Throwback Race Report: 2010 Castlewood 8hr AR

In honor of this weekend's Bonk Hard Castlewood 8hr AR, I've dug up my race report from 2010! At the time it was the most successful AR I'd competed in. Here's a little taste of the 2010 course and can't wait to learn about the 2012 race, where I am teamed up with 3 AR newbies from my mountain bike team. Stoked!

PRE-RACE:
Bill, Rob, Mike and I met up at Alpine Shop on Friday after work to check into the race and check out the awesome deals. We received really nice 30% off coupons in the race packet so everyone bought something, the guys each got Osprey packs and I was the black sheep and only bought glove liners to replace the ones I tore at Rockwoods. Our pre-plotted maps were three 8.5x11s with an aerial photo, an o-map, and a zoomed-out USGS, and one 11x17 o-map. Back we went to Bill’s house for some route planning and bike packing strategizing since we would have to paddle with bikes. We left Bill’s pretty early for an AR-eve, around 8pm.

Saturday morning starts about 4.30am with a bike drop at Sherman Beach. I time my arrival perfectly and meet Bill and Rob as they are almost ready to leave so they can show me where to put the two bikes I have (mine and Mike’s). The beach is muddy but fortunately Bill and Rob have staked out a great spot right next to the access trail, and we are able to leave before the majority of racers arrive. The team then rendezvouses at Castlewood where the busses pick up all 200-some racers at 6am and drive us to Route 66 State Park for the start. The traditional pre-race bladder emptying ceremony begins immediately after the busses park and everyone bounces around trying to stay warm before the start. Then we sing the national anthem, wish our friends good luck and our teammates better luck, and tighten pack straps until the horn blows and the race is on!

TREK 1 (CP1-6, 3.25mi)
We know the first trek will be an all-out footrace since the terrain is flat and relatively open, and we are in the company of some terrific navigators. On Friday the team had chosen a clockwise route around the CPs and we soon find out that Bushwhacker, Alpine Shop, and Czech-N-Go have chosen the same. The four teams stick very closely together as we punch CP5 and CP3. CP4 throws the first curve ball as there is a fence to either climb or run around on the approach - Mike and I choose to run around, grab the punch, and the Bill and Rob yell for us to climb over the fence on the return. Mike boosts me over the fence and I very ungracefully tumble over into Rob’s arms, but we jump back on the road to CP2 at a great pace. Alpine Shop catches back up at CP2 but we manage to push the pace through CP1 to narrowly lead the pack into the put-in. Our celebration is short-lived, however, as all three teams manage to blow past us in transition and we start paddling about a minute behind.

Taking myself off of Mike's tow as we approach a CP in Route 66 State Park.

PADDLE 1 (CP7, 6mi)

The paddle begins with a small bit of excitement as we pass under the I-44 bridge. There is a submerged log creating a bit of turbulence that sends our boat skidding sideways. Thankfully we avoid dumping and it’s actually a fun way to start the paddle. We try to stay on the heels of Bushwhacker, Alpine Shop, and Czech-n-Go, and on the first long straight-away, we catch sight of 2 boats wayyyyy out in front, so far away, in fact, that we assume them to be volunteers taking the long way to their assigned checkpoint, and consider ourselves to be in 4th place overall. About ⅔ of the way downriver, another 2-person male team passes us, but we hold onto (what we believe to be) 5th until the take-out at Sherman Beach, site of this morning’s bike drop.

Transitioning from paddle to bike with Bushwhacker hot on our heels.

BIKE 1 (CP8-12, 11 was removed prior to race start, 5mi)
At the take-out, we quickly punch, grab our bikes and high-tail it to the parking lot to avoid mud while we transition into bike shoes. Soon enough we are onto the flat, dirtpack trails of west Castlewood on our way to CP8. When we arrive, there are a bunch of very confused adventure racers milling about the trail intersection with unhappy looks on their faces. Turns out CP8 is nowhere to be found compared to its plotted location on the map. Everyone nervously dashes around, looking for the elusive punch, and after about 3 minutes of indecision we all decide to move on and protest to Jason later. It’s a bit risky to knowingly skip a CP, but when 3 of the top AR navigators in the country are confused, you know that something is wrong on the map so we take our fate into our own hands and proceed. CP9 is punched easily enough, and we CP10 which requires a bike drop and a short run through a concrete tunnel to the punch. The team sends me alone with the passport through the tunnel, and on the other side I discover our favorite volunteer and sometimes-teammate Mike Cooper, who demands to see all four of our shining faces before he allows the punch. Since we have arrived with several teams (and each only sent the passport holder through the tunnel) there is a bit of confusion as teammates scramble to communicate this requirement and assemble directly in front of the checkpoint. We manage quickly enough and are soon back on the trail to return to the canoe take-out. Here, we have to load the bikes into the boats for the remaining paddling legs. Our system requires removal of everyone’s front wheel and then we ratchet the frames vertically into the boat. It’s a little tedious, but very stable and pretty soon we are into the water for a micro-paddle to 13 and 14, the next take-out.

PADDLE 2 (CP13-14, 0.5mi)
CP13 is located on a slough just after we put-in. From the maps, it is unclear if the water is navigable on the south side of the island, so we play monkey-see-monkey-do when the teams ahead of us beach their boats on the island and run to the other side. After we get out and look at the slough, we discover it is indeed navigable and we can choose to either across its waist-deep waters or return to the boats and paddle to CP13. We choose the latter because no one is brave enough to go swimming on this 30-degree day. Back into the boats we go, navigate through a tricky log jam, grab CP13, and continue on the river to CP14, the take-out at West Tyson.

