs - 4-6 miles on at least 3 days, then follow that up with a 23 mile run on Saturday.
I'll leave town that Sunday for Salt Lake City for work - hopefully get in runs on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday. Thursday I fly to Portland, OR after work and meet Brady. We plan to do a lot of biking and one long hike on Friday to take the place of my run and allow a little recovery. The Muse concert is Saturday, then we head home Sunday. There will be more biking, hiking, walking on both of those days.
Chilling out will be on the agenda for the week of the 5th - probably 3 runs of 3-4 miles.
Saturday night drive to St. Louis - hopefully sleep for at least 5 hours, get up and run 26.2! :-)
Maybe not the best plan, but it's the one I'm going with until I change it! ;-)
I had decided to run St. Louis marathon a few months back and have been trying to keep up with training. With work travel and just general 'life' it's been hit and miss at best. I'm pretty sure I can do it regardless, it's just going to hurt and be slow. Because of that and a prior commitment the night before in Carthage (meaning drive all night and not get a good nights sleep the night before the race) I decided - just do the half!! Great idea, EXCEPT it was already closed. :-(
So, back to the original plan - eek my way through the rest of the training.
Game plan as of today - run today (4-6), maybe bike a little Friday, St. Patty's Urban Adventure Race Saturday, and 20 mile run on Sunday (LSSD - that is long, SUPER slow distance - hehe).
Next week I'll do normal weekly runs - 4-6 miles on at least 3 days, then follow that up with a 23 mile run on Saturday.
I'll leave town that Sunday for Salt Lake City for work - hopefully get in runs on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday. Thursday I fly to Portland, OR after work and meet Brady. We plan to do a lot of biking and one long hike on Friday to take the place of my run and allow a little recovery. The Muse concert is Saturday, then we head home Sunday. There will be more biking, hiking, walking on both of those days.
Chilling out will be on the agenda for the week of the 5th - probably 3 runs of 3-4 miles.
Saturday night drive to St. Louis - hopefully sleep for at least 5 hours, get up and run 26.2! :-)
Maybe not the best plan, but it's the one I'm going with until I change it! ;-)
Thursday, January 7, 2010
It's that time of year
It's time to get back in it - starting with the review of 2009, and heading into what's on the calendar for 2010!
2009 race recap:
March 7 - Run with the Wind 25K
March 21 - St. Patty's Urban Adventure Race with Brooke
April 26 - OKC Memorial Marathon
May 16 - Ozark Greenways Adventure Race - Durty Nellies team
June 13 - Boom Town Days 1/2 marathon - 1:59
July 25 - Dusk till Dawn with Amy
October 11 - Chicago Marathon
I thought it was going to look much more sparse than that - so I'm OK. Next up, I figured up my totals for 2009 - I broke it into actual miles ran, actual miles biked, and finished it up with a generic category for hours of other stuff. This includes 2-12 hour Adventure Races that I was unsure of actual distances for, hours in spinning, yoga, and other miscellaneous run, bikes, hikes that I only logged time for.
Totals:
Running Miles - 1059.75
Biking Miles - 569.5
Hours of other - 115.5
Summary for 2009 - overall it was a good year. There was too much going on personally for me to have had a great year running wise so no major PR's. But, I'm happy with where I'm at and looking forward to some improvements for 2010.
So, the game plan for 2010...
Races:
Run with the Wind 25K - February 27
Planning to tackle the Fat Tire Duathlon Series as a team with Brady - I'll run, he'll bike - there are 3 races - 2 in March, 1 in April
St. Patty's Urban Adventure Race - March 20
St. Louis Marathon - or maybe just 1/2 - April 11
Ozark Greenways Adventure Race - May 22
Mother road Marathon in Joplin - just to support the local race - Oct. 10
Dusk till Dawn Adventure Race - date not announced yet
I'll probably add, remove and tweak heavily between now and then, but it's a start.
So far my mileage for 2010 is not to par because of my severe case of the funk - only 15.5 miles total. I plan to remedy that this coming week and weekend! Power of positive thinking will help to get me through this dang cold!
Till then, run on, ride on!
2009 race recap:
March 7 - Run with the Wind 25K
March 21 - St. Patty's Urban Adventure Race with Brooke
April 26 - OKC Memorial Marathon
May 16 - Ozark Greenways Adventure Race - Durty Nellies team
June 13 - Boom Town Days 1/2 marathon - 1:59
July 25 - Dusk till Dawn with Amy
October 11 - Chicago Marathon
I thought it was going to look much more sparse than that - so I'm OK. Next up, I figured up my totals for 2009 - I broke it into actual miles ran, actual miles biked, and finished it up with a generic category for hours of other stuff. This includes 2-12 hour Adventure Races that I was unsure of actual distances for, hours in spinning, yoga, and other miscellaneous run, bikes, hikes that I only logged time for.
Totals:
Running Miles - 1059.75
Biking Miles - 569.5
Hours of other - 115.5
Summary for 2009 - overall it was a good year. There was too much going on personally for me to have had a great year running wise so no major PR's. But, I'm happy with where I'm at and looking forward to some improvements for 2010.
So, the game plan for 2010...
Races:
Run with the Wind 25K - February 27
Planning to tackle the Fat Tire Duathlon Series as a team with Brady - I'll run, he'll bike - there are 3 races - 2 in March, 1 in April
St. Patty's Urban Adventure Race - March 20
St. Louis Marathon - or maybe just 1/2 - April 11
Ozark Greenways Adventure Race - May 22
Mother road Marathon in Joplin - just to support the local race - Oct. 10
Dusk till Dawn Adventure Race - date not announced yet
I'll probably add, remove and tweak heavily between now and then, but it's a start.
