Original Growler IV

Damnit I love mountain bike racing. The growler took place this past memorial day weekend. It's a 64 mile mountain bike race, aptly named for 64 ounces of fluid goodness. The race basically beats the snot out of you by throwing rock, after rock, after rock, after rock at you. One alone doesn't hurt, but the 64 miles of cumulative effect adds up, resulting in just about everyone crossing the finish line with that good old fashioned full body hurt. Head, shoulders, knees and toes. And ass cheek, if you are like me, and fell into a cactus. With any good mountain bike race, there are really three main parts. Camping. Beer. And Bikes. This race combined them ease. I camped at the hartman rocks trails themselves, right beside the last hamstring/calve/glute/quad cramp inducing hill before the end of each 30 mile lap. Aside from the wind, it was an awesome area to throw down a tent. Mark Lonac, my roomie in Fort Collins ran the sage burner the previous day placing second overall, and then dawned his gorilla suit on Sunday to sweat his balls off and cheer on the racers on that aforementioned hill, occasionally hiding behind a rock and then jumping out to scare racers up the hill. The course itself had everything. Some smooth single track. Some fire road to allow for passing and connecting of more sweet single track, some technical, twisty, turning, rocky, loose, trail, and then rocks. Yeah, they must have named the place after these. What you could ride with some effort on the first lap looked quite a bit harder on the second lap. I saw some blood on others and on myself, shed while you were trying to maintain your rhythm and just get over one more big rock obstacle, and then finding out you didn't quite have it in you. The race wore you down. It was awesome. I rode my new Tomac Flint 29 set up Single Speed with all kinds of sweet parts I hand picked with the help of Dave Chase at Redstone Cyclery in Lyons. The bike feels like MY bike, cause Dave listens to what you want and helps build what suits you. I personally don't like the lightest possible bike, I like to race bikes I'd take out on the trail and beat the shit out of. So my tomac flint 29 race bike has a Reba 29 Maxle 20 mm thru axle fork attached, with a 185mm rotor up front, ergon grips, and for this race, was outfitted with Maxxis Ikon 29s. They are fast rolling and held up to the punishment of a ton of sharp, loose rocks. I was impressed. Upon getting the the finish line, you were greated by Dave Wiens himself. Hell yeah. If that wasn't enough, you were handed a custom growler, full of your favorite New Belgium beer (Ranger IPA for me), and a plate of food.

If this doesn't sound appealing, you probably don't like endurance racing. Or gorillas. My guess is you just tried to sign up for the race next year.

Ironman Texas

Well Ironman Texas is in the books. I finished, not what I wanted, but I finished. Another day that ended with "WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY RUN"!

Besides my sub-par effort, the event was top notch. The course was absolutely beautiful, the spectators and volunteers were more than friendly and helpful, and the finish line was one of a kind. I also was blessed enough to have the best support crew that one could possibly ask for. Big time thanks to my wife Katherine (The planner, itinerary guru, and queen of much needed emotional support), Alex (The Local, Host, Driver, and laugh instigator), and last but not least Anthony (Motivator, and Keeper of all Positive Mojo) WHO IS RACING 70.3 HAWAII this weekend, Good Luck!!!!!

The course was absolutely amazing, the WTC nailed it on this one. If the event could be moved forward 3 weeks or so to late April or early May I believe it would be one of the fastest and sought out IM's on WTC's schedule.

The Swim was the swim, but at least it was an interesting course. A point to point swim that ended with the last 1/2 mile down a canal lined with cheering spectators. The well designed course made for mentally appeasing swim that felt as if it flew by. The floating start was fairly hectic with all the usual happenings: kicking, slapping, and jockeying for position. It took a while for me to settle in the swim, as I must have put myself in the "I can’t swim a straight line to save my life corral". After about ten minutes; however, it was pretty smooth sailing.

The Bike, my highlight of the event, was spectacular minus some of the worst DRAFTING I HAVE EVER SEEN. It was a one looper which I love. On the way out, the course stayed fairly flat, we were blessed with a slight tail wind and the silky smooth, fast rolling roads weaved through some beautiful forested areas. As we hit the turn around, about 2:25 in, we were headed back into the wind. However, it was a mild wind and coming from CO where the wind has been non-stop, it did not bother me too much. The roads at the turn around deteriorated a bit, but I knew if I kept a smooth consistent pace I would be fine. At about mile 90 a gentleman I had been riding around came up with a puncture and had no tools. (Don’t ask me?) I decided it would be good for my Karma to stop and give him my saddle bag and all that was within minus my one extra tube. I'm sure it took a couple of minutes but I felt it was a must. The rest of the bike ride I tried to fuel up and get ready for what was sure to be a Hot, Humid, and Tough RUN.