TREK 2 (CP15-21, 7.5mi)
We arrive at CP14 shortly after Bushwhacker and shortly before Alpine Shop. This is an excellent place to be and I am thrilled we are still in the mix mid-race. This trekking leg has six checkpoints, ROGAINE-style, and we choose clockwise. Bushwhacker chooses opposite and soon it is us and Alpine Shop negotiating our way across the flats. I try to eat a peanut-butter cracker, but flies out of my mouth and we leave it behind without a thought since I have 5 more left in the package. Before we hit the hills, we cross a tall-grass prairie, where I get flashbacks of the Thunder Rolls Radio-O and pretend to be a bison. Snorting not included. Soon we are picking our way up a long, rocky reentrant towards CP17 with a 2-person male team and Alpine Shop close behind. We grab the punch and look at the route to the next control. Wow. There are a lot of contour lines to cross. And they are awfully close together. As the terrain gets steeper I start to improvise some bear-crawl moves to give different muscles a rest and it works well on the most challenging uphill sections. We grab the trail around to CP14’s attackpoint, descend into a nice creek bottom and follow that to CP20, where we pass Bushwhacker flying along, the opposite way. They are so fast! CP20 has volunteers, heated bathrooms (such luxury!) that we don’t use, and a gear check. Everyone has everything, so we are off again to CP18 with Alpine Shop still on our heels. On our way up the spur Mike gives an inspirational speech (of course only Geiger could summon enough breath to talk on the uphill) and we motor along for the punch, the inevitable steep descent, and following steeper climb. Here is where we make our biggest nav error on the day: at the top of the ridge, there is an unexpected trail and we complacently hop on and follow...straight into the power cut, private property, and the extent of the mapped area. Time for a 180 and retracing of steps. Never fun thing to do and even less fun at the moment because it means Alpine Shop has caught us and leads us into CP15. We descend furiously to regain the lead and push hard back to the beach to reunite with the canoes. On the way back we pass close by my dropped cracker location and I offer Rob $5 to find it and eat it. He does! In stride! Discounted entry fee for Mr. Wagnon!

PADDLE 3 (CP22, 3.75mi)
We return to the beach to find out 3 teams have already left. We know Bushwhacker is one of them and assume Czech-n-Go is out in front as well. But who is the third team? No clue, and no time to think about it because Alpine Shop is flying through their transition next to us. We hustle to get in the boats, still with our bikes loaded, and hit the water for the last paddle. The turbo-powered duo of Mike and Rob gradually gain on Bill and I, and both Alpine Shop boats gain on our team as we make our way towards Castlewood. I mention to Bill that we should beach our boats by the steps, carry a bike over to 23 and punch, and then get back in the boats and paddle to the take out and go straight to 24 (the superintendents house). The clue sheet does say 23-29 in any order but I think that would technically be precluded by the take-out at 22, so we decide to stay legal and head to the take-out. The last corner greets us with a full-on, freezing cold headwind that makes us glad to ditch the boats and hop on our bikes. Evidently Rob’s bike didn’t care for its aquatic journey as the rear wheel has untrued itself and hangs up on the rear brake. I unhook it (the brake, not the wheel) and inform him that his only has the front brakes to work with. Bill’s legs aren’t too happy with the boats either and are threatening to cramp at any minute.

The take-out at Castlewood boat ramp, we are almost done!

BIKE 2 (CP23-29, 9mi)
Thankfully we have a flat out-and-back section to CP23 so we cross our well-mittened fingers are hope Bill’s legs can survive a few more miles. Mike punches and we are on the way to CP24, which brings us up the superintendent’s driveway (hope he doesn’t mind) and a short hike up the hill to punch, thus avoiding both the stair and Lone Wolf climbs. Back on the park road and to the dirt crit track for CP26, which we blow by in our excitement and have to relocate, backtrack, and punch. Then we return to the pavement and go up Ries Road, turning into the woods just before the start of the really steep part. We ride for about 100m, ditch our bikes and begin to trek up to CP27. The other option here was to ride the singletrack up Cardiac Hill, but we figure in our current state we’d be pushing the bikes anyway and this route allows us to cut out some distance on the backside. After punching, we cut back down to our bikes, ride across Ries, and bike-whack up a short distance to Love. We hop on the bikes and Bill’s legs immediately start to complain and cramp up. Mike takes his and Bill’s bikes and runs with them down the trail to punch CP28. Rob and I slowly pedal to help a walking/jogging Bill as we make our way down Love, through a short, and thankfully last bike-whack up to a fire road to drop onto CP29 from above. After this, we know it’s all downhill to the finish so Bill remounts and we cruise down Grotpeter, punch CP25, and head to the finish!

POST-RACE

Mike waves to all of our fans as we finish the race! Just kidding Mike, we have no fans!

At the finish line, we are greeted with cowbells, and we learn our official finish time is 5 hours and 54 minutes of racing, and three 4-person co-ed teams finished in front of us. Turns out those boats we saw on the first paddle were not volunteers, but in fact the leading/winning team, Ridgerunner Sports/Downhill Bikes Branson. Alpine Shop edged out Bushwhacker on the final bike and we are in fourth. However, the race director is out on the course inspecting the location of CP8 so our fate is not certain because we skipped this apparently misplaced checkpoint. While waiting for him, we compare route choices with other navigators, huddle by the fire, and eat delicious racer-made cookies. Eventually we learn that CP8 was indeed mis-hung and will be thrown out of the race. This makes our fourth place finish (6th overall) all but final and we are able to celebrate one of the best races I have ever participated in!

Finish line! In warm clothes!

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Explosion

I have had a pretty successful year in 2012. I put in a lot of good training and have been lucky enough to have things go well on multiple race days. Sure, there have been various mechanicals and unexpected physical hurting but for the most part my fitness (physical AND mental) has been accurately represented on race day. And usually that fitness lands me in a competitive position, vying for a spot close to the lead. And when other people see those results, they start to assume that I'm ALWAYS fast and I'm ALWAYS on my game and I'm ALWAYS motivated for the win. This is not the case. I want to bring you inside the real world of silkychrome, specifically into an orienteering race a few weekends ago, where I experienced a meltdown of epic proportions. Getting fast is hardly an easy road to travel...it can be full of self-doubt, frustration, and wanting to quit.

The map. Actually this is David's map. I did not write the clues on mine but that would have been helpful.

