Scared Shitless

Yesterday was the Capitol Forest 50/100 mile mountain bike race.  Earlier in the week I signed-up for the 50 mile option, not really sure what possessed me to do it but I thought it would be a fun way to spend my Saturday.

I showed-up Saturday morning more nervous than I have been for any race this year.  The amount of my unpreparedness was weighing heavy on my shoulders.  But, the RD said go and I quickly forgot about nerves and focused on the task at hand.

The first 30 miles went by without any issues (unless you count one minor crash).   Then I got to the downhill portion off of capitol peak. I have never been on this stretch of trail and as soon as I pointed my front wheel downhill I panicked.  It was a very steep, rocky, rooted chunk of trail - I was scared shitless.  I do not have the necessary skills to navigate this type of terrain without causing damage to myself and my bike.  However, at this point I did not have a choice, I put on my big girl panties and held on for the ride.

After I got through that portion I was back on familiar terrain and it was smooth riding, punctuated with some walking to the end. Today I went out and ran a portion of the course to help clear the markings.  All in all, a good weekend!

Finisher!

What was I Thinking?

Packet picked-up, bike ready, me...not so much.  I have no idea what to expect tomorrow.  Sure, I know the trails well.  But I know them on foot, biking it will be totally different.  My goals for tomorrow 1) don't crash too hard, and 2) finish.  I had to sign a wavier that says I am properly trained for this event.   Ha, trained.  Sure, I have endurance - for running.  I have done NOTHING to prepare for a bike event.  My experience is that the muscles you use for biking are different than running muscles.    None the less, it should be fun!

Whim

First things first.  I am not a biker, I am a person that knows how to ride a bike...  Today, on a whim I signed-up for a mountain bike race this weekend, distance - 50 miles.  Not sure how this is going to go, I am expecting to finish DFL.  But, it should be fun!

Bike Tour Day 1: Jasper to Jonas Creek

After White River Matt and I drove to Alberta, Canada to join friends Amber, Eric, Aaron and Melinda for a bike trip through the Canadian Rockies.  Amber had done all the planning, all we needed to do was show up - talk about spoiled!  Matt was nice enough to drive all night while I dozed on and off in the backseat so we could meet the group in Jasper on Sunday. 
The Bike Trip

Monday morning we loaded our bikes and began the tour.  We were quite the motley crew, using a variety of methods to carry our gear.  Give our various circumstances we quickly broke into three factions:

• Team Gimp - Amber and Melissa
• Team Chariot - Eric and Aaron
• Team I ain't got no excuse - Matt and Melinda

The long and short of it:  We biked from Jasper to Canmore, 209 miles.  We averaged ~50 miles/day for 4 days.  Our longest day was 55 miles and our shortest was 47 (I think). We did A LOT of climbing and were reward with stunning views and fantastic company.

Monday: Jasper to Jonas Creek

We started pretty late on Monday and still managed to roll into our campsite by 7:30, giving us plenty of time to set-up camp, eat dinner, and visit before hitting the sack.  My Achilles was aching pretty good and I was able to ice it in a mountain stream. I would write more, but this day was mostly accomplished getting the kinks out and our butts used to sitting in the saddle.

Animal Count:
Black Bear - 1

Some pictures from day one are below:

Aaron, Bob and Matt

The rest of us

Rocking the camo

 Eric appears to be towing a small child

I think that's a smile

Onward!

My sweet ride!

Men in tights

To be Continued...

Tuesday: Jonas Creek to Rampart Creek

Wednesday: Rampart Creek to Lake Louise

Thursday: Lake Louise to Canmore

White River

Last Saturday was WR, a 50 mile race that starts and ends at Crystal ski resort (more or less).  It is an awesome course and since I started running ultras this is one that I really wanted to do.  Friday night Matt, Julie and myself headed to the start area, set-up camp, and went to the Snorting Elk for the pre-race meal.  The RD was giving a briefing during the meal that both Julie and I agreed did nothing to calm our pre-race jitters.  So, after shoveling in our fill of spaghetti we high tailed it out of there without listening to the full breakdown.

Pre-race meal

Back at camp we met up with Julies boyfriend Jon and the rest of the Oly trail runners.  We visited for a short while before everyone decided to hit they hay to prepare for the long day ahead of us.  I woke-up shortly before my alarm with a start, I was in the mist of a dream that I missed the race start by an hour and had to rush around to get started.  Thankfully it was just a dream.

Julie and I with Herb. 
I was hoping if I stood close enough some of his experience would rub off.

The Oly ladies

The initial miles ticked off pretty quickly, I felt good and figured I should go with it.  I generally eat every hour and I stuck with that, but I added something new this time, I took salt every hour as well.  During races I tend to get a serious case of sausage fingers, this really helped with that problem.

Early miles. Feeling good.

I cruised into the Corral Pass aid station (~17 miles), got some food and quickly got back on the trail.

photo credit: Glenn Tachiyama

This is where things went south.  All of a sudden my achilles started to hurt.  I honestly can't tell you what happened, things were going smoothly and then all of a sudden, well, it wasn't  smooth.  Every time I flexed my foot I cringed in pain, something was wrong, very, very, wrong.  I had 10ish miles until the next aid station, I told myself I would get there and reassess my situation.  Those 10 miles drug by, it became more painful to move with each step.  I was reduced to crab walking down rooty portions of the trail to avoid flexing my foot.  The worst part was that aside from my achilles issues I felt awesome. 

I was busy throwing my own personal pity party when fellow Oly runners Kris and Heidi passed me.  They stopped to ask how I was doing, I told them my issue and they suggested I drop at the next aid station.  I had already came to that conclusion on my own, but hearing it from another person(s) cemented it.  Which brings me to the conclusion of the WR 50 mile for me, I DNF'ed at around 27 miles.  It sucks, I am not happy about it, but I think it was the best choice.  I could barley walk, it didn't make sense to continue, especially since I after the race I was headed to meet friends to do a bike tour from Jasper to Banff. 

Dragging my sorry self into the aid station to drop...

WR fail.  Guess I will be back next year!

The Best Flow Chart Ever!

Courtesy of Prana