On to the run, ughhhh! After transition I was feeling fine, not great but fine. So, as in planning I told myself to grow into the run if I was not feeling it right away. During training I did many longer brick runs after a hard bike effort at 7:30's. I knew they were in me. However, on this day the 3:30 marathon was not to be had. I started a little over 8 and the pace was not looking like it would speed up. After around mile 10 I knew my legs were not going to be able to pick up the pace, so I conceded the KONA dream and relaxed into a slower more mentally appealing pace to the finish line. The finish line was bitter sweet. I was excited for it to be over and to finish another Ironman, but was more than disappointed by the end result. This has been a hard race to emotionally put behind me, but the disappointment will fade in time.

Overall fun event and spectacular race course!

I also realized that I do not have time to dwell on Texas being that my first Ultra is right around the corner (San Juan Solstice 50). So in 3 weeks time me and my funky fresh NEWTON TRAIL SHOES will be headed out for our first 50 Mile stroll through the San Juan's.

I could not even get to the start line if it were not for my sponsors and some of the people who have aided in my efforts. Thank you for everything you do for me and most of all for our sport!!!!

NEWTON (www.newtonrunning.com)
Maxxis (www.maxis.com)
Zeal Optics (www.zealoptics.com)
Redstone Cyclery (www.redstonecyclery.com)
Verge (www.vergesport.com)
Tomac (www.tomac.com)
TriBella (tribellas.com)

Xterra West Champs

Here are some quick pics of Jason and Josh at Xterra West Championships -
Josh placed 8th overall in the championship race, and was 2nd in his age group.
Jason took 4th overall in the sport race and placed 1st in his age group.

Great job guys!

Without Limits Summer Open ..or: 5 Great things about racing close to home ..or: The disadvantage of aero wheels

5 Great things about racing close to home
1. Waking up at 5:45 for an 8 a.m. start time
2. Starting to get ready at 9p.m. the night before*
3. Eating the food that you already own, no grocery store runs
4. No packing!
5. Racing with friends and teammates** to cheer you on!

AND....

The disadvantage of racing close to home and aero wheels
1. I thought I knew what I was doing. *I didn’t look at the course beforehand. Apparently it has loops.
2. I missed a turn and headed back to T2 after 2 of 3 loops
4. Everyone I passed seemed to accept I was the first female... **even my own teammate volunteering :-)
3. LUCKILY I realized my mistake (thanks to the athlete who helped me out!) and turned around before I got to T2 cause that would have been embarrassing.... or funny. or both. :)
5. Either my sweet 5 year old Cervelo Dual looks fast with a borrowed front wheel, disc covers, and my aero helmet or it’s those fancy MORF kits!

In summary: I rode 3 extra miles on a beautiful Sunday morning, had a great post-race massage and enjoyed tasty food!

Early season races

Hey folks, I did a couple of early season races and blogged about them here.

Xterra Pacific Championships

Xterra Pacific Championships was held in one of the prettiest race venues I've been to -- the ocean swim is next to the pier and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, the bike has frequent views of the ocean and includes sections of singletrack through redwoods. The run offers almost continuous ocean views and a little bit of beach running.

I placed first my in my age group and qualified for Maui, which was my goal. I felt strong during my race, but I also identified some areas I want to improve on. I started training late this year due to other commitments and a snowy Colorado winter, and then promptly injured myself by trying to start training too aggressively, so I hadn’t run much in the past few months. This was also my first race of the season, so being in peak shape wasn’t my goal -- that’s what later is for!

Heading out to the race was a little hectic -- I decided to bring my own bike (instead of borrowing one) about a week before the race, and decided to change my tires the night before flying out. I used a Maxxis Ignitor on my front tire and and a rear Maxxis Crossmark, which worked well for both the sand on the course during the pre-ride and the muddy sections on Sunday. However, this last minute adjustment led to a bit of a Stan's ordeal... and on Saturday afternoon, after 3 attempts and some adjustments to the tape I use for Stan's, I was good to go!

I was slightly concerned with the cold ocean water, so I attempted to acclimate to the cold temperatures just before the swim, but was still a little concerned with how the swim would feel. Luckily, once the horn went off and everyone was into the water, I felt comfortable, and settled into a steady pace. I was honestly enjoying the chill of the water and the calm of the ocean (welllll... relative calm. it was a little choppy). Then, after a quick run up the beach to the transition area, the bike started with several miles of road riding (along the ocean) before reaching the trails of Wilder Ranch. Santa Cruz had a bit of rain Saturday night, so I was a little concerned about the course, but it ended up beng perfect -- there were some muddy sections, but overall the course was in great shape! The run was very flat for an Xterra course, but was right along the ocean -- I settled into a steady (read: not fast) pace for most of the run, but with about 2 miles to go I saw some girls about a half mile behind me so I picked up the pace and really started to test my running legs (and they worked! yay!).