So, beginning this story, I made plans to attend the SLOC meet at Meramec State Park. Carpooling with the Alpine Shop crew, we arrived at the park with plenty of time to plot the course (the Meramec map is a weird size so the meet director has the runners plot our own courses here instead of computer printing them).  I marked up my map and then talked through route choices with Jeff. We both agreed that there were lots of trail options, but the woods were probably in such great shape that it wouldn't been too much of a penalty to run through them if the climb was equitable. And, the features are really big at Meramec, so the course seemed straight-forward and fast. I was excited to run. The weather was perfect, there was another FAST girl (new to MO) to compete with, and I found a mini can of Coke in my bag which I love.

On second inspection, my route from 2 to 3 looks pretty inefficient.
But the woods running was almost as fast as the trail.

The meet director (Gary from Bonk Hard Racing) counts me down and I sprint off down the road. I choose a low route to CP1, where I run into some slow veg, but I move through it well enough. The route to CP2 involves a long run on double-track and I hammer as best I can for it being so early in the race. My attack off the trail is perfect and I spike the control. I catch up with Carrie from Alpine Shop here and we race to CP3. Before the race, I had discussed the route to CP3 with Jeff and planned a trail route, but the woods look so clean and so fast that I change plans mid-leg and run directly to CP3. I arrive at CP3, and...no control flag. The map has it marked on a pretty small/subtle spur. Normally in this situation I'd second-guess my nav, but I've been in really good contact with the map on this leg, and after a few seconds standing there scratching my head, Carrie busts out of the woods from a different direction (she stayed on the trail route) expecting to see the control too. So, I know we're in the right spot, but without a punch to verify that, we decide to re-attack and just double-check if we're both wrong. The re-attack goes well, and it puts us back at the same tiny spur, which still does not have a control flag on it. We decide to keep running up the vegetation boundary just in case, and pretty soon Carrie spots the flag on a parallel feature. 6 minutes lost. It's extremely unusual for Gary to mis-hang a control. But we both punch and then set off for CP4.

This is what an explosion looks like. 

No spoilers here: this is where things exploded for me. I was anxious to make up time from the CP3 re-attack, I was anxious to race away from Carrie, and I was excited to run through the fast Meramec woods. I let my speed get in front of my navigation and pretty soon I'm not exactly sure which reentrant I've just descended into. I continue executing the route like I know where I am, I even find a huge rock feature that is similar to CP4's, but there is no control flag to tell me I'm in the right spot. Instead, I'm alone in the woods with an alarmingly minimal idea of where exactly I am on the map. I spend the next 40 minutes trying to relocate myself on the map. It's frustrating. I climb a hilltop to try and get a better vantage point. I run a few trails to see if I can match them up. Finally I arrive at a trail junction that seems to jive with what the map is showing. Unfortunately, it is showing that I'm a good kilometer away from CP4. Big mistake. I run the trail back to the correct reentrant, ascend it, and find the control flag in a really cool rock overhang feature.

Dejected orienteering

I hike the routes to CP5 and CP6. The mistake has completely shaken my confidence and motivation. I hit both cleanly, finally seeing some other people still on the course. The route to CP7 involves a road , so I muster up a half-run to make some progress where there's 0% chance of screwing up. My attack to CP7 is also clean, just slow as my feet have started to hurt a lot (still breaking in the Salomon Speedcrosses from Thunder). On the way to CP8, I am increasingly despondent. My mind is racing with excuses for me to quit. Taking a bad step and breaking my leg sounds like a good idea. Maybe accidentally tearing an ACL while jumping off a rock would work. I don't feel guilty at all for wishing these injuries upon myself. I want to quit and I want to quit now. My route crosses a road and when I reach the gravel, I stop hiking and stare down it for a bit. It leads almost directly to the finish line. I could jog the next 1500 meters back to the car and be done. Done with the map, done with the blisters, done with being slow. It's incredibly tempting.

The temper-tantrum.

But somehow I convince myself to finish out the last 3 controls. I'm already so behind, what's another few kilometers gonna do? I push past the shortcut and descend into a deep valley. Tears have been threatening since CP4, and finally they start to leak out. Maybe the stress of relocating has finally caught up with me. But my embarrassment/frustration over the mistake just boils over into a full-fledged cry-fest. I feel like a three-year-old in the grocery store line whose mom just told her she can't have a Snickers bar. If I wasn't on the clock, I probably would lay down in the woods, kick the leaves, and scream for a while. But screaming now would probably be heard by someone, and they would think I broke a leg or something, and come looking for me. That's the absolute last thing that I want, so I just settle for some silent screaming and more crying. I flail through the bottom of the valley, using the streambed as a handrail for my mushy brain. It's a pretty miserable leg.

Worked with Carrie from 10 onwards.

Despite the severe recession of my maturity, I stumble into CP9 and punch. On the way to CP10, I spot a group of orienteering kids and quickly try to get myself together. There's nothing less inviting about orienteering than a deranged, sobbing 28-year-old floundering through the woods. So I take some deep breaths and execute the route to CP10. Right as I'm punching, I see Carrie and Chuck come over the ridge right behind me. I am so relieved to see familiar faces that I immediately ask if we can complete the rest of the course together. Carrie agrees, and we make our way to CP11 at a relaxed pace. On the way to CP12, we stop to help a dad and his kid out on the Orange course. Then it's an easy jog on the road back to the Finish line, where I can finally release the disappointment of the day.

Normally, after orienteering meets, I'm eager to help with control pick-up; it's a great way to get some extra nav practice without the pressure of the clock. But today I'm just checked out, and can't even stand the thought of navigating anywhere else. Thankfully there are enough people willing to help that I can take a break. Pretty soon I'm back in the car with Jeff, David, and Carrie, making tracks towards St. Louis.

I am not nearly this cute.