So far my mileage for 2010 is not to par because of my severe case of the funk - only 15.5 miles total. I plan to remedy that this coming week and weekend! Power of positive thinking will help to get me through this dang cold!
Till then, run on, ride on!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Dusk till Dawn
Game face? :-)
Night races are hard to prep for. I stayed up Thursday night and got all my gear rounded up. Friday night we went out with friends, but still ended up in bed by 11pm. Got up Saturday around 10am - fixed pancakes with peanut butter and syrup - yummy. Showered up, went to Wal-mart to pick up some last minute supplies - gummi bears, twizzlers, jolly ranchers, etc. After going back home I put together the rest of my essentials then laid down on the couch for about 30-45 minutes just to chill out and relax. Got back up and fixed some pasta with marinara for lunch and loaded the car. We ate then headed out about 2:15pm. We spent the road trip up there playing 'guess that artist' by scanning through radio stations and using Shazamm on the iPhone when necessary. We made a pit stop close to KC for a bathroom break and we each got a cheeseburger. Made it to race headquarters around 5:30pm. Pulled out the gear and bike. Decided to rotate my break pads - the back one's were ate up and the front one's hadn't really been used so I just switched them out and they worked like champs. Lubed the chain, aired the tires, mounted the headlight and the bike was ready to rock.
Night races are hard to prep for. I stayed up Thursday night and got all my gear rounded up. Friday night we went out with friends, but still ended up in bed by 11pm. Got up Saturday around 10am - fixed pancakes with peanut butter and syrup - yummy. Showered up, went to Wal-mart to pick up some last minute supplies - gummi bears, twizzlers, jolly ranchers, etc. After going back home I put together the rest of my essentials then laid down on the couch for about 30-45 minutes just to chill out and relax. Got back up and fixed some pasta with marinara for lunch and loaded the car. We ate then headed out about 2:15pm. We spent the road trip up there playing 'guess that artist' by scanning through radio stations and using Shazamm on the iPhone when necessary. We made a pit stop close to KC for a bathroom break and we each got a cheeseburger. Made it to race headquarters around 5:30pm. Pulled out the gear and bike. Decided to rotate my break pads - the back one's were ate up and the front one's hadn't really been used so I just switched them out and they worked like champs. Lubed the chain, aired the tires, mounted the headlight and the bike was ready to rock.
During that time my teammate showed up so we headed up to the main tent and got our numbers and t-shirts. Went back to our campsite (well, our support crew campsite - it wasn't like we would be getting any shut eye!) and finished packing up our gear and changed into our race wear. For me I decided I was going to do pants this race - my mountain hardware trekking pants. They have drawstrings around the ankle's so I was able to roll them up to the knee and secure them with the cord for biking which was nice. Went with a black t-back tank - I usually go with sleeveless to keep from having chaffing from the pack, but I utilized lots of body glide on the shoulders and didn't have any issues. Then, of course I went with the rastaman buff, salomon XT wings & smartwool socks with the Camelbak LUXE pack.
Here we are getting ready to head up to pre-race meeting:
At the pre-race meeting we received our maps and clue sheets for the race and since it was early decided we would start the race at 8:30pm instead of 9pm. We headed back to camp and started determining our strategy.
Here we are plotting the course:
We went back to headquarters to find out the start was postponed until 8:45pm so we stood around and chatted with our friends and other teams until time to start. At 8:45pm we lined up and sang along to the National Anthem then took off. We started off with trekking - made it to the first and second checkpoints with no issues. Checkpoint three was another story - we looked on both sides of the ponds (the point should have been in between two ponds on a creek bed) and had about decided to give up and head back since the area was full of teams that had not found it. But, I have to hand it to my teammate - she spotted it and we both turned off our headlamps, punched our card and headed back to HQ to get our bikes. At that point we were rocking.
So, out on the bikes next. We had a lot of trouble with checkpoint 5 - we had both managed to get a bit lost because none of the roads were marked. About an hour into it we finally figured out where we were and that we still had a few km left to get to the point. After a dumb mid-road fall and scuffing of the knee we got going and found the point. Check point 6 we went right too, but not sure we would have found it if there wouldn't have been another team there. Some not so high on my list volunteers had hung the punch up in the tree where it wasn't visible - OK in a day race, but at night that's just silly. Regardless we got it. We found check point 7 with only a slight detour and dropped our bikes and headed out for more trekking - this time on single track. Checkpoints 8 & 9 were fairly easy. We stumbled upon checkpoint 10 a little under 1000 meters sooner than we thought we should have. At this point it was 4am and we decided we would skip the next two trekking points and go ahead and begin the canoe section so we could finish by the 9am cut-off. This was a great strategy - except for one thing - we misread where the canoe started. :( So we headed back to checkpoint 7, which was also 13, where are bikes were and we thought the canoe put in was. Well, it wasn't, it was at 12. Oops - little mistake. So, this put us up to 5am and we knew we had quite a few biking miles ahead of us - including single track. We really didn't have a choice from here - we had to just grab our bikes and head to the next biking checkpoint - 21. This meant we skipped 9 checkpoints. This is when you remind yourself that you are just out there for fun and that we were!! We biked to checkpoints 21, 22, & 23 without issue. Checkpoints 24 & 25 were single track - very rocky, steep in some areas single track. We made it through it a little slow, but we made it. My gut was giving me serious grief at this point so each bump was killing me, but my teammate was supportive and we managed to work our way through it all. Got back to headquarters in a little under 12 hours.
