Cross Races in Northampton 2009

November 7th and 8th are the dates for this years Cycle-Smart International Cyclocross race.   Held at Look Park in Northampton, Massachusetts– I’ve been going to this race for about 5 years now.  Last year they opened a beer garden, and I’m hoping they repeat that very appreciated service this year.  I wrangled a day off for Sunday the 8th, and invited my Ladies Mountain Biking buddies along to enjoy a day at the races–just to watch.  Last year I brought my Mom, and she had a blast.

They also have a kids race for the little ones.  It’s a great way to enjoy an exciting, pro-level sport in a family-friendly atmosphere, along with some adult beverages.  Bring your cowbell!

See you there,
–Karen

Transitioning

Today I did something sad, but necessary:  I set up the trainer in the basement and rode my bike inside.  It’s only mid October and we’ve already had our first snowfall.  Insignificant in accumulation, but a huge psychological blow.  Winter is coming early, and it rarely leaves as early as it comes. 

I haven’t been in the saddle since my duathlon.  Work is getting busy as it does every year at this time.  I still have three vacation days left which I plan to use simply to keep my workouts going. 

I’ve run only twice since the race as well, mostly because my opportunities are limited.  I struck out in the cold (47 is cold for me) and ran 2 miles last Wednesday, and my lungs reacted badly.  I have trouble in the cold.  Getting used to it will help, but I’m just not cut out for big workouts outdoors in the cold.

So now–I transition to maintenance mode.  I’ve ridden half the miles on the road bike this year than last year.  I’ve logged far more mountain bike rides, which naturally cuts down on overall mileage.  Additionally, I’ve taken up running.  This has only been in the last 8 weeks but affects overall mileage . I feel stronger than this time last year.  I’ve even made it out to do a little hiking, something I used to be serious about but all but stopped after I discovered mountain biking in 2000.

I did not do a century this year.  I had every good intention but a bad cold, seriously ridiculous amounts of rain, and furthering my education just interfered with scheduling any real training for such an endeavor.  I feel I redeemed myself by doing the duathlon, and can see doing that again next year.  My brother wants to race it with me, and I think that would be fun.

So now, on to keeping motivated for training inside the next 5 or 6 months.  Wow–that’s a long time!  Here’s hoping for an Indian Summer to get me a shot in the arm before winter truly takes hold.

-Karen

Mud, Sweat, & Gears Photo

A small addition to my last post on the Mud, Sweat, & Gears Duathlon….professional photographers from Sportography were on hand and I broke down and got this one:

That hill was steep!!

–Karen

Race Report: Mud, Sweat & Gears Duathlon, Ashland, MA

My fondest Sunday mornings are spent sleeping in, waking late with a cozy cup of coffee and an english muffin, and watching HGTV under a warm blanket. But this Sunday morning was the Mud, Sweat & Gears Duathlon in Ashland, Massachusetts.

I have been eying this race for about a decade. That’s how long it’s been on my radar, and at last I signed up.

I made it to the race with enough time to nervously go over my inventory of equipment about 8 times and forget after each time if I had remembered everything. I did not ride the course prior to the race. The turnout was modest, and I felt as I was pretty much one of the crowd being as most of the athletes there were over 30. I expected the start to be in heats, but instead we all went together.

Run 1

It was clear within the first 200 yards that I was being dropped by 90% of the field. OK, I knew I wasn’t a great runner. I decided to not entertain thoughts of defeat and stick to the plan of “running my own race.” I could hear a woman behind me, we stayed with each other for most of the first portion of the run chatting and making light of our place in the pack. I lost her with about .50 miles to go and didn’t see her again. About half the run was on pavement, the other half trails. I much prefered the trails.

Bike

When I returned to the transition area most of the bike that were staged were gone. I got my shoes & helmet on and ran the bike through the transition area as instructed. The first leg was pavement and I tried to maintain a good clip and still get some much needed Gatorade in me before hitting the off-road portion. I had a couple of guys around me and we seemed to play a game of I’m passing you, no– now you’re passing me for a while.