So what happened? I've worked with enough campers to know that temper-tantrums aren't just about the events immediately preceding them. And fits of this magnitude (really, having any fit at all) is way outside my normal personality; I'm proud of staying even-keeled under pressure and in disappointing situations. I've got a bunch of theories but they're enough to fill up a whole 'nother post, so you'll just have to wait! But I can say, similar to CPT Nats, writing about uncomfortable situations has really helped me let go of the negatives and learn from the positives. One thing I learned here: I can still make decent time through the woods while crying. Constant forward progress! Pin It

What's Next?

With the BT Epic over and done with, my 2012 season is basically over. I'm treating November and December like a J-Term of sorts...time to do some fitness/training experiments. Even though I didn't realize it until halfway through the month, October was my off-season. I had 2 big adventure races in September, so I didn't really train much this month, instead choosing to race (and recover from) 2 big mountain bike races. I may not have derived a lot of fitness from them, but my technical mtb skills improved SUBSTANTIALLY (although not hard to do since I wasn't that great to begin with) and I learned a lot about what motivates me as an athlete - the stoke. And thank goodness the promoters of the BT Epic (Scott and Jake) shared some with me because I'm totally fired up to go back to their race in 2013.

My October log...that's a lot of zeros.

A "normal" month for me is usually about 70 hours of training and racing combined (and yes I did calculate this based on my AttackPoint log). So my 31 hours of activity in October is a huge drop-off (especially considering 15 of those were racing hours). But, I needed it the break I had a weird knee niggle from CPT Nats that needed resting. I had a number of days when I just felt like going home and sleeping after work. So that's what I did. I took a zero. 22 of them, in fact.

There's been more than one instance of this in the last 2 weeks.

So after my "month of rest", where do I stand? What's motivating me to get back in the 70 hr/mon groove? I have a couple things coming up. The first is at attempt at 30 runs in 30 days for November. I can't remember where I first heard of this idea but it is perfect for what I need right now...increased frequency at low intensity. All of these runs I am intending to do (provided my knee holds up) at or below MAF heartrate. 30 minutes is the minimum to "count". I'll do a couple straight-up MAF tests to check progress but really I'm just interested in starting to build my base for 2013. Interested in joining me? That's simple, I'll be running (EASY!!) every day in November. Get in touch!

Guru!

I've also started working with a nutrition coach. This is something I've wanted to do for a while, but Ironman sorta sucked any spare change I had into its trademarked M-dot logo. Now I'm back in the black and working with Christine aka The Holistic Guru to optimize what I eat. I gained a few pounds this summer, and how does that make me feel? Well, fat, for one thing, but not in a panicky way, more of in a laughing "wow look how quickly I got soft" way. (love ya Katie!!) Guru and I have chatted a bit already and I think we both agree I have a lot of the puzzle pieces in my head and in my fridge, but I have to learn better ways to put them all together. One of the first comments from her after chatting about my daily diet was "are you vegetarian??". The answer is no, but I was definitely lacking in protein consumption. So we're on a mission to fix that, and also get me lean and mean for 2013!

Me, Mike, Bill, David, and Rachel after Castlewood 2011.

Finally, December is gonna be fun. The first weekend I will race in my 4th straight Bonk Hard Castlewood 8hr AR. This event in 2009 was my first adventure race of all time, and it got me hooked. The following two years, I was on teams motivated to win, which was a blast. This year, I'm following in the footsteps of ROCK Racing and captaining an all-newbie team. I've recruited three people from Pfoodman Racing (my mountain bike team) to race as "The Pfast and the Pfurious" on the (p)first day of December. I'm stoked to introduce more people to the wild wonderful world of AR.

The weekend following will be full of company parties and the unofficial St. Louis championship of trail running - Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run. I'm back for the 4th time and excited to see if I can finally win my age group after placing 2nd the past 2 years. No wimps, no whiners!! Pin It

Event Report: 2012 BT Epic

I'm not really sure how to put a race report together for the BT Epic. Yes, there was a start line and a finish line and number plates and timing. But I never really felt like it was a race for me, and I mean that in a good way. The weekend felt more like an event (hence the post title), almost a mtb tour for me, and despite the perceived lack of competition, it was the perfect ending to my 2012 season.

I rode down to the race (Bass River Resort) with Jeff of Alpine Shop adventure racing fame, and shared a cabin with him and his AR teammate David. I wasn't planning on staying in a cabin but the weekend's chilly weather made me really glad I had a roof over my head. It was cool hanging out with "the boys" and nice to have other equally-obsessive people to bounce ideas off of before the race, especially regarding calories and clothing. I had planned on riding in just shorts and a long-sleeve jersey but after Jeff mentioned that he was wearing his winter mtb shoes, I started to reconsider. I ended up wearing normal shoes, normal socks, knee warmers, shorts, a thin wool t-shirt, a long-sleeve jersey, my pack, a borrowed shell from David, and borrowed gloves from Jeff. This combo kept me really happy all day, starting with the 32F temps at Bass and then finishing around 55F.

I planned to consume about 1900 calories and got just about everything down. 3 bottles of 280cal IMPerform (CarboRocket Half-Evil is out of stock...BOOOO!), fun-size Snickers bars, a Honey Stinger gel, 2 mini cans of Coke, and most of a flask of LiquidShot. I shared some of my Snickers with a guy who was bonking on the ride up to Berryman Campground. I also needed 8 e-caps to fix my cramping problems later in the race (more on that later). I didn't use a bento box (for a selfish reason, I wanted to stare at the "pedal damn it" on the top tube instead of covering it up) and instead relied on my new pack's accessible pockets. They worked okay, but a bento is still way better.

Start line. Note the frost still on the grass. I was wayyyyy back in the pack.

The start line was a flurry of saying hi to friends, trying to fix Jeff's tire which had suddenly gone flat, and staying warm. Scott and Jake had a few announcements and then we were off. I was way in the back of the pack but totally content to just roll the first 5ish miles on gravel. I still rode harder than I should have, but I did warm up quite quickly. From the start my legs didn't feel great but they weren't terrible either. The low sun angle at the start, combined with our easterly direction of travel and the layer of shiny leaves on the ground made visibility rather difficult for the first hour or so. I was in a crowd the whole time, but didn't really mind it, even when we all got stuck walking up a climb. My attitude is, you can do yourself a lot more harm than good in the first 1-2 hours of an endurance mtb race, so I just focused on riding smooth and in control.

