8 posts tagged “racing”

My team and I had two goals for this morning's Mountain Man Triathlon - Olympic Distance Relay.

1. No DNF (Did Not Finish)
2. No DFL (Dead Last)

I told all of you that I thought I was going to die, what with my lack of training and trying to do 24 miles at altitude.

Well, obviously I didn't die, but I sure wanted to around miles 8-11.

But first, let me introduce the team in order of appearance: Anne for the mile swim,

Yours Truly for the bike,

Good Buddy Dave for the 10k run.

 

As you can see, the course is in a gorgeous part of Arizona, high in Ponderosa pine territory. We didn't drive the bike course yesterday, as I told it's best to be surprised by it and not freak out ahead of time. However, I did run into someone I knew who told me for the Olympic distance ride, "There are three hills right before the turnaround that will crush your soul."

This is not an exaggeration, I was soon to find out. This news was followed by the information that on the way back, those same hills will very likely get me up to 45 miles per hour speeds. I'm not sure what was more the more frightening prospect.

Anne proved to be the rock star swimmer we expected, covering the mile in around 29 minutes.

 Now it's up to me.

I start out pretty strong. Then I hit the wall and I hit it hard. Nice of them to put a gradual incline right at the beginning of the course. I start huffing and puffing, trying to get air. 6,500 feet air is a bit thin. I felt like I was racing on my grocery-getter bike with the steel baskets, not my ultralight road bike.

Around mile 8 I hit the first of the Soul Crushers. I'm being passed by all the other people Anne blew by in the water and I'm starting to feel shame. Many of my fellow bikers shouted words of encouragement, which I found really nice.

Then the big hill. I had my bike on my lowest gear and I was pushing on my shifter hoping for another one even lower. My legs were starting to scream louder than my lungs, and I was gasping so loud I sounded like I was giving birth to a bike. By the end of the race, my crotch felt like I was. Note to self: next year, either ride faster or wear padded undies as well as padded shorts.

Anyway, I was fighting with the voices in my head. "Keep going, you can do it!", "No you can't! You need to stop and walk", "If you try to stop, you don't have enough forward momentum and you'll tip right over!", "You have a point. Let's keep going."

The good news: The view was spectacular. I did hit incredibly fast speeds on the way back. I didn't crash. I passed five people - two slower than me and three with breakdowns. I almost had a breakdown, but mine was psychological, so I pulled through.  

The bad news: I think I made our team DFL in the co-ed relay division. Sigh.

Good Buddy Dave did great but had a hard time of it on a steep hill during the run, but we all came across the line and had a blast.

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride it where I like...

Okay, enough of that. Just thought you might want an earworm for the day. No need to thank me.

I rode the Bike of Maim for 14 miles this morning. It's amazing how many people are out and about at 5:30 a.m. Sure, we have to be out that early before it gets too hot, but still.

I found a great two-mile loop in the neighborhood just to the north of me. All straightaways, right hand turns and a hill on one 1/2 mile leg. I only have to contend with driveways on 1/4 of the 'course', the other three sections are through streets. It's a great option that keeps me off the main streets - which I'm scared to try. I like being alive.

Little Black Stray Cat was spotted on the bike course. I had seen him in that area a month ago during a morning run and now I know for sure it was him. I didn't stop and say 'hi', lest he try to follow me around and he was safe where he was.

This Sunday I'll have to ride 24 miles, so either tomorrow or Friday I'll finish up training by riding the 10 I didn't do today. Ha.

To compensate for time, I rode on harder gears than I would be doing during the race. I figured that would help. Plus, I've been working out a lot trying to get the ol' butt muscles in shape. If those are ready to go, it will help with stamina. I'm guessing I'll be out on the bike couse for an hour and a half.

Yeah, I know what you are thinking - "Amy. You had plenty of time to get in shape. You are going to die."

At least that's what I'm thinking!

So busy here at work, no time to do much - not even my Resolution Challenge list! Mostly because I'm too scared to look at it and see what I didn't get done.

This week - busting my butt at work, busting my butt on the Bike of Maim in prep for the triathlon this Sunday. I'm hoping my butt will get tired of all this busting and go away, or at least reduce in size. Not happening as far as I can tell.

