Training Log Archive: silkychrome

w 3.5L. trying to fit in a short run build before WRC.

to dirt crits. got a rear flat, didn't bring wrench, but luckily was within 1/2mi of Alpine Shop so just walked over there and changed it. they fed me cake too. life is rough.

back home, in the dark.

w 3L water. woooo!

ug-lee.

Part 1: http://silkychrome.blogspot.com/2014/07/race-repor...

well i tried to run to the library but L foot still recovering from Saturday's blisters. so got to catch up on the phone w g-rents, rents, and Sami11!

MF out-n-back w Maria. hot. slogfest. started out feeling okay but the OT just brutalized me. and MF is the easy section!!!

for anyone doing the OT100MTB, Dwayne and Peat TT'd the first 50 miles (start at 72/P and finish at 32/DD). took them 8hrs and they were smashed. this race is gonna be a soul-crusher. AR people will do well. bring lights.

Event: Wilderness 101 (NUE)
 

Event: Big Bear Grizzly 100 (NUE)
 

w Jeff and David. forgot all of my good gear is still in my CT bin (getting delivered later today) so had to scrounge for stuff. ended up w new pair of cascadias, the 9s, but no SF insole. wore them anyway and my feet paid the price, blisters by mile 6 and i pulled the plug at mile 8. not worth it for training run. good chat tho. hot.

walk back to parking lot, JZ found me and we chatted.

social ride for CG's visit to STL. hot hot hot but we just cruised around CW then out to new trail Packwood. so much positive mojo in this group!

EZ lap around block.

ride out to the dirt crits w JZ. stopped for a Schlafly Sessions IPA mid-ride. recovery week!

C • I shoulda stuck around. 3

EZ to TNW to catch up w friends and then to library.

that's a wrap on my first multi-day race. just some general thoughts:

definitely did not except to get that much down time/sleep, and not sure if i'm happy about that or not. it was probably a good thing bc i still have a lot to learn about TAing fast out of a bin.

we were super conservative on water/food and each of us probably carried way too much in that department. but, the goal wasn't fast-n-light...it was steady-n-smart.

very, VERY happy w how we managed our effort throughout the race. we only focused on our steady-n-smart goal and not other teams passing us. we all had our low moments but really nothing catastrophic. paid off big time as we were able to push hard late on Day 3.

eating went well for me, although i packed way too much food. some of that was just a function of the course being short. things that worked great for me on course: CR333, pecan sandies, dark chocolate/salt MOJO bars, flat pretzels. good in TA: boost, tortillas w dehydrated eggs, oatmeal, fruit cups. i never really got sick of anything, these were just extra good.

gear that went well for me: CEP calf sleeves + swiftwick aspire socks. loose shorts for trekking and paddling. arm coolers. CHAPSTICK!!!!!

not a lot of nav required for the race. that was a bummer. but hell's half acre did not disappoint.

i'm sure i'm loaded w fatigue but no soreness/niggles/pain. actually the worst thing is my bottom lip - sunburnt and swollen. but that should resolve itself in a day or so.

surprised more teams didn't run CX tires. I thought hard about it but at the last minute ran out of time. even with the advertised singletrack (that didn't actually make it into the final course), I think CX tires would have been way faster.

C • CONGRATS! 8

CT Day 4. 0500 start.

BIKE 1, CPs 47-49, 50mi
rolled out in a paceline w Tecnu, Columbia, and YogaSlackers. fast and fun! once the road turned to gravel i was worried about killing ourselves trying to keep up but luckily Garrison got a flat so we let the train go and changed it. much better for us. just soaked in the WY countryside during the sunrise and early morning hours. hooked up w local 4-guy team GUTS and got post-race food recommendations as well as an escort thru town using secret shortcuts. well, not really that much shorter but it was still cool.

TREK 1, no CPs, 5.5mi
from the finish line (cruel...) up to the paddle put-in on a paved bike trail. mandatory route, but no mandatory gear. jogged.

PADDLE 1, no CPs, 5mi
downstream on the North Platte River. first 1/2 was just flat and then we went thru man-made WW park w i think four Class 3 rapids. me and Garrison made it thru each but had to stop twice to bail water. we had a fun time on the third rapid...http://vimeo.com/channels/cowboytough2014/10132140.... after that we looked up and rocky33/Space Monkey were no where to be seen. they cleared the rapid but took on too much water, flipped, and lost their boat. GUTS caught it though so we all reunited for the final rapid and paddle to finish line. much love for the local team today.

after we finished, Rachel got the news that one of her good friends had passed away after a mtb crash. this was hard on her and, by extension, on the team. take a minute to read Laura's story and then go take a beginner on a bike ride.

http://www.arkansasoutside.com/we-lost-a-hero/

C • Thanks for the Share 2

CT Day 3,

TREK 1, CP37, 1mi
we had a short road run to the put-in. we were in 4th about a 1/2mi down the road when we were talking and realized we did not punch the "start of day" control. debated for a hot second if that was mandatory or a formality, and decided we had to backtrack just in case. got the punch, but that put us behind a few teams. this was potentially bad bc boats had to be launched in groups of 8 and we didn't want to get stuck waiting too long. so we ran hard to the put-in and made it sandwiched in between 2 other 4-person teams so we thought we were good.

PADDLE 1, CP37, 15mi
...except now the river company was launching in groups of 16 (2 boats at a time for safety) and we only had 12. CRAP. waited around, but luckily another 4-person team showed up and were able to get on the water without too much more delay. the water was fun, not too cold, except we had a difficult time motivating the other team in our boat to paddle hard. that, and our guide was calling for "rest breaks" which rocky33 gave him a death stare each time.