Porta-potty at the start line, before it got delivered to the Brazil Creek aid station. Yep, we're in central MO.

I arrived at Brazil Creek and was surprised to be there already, it hadn't felt like we were riding that long. I checked my time against my planned splits and I was actually 10 minutes behind my goal pace, but I still felt fast so my mood was good. I briefly stopped to shout out my number and then hiked up the nasty little climb south of Hwy W. Right after that section, I was caught on someone's GoPro camera, you can check it out here (watch for me at 3:50):


The Brazil-Berryman section was also good for me, I kept "just riding along" even as the crowd started to thin out. I stopped to take off my shell jacket at some point, and to pee. Rolling into Berryman Campground meant the first third of the race was done, and I was greeted by a huge round of cheers from TTM and company. That felt really cool, and there was even a volunteer (Teresa, was that you??) to help me with my drop bag. I deposited my jacket, swapped bottles, and was gone. I hadn't lost any more time on that section so was still 10 minutes behind my goal.

Drop bags all lined up at Berryman Campground.

The second section is the "South Loop" which is 10 miles of OT singletrack and 7 miles of gravel road. Except, I added some distance when I blew past the left turn-off for the OT just past Berryman Campgound.  I knew about the turn, Hunter and I had ridden it the weekend before, it was marked well, but I still missed it somehow. After a few hundred meters, the jeep trail stopped "feeling right", but a couple of riders around me kept going so I followed them. Minutes later, we see a CROWD of people (seriously, like at least 10 riders) riding back at us so we all turn around and backtrack to the correct turn. The whole ordeal was probably about 5-6 minutes. Soon I was on the OT and pulling a train of guys behind me (yes Pryor and Busken this really did happen, quit laughing). I felt fast and their presence made me push harder. I walked the bridge over Lost Creek and then through the sandy section. The rest of the South Loop I tried to push the pace and hang with guys when I could. I saw no women so I had no idea where I was in that race. But, it didn't really matter to me since I was having fun, riding an awesome bike, and enjoying a great trail. The gravel back to Berryman Campground was fine too, although I rode it alone and was wishing for a buddy to trade pulls.

Back at Berryman Campground to start the last section, I had lost another 10 minutes on the South Loop so now I was 20 minutes down from my goal split. And again, this didn't even bother me. I saw one girl (Melissa) that I knew of from AR at the checkpoint, and knew that she was fast. She seemed to be taking her time "in transition" so I tried to hustle, downing a mini-coke, stuffing another one in my pack, swapping gloves and bottles, and loading oreos in my pocket. She was still there when I rolled out and I congratulated myself on the quick stop. I hit the singletrack and was still not feeling great, but not feeling terrible. Pretty soon I heard wheels roll up behind me and as usual, I asked if they want by. But, this time, it was a girl's voice that answered and sure enough, Melissa had caught me. I let her by and decided to stay on her wheel for the rest of the race. That worked for awhile, except I started cramping and decided to stop and load up on e-caps to fix that. I basically tried to spend a penny now to save a dollar later, or however that phrase goes. I also chugged the rest of my bottle and discovered that my 2L CamelBak was dry. Thankfully, "the bathtub" (aka Beecher Spring) was only a few minutes up the trail so I knew I could refill there. Even though Melissa was out of sight, I told myself that even just a 30- or 45-second gap is out of sight on twisty singletrack, so keep riding as strong as possible and maybe I'd catch her.

Screen grab (of me!!) from the youtube vid above.

The singletrack continued onto a new re-route that added maybe a mile or two to last year's race course, but bypassed a notoriously muddy/gross section of trail (the "peanut butter section" according to Jeff). I'd ridden it before but it still seemed long and the new trail was still quite jarring on my hardtail. Finally, FINALLY, it dumped us back into Harmon Spring. On the climb out of the Spring, I drank a mini-can of Coke (yes, while riding, I'm very proud) and even though I hadn't seen Melissa yet, I was still quite happy to be on my bike. The gravel back to the finish was tough, but I caught a pull for maybe a mile from Josh of Walt's Bikes which was motivating. Then he was too fast so I cruised the rest of the way back to Bass and finished in 6:33!!

The huge fire, Courtney's green hat, my FE hat, and a bunch of other people.

The rest of the evening was really fun. Scott and Jake had a massive bonfire going so I cleaned up at the cabin and then returned to Race HQ for dinner, s'mores, and beverages. I caught up with all my people friends and even my dog friends; Hunter's awesome dog Middy acted like she remembered me and that made me super happy. I ended up missing my time goal by 33 minutes, which at first I wasn't really pleased about (although not angry either) but as I see others' finishing times, it seems like this was a slow year given the leaves and new re-routes (thanks for the improvements, GORC and OTA!). The awards presentation was awesome, tequila and whiskey included, and I won a mini-tool box and a 2010 BTEpic jersey in the raffle. Sweet!! The rest of the night was spent either at the bonfire or back at the cabin hanging out with our neighbors Keith, Courtney, Pryor, Busken, Mo, and a special appearance by Mr. TTM himself! The party even continued the next morning when Courtney invited me, Jeff, and David over for a delicious breakfast of (skinny) pancakes, eggs, and bacon! Amazing!!

So, wrapping this up, I didn't have a mind-blowing result for the last race of my season. But, it wasn't terrible, and I didn't really expect greatness either. And, the more I look at my times given the perspective of the course conditions, I'm extremely satisfied. My fitness is on the decline due to the lack of training I've been doing in October. But that's expected, even desired, for me at this point in the year and given what I want to accomplish in the future. The BT Epic also gave me what I wanted from it: a reason to improve my technical mtb skills, an enjoyable day on the trail, and an enjoyable weekend with the STL mtb community. Check, check, aaaaaaaaand check.