Just a side note - last year the teams that won finished in 8 hours - these are the people who are paid to do this stuff - they are serious about it. Last year we finished in 12 hours - we aren't paid - we do this for fun! ;-)
So, taking that into consideration the top teams finished in around 11 hours - we should have finished in around 15 hours. Not sure if it was a good idea or not, but since cut-off was 9am we just tried to get as many checkpoints as we could in that amount of time. I figure since it took everyone so long they will extend the cut-off and our strategy will be for not, but that's a chance you take.
I had the best time working with a great supportive teammate. Maybe it wasn't our day, maybe it was just a hard course, but it didn't matter we had fun and that was the real name of the game.
After the race we got back in the car - stopped off for a snack in Lawrence then I slept for a couple hours before we made another stop for actual lunch in Lamar. Pizza hut buffet - I must say it was one of the worst PH buffet's, but we ate a little then headed on home. Brady watched a movie while I slept another couple hours then woke up - hesitantly - and we hoped on the bikes to grab a bite. I was hungry for a seafood tostada, but they were closed so we went back home and had leftovers. We watched a couple episodes of Supernatural - well, I watched two then feel asleep - Brady watched four and then we went to bed. It was a great night's sleep!! Long day!
I was so sore Sunday, but I was glad we hopped back on the bikes to ride for dinner because I felt better yesterday. We even did a 18.5 mile ride on the tandem yesterday. Back to basically normal today. Tomorrow I will try to run again - we shall see!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Mini taper
Ah, had a great time in San Francisco last week. Only got in 1 actual run, but lots of hiking and walking the city. Oh well!
This has been a chill week - Monday I was so tired I just took off. Tuesday we just went for a tandem bike ride around town. Today I met Brooke for a pre-work 6 miler. She had Spot (her dad's dog) with her so that was a fun change. We averaged 9:30's with a couple quick water stops. I was happy with that.
Tomorrow the plan is to hit single track on the bikes. Friday will be an off day and Saturday is the big Adventure Race!
I'm pretty sure I'm ready - I've just been feeling a little funky - probably just off schedule from vacation, etc. I'll have to give myself some pep talks this week, but there's no backing out now!!
I still need to pack up gear - decide what to wear (really decide if I want my legs to be torn up from the trekking or if I want to be hot and wear pants!) ;-) I guess I don't really care about the scratches - I just worry about the poison ivy. We'll see - I'll probably decide all that Thursday night. Just have to remember safety glasses this year - when dawn hits the bugs are horrendous!! I can deal with eating them, but getting them in your eyes sucks. However, if that's the worst we have to deal with for this race I'll be happy!
Till the post-race recap....
This has been a chill week - Monday I was so tired I just took off. Tuesday we just went for a tandem bike ride around town. Today I met Brooke for a pre-work 6 miler. She had Spot (her dad's dog) with her so that was a fun change. We averaged 9:30's with a couple quick water stops. I was happy with that.
Tomorrow the plan is to hit single track on the bikes. Friday will be an off day and Saturday is the big Adventure Race!
I'm pretty sure I'm ready - I've just been feeling a little funky - probably just off schedule from vacation, etc. I'll have to give myself some pep talks this week, but there's no backing out now!!
I still need to pack up gear - decide what to wear (really decide if I want my legs to be torn up from the trekking or if I want to be hot and wear pants!) ;-) I guess I don't really care about the scratches - I just worry about the poison ivy. We'll see - I'll probably decide all that Thursday night. Just have to remember safety glasses this year - when dawn hits the bugs are horrendous!! I can deal with eating them, but getting them in your eyes sucks. However, if that's the worst we have to deal with for this race I'll be happy!
Till the post-race recap....
Monday, July 6, 2009
Trail times
It was a great weekend for hitting trails! It started out Friday morning doing a little single track mountain biking in Jefferson City at Binder Park. They were very nice trails (with very little exception) compared to some of the rocky stuff we usually ride. Nothing too technical - nothing I couldn't ride (even though I had some moments of fear). It was a slow, but fun ride once I got into it. We only rode the blue and green trails - took us around an 1-1/2 hours.
I was planning to do a 12 mile run on the Katy Trail while in Columbia on Saturday, but there was just too much going on (or really, I was trying to fit too much in!). So, I skipped it and just did it Sunday. I finally hit the road around 10:30am - decked out in Adventure Race gear - pack and trail shoes. I had 2.25 miles of road before I was able to hit the Ruby Jack Trail head. Then, 7.5 miles out and back on it and followed it up with the 2.25 miles home on roads. It was a really nice day out - although it was still really humid and I was drenched by the time I was done. The animals again helped me get through it - I saw a deer first - just standing right in the middle of the trail:
Of course by the time I stopped, got my camera out of the pack it was gone and all I got was the trail! ;-) Oh well, next time. Then, there were 3 or 4 turtles:
This little guy didn't move nearly as fast as the deer! I also saw multiple bunnies (nope, didn't even attempt to get the camera out for those fast little buggers). At one point I felt to be the queen of the dragonflies with them all circling around my ankles as I ran past. All in all it was a great run - very peaceful. In the 1+ hour I spent on the trail I only saw 5 other people out - which is a shame, but also nice for me. I'm torn, the more people that use it the more the trail condition will improve (because of increased awareness and funding), but also the busier it will be and possibly cause the trails to not be quite as peaceful or so heavily populated by wildlife?? Hmmm, which is better??
