Cross this off your list

I've only got one sentence fragment to describe this weekends cyclocross shenanigans:

Three races in 24 hours.

I'm not going to detail out each race, because, frankly, we'd be hear all day.  Also, it would go something like this: "And then on the next lap... I was wearing argyle socks"  I'll give you a few juicy details.

Race #1 Somehow, the showdown was set.  Carrie Cash Wootten (the all-around queen of Missouri cycling, and current legit cyclocross racer because she does it on a national stage) and I had not raced on MO-soil yet this season to test our mettle against each other and the barriers.  And, when there are "Things that go Bubba in the night", there is the potential for a sweet race under the lights.  She and I were neck and neck, trading the lead through the tricky turns and shadows.  In one particularly dark spot, Carrie missed a turn around a tree, me hot on her wheel.  I braked hard and she rode off course, getting caught in the tape as she rejoined the course.  She grabbed my wheel quickly, but between the adrenaline surge and the lost rhythm, it wasn't long before I rode off the front to grab the Women's A win of Bubba Cross #1 for Maplewood Bicycle.

Race #2 This was between me and future Cannondale Rep Courtney (Big Shark Racing).  Carrie had family business, so I treaded the line with six A ladies and a gaggle (that's about 15-20) B racers.  This course was longer, roadier, bumpier, and uphill, with one more barrier, an infinite number of turns and some choice tree branches for me to run into.  I raced.  I won.  It was a skill clinic for me to see how hard and hot I could take some of the turns.

Race #3.... This was the Men's Bs.  I had no intention of racing this race, but Specialized was there as "neutral" support for the race.  I figured that I could pretend my bike had a "technical" that required me to ride the demo bike... ie my bike was "technical"-ly to heavy.  So, after my Women's A race, I went over to check 'em out.  I honed in on the 58cm Specialized S-works full carbon, with SRAM Force, Zipp 303 tubulars.  It was calling my name.  I took a few turns in the grass and decided that I had to race on it.  It didn't hurt that Carrie was racing the Men's Bs and my competitiveness got the better of me.  She made a good case for it "we need the crowd-sourcing" practice.  Before the start, I asked her what "our" race plan was (I asked what her plan was :-).  Fast and first.  And when the horn went off, even lined up in mid-pack, she and I were off the line first, with her taking the lead of the race for the entire first lap!  I was starting to feel the two races before, and it took a bit for my quads to start firing.

I clawed my way back up to her and around and around it went.  At one point I even found myself in the same pace-line as Peter (Urban Assault buddy)!  I knew he knew I was there and that was providing a little extra motivation for him... "must not let Sunny beat me!"

So, Carrie and I were pretty technically matched, but with the course set-up the way it was, the men-folk could power-quad their way past on the forever-straightaways and then we would get stuck behind them in the twisty maze sections. Back and forth, and then on the last lap I took the lead through the two-pack of barriers and prepared to enter the pain-zone.  I thought "I'm cooked" and retreated into my head, knowing she was going to try and drop my butt on the hill... and then nothing happened.  Was I that swarthy on the hill?  Nope, a technical brought on by a giant hole sent Carrie's bike into malfunction, and I was able to free wheel my way to the line, not that I did that :-)  I managed to out-maneuver a few of the guys on the turns, and heckle them a bit that they were letting a girl beat them!  And, I finished it on that fine bike, somewhere around 10-15th in the Men's Bs.

photo courtesy of Brent Newman

The showdown didn't really happen, the stage was not set up right.  We'll hit a true cyclocross-ers course with mud, run-ups, obstacles, off-cambor downhills, and turns that'll make your head-spin, and then we'll see what's up.  Our next meeting will be another night race for Halloween!  Two weeks, hence... gots to get a costume together.

BTW Major shout-out to Single-speedy, my Maplewood Bicycle teammate, and Stewart, shop-owner, main man, and first-time crosser in 12-yrs (?).

Race Report: Lewis and Clark 1/2 marathon

It was a dark and stormy night....

Actually, it was morning, albeit dark.  Not stormy, perfect really.  But, it was the kind of morning where dawn seemed to last forever.  Or maybe it just seemed like forever because I was anxiously watching the minutes click by on the dashboard of the 'baru as I inched my way closer to the race start in a traffic jam caused by 7,000 runners planning to arrive an hour before the start and all choosing to take the same route to get there!

I had left the house at 5:30 AM.  10 miles and 1:45 later, I pulled up to the race start just as the gun went off.  Of course, I was still a ginormous parking lot away.  But I managed to get into my race gear, pin my number on, and consume my pre-race Espresso Clif Shot while waiting in traffic.  So that I emerged from my car and started running.

I crossed the start line (thankfully chip-timed) about two minutes behind the first runners, somewhere among the 10-minute milers.  I used the first 400 yds or so in the crowds to get in a "warm-up" before the course opened wide and I was able to slip to the side of the road and open up my stride.  Wouldn't it have been cool to turn on my mileage counter and start my watch?  You'd think.  In the hullabaloo, I remembered my watch pretty quickly, but it took me a mile or more to remember the counter.  C'est la vie.  The first mile was going to be a weird split anyway.

Streaming through the start line.

I weaved my way among the runners, occasionally talking, encouraging, and asking about pace to one or another.  Starting in the back of the pack like that has some major advantages.  First of all, I didn't get passed the whole race.  Second, I literally "ran" into so many people.  I came up behind a fellow former MU track athlete, Jessica Grider, who would eventually finish third in the marathon.  I also came across "Everywhere Steve".  Why do I call him that?  Because he turns up everywhere.  I saw him at cyclocross practice.  We ran into each other at an aid station on the MS150 course.  And now I was running and chatting with him during mile 5.

And the running, on and on, feeling awesome.  I clicked off one 6:30 mile after another.  Going in to this race, I felt like I had no business running anything faster than 6:50 pace.  But, 6:30 felt so natural.  I kept waiting for the crack... that never came.  Along the way, I had a few other runners challenge me for a half mile or more, but I just kept pushing.  And I lied, sorry.  I did get passed by one guy about 0.5 miles from the finish, but I went for a drink and he didn't, and besides, "virtual me" was actually two minutes ahead up the course.

So, I did run my way into the fast women.  I kept hearing 6th, then I passed two more women and I was in "3rd", then 4th.  And that's the way I crossed the finish line.  But what about the two minutes you ask?  Well, in the official results I am listed as 2nd overall!  But, RTFM, the awards are given according to "the order in which we cross the finish line".  Had I known that I might have tried harder to get there on-time, or at least broken a traffic law or two... maybe not.

No $200 for me, no commemorative framed race poster of the the very last Lewis and Clark half-marathon/marathon (it will be a Rock n' Roll St. Louis next year).  But, a ton of self-satisfaction that I can still rock a half (1:25:04 officially) and compete tops among the womens overall.

Now, back to CX!

I'm very excited to be running!  Or I am calling out for a vanilla gel shot.

Got the shot.  Now let's get this show on the road — five miles to go.

Very happy to be almost finished!