And yes, I am SO STOKED to come back to this event next year. Pin It

The Stoke

Even though Burnin' was fun, it left me feeling mixed up inside. I was a little confused about my win because stopping at 5 laps just seemed....not as soul-crushing as what I'd been mentally preparing for. In 2011, Wendy rocked 6 laps for the buckle. The year before that, Jen Goldstein pumped out 7. Don't get me wrong, I was just as thrilled to start partying early as Wendy was, but waking up the next morning, I honestly felt a little unworthy. My only consolation was that the women's 6hr winner completed 4 laps so at least I had one more than her. There was also some post-race drama that left me feeling hollow and sad. I won't go into it because that's not you came here to read. But, everything combined had me bummin during the week after Burnin and really unsure if I should even start the next (and final*) race on my 2012 calendar: a 55-mile mountain bike event known around these parts as the BT Epic.

http://redwheelbikeshop.typepad.com/team_red_wheel/2011/10/bushwacked-by-berryman.html

I expressed my reservations to a few friends and even proposed racing as a team to cut my mileage down. I figured it would be a game-day decision how far I would be racing, or if I would even be racing at all, or maybe just riding. All of these options were big red flags to my psyche: I had lost my stoke.

I can come up with a million reasons why my stoke had gone missing. I have had a long season with some big efforts and big results (for me). I haven't exactly put in a consistent/focused training block since Ironman Couer d'Alene, instead just making occasional deposits to and frequent withdrawals from the EK Bank of Fitness. And mountain biking is much much harder on your aerobic system than triathlon is, making those sub-MAF rides a thing of the past. I started looking past the race and craving some solid base-phase training. It's not exactly a good sign to be craving a heart rate in the 130s when you need 6+ hours of 165ish to get the job done at BT Epic.

Running from zombies. Nerd alert - I wore my compass for this race. Photo by John Peiffer.

Then, this weekend happened. Despite my opinion that adding zombies (or obstacles, yes I went there) to any race makes it less credible and more trendy, I raced in the Ballwin Series' Zombie Chase on Saturday morning. And get this...it was fun. I won overall (not just female overall, but overall overall) and got a plastic skull for my efforts. But the cool thing was seeing a bunch of people (kids especially) out running around in the woods. These people may not have raced if the zombies weren't chasing them. I left Castlewood full of appreciation for just getting outside, doing your best, and yes, zombies.

Me, zombie, zombie, One-Arm James, zombie, Jeff. Also note zombie in background on a cell phone...calling for MORE BRAINS?! Photo by John Peiffer.

After the race we had a Pfoodman team bbq to eat the leftovers (trust me, we had lots) from Burnin', and I wore my newly-belted buckle. My teammates thought it was really cool, and they reminded me that a buckle is a buckle is a badass buckle. And I couldn't have done it without their heckling encouragement on Friday, help in the pit during the race, help climbing the podium and then returning to my tent on Saturday night. The stoke started to seep back into my veins.

Skull and a buckle. Photo by Ralph Pfremmer.

Then on Sunday I hit the road with HH to pre-ride the south loop of the BT Epic course. It's probably a little much to drive the 3+ hour round trip to Berryman for a 2hr ride, but neither of us had seen the south loop and wanted to check it out before race day. And I had a borrowed bike that I needed to test. I rode a sick Air9 from one of my Pfoodman teammates, and that combined with the easy pace and beautiful woods made for a full-on stoke recharge. Then to top it all off, we met the BT Epic promoters Scott and Jake at the end of the singletrack. They were out marking the course and were excited to hear we were racing. They were excited to tell us their plans for the drop bags. They were excited to tell us stories about past years. They were most of all excited to tell us about the post-race party and how fun it will be to stay at Bass on Saturday. Meeting them, seeing the hard work they were putting into their event, just completely sealed the deal for me wanting to race and to race hard. The stoke had returned.

GO READ IT: http://semi-rad.com/2012/09/do-you-have-the-stoke-2/

To put things truly over the edge, after the ride we were loading bikes and we hear this large truck pull up. It's Scott and Jake again, finished with their day's trail prep, cruising by the parking lot to see if we were still there and offer us a beer. These guys are so awesome. We all had a drink and talked about the upcoming weekend. They had the stoke and they were sharing it. Thumbs up for rock and roll.

2010 BT Epic course. 55 miles of mostly singletrack in Mark Twain National Forest.

This weekend was exactly what I needed to turn my frown upside-down. The trail is in awesome shape, the pre- and post-race gatherings are going to be amazing, and the most crazy-nice bike I've ever ridden is ready to crush some singletrack. I have several badass friends racing on Saturday too, and even if my legs don't show up, it's going to be an honor to share the trail and a beer with them. SO STOKED!!

*Technically I still have 2 races left in 2012, but they are both in December so I'm not even considering them part of "this season". Pin It

Race Report: 2012 Burnin at the Bluff 6hr, no 12hr solo

Burnin at the Bluff: the mountain bike race for everyone who's anyone in the greater St. Louis area. Relay teams and solo racers compete for who can complete the most laps around Council Bluff Lake, a 13-mile loop of fun singletrack.

Backstory: see here.

PRE RACE
I drive down to CBL solo, jamming out my standard pre-race playlist with some added tracks from Mumford & Sons and Trampled by Turtles (yeah MK!). The drive down to Potosi has turned into one of my favorites and this weekend the trees are approaching peak colors...it's beautiful. I roll into the campgound a little before sunset and find the Pfoodman compound...it's not hard when we have 4 campsites, about 10 people tents, 2 food tents, and...get this...a movie tent from our sponsor Polk Audio. Talladega Nights is playing as we make/eat dinner; I only have a little since I've brought my standard pre-race pizza (bbq chicken, yum) that I made at home.

What? Peat wearing spandex? (and me in the background pre-race) Photo by Karen Holtmann. 