I was disappointed to see that some people - I assume from the housing on either side of the trail - had decided to use the trail as a place to launch fireworks - not a bad idea in itself - but leaving the trash from it is. I hope that they just had not made it back to clean it up. I'm heading back out there tonight on a group bike ride and I'll be taking my trash sack just in case.
After the run, I showered up and we took the dogs to do a picnic lunch by the lake. They loved it - there are so many smells there that they can be entertained for hours!! Then, a quick trip to the nursing home to visit the Grandpa then back to the single track trails in Joplin.
We made it to the trails around 5:45pm and were able to ride around an hour. It was a good ride for me - I didn't fall! ;-) Also was able to ride a little faster - not bad considering I had 12 miles on my legs for the day. My confidence was up a bit after the ride - I'm ready to go again soon - so, I think we're putting it on the calendar for tomorrow. With an Adventure Race coming up the more trail miles the better.
Today is just going to be a chill group ride (us on the tandem) on Ruby Jack Trail. Pretty excited about that. Then, I'm planning to get up tomorrow morning for a 6 mile tempo run - I hope I can hit the mark! Tomorrow evening we'll hit single track with mountain bikes. Wednesday morning will be speed work at the track. Thursday will be a 4 mile easy run, then a 24+ mile ride that night. Friday will be weights and Saturday will be the Tornado Alley - still not sure if I'll do 50 or 77 miles - we'll see how the legs are feeling!! :-)
Ride/Run on!
Friday, May 22, 2009
OGAR - year 3
Adventure racing - you have to love a team sport where you get to get down and dirty don't you??
May 16 was the 3rd year in a row I've done the Ozark Greenways Adventure Race with the Dirty Nelly's team - Don, John, & Jonas. This year it was held again at Gasconade Hills resort. Has anyone noticed how much rain we've gotten?? Yeah, so did race organizers - water levels were up, up, up. So much that they opted out of having us canoe so the race course literally changed the night before we started.
Luckily Brooke was on it this year and reserved our team a couple cabins so we weren't stuck in tents during the downpour that came on Friday night - complete with impressive lightning and wake you up out of a dead sleep thunder!!
So, team was up at 5am - Don (team leader) went and got our packet and we met at 5:30am to review the maps. We saw we started out biking on roads (combo of paved and dirt), followed that up with some running/trekking, then to single track biking, and finally back to roads to the finish. Sounds pretty easy! ;-)
Team meeting was a 6am where they reviewed rules and cut-offs and then they gave us some extra time to review the changes they had made before our official start at 7am.
7am came and we were off - it was pretty crowded at the beginning with everyone on bikes and heading in the same direction. Our team did pretty good (you're only as good as your weakest link) getting through the first bike segment - only a little waiting. We were about an hour in when we ditched our bikes to run the first run segment through about a 1-1/2 of single track. It went well until we hit the road again and accidentally went the wrong way - only about 1/2 mile before we realized we had done something wrong. So, we get back to where we started and head the other direction and it looks wrong too - we went a little further and got our footing again - I think with the rain they had rerouted the trail we were on so we didn't pop out where we thought we would. Oh well, all part of the adventure!!
Next was the real trekking segment - our first check point was terrible - no joking it took us 40 minutes to find it - talk about feeling like you are out in the woods and lost - we were!! Luckily the next 3 check points were much smoother - we found them without much issue. Had minor troubles (meaning we didn't go directly to them) on the next 3 then we headed back out to our last trekking checkpoint. Ran back to our bikes and hit the single track. I felt our team did really well here - we passed at least 3-4 teams. Talk about riding through mud - we sure did - those poor trails - I don't think they will ever be the same. Still surprised we were allowed do do it. I kept saying we don't have to canoe the river, but we are biking it. Water was literally running down most of the trails. We were filthy - it was hilarious. I fell at least 4 times and I know my teammates had their share of biting it as well. I wasn't too upset - it was my first year riding clipless in one of these races - so I was happy with no major falls and I didn't have to get off my bike for much.
Jonas broke a chain really close to finishing the single track, but he got it changed quickly and we headed out to our check point. All we had left was road biking back to the finish - a total of about 7 miles - I was so excited and ready to be done. Don't get my wrong - not an easy 7 - these were some seriously hilly roads - great on the downhill, but kick your butt on the uphill. We whipped through the first 5-1/2 then waited on our struggling teammate - 20 minutes - as we watched teams pass us - more teams than we passed in the technical. :( Once everyone got there we took off again - determined to make it the next 1-1/2 miles of mostly downhill to the finish. Not sure what happened, but we still lost one and had to wait at the entrance to the finish for another 5 minutes on our last teammate. But, like I said earlier - it's a team sport and you're only as good as your weakest member. That's why we do this - you can't do it alone. We ended up finishing in 10 hours and 30 minutes. Way ahead of the 14 hour cut-off. Overall it was a good day considering all the rain and the mud. The weather was great - stayed pretty cool all day.
We finished and then got to eat the customary burgers - they taste so good after that many hours living on gu's and blok's and peanut butter & honey sandwiches. And don't forget the Fat Tire beer - it wouldn't be OGAR without that. All we had to do then was relax and enjoy the rest of the day - knowing we had earned it.
May 16 was the 3rd year in a row I've done the Ozark Greenways Adventure Race with the Dirty Nelly's team - Don, John, & Jonas. This year it was held again at Gasconade Hills resort. Has anyone noticed how much rain we've gotten?? Yeah, so did race organizers - water levels were up, up, up. So much that they opted out of having us canoe so the race course literally changed the night before we started.