Anyway, I haven't seen Little Black Stray Cat since yesterday morning. There is evidence that he's been eating his food. I'm sure he's fine wherever he is.

Yesterday I filled up the gas tank in my car. For the second consecutive month, I've been able to get over 400 miles to a tank. I've been trying some 'hypermiler' techniques, like coasting into stoplights instead of riding the gas then riding the brake. As long as no one is behind me, I've been able to see how far I can get without my foot on the gas. This morning I discovered I can give my car gas as soon as I go through the parking gate and coast all the way to my spot. It helps that I have a downhill section going into my level. Fun times!

The current lack of scorpions in my place is both pleasant and unsettling. I know they are out there somewhere. Maybe with the rain and the recent cool-off, they'll be happy outside for a little while longer.

Okay, better get back to it. Catch ya on the flip side!

What happens when warm air from Mexico meets a thunderstorm coming down from the mountains?

Wet, wild weather!

The center of the storm was right above Tempe, where I live. I was dry and safe in a neighborhood pub when it hit, strategizing for next weekend with my triathlon relay team and having some beers carbo-loading. We were watching the rain come down in sheets and watching people wading into the parking lot to get to their cars. The highway, in the photo above, was flooded and many cars were just sitting in the water, not able to go anywhere. Sometimes people will drive into a flooded wash thinking they can get through. Often, they can't.

So that was fun yesterday. Today we're only supposed to get to 92 degrees. I grabbed a sweater when I left my house.

The Bike of Death has been downgraded to the Bike of Maim, after we had a disagreement Saturday morning about which side of it I was trying to dismount. I won eventually, but the bike did inflict a nasty bruise on the inside of my right thigh. I'll spare you the picture, but it's a 3" x 2" blob of pinks, reds and purples.

I have to ride 24 miles at altitude, going from 6,500 ft to 7,500 ft. Or something like that. My team doesn't think I'm completely prepared for it (I'm not), but I explained it's an out-and-back course. Mathmatically, half of the course is downhill so it's really only 12 miles of actual exertion.

I've been feeding a little black stray cat for the past couple of weeks. Now he's coming up to me and begging for love and attention. What a sweetheart. I should take him to the vet to get him snipped and have a check up to see if he's healthy. I can't take him to a shelter because they are over capacity. MomH thinks I should keep him, "You need two cats."

No, I don't need two cats. Elvis does not like other cats. He hissed at Little Black Stray Cat the other night when he saw him through the screen door. I think MomH is just worried about my mental health when it is Elvis' time to leave the building, so to speak. But LBSC is a doll. Pure black with yellow eyes.

Driving in this morning past the airport, I saw Southwest's Shamu plane take off. It always makes me smile.

That's enough rambling for my Monday. I have Espanol tonight. I went to Spanish Movie Night on Friday and saw "The Motorcycle Diaries". I thought it was a great movie. One of the ladies was worried about Che surviving the swim across the Amazon and it took a while for us to convince her that this was a story about a real person who went on to work for Castro. Too funny.

Okay, NOW that's enough rambling. Later 'gators!

I need to add two more items to my to-do list for the week:

6. Practice Spanish - we learned numbers last night! I need to work up a cheat sheet to help me out.

7. Practice sax - I have my annual summer solo coming up at church in a few weeks. At least I think it's in a few weeks. It could be this Sunday. I had better check. O_O

I have the music and doesn't look to have too many thick concentrations of little black dots. That's how I can tell at quick glance how challenging a piece of music will be.

I rode the Bike of Death this morning to get used to it again. Good Buddy Dave gave it a tune-up and said while it was 'old school', it was high-end in its day. I told him it won a lot of races, then I bought it and now it's a washed-up has been.

He also said one of the shifter thingies was bent and asked if I had ever fallen over while on it. "Yes. Multiple times."

Anyway, it's a blast to ride. Light and fast. (Unlike me - har!) Getting on and off is always a challenge. So I went across the street to the high school and rode around in the empty parking for half an hour to get reaquainted with it. Good times!