Of course while we're eating, the conversation turns to the race ahead of us tomorrow. My teammate Sally and I are both signed up for the 6hr solo category, along with a few other women. But, there is only 1 other woman doing the 12hr solo race, Wendy Davis aka Sasha Petrosevich who has won this race twice before. While I was night-riding with GearJunkie/WEDALI at the Berryman 24hr AR (note: new pics added!), I really enjoyed the section we had on the CBL trail and it planted a seed in my head about doing the 12hr at Burnin, but since then nothing grew out of that seed. Now at dinner I'm getting comments from the peanut gallery that I should "woman up" and give Wendy some competition. I hem and haw and after doing some calorie calculations, I agree that I'll race the 12hr in the morning. Nothing like doubling up your race distance the night before!

Race morning is damp and misty. It takes The Claw and I several attempts to get the gas burner started so we can have our precious coffee...we finally take a coal from the fire, light a paper towel wick, and then use that to light the propane. Pancakes are on the menu but I brought my own (again, standard pre-race) oatmeal so I'm able to chow down immediately. I make a couple of extra turkey sandwiches to fill my race calorie deficit and then haul everything down to Race HQ to set up the pit. The minutes fly by as they always do and pretty soon Sally and I are laying out our bikes for the LeMans start. Mesa sets off their signature smoke bombs and then it's time to race!


Lap 1, 1:39
I have absolutely no desire to get caught in the chaos of the speedsters and team category racers so I casually jog to my bike and start riding. Almost immediately, I spot Wendy's Team Seagal kit and we ride side-by-side down the campground road. She gives me some advice on the 12hr race, namely "it's a long day and you only do one thing...ride your bike". We with in a conga line for the first 1-2 miles and it's easy to cruise. I'm riding just behind Wendy and it's a spot I'm happy to stay in - I can watch her lines, watch which sections she walks, and get a feel for her pace. We stay largely together except I have some minor gear issues - my saddlebag won't stay snug and my water bottle cage rattles loose (ejecting the CarboRocket bottle I was carrying, boo). I also get to ride a bit with Cory on her first ever Burnin lap, which is cool because she is the one who sold me my mountain bike! I keep the pace just super chill and easy, and my mental jukebox cues up Burn One Down. Late in the lap, I choose to ride a section that Wendy walks so I take the lead heading back up to the campgound. On that campground climb, I catch sight of Sally and we chat a bit, she's having a rough start to the 6hr race with some cramping issues. She paces me up the hill (a wicked way to finish each lap) and we roll into race HQ together. Our Pfoodman teammates are there to help us each have a quick pit - James removes my broken bottle cage while Matt helps Sally refuel. We're out in a flash and on to Lap Dos.

Lap 2, 1:42
I lead out of the campground but get stuck in a tricky switchback that Sally rides clean. But just like in the first lap, I'm happy to have a trusty wheel to follow. Sally and I ride a few miles before leg cramps bring her to a crushing, painful halt. I can't do much besides offer encouragement, which I do before continuing onward. I'm sad to leave my riding buddy behind, except I think I hear Wendy shouting encouragement too so that means my gap is minimal at best. Burn One Down is still playing in my head and I'm super happy to be riding my bike. That is, until I lose control on a tricky, rooty downhill and fly over the handebars. But I'm pretty lucky that this downhill is only dirt and gravel and not rocky like a lot of the trail, and escape with merely flesh wounds on my knee and elbow. A few miles after the crash, I spot my dropped bottle from Lap 1 and eagerly pick it up - the CarboRocket tastes delicious and I'm happy to be back on track with fueling after falling a little behind in the first lap. The rest of the lap goes well and pretty soon I'm grunting up the campground climb. Again, my Pfoodman teammates are ready at the pit but I only need to switch bottles. They tell me that my Lap 1 gap to Wendy was only a few minutes and they don't have a split for me since then. This scares me a little so I hustle out to start Lap Tres.

Lap 3, 1:44

Rolling out on Lap 3. Photo by Carrie.

Now I feel like the race has started. I don't remember much about this lap except my mental jukebox switched to Best Of What's Around and I ran into a tree. When I roll through race HQ at the end of Lap 3, the Pfoodman boys tell me my gap is more like 15-20 minutes which makes me feel way better. Struckman reminds me to keep riding steady, which is ironic because that's the mantra embraced by GearJunkie/WEDALI (side note: while I was riding, they were racing USARA Nationals and they won!! so happy!! also congrats to Bushwhacker and Alpine Shop for your excellent finishes!).

Lap 4, 1:58

Up the campground climb in Lap 4. Photo by Carrie. 

Throughout the previous 3 laps, I had been doing a decent job with the positive self-talk, but Matt's reminder heading out onto lap 4 really kicks it into over-drive. One thing that's helped me in recent adventure races is a really positive team vibe, complete with frequent words of encouragement and inspiration. Here, I have no teammates to rely on, so I start a my own near-constant stream of out-loud coaching. It would be pretty funny to carry a recorder and listen to some of the stuff I said, but mostly I'm channeling this guy and this guy. I add in lots of "good girl", "nice line EK", and "good job buddy". Even with the barrage of positive self-talk, I am not in an ideal place physically. My left groin starts to cramp (cramping of any kind is unusual for me) and when I try to increase my fluid intake, I find that my bottle and CamelBak are almost dry. Crap! My mental jukebox slips into Gave You All, and I just focus on staying as positive as possible and grinding out the lap. I walk often. I give myself the luxury of riding both the doubletrack/red and campground climbs in my granny gear. Coming back into Race HQ, I know it's time for a nutritional intervention, and thankfully James and Matt are ready to help. Matt fills my 2L bladder with water + 4 nuun tabs. James opens up a Cokette for me to drink now and puts another one in my bento box. I swap bottles, learn my gap is has increased to 20-30 minutes, and cruise out of the pit.