I stuck around for the awards ceremony and got to catch up with Xterra friends, including a group of us who had traveled from Colorado for this race, then ran to catch a flight back to Colorado!

I have lots of people/companies/forcesbeyondmycontrol who helped me out with this race --

Big thanks to Newton Running! I am loving both their trail runners - every time I wear them I get people telling me they like my shoes - and the racers, which are my go-to race shoe. Thanks to Zeal Optics for making some fantastic sunglasses! This would’ve been the perfect course to try out their new photochromatic lenses, with the bright, sunny climbs and dark redwood singletrack... but I brought my Airstreams with dark lenses, and they ended up working out fine. Thanks also to Verge Clothing for our new kits and my awesome arm warmers, which allowed me to both stay warm and rock the race in prom-dress fashion. Thanks to Mark Rise, who worked with me on short notice a week before the race to help me figure out what was going on with some injuries I was having and gave me some exercises to work on to fix muscle imbalances I was having (the good news: I can run again!).

And thanks to a few others who made this weekend possible!
Thanks to L for volunteering S for the Stan’s help :-)
BIG thanks to Lauren & Matt for hosting us and lending us a car!
Thanks to ABS - Another Bike Shop - in Santa Cruz - for being both convenient and helpful in my quest to buy [more] stan’s, and for the free brake inserts for traveling home :)
Thank you to mva for sherpa duties and thanks to cliffy for being my personal gear-lender and letting me borrow a race belt, CO2, and a floor pump :-)

A big thanks to THE WEATHER! It started raining Saturday night but by Sunday morning the clouds lifted and the temperature warmed. The ocean was cold but not frigid and with my sweet new arm warmers, I was the perfect temperature all day.

AND - thanks to Xterra for putting on a great race!

Xterra South Central Championships

I decided to do an early season championship event this year for two reasons. I wanted an early season race to get me going and also I wanted a championship race to have the opportunity to qualify for world championships earlier in the season. South Central Championships in Waco, TX made sense for my choice race.

Being from Winter Park it has been a long winter and I had only been on my bike about 3 times. So, the week before Waco I decided to do one of the Mountain States Cup bike races just to get into race mode and actually get on my bike! I won my category which helped me feel a little more in race mode.

I arrived in Waco on Friday before the race so I could pre-ride some of the course. I was pretty excited after getting on the course. It was all single-track with tight twisty turns through the forest short steep climbs, perfect. But, I knew I would have to swim hard to get out on this course early since passing would be slightly difficult.

Saturday morning I was feeling good a little nervous but excited. I headed out for a short run and that is when things turned. Things like my ankle! I rolled it out on the trail I was on. I was really upset at this point as I tried to make my way back to the race venue. I made it back and found ice and the medical person for Xterra. He was very friendly and helpful. He told what to do for the evening and said to give it an extra stretch in the morning that was going to hurt like crazy and then said as long as I won it wouldn’t hurt.

Needless to say, I was feeling a little down.

Race morning I arose early went and set-up transition and tried to get my ankle as stretched and loose as possible. Then we began. Swimming was feeling pretty good but it was in the river which was new to me. I found myself way inside everyone on the upstream part which meant that I was in the current. So, although I felt pretty good I think this slowed my swim. I went through transition smooth and jumped on my bike for my favorite portion! I only had a few of what I call “stupids” including a quick trip over my bars. This being only my 5 ride on trails this season it is bound to happen. I had passed some people but felt like I was kind of alone on the last half so I had no idea where I was in the field. Turned out I had the 9^th fasted female bike split of the day. As I slipped on my Newtons I tried to prepare for what is normally my weakness but I knew would be even more challenging today. As I ran I felt surprisingly strong for how I normally feel and only wished my ankle wasn’t killing me. I limped through the finish and headed straight for the med tent for some ice. I had a nice surprise when I saw my time card. I had finished 2^nd in my age group which means I qualified for worlds! I ended up 12^th Overall and 4^th amateur.

Big thanks to everyone who helped.

• Newton, the shoes felt great even with a sprained ankle, light and fast.
• Marie, my reflexologist who helped with oils on my ankle.
• Jared, my coach, obviously all the run training has paid off so far.
• Dave, at Redstone Cyclery, thanks for the new bike parts it felt great!
• My support crew, my mom and niece Alyssa who not only take care of my crazy two-year-old but help me out a lot.
  

Tomac Supermatic