Luckily Brooke was on it this year and reserved our team a couple cabins so we weren't stuck in tents during the downpour that came on Friday night - complete with impressive lightning and wake you up out of a dead sleep thunder!!
So, team was up at 5am - Don (team leader) went and got our packet and we met at 5:30am to review the maps. We saw we started out biking on roads (combo of paved and dirt), followed that up with some running/trekking, then to single track biking, and finally back to roads to the finish. Sounds pretty easy! ;-)
Team meeting was a 6am where they reviewed rules and cut-offs and then they gave us some extra time to review the changes they had made before our official start at 7am.
7am came and we were off - it was pretty crowded at the beginning with everyone on bikes and heading in the same direction. Our team did pretty good (you're only as good as your weakest link) getting through the first bike segment - only a little waiting. We were about an hour in when we ditched our bikes to run the first run segment through about a 1-1/2 of single track. It went well until we hit the road again and accidentally went the wrong way - only about 1/2 mile before we realized we had done something wrong. So, we get back to where we started and head the other direction and it looks wrong too - we went a little further and got our footing again - I think with the rain they had rerouted the trail we were on so we didn't pop out where we thought we would. Oh well, all part of the adventure!!
Next was the real trekking segment - our first check point was terrible - no joking it took us 40 minutes to find it - talk about feeling like you are out in the woods and lost - we were!! Luckily the next 3 check points were much smoother - we found them without much issue. Had minor troubles (meaning we didn't go directly to them) on the next 3 then we headed back out to our last trekking checkpoint. Ran back to our bikes and hit the single track. I felt our team did really well here - we passed at least 3-4 teams. Talk about riding through mud - we sure did - those poor trails - I don't think they will ever be the same. Still surprised we were allowed do do it. I kept saying we don't have to canoe the river, but we are biking it. Water was literally running down most of the trails. We were filthy - it was hilarious. I fell at least 4 times and I know my teammates had their share of biting it as well. I wasn't too upset - it was my first year riding clipless in one of these races - so I was happy with no major falls and I didn't have to get off my bike for much.
Jonas broke a chain really close to finishing the single track, but he got it changed quickly and we headed out to our check point. All we had left was road biking back to the finish - a total of about 7 miles - I was so excited and ready to be done. Don't get my wrong - not an easy 7 - these were some seriously hilly roads - great on the downhill, but kick your butt on the uphill. We whipped through the first 5-1/2 then waited on our struggling teammate - 20 minutes - as we watched teams pass us - more teams than we passed in the technical. :( Once everyone got there we took off again - determined to make it the next 1-1/2 miles of mostly downhill to the finish. Not sure what happened, but we still lost one and had to wait at the entrance to the finish for another 5 minutes on our last teammate. But, like I said earlier - it's a team sport and you're only as good as your weakest member. That's why we do this - you can't do it alone. We ended up finishing in 10 hours and 30 minutes. Way ahead of the 14 hour cut-off. Overall it was a good day considering all the rain and the mud. The weather was great - stayed pretty cool all day.
We finished and then got to eat the customary burgers - they taste so good after that many hours living on gu's and blok's and peanut butter & honey sandwiches. And don't forget the Fat Tire beer - it wouldn't be OGAR without that. All we had to do then was relax and enjoy the rest of the day - knowing we had earned it.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
End of a Season
I hate this time of year when all your scheduled races are through and you know you need to take time off, but not completely let yourself go. After the L&C Adv. Race I took off 10 days - it was good - I think the body needed it, but since then I have had a hard time maintaining any sort of schedule.
When I don't have a race scheduled it's hard for me to keep my focus. Then the fact that it's the holidays doesn't help either - too much time is spent running around trying to finish shopping and going to programs and parties and eating poorly! :-P
So, what I want to do now is look back at this season - decide what was good about it and what could be better.
My initial pro's are doing a marathon with a lot of friends and family - that was a great pro this year! Let's see, I also really enjoyed doing the Sunflower with Amy, Scott & Scott - it was a really fun race. Then, doing the Dusk till Dawn with Amy - that was great too - I was worried about doing a night race, but it went well and now I have all the gear so I'm ready for the next one. I always like doing the Ozark Greenways Race with Don, Jonas, and John and then of course the healthy competition and camaraderie with Brooke, Tralaine, Andy, and Bob. Another good first this year was Don, Jonas, Brooke and I teaming up to do the Berryman Adventure Race - it was a really good time and we finished well! Another pro for me is starting to ride a road bike - I put in a lot of road miles this year and I think it's helped me all around. I want to carry that into 2009 for sure - into doing more group rides and duathlons (and tri-athlons, but I'll get too that later).
Then the con's - what did I learn that I can improve on for next season?? First, I did too much I think. I need to determine what races I want too do and stick too that - not add a bunch of little pidly races in that end up eating up more time, money and energy than you would think! I don't have to do EVERYTHING. I need to decide what's most important too me and focus on those events. Which leads me too my next con - SWIMMING. I didn't put enough focus on swimming this year, therefore I didn't ever compete in a Tri event. This is something I definitely want to remedy before next season!
So, what am I going to do??
1. At least 1 marathon with emphasis on breaking 4 hours (adding speedwork to my routine)
2. 1-3 Sprint Tri's (depending on how well I like them and how much my swimming improves)
3. Work more on road riding - spend time on drills, going to spinning, and just plain miles
4. 3-4 Adventure Races (adding more single track riding to my routine)
5. It may be a pipe dream, but I would like to break my 24 minute 5K PR
This list will be modified, updated as time goes I'm sure, but this is the start I needed!