That was the promo tag for the Ragnar del Sol relay of the past weekend. Sleep was indeed iffy; I probably got in one power hour of snooze sometime after my second leg, probably around 7:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

First, thanks to all of you for all of your support, cheers and good vibes (thanks for all the zaps, Paul!).

Here's the short version. Our team, Running With Scissors, came in 109th out of 150 or so odd teams. And some of them were truly odd, or at least their names. UnNatural Selection and Knights of the Buffet Table were a few favorites. The Knights were the winners of the van decoration prize last year, and we hoped to beat them this year. Once we put on all of our decorations and strapped some gear to the roof, we realized we should have been the Griswolds. Our minivans were a little out of place with all the rented 15 passenger deals out on the course.

We finished the 182 mile course in a time of 28 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds. It was a blast and I had a great time. Our team was fun and it was amazing that a van full of six sweaty, tired, stinky people got along as well as we did for that long. Having a sense of humor and getting loopy goes a long way.

I did as well or better than I hoped. I'm tired - and inspired to do it again next year. (Those crazy endorphins!)

Van #1 started out on Friday morning to make it to Wickenburg for our 1:00 p.m. start. Teams started according to their speeds on the hour starting at 11:00 a.m., possibly earlier. This was to make sure the slower people had a chance to get off the course at a decent time. Some teams, filled with Olympic qualifiers and other elites, started at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. There were also a few Ultra Teams - six runners instead of 12. Insanity!

I started out around 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

My first leg was a long straight away along Highway 74, filled with heavy traffic headed to Vegas. That part wasn't terribly fun but the scenery was gorgeous. It took me about a mile to settle down my nerves and get into a good pace. A pace at the tempo my jazz band will be taking for "Don't Get Around Much Anymore". The tune popped into my head around mile three and kept me company for the rest of the leg.

We met up with Van 2 and after the handoff, we were off to Cave Creek for dinner and to try and spend the night.

Van 2 is an old, little used vehicle that was actually rejected from the car wash. Quote, "You can't take that van into my car wash." The guy was afraid more paint would peel off and clog up the works. Ha.

Sleep would not be had at the next major exchange point. We decided to try for the parking lot instead of the school gym and it was a zoo. A few team members got a little snooze, but I stayed up for four hours taking in all the action.

Midnight came and so did Runner 12 from Van 2. So we were back on the road. My second leg found me running on dirt roads at 3:00 a.m. with only a puny little headlamp to light the way. I already don't see well in dim light and there was minimal moonlight to help me out. Every so often a team van would pass me, giving me a good glimpse of the road until the dust brought the visibility back to zero. It was a beautiful evening, the stars shining brightly and no sounds of coyotes or other critters. It was a bit scary to be out in the dark, alone, but I tried to concentrate on the serenity.

I had a lot of turns, marked with signs topped with a red blinkie. The second turn wasn't terribly clear as to were the road was, so I pulled a Moses and wandered lost through the desert. I decided the course probably wasn't going through the desert wash so I double backed to the last blinkie I found. Another runner was coming through so I followed her to where I was supposed to be going. I lost maybe 5 minutes, but it was more important to actually come out alive, so it was still a good run.

Our next runner hit an unpainted speedbump and crashed down on her chin and skinned up her knees. Luckily she's not seriously hurt, but now we were down to five. (Props to you, Dave, for doing extra!) This is also around the time the elites started blowing past us like we were 'painted on the fenceposts', as Teammate Dave would say. Even though you KNOW these people are exceptional, it's still demoralizing to be left in their dust.  

Morning light shown through and found me catching some zzz's at the next major exchange point while we waited for Van 2. All the teams seemed to be in good spirits.

Finally, my last leg was near. My hip was screaming at me but I tried to ignore it. I used some of the pain reliever the race sponsor handed out and downed some Ibuprofen, but none of it made any difference. I wish I had some of the beer from the other race sponsor instead. That probably would have helped a lot more.

My legs felt like lead, but it was time to go.

And then I was done. Done, done and done. I left it all out there on the road, pushing hard for my last mile. During my runs, I kept thinking, "This sucks. What the hell am I doing?" 

Then after I finished, I thought "I did it! I really did! I'll have to keep training so I can do better next year."  