Lap 5, 1:59
Fueled by delicious Coke, I can already feel my spirits improving on this lap and the positive self-talk reaches a new level of extravagance. I'm complimenting myself out loud on any tiny thing that I do right and drinking nuun and CarboRocket furiously in an effort to keep cramping at bay. A couple of miles in, my mental state does a complete turn around and I am jamming. Not going fast by any stretch of the imagination, but back to enjoying mountain biking and this beautiful day. Strangely, my mental playlist switches tothe potentially-annoying This Is The Song That Doesn't End but I change the lyrics to be about riding bikes and sing out loud. My feet and fingers are hurting quite a bit and sometimes I have to growl at the trail to distract myself from the discomfort. I know for sure a couple of racers/spectators heard me when I didn't realize they were there, but that's what happens in endurance racing...people get real! I am back in my happy chain ring, the middle one, and legs are feeling pretty good, considering. I muscle up the campground climb, preparing myself for the zen of night riding that will happen on my next lap.

Except, when I cross the line, the timers (Struckman and Claw) tell me that I don't have to go out again - Wendy stopped at 4 laps so my 5 laps are enough to take the win after only 9 hours of riding. I can't really believe it. I'm so hyped up on sugar and caffeine that I consider taking a Specialized demo bike out on a sixth lap. But with BTEpic just a two weeks away, I know the better decision is to stop riding...and start drinking! So I finish the day with 65 miles of mostly singletrack, my longest mtb ride ever, in a chill 9 hours and 4 minutes. And no flats.

POST RACE 
Did I mention Burnin is a party first and a bike race second? I take my sweet time cleaning up and eating dinner and then head back down to Race HQ, armed with a bottle of WTAH. It's not hard to find people to share, and with the Mesa folks serving up some deliciously cold PBR, pretty soon we've got a legit party. 12hr solo men and teams are still racing, and it's inspiring seeing my friends (Mary and Keri I'm looking at you!!) put up some awesome night lap times. I find Wendy and we have a quality chat about the race - I am glad she isn't mad about me switching categories last-minute, and now we are both glad to have the opportunity to hang out instead of riding more laps.

My prize.

Speaking of hanging out, the Burnin after party is only an extension of the mad mtb love that was happening on the trail all day. I got so much encouragement from the riders passing me. I had no idea that many people would call me out by name, giving me a little mental boost each time. I'm sorry that I didn't always return the favor since it's hard to recognize people when they're passing by very quickly! But the STL mtb community is one of the best around, very similar to the midwestern AR community in that we are all pulling for each other to have great days on the trail, to crush our own expectations, to go GETCHASUM!! Jerks.

Women's 12hr solo podium! Me and Wendy. Notice my tightly clutched WATER bottle. Photo by Claw. 

And here's a podium shot, thanks to Laura and Mary for helping me sober up enough to not make a complete fool of myself. Pin It

Hold My Beer And Watch This Shit*

*Title shamelessly stolen from the Burnin women's team of Cash, Hill, and Holtmann. Crush it chicks!!

All of a sudden, AR season is over for me. Bam! That was fast and furious. I've got a couple different options in the works for the Bonk Hard Castlewood 8hr but no more big out-of-town races are on my schedule. A whole bunch of my friends are duking it out this weekend in the Catskills at USARA Nationals, but instead I'll be riding laps (plural) at Council Bluff (singular). Oh yes, reader, the time has come for me to redeem myself from one of the darkest days in mountain biking memory...Burnin at the Bluff 2010.

Pre-race, 2010. Photo by Stephen Venters.

The event started out with all positive signs. I was teamed up with some super-fast, super-nice dudes on a coed 12hr team. I got a ride down to the race, set up camp in a primo spot, and enjoyed an awesome campfire with some awesome people. Race morning, mass start, Todd rides a great lap putting us in 2nd place among coed teams, then John rides a great lap putting us in 1st place among coed teams, then it's my turn. I hadn't ridden hardly any of the trail beforehand but I was confident that my 29er could handle anything. It's just a 13 mile loop...13 miles is NOTHING. I got this.

So John finishes up his lap and comes into the exchange zone absolutely hammering. I am inspired by his effort and take off down the gravel road leading to the singletrack. I'm riding jazzed out of my mind, and suddenly my bike gets away from me on a slight downhill and I crash into a tree, hard. The tree stops me from falling over but my helmet takes most of the impact. Ouch. Let's take it a little easier, shall we?

Theme for the day.

Shaken but undeterred, I continue on down the trail and maybe 2 miles later I start to feel some squishiness happening in my rear tire. That's weird, last time I checked I was riding a hardtail. I keep riding and sure enough, my rim is bottoming out and I have a flat. OK, no big deal, just change this thing and keep going. The change goes well enough, not super speedy but not slow, and I am riding again. But not a 1/2 mile later and the new tube goes flat. What! Evidently the tube I put in had a hole in it as well. And that was the only one I was carrying. I'll save you the gory details...I ended up begging for extra tubes from other racers and changed about 4 or 5 flats on my FIRST LAP. My second lap was much "better"...only 2 flats. Or maybe it was just 1, I can't quite remember, anyway the day did not go as planned and I was the weak link on the team. We ended up 4th on the day.

Todd, me, John at the amazors afterparty!! Photo by Stephen Venters.

October 2011 I was deep in triathlon mode so did not get to return to Burnin.

Now it's 2012, I've spent a lot more time on my mountain bike (still the same one as 2010, an older Gary Fisher aluminum hardtail...it's heavy!) and even done some training rides (and races) at Council Bluff. I got a few invites to race with teams but turned each one down...this year is about redemption. I'm racing the 6hr solo and have a big hairy audacious goal for myself. It's gonna take some setting the gearshift to the high gear of my soul, but I'm excited for the challenge. And after my 6+ hours of sweet singletrack are over, I'm ready to kick it with Pfoodman Racing and the rest of the STL mtb scene. And hopefully get some updates from USARA and FPC's big race in Kona.

BTEpic Tour 2009, the year of all the flooding. 

Two weeks later, I've got another date with the dirt in the form of the Berryman Trail Epic. That's gonna be another fun time, and since race day is curiously close to Halloween, it gives me a great opportunity to race in costume. Any ideas??? Pin It