So, I'm off to start on the list - heading to spinning class! :-)
When I don't have a race scheduled it's hard for me to keep my focus. Then the fact that it's the holidays doesn't help either - too much time is spent running around trying to finish shopping and going to programs and parties and eating poorly! :-P
So, what I want to do now is look back at this season - decide what was good about it and what could be better.
My initial pro's are doing a marathon with a lot of friends and family - that was a great pro this year! Let's see, I also really enjoyed doing the Sunflower with Amy, Scott & Scott - it was a really fun race. Then, doing the Dusk till Dawn with Amy - that was great too - I was worried about doing a night race, but it went well and now I have all the gear so I'm ready for the next one. I always like doing the Ozark Greenways Race with Don, Jonas, and John and then of course the healthy competition and camaraderie with Brooke, Tralaine, Andy, and Bob. Another good first this year was Don, Jonas, Brooke and I teaming up to do the Berryman Adventure Race - it was a really good time and we finished well! Another pro for me is starting to ride a road bike - I put in a lot of road miles this year and I think it's helped me all around. I want to carry that into 2009 for sure - into doing more group rides and duathlons (and tri-athlons, but I'll get too that later).
Then the con's - what did I learn that I can improve on for next season?? First, I did too much I think. I need to determine what races I want too do and stick too that - not add a bunch of little pidly races in that end up eating up more time, money and energy than you would think! I don't have to do EVERYTHING. I need to decide what's most important too me and focus on those events. Which leads me too my next con - SWIMMING. I didn't put enough focus on swimming this year, therefore I didn't ever compete in a Tri event. This is something I definitely want to remedy before next season!
So, what am I going to do??
1. At least 1 marathon with emphasis on breaking 4 hours (adding speedwork to my routine)
2. 1-3 Sprint Tri's (depending on how well I like them and how much my swimming improves)
3. Work more on road riding - spend time on drills, going to spinning, and just plain miles
4. 3-4 Adventure Races (adding more single track riding to my routine)
5. It may be a pipe dream, but I would like to break my 24 minute 5K PR
This list will be modified, updated as time goes I'm sure, but this is the start I needed!
So, I'm off to start on the list - heading to spinning class! :-)
The First DNF
So, something I had hoped wouldn't happen finally did. I don't want to spend much time dwelling on it or trying to over analyze it, but I also don't want it to be like it didn't happen.
It was the Lewis and Clark Ozark Adventure Race 2008 - an 18 hour, 3 person Adventure Race held November 15 in Northwest Arkansas.
The days leading up to the event were a little stressful - just knowing it was going to be the longest race we had done, new team, and the weather factor - which didn't seem too be moving in a favorable direction.
Turns out it didn't move favorably - it got cold - highs in the 40's and windy. We had lots of warm clothes though so we really thought we were prepared. We got to the Lewis and Clark shop around 5pm - got registered for the event then ate our complimentary pasta dinner. After that we retreated to our cars to repack our camelbaks then met back up at 7pm for the pre-race meeting where we were told we would be starting at 3am around 30 minutes from where we were. The team decided we should leave at 1:30am so we all went back to our hotels to finish up last minute items and try to get a little shut eye.
Ah, 1AM came early. I took a quick shower to warm up and wake up - got dressed and loaded up then went to Scott's hotel to meet him and Diego - we left from there to go to the start. The race started with a wheelbarrow race to get our maps - I was the wheelbarrow (maybe not the best idea!!). Anyway - got the maps - got back in the truck and plotted our points. First section was biking - in the dark and cold - whoohooo! ;-)
Biking went pretty good for us - we passed 5 teams I think in that section. The road riding was fine then we hit single track. In the dark it was quite a challenge for me - eventually I was able to tuck in behind Diego and could see better with his brighter bike light and made it ok. Not fast, but steady. The lighter it got the better I did so I felt pretty good about that. We hit the canoe section about 8:30am. We made attempts early on to keep ourselves dry - those didn't last long - the river was low and with 3 people we were heavy! We had to push, pull, tug to keep ourselves going - this was no float. About an hour into it we managed to flip our canoe over - nothing like being soaked when it's 40 degrees out. We kept up the pushing, pulling, walking for the next 4 hours.....5 hours in, we thought we should be too the end. When we realized we were still around 3 miles shy we decided to give in. It was 11-1/2 hours into the race - 8-1/2 miles into the canoe and we were 3 very cold individuals. We could have toughed it out, but knew we wouldn't meet the cutoff times to finish the race. It was depressing for all involved. We spent time questioning what we could have done differently and there were a few things, but it mostly boiled down to Mother Nature kicked our arses on this one!
So, the race may have beat us this time, but we will find a way to conquer.
It was the Lewis and Clark Ozark Adventure Race 2008 - an 18 hour, 3 person Adventure Race held November 15 in Northwest Arkansas.
The days leading up to the event were a little stressful - just knowing it was going to be the longest race we had done, new team, and the weather factor - which didn't seem too be moving in a favorable direction.
Turns out it didn't move favorably - it got cold - highs in the 40's and windy. We had lots of warm clothes though so we really thought we were prepared. We got to the Lewis and Clark shop around 5pm - got registered for the event then ate our complimentary pasta dinner. After that we retreated to our cars to repack our camelbaks then met back up at 7pm for the pre-race meeting where we were told we would be starting at 3am around 30 minutes from where we were. The team decided we should leave at 1:30am so we all went back to our hotels to finish up last minute items and try to get a little shut eye.