When I got off road, there was a nice, fast descent that I flew down. I was definitely feeling more comfortable on the bike portion and noticed even some of the guys were struggling in more technical areas. I passed a few of them, and played tag with others. By the second lap I only saw one other woman–one who had kicked my butt on the run but I had passed during the ride portion, and I was widening my gap with each lap on the course. I pushed it on the bike, hard–and I was doing well. There were some ridiculous run ups that a few of the men powered up but most of us (guys included) ran or walked our bikes up. The trail was getting eaten up, especially after a day of solid rain on Saturday–which made things interesting.

Run 2

By the time I made it into the transition area again for the last leg, I was labored. I was confused and took off my bike shoes, put on my running shoe, and then took that off and put my bike shoe back on. Thank you to my gf Sheri for pointing that out to me. My son had found a rock he thought was amazing and wanted to show it to me. I let him. I didn’t linger too long though–and soon I had the right shoes on and was off again.

About .5 into the last leg the woman who I had passed on the mountain bike portion caught me. She was a great runner and I knew that I wouldn’t see her for long. We made some polite conversation and then I told her to have fun–she zipped off. The last .5 miles I was struggling. I was trying to find the energy to just move faster but it wasn’t there. I trotted along as best I could. My brother made a surprise showing with his two kids near the finish line and I got a little life from that. I finished the race with a time of 1:16:42.

I felt happy about my performance–I had done my best and knew it, and felt satisfied with my effort. So you can imagine my shock when I learned I had placed first in my age/gender category! Yes, I actually won a medal. I sheepishly accepted it, feeling a lot like I did when I was in the 5th grade and won some event on Field Day. Too funny! It’s worth noting though, that the real admiration goes to the women who finished 20 minutes ahead of me, in the higher age categories (40-44, 45-49, and 50-54). All I can say is wow!

Good race!

–Karen

Pre-Race Jitters

Finish Line

Originally uploaded by sipclip&go

This weekend, I am not attending the Gloucester Gran Prix Cyclocross race. I am bummed. Tim Johnson will be racing in terrible conditions (conditions in which he excels) and I’m going to miss it.

I suppose I could have gone, but a 4-year-old in the pouring rain is an unhappy companion. My son would last 10 minutes before starting to whine, and for the 2 1/2 hour drive to the North Shore (one way), 10 minutes of spectating isn’t worth the aggravation.

Plus, I have my own race to focus (and fret) on. I’m already feeling nervous about tomorrow’s Mud, Sweat and Gears Duathlon. A few days ago, I went to a local park to recreate what the full event would feel like. I did the full course (at a different location), 2 miles running, 5.5 miles mountain biking, and 2 miles running again. I did pretty well. I kept moving, tried to keep my pace steady, and tried to “run my own race.”

Despite knowing cognitively that I am a 38 (39 on Monday) year old mother, who is basically a female weekend warrior–I still feel that competitive spirit, that pride, and that defeat that comes naturally with any event deemed a “race.” I have to manage that little war in my brain, the self-doubt because I am not in the front group, because I’m in the back, often alone, often struggling. Even though I feel pride that I do this sort of thing at all–that pride leaves me when I’m losing.

Thursday night I had an interesting, unexpected conversation with a salesman at a sports & running store. We started chatting and I learned he was a marathon runner. I could gather after about 2 minutes of conversation that marathoning was his passion, his lifestyle, and he struck me as a content, happy man. He rattled off historic information about runners from this and the last century. We started talking about the competitiveness of racing, and he said, “Well, there can only be one winner. If you’re racing again 1000 runners –there’s only one who comes in first.” This sounded so simple, yet putting it in such absolute terms actually allowed me to feel more comfortable with just being a part of the pack. I was in good company–with only one winner, there was more comfort in being part of the main field. Hey–maybe it is lonely at the top. I just need to accept that I’ll never know.

So my goals tomorrow still remain: Finish. Have a good event. Enjoy myself. And just run my own race.

–Karen

Recon Report: Ashland State Park

Yesterday I traveled to Ashland to check out the course for the Mud, Sweat and Gears Duathlon being held October 4, 2009.  The park is a nice little state park, and was closed to vehicles due to budgetary constraints.  I parked outside the gate with the other vehicles, pulled the mountain bike off the truck and suited up.  The only map I had was the one I pulled off the Massachusetts DCR website, which to put gently, lacked detail.