We ran through some beautiful country in our trek across the desert. We probably ran through some beautiful stretches during our second legs but we couldn't see it.

All in all, it was worth it. I made new friends and got to know others better than I had before. This was a great kick in the pants to start getting back in shape. Now I have to stay motivated and keep it up.

Thanks again for being my cheering squad. I couldn't have done as well without you!

UPDATE: For more craziness, check out the team video from our run.

This is a call to all my peeps to send some good vibes and thoughts of encouragement my way as TOMORROW is the race I've been training for, the Ragnar del Sol relay. Yay!

I've been buying and testing new gear all week. I haven't had any wardrobe malfunctions of Janet Jackson proportions, but I'm not terribly happy with any of the shorts I've tried out. I may have to go with my old standbys. And by old, I mean 10 years of use. They aren't pretty, but I know they won't either try to work their way up to my armpits, giving me a major wedgie within the first mile or creeping back and down, exposing my buddha belly to the elements. I'm doing a public service to keep that under wraps.

You really wanted to hear all about that, right?

Here's where I need your help. I'm running three times for a total of 16 miles. This is going to be rough. If you can think of me at certain times and send good thoughts to help me out, I'd appreciate it!

All times are approximate, but should be close depending on how much we over/underestimated our speeds. I said I could do 10 minute miles. This may or may not hold up by the third leg. Oof.

For all the legs and to actually see what I'm doing, I'm runner #4 on the course map. But here's the quick breakdown.

Friday 2/29 @ 3:09 p.m. - 4:05 p.m. (MST, 5:09 EST) 5.6 miles
Saturday 3/1 @ 2:47 a.m. - 3:47 a.m. (4:47 EST) 6.0 miles. Yes - in the middle of night. This is where I'm hoping my Asian and Euro hoodies to send some love my way!
Saturday 3/1 @ 10:47 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (12:47 p.m. EST) 4.3 miles

At the end of it all - FREE BEER! I didn't even know that until this week. It will make all the pain and struggle worth it. To paraphrase our friend Ben Franklin, there is a God and he wants me to be happy.  

There is a charity component of this, but I always forget what it is. I signed up in the hopes to get back in shape which has happened a little bit. I can run farther than I ever thought I could and that has given me a renewed feeling of personal strength. I haven't really lost any weight, just five pounds. But my clothes fit better so that's all that counts.

I'm so excited! I have most of my van gear packed - the rarely used mp3 player from Brother Steve, some magazines, a journal, etc. The food and other stuff is ready to go so I'm all set. Oh - and my camera. We're also going to enter the team video competition so look forward to that in the next few months. There's also a freelance writing contest about the race experience and I had better take a look at the rules before we hit the road. Whee!

Wish me luck!

((((hugs)))) 

My team captain for "Running With Scissors" just sent me my race assignment for the Ragnar del Sol, a 12-person, 187-mile relay over 24 hours coming up at the end of February. I told her I wanted to know what to expect so I can start training. Since I haven't been hardcore about working out like I used to, I didn't want to be the weakest link.

So I opened up the spreadsheet, found my name, looked at my mileage and said:

Fuck

That was followed by a few other quietly spoken expletives.

I run three times, here's how it break downs for me.

Leg 10: Rated Very Hard, 7.4 miles, with an elevation gain of 329 and a loss of 266 - meaning: Lots of uphill. Estimated time of run, 5:15-6:29 p.m.

I have never run farther than 6 miles at one time. Swimming was my strong suit and well, not much good that will do me this time around.

Leg 22: Easy (thank heavens), 3.3 miles, going downhill. w00t. 3:11 - 3:44 a.m. Yep. 3:00 in the morning.

Leg 34: Moderate, 4.2 miles, fairly level. 11:50 a.m. - 12:32 p.m.

If I make it through the first run, the rest should be fine, although I know I can't fall asleep in a moving vehicle so I may be less than fresh for my second run.

But I think I'll be fine. Or so I am going to keep telling myself.

If you want to play along at home, here's a link to the course map. I'm runner #10. You can check out the map of each leg, including an elevation map and a 3-D 'fly-by'.