Ah, 1AM came early. I took a quick shower to warm up and wake up - got dressed and loaded up then went to Scott's hotel to meet him and Diego - we left from there to go to the start. The race started with a wheelbarrow race to get our maps - I was the wheelbarrow (maybe not the best idea!!). Anyway - got the maps - got back in the truck and plotted our points. First section was biking - in the dark and cold - whoohooo! ;-)
Biking went pretty good for us - we passed 5 teams I think in that section. The road riding was fine then we hit single track. In the dark it was quite a challenge for me - eventually I was able to tuck in behind Diego and could see better with his brighter bike light and made it ok. Not fast, but steady. The lighter it got the better I did so I felt pretty good about that. We hit the canoe section about 8:30am. We made attempts early on to keep ourselves dry - those didn't last long - the river was low and with 3 people we were heavy! We had to push, pull, tug to keep ourselves going - this was no float. About an hour into it we managed to flip our canoe over - nothing like being soaked when it's 40 degrees out. We kept up the pushing, pulling, walking for the next 4 hours.....5 hours in, we thought we should be too the end. When we realized we were still around 3 miles shy we decided to give in. It was 11-1/2 hours into the race - 8-1/2 miles into the canoe and we were 3 very cold individuals. We could have toughed it out, but knew we wouldn't meet the cutoff times to finish the race. It was depressing for all involved. We spent time questioning what we could have done differently and there were a few things, but it mostly boiled down to Mother Nature kicked our arses on this one!
So, the race may have beat us this time, but we will find a way to conquer.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Berryman Adventure 2008
So, training for the Wichita Marathon, it's the weekend of the last long run and what do we do??? An Adventure Race - 13 hour and 8 minute adventure race. Was this a good idea? Who knows, but it sure was fun! :-)
This race was done with Don (the Gazelle), Jonas (the rock), Brookie (the Navigator), and myself. We did a really great job this year with our orienteering - we always knew where we were and we worked really well together to figure out points. Not to say this was an easy race - I think we're all just getting better at the navigating (especially our fearless navigator!) and we were all in pretty good shape going in.
It all started at 7am.....well, better back up.....it all started at 7:30pm the night before with the pre-race meeting. That's where we got our maps and passports and found out race start time. Then, back to our hotel room to plot points and discuss the course - the fun stuff, but when it's getting late and you know you have a long day in front of you it's also the hard stuff. We called it good about 10pm and decided we would meet at the campground shortly after 5am. At that point Brooke and Jonas went to take the bikes to the drop off while Don and I gathered up all necessary gear and took to the start line (we also took a little cat nap after our chores were done - sorry guys!! ;-) Anyway, so race started at 7am - and the orienteering had begun. Right after finding our first point I began to have cramps on the outside side of my calves - terribly painful. I had to walk for a couple minutes and took some ibuprofen. I was so worried it wouldn't go away and I would be the weakest link. It wasn't too long after that the pain became tolerable. Not sure what caused it, but I was glad it had subsided.
So, we whipped through points 1-7, at 7 we had to put on PFD's and cross the river - packs and all. It was so scary, it was the Current river and it was really moving and over our heads. Luckily Jonas and Don went first so they were able to snag me before I got too far downstream. Next we did checkpoints 8 - 13 I think - still orienteering - that's the section we met up with Laura Lee & Steve I think it was from Salina, KS. It was fun chatting with them. Then, onto the 12 MILE canoe. That's a long time to be on a gorgeous river on a hot day without beer!! Once we finished that section I felt like we were home free!
Biking was all that remained - less than 25 miles. It was single track and jeep roads for most of it, but still better than sitting in a canoe I think. The only issue we really had all day was Jonas had two broken chains - luckily he is a whiz at fixing them so we were up and running in no time. Two funny instances happened while waiting on chain repair that made the journey even more enjoyable though so I wouldn't change a thing (Jonas would probably disagree - lol!) One was Brooke and I deciding we needed a Margarita break (I'll have to explain this in a separate blog!), so while we were eating these incessant gnats were swarming our faces - so we were running in circles waving our arms frantically and laughing (9+ hours into the race - we were a bit giddy) - as we are doing this a guy comes up the hill and yells. We think it's Don or Jonas and they've busted us, but it turns out too be a fireman from Wichita who didn't even see us, but it lead to a funny discussion anyway! ;-) The other instance takes longer to explain, but it ends with Brookie riding away from a big group of guys after yelling "girls rock" - it was pretty priceless!
So, we finished the biking in the dark - happy but fatigued. Don and I ran back to the hotel to shower and I opened up my post race red-wine! ;-) Then, back to the campground to have burgers & baked potatoes. Oh my - I have always thought the burgers after the Greenways races are good - they are nothing compared to Kent & Becky's campfire burgers - they were sooo good!! I'm still wishing I would have had one more!! :-) We tried hanging out by the fire and chatting - did good for a while, but a little before midnight we decided to call it good and all went too bed to dream about the next race! lol - just kidding - we were all too sore at that point to dream, but it sounded good!
This race was done with Don (the Gazelle), Jonas (the rock), Brookie (the Navigator), and myself. We did a really great job this year with our orienteering - we always knew where we were and we worked really well together to figure out points. Not to say this was an easy race - I think we're all just getting better at the navigating (especially our fearless navigator!) and we were all in pretty good shape going in.