No matter, I plunged down the first trail I saw.  The trails were hard packed, wide double track with some loose rock and some roots and rocks embedded in the trail.  That said–it’s a fast course.  It rolled on quickly with little bits of climbing and nice downward slopes.  There was one very steep hill which I needed to dismount for.  And pushing the bike to the top of the hill was an exhausting effort, leaving me so winded at the top  I could barely remount with any precision.  After the big hill was a very fun descent that rolled and turned and eventually dumped you into a small creek bed next to the reservoir.

Without a map I tried to explore the network of trails–unsure of what route would actually be used for the race.  At one point my trail spit me out into a beautifully landscaped condo park.  I made my way out and asked a traffic cop on the main drag how to get back to the park.

Excuse me, I was back near Boston.  The Pahhhk.  Good thing I speak Bostonian.  No one outside a 50 mile radius of the city would understand the directions that cop gave me.

I digress.  After about 7.5 miles of riding I returned to the truck and took off my cycling jersey & helmet, stuck the baseball cap on and started my run.  I got about .5 miles into the run when the stabbing started in my side.  I slowed down, raised my arms over my head, and exhaled deeply, inhaled deeply.  A little relief.  But not enough.  I stopped and rested, trying to reset.  I walked a little.  Pain.  I tried to jog.  Major pain.  Intense pain.  Stop me in my tracks pain.  I tried to remember–what if this happened in the race?  Push though it Karen!  My body responded with “screw that lady, we are hurt and we are stopping.”   

I was so upset that the stitch in my side prevented me from running.  I am still disappointed in yesterday’s experience.  I’d be really bummed out of that happened next weekend.  I guess this is why we train–to work out the kinks before the event. 

So–any suggestions?

–Karen 

PS–My gf’s Raleigh performed splendidly, despite the traditional pedals.  Sweet bike!

Recon Planned–Ashland, MA

Tomorrow I’m heading to Ashland, MA to check out the course for the Mud, Sweat and Gears Duathlon.  I’m doing this for a few reasons.

1.) I’m prone to anxiety–and knowing where a place is and how to get there makes me less anxious.

2.) I want to see what I’m up against.  I don’t think it will be impossible, but having an idea of what the course is like can mentally prepare me for the day.

3.) Gail is eager for course info too–she has concerns about the terrain.

I scanned the blogosphere and rest of the internet for some info on the course–I got very little.  I emailed the race director and got half a sentence for an answer:

” you will be on trails through out the park… its single trail rolling one good hill..”

Not a very thorough description.

Also, I’m checking out the course on my girlfriend’s brand new Raleigh Mountain Bike.  Disc brakes, just tuned up, but–no clipless pedals.  My mountain bike is in the shop basically getting a new transmission.  My chain, cassette, chain ring all getting replaced.  The mechanic said the bike was in excellent shape otherwise, which thwarts my inclination to get a new mountain bike altogether.  So I’ll have an old favorite with new components for the event. 

The other upgrade I’m considering for the race is a little birthday present of new shoes and clipless pedals.  Probably not the brightest idea to change pedals entirely before an event–but I am tempted to just go for it.  Any recommendations for clipless pedals for a female mountain biker?  I’d be interested in hearing some.

I’ll be back in a day or two with my course report from Ashland.  Hopefully checking things out will settle my nerves….

-Karen

Flirting With Athena

Athena Statue

Originally uploaded by sipclip&go

Sorry boys, it’s not that kind of post.

What I’m talking about is chosing a category when I registered for the Mud Sweat & Gears Duathlon. Signing up is a fairly simple process. But you must categorize yourself so they can place you with “like” competitors. This isn’t a hardcore race–it’s managed by FIRMrace management. I didn’t have to deal with Cat 3 or Cat 2 assessments–stuff I don’t really know about anyway. So when you sign up, you can sign up as a team or individual, a male or a female, and then by age group or weight class. Men over 200lbs are known as Clydesdales, women over 150lbs are Athenas.

I considered my last visit to the scale.

I was a breath away from Athena, stark naked. Certainly in clothing I was very much Athena. Last winter I was safely in a non-Athena zone, but with all the riding and running, I’ve put on muscle (that’s what I keep telling myself) and I crept back up to my pre-pregnancy weight from more than 5 years ago.

I’m not a small woman and never have been. At one point I played center on the basketball team. I have a lot of natural muscle, & height, but admit to a belly I’d rather not have. But Athena? I decided some research was in order.