It all started at 7am.....well, better back up.....it all started at 7:30pm the night before with the pre-race meeting. That's where we got our maps and passports and found out race start time. Then, back to our hotel room to plot points and discuss the course - the fun stuff, but when it's getting late and you know you have a long day in front of you it's also the hard stuff. We called it good about 10pm and decided we would meet at the campground shortly after 5am. At that point Brooke and Jonas went to take the bikes to the drop off while Don and I gathered up all necessary gear and took to the start line (we also took a little cat nap after our chores were done - sorry guys!! ;-) Anyway, so race started at 7am - and the orienteering had begun. Right after finding our first point I began to have cramps on the outside side of my calves - terribly painful. I had to walk for a couple minutes and took some ibuprofen. I was so worried it wouldn't go away and I would be the weakest link. It wasn't too long after that the pain became tolerable. Not sure what caused it, but I was glad it had subsided.
So, we whipped through points 1-7, at 7 we had to put on PFD's and cross the river - packs and all. It was so scary, it was the Current river and it was really moving and over our heads. Luckily Jonas and Don went first so they were able to snag me before I got too far downstream. Next we did checkpoints 8 - 13 I think - still orienteering - that's the section we met up with Laura Lee & Steve I think it was from Salina, KS. It was fun chatting with them. Then, onto the 12 MILE canoe. That's a long time to be on a gorgeous river on a hot day without beer!! Once we finished that section I felt like we were home free!
Biking was all that remained - less than 25 miles. It was single track and jeep roads for most of it, but still better than sitting in a canoe I think. The only issue we really had all day was Jonas had two broken chains - luckily he is a whiz at fixing them so we were up and running in no time. Two funny instances happened while waiting on chain repair that made the journey even more enjoyable though so I wouldn't change a thing (Jonas would probably disagree - lol!) One was Brooke and I deciding we needed a Margarita break (I'll have to explain this in a separate blog!), so while we were eating these incessant gnats were swarming our faces - so we were running in circles waving our arms frantically and laughing (9+ hours into the race - we were a bit giddy) - as we are doing this a guy comes up the hill and yells. We think it's Don or Jonas and they've busted us, but it turns out too be a fireman from Wichita who didn't even see us, but it lead to a funny discussion anyway! ;-) The other instance takes longer to explain, but it ends with Brookie riding away from a big group of guys after yelling "girls rock" - it was pretty priceless!
So, we finished the biking in the dark - happy but fatigued. Don and I ran back to the hotel to shower and I opened up my post race red-wine! ;-) Then, back to the campground to have burgers & baked potatoes. Oh my - I have always thought the burgers after the Greenways races are good - they are nothing compared to Kent & Becky's campfire burgers - they were sooo good!! I'm still wishing I would have had one more!! :-) We tried hanging out by the fire and chatting - did good for a while, but a little before midnight we decided to call it good and all went too bed to dream about the next race! lol - just kidding - we were all too sore at that point to dream, but it sounded good!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Making it back
So, starting back with 1 and 2 mile runs was excruciating - mentally anyway - it was so hard to know that 4 miles used to be my shortest run and then all of a sudden it was the longest. Luckily during my time off of running I was able to ride my bike - that became a bigger part of my life and it helped me to maintain some cardio. This was a great thing to be able to get right back into Adventure Racing!!
I have managed to do 3 Adventure Races so far this year - completing them all! :-)
The first was the Sunflower 12 hour race held in Lawrence, KS. I did this as part of the Thirsty Turtle's team - Scott McGaha, Amy McGaha, and Scott Eis. It was a great time overall - we had challenges for sure, but we finished strong and that was really what was important.
The next race was the Ozark Greenways Adventure Race. This was done as part of the Durty Nellie's Team - Don Presson, Jonas Heter, and John McCoy. We had a really good year - even though some of the team didn't feel they had trained enough our finish was much quicker than normal.
And the last race I did - the Dusk till Dawn race was as a two person all girl team! It was with Amy McGaha and we were the Thirsty Turtletinas. I'm happy to say we finished first in the all girl teams! I must confess that there was only one other all girl team, but we did finish in front of a lot of the all men teams as well - even passing one team in the canoe's - pretty impressive we thought! ;-)
So, next on the horizon will be the Berryman Adventure Race in Big Spring Park near Van Buren, MO. It will be done as part of a new group of Dirty Nelly racers....Don Presson, Jonas Heter, and Brooke Higgins. It is only 3 weeks away - I still need bike time badly, but other than that I feel prepared. Part of that preparation is due to training for the marathon though - it should cover the running portion of the training!
I have managed to do 3 Adventure Races so far this year - completing them all! :-)
The first was the Sunflower 12 hour race held in Lawrence, KS. I did this as part of the Thirsty Turtle's team - Scott McGaha, Amy McGaha, and Scott Eis. It was a great time overall - we had challenges for sure, but we finished strong and that was really what was important.
The next race was the Ozark Greenways Adventure Race. This was done as part of the Durty Nellie's Team - Don Presson, Jonas Heter, and John McCoy. We had a really good year - even though some of the team didn't feel they had trained enough our finish was much quicker than normal.
And the last race I did - the Dusk till Dawn race was as a two person all girl team! It was with Amy McGaha and we were the Thirsty Turtletinas. I'm happy to say we finished first in the all girl teams! I must confess that there was only one other all girl team, but we did finish in front of a lot of the all men teams as well - even passing one team in the canoe's - pretty impressive we thought! ;-)
So, next on the horizon will be the Berryman Adventure Race in Big Spring Park near Van Buren, MO. It will be done as part of a new group of Dirty Nelly racers....Don Presson, Jonas Heter, and Brooke Higgins. It is only 3 weeks away - I still need bike time badly, but other than that I feel prepared. Part of that preparation is due to training for the marathon though - it should cover the running portion of the training!
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