Athena was the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, Peace, Warfare, Purity, Strategy, Handicrafts and Reason. She’s often depicted in warrior attire with a spear and shield. She is one of the three virgin goddess, and born of Zeus only, with no mother (that must have been a neat trick).

OK, Athena sounds pretty cool (except for the virgin part–I couldn’t hack that)– but I could embrace my inner Athena. I have a fairly decent body image for most women I know my age, and feel good about my fitness and health. Because you can be over 150 lbs and be fit and health AND female. Right?

Now, to try and get back to 145…..

–Karen

Defining My Racing Strategy

Mt Toby Trails

Originally uploaded by sipclip&go

Last Monday Gail & I made it out for a planned brick: a short trail run followed immediately by mountain biking. We’re prepping for the Mud Sweat and Gears Duathlon in Ashland, MA on October 4th. This is my first attempt at multisport, and my first race since in about 8 years. My racing experience is very limited: I’ve done three mountain bike races, all within a year of taking up the sport. I’m training for this, but my goal is simple: to finish in one piece. I have no aspirations of placing or even doing well. I really don’t care about that anymore, It’s more important to me that I’m just out there still slugging away. I know I’ll inevitably feel that competitive nature rear up when people start passing me, but I really just want to run my own race, and not worry about comparing myself to others.

That said I’ve been running a lot more, since I don’t particularly enjoy running and it doesn’t exactly come natural to me. Pairing up with Gail is good for me because she is such a talented runner, and great athlete, I’m forced to do better. I always know if I work out with Gail, I’m going to be sore later–which means I really got a good workout. Also something happened to me the other night that truly surprised me: I dreamt of running. And it wasn’t a nightmare! Truly, I can see if I keep apply myself to this aspect of training I can grow to tolerate (even look forward to?) running.

And that’s a good thing, because Mud, Sweat and Gears is a 1.8 mile run, followed by 5.5 miles mountain biking, followed by another 1.8 mile run. 2/3s of the race is running, I better have some miles in my legs for not just the bike.

–Karen

The Quabbin Fire Roads

The Quabbin is a favorite place of mine: I’ve blogged about it before. When road riding, I ride to it. I’ve hiked it. I’ve snowshoed it. I’ve fished it. I’ve boated it. And now I’ve mountain biked it.

The Quabbin is a huge place. From the “Friends of the Quabbin” site: The reservoir is 18 miles long from north to south and covers 25,000 acres. Counting the islands, there are 181 miles of shoreline. When full, the reservoir has a capacity of 412 billion gallons, the top one inch representing 750 million gallons. The deepest part of Quabbin Reservoir is 151′, just north of Winsor Dam.  This is all in the little state of Massachusetts.

I found a gate to the Quabbin I had never been at–not hard to do when you’re at such a big place. It was an easy ride–all fire roads, all sloping down. There’s an ongoing forestry management project in various areas of the Quabbin, and some logging was evident but nothing looked recent. I stayed on a maze of descending fire roads and quickly found my way to the water’s edge.

The climb back up from the reservoir was slow and steady. Since I was on fire roads the terrain was not difficult. This allowed me to take in the scenery–beautiful, quiet, clear and bright. The thing that always gets me about being in the woodlands surrounding the Quabbin Reservoir is the sensation of life teeming all around you. Wildlife is abundant, and if you are still, the quietness of the forest is replaced by the rustling of many creatures going about their days. From my experience snowshoeing there, I was always shocked at the sheer foot traffic crisscrossing through the woods (snow reveals their tracks). There are deer, bear, porcupine, bobcat, fox, coyote, raccoon, skunk, and the bald eagle has made quite a comeback in the State of Massachusetts at the Quabbin. In the summer, the foliage hides populations of animals. But make no mistake–you are surrounded.

Which is why I got a little concerned when I kept spotting bear scat on my path. I had never seen so much bear scat in all my life. For miles I came across it–like the trail I was on was Yogi’s privy. Not that I spend a lot of time examining poo–but I’ve read my tracking books and know what it looks like. Most of it was less than 24 hours old, and some within the last 12 or less. I glanced around at the high ferns surrounding me and pressed on. Not that I really was worried, but if given the choice, I’d rather not have a close encounter with a bear, especially while alone.

I exited the forest unscathed: 8.5 miles and plans to return (with a friend).

-Karen