BIKE 1, CPs 39-40, 38mi
we were anxious to get on our bikes before the temps started climbing. quick TA w bins, hopped on my bike, and i freaked bc something was NOT RIGHT. i honestly thought i had someone else's bike. turns out when i disassembled the crank yesterday, i put it back together wrong so the arms were not aligned. whoops! but it was a quick fix and we rolled out onto the gravel. this part of the ride went pretty well. we arrived at CP39 and realized we were carrying WAY too much water as a team so we dumped about 4L and continued on. rocky33 did a lot of extra pack carrying too. we started passing other teams from the first wave of boats so we felt redeemed after our morning delays.

TREK 1, CPs 41-43, 6mi
saw Tecnu and Columbia on their way out as we went in, that was fun! hot trek in open terrain. Space Monkey was overheating so we kept pace EZ.

BIKE 2, CPs 44-46, 50mi
we came out of the trek w Silent Chasers so convinced them to paceline w us to CP44. those miles FLEW by and thankfully we arrived at water drop in good shape. 2.5gal = 9.5L which goes a long way! Yogis were still there and left only a few minutes ahead of us, we caught them as they had a bladder malfunction, then they caught us back. the first few miles of riding together were a little tense, like no one knew if we were supposed to be mean or nice. thankfully everyone decided on nice and we got to chatting. that was fun. we each had our stops here and there for peeing/waterhole bathing/etc and eventually we had to let the Yogis go ahead. we were all in a pretty low spot around mi 40 of this ride - it had been a long and hot day. but we all kept each other eating/drinking and once we hit the pavement we had enough juice to push into TA.

TREK 2, CPs 1-10, 6mi
Hell's Half Acre. we had our fastest TA of the race and got into the canyon with a good chunk of daylight still available. super complicated terrain for a USGS map to show. Garrison struggled w the first CP but Space Monkey was able to take over and we flew through the rest of the leg. it felt like 24hr pace! we caught the Yogis around CP6 or 7 just after we had put on lights and we pushed hard to get a gap on them. kept nav clean the rest of the leg and ended up w fastest split. SO PROUD of the team here.

EOD TA
finished up just before 10pm and Rev3 had 2 hot dogs for us each! yum! some good chat w Tecnu and then final night's sleep, about 4.5hrs. slept better but still not great.

CT Day 2

one of the proudest race moments for me was checking WABAR in on time for the start of Day 2. BAM.

TREK 1, CPs 22-23, 2mi
no mandatory gear for this. road run up to "The Sinks", then back down to "The Cave" which Space Monkey did while we chatted w lead teams, then down to "The Rise" and feeding the fish.

ROPES 1, CP24
200' or so rappel? we were in 4th at this point and only 3 lines so we took it EZ on the hike up. didn't have to wait much tho. i went down first, then rocky33, then Space Monkey, then Garrison. we got back into our bins after the rappel (luxury racing...changing shorts!) so kinda slow TA but rolled out of Sinks Canyon SP around 8am, close to Journey and Silent Chasers.

BIKE 1, CPs 25-26, 25mi
road ride thru Lander to Riverton. flat and fast. we pacelined well, but i pulled a little bit too hard in the beginning and had a blow-up around mile 15. thank goodness for teammates :)

TOMAHAWK 1, CP27
special challenge in RIverton. we each had to stick a tomahawk throw. Garrison made it first time, then the rest of us got it after not too much longer. we got to wear sweet hats too.

BIKE 2, CP28, 20mi
road ride from Riverton to Boysen Resevoir. still flat and fast. still pacelining well, except my crank got loose AGAIN in the last 5mi or so. thankfully i could sit in the draft and on tow and hardly pedal at all. JR happened to be working that next TA so i borrowed his wrench again and he let me keep it for the rest of the race.

PADDLE 1, CP29, 6mi
flatwater paddle in canoes in the resevoir. same setup as the Mule: me/Garrison and Space Monkey/rocky33. hot but no wind. i navved.

TREK 2, CPs 30-33, 2mi
optional CPs. super cool terrain...like a dried up lake bed/desert. desolate. when we got back to the boats we all went for a swim and majorly restocked on water using Space Monkey's magic sack.

PADDLE 2, CPs 34-36, 9mi
back in the resevoir, hotter yet and very still. good to not have to battle winds but we were roasting! i navved again and screwed us up on CP35, went inland too early. i gave/Garrison took maps back after that. i was having a super hard time w the scale - not used to being able to see for 9mi straight!

TREK 3, CPs 1-10, 7mi
the end-of-day trek. on the paddle we thought we could get this done in daylight and we were right! went north first. crossed the river on the underside of RR bridge - two 2x10s and a cable! fun fun.

EOD2 TA
we got back to TA about 8pm, and didn't have to leave til 6am the next day. this was not a scenario we were anticipating but it was fun anyway - we all had a sunset swim in the lake, good dinner and chat time w other teams. probably got about 6-7hrs sleep but again i had a hard time sleeping thru.

CT Day 1

quiet bus ride from Casper (5200') to South Pass City (7400').

PROLOGUE/TREK 1, CPs 1-5, 4mi??
3 out-n-backs from "city" center on various missions. any order. we went CP5 (JJ Marin stamp mill), CP1 (Carissa Mine Mill), CP3 (Volksmarch Trail), CP2 (store/salt water taffy), CP4 (saloon/shots of whiskey). we could all feel the elevation but not bothersome, just additional breathing.

BIKE 1, CP6, 10mi
gravel out of South Pass City, thru Atlantic City, to CP6. Journey and Silent Chasers caught us, rode as loose pack, in WYOMING! wheeee.

TREK 2, CPs 7-10, 6mi (optional)
a short foot section in random open terrain w some mapped fire roads. started this w Journey, YogaSlackers shortly ahead. SC shortly behind. open terrain and trails. Journey got ahead and we were fine w that since we didn't want to push our luck at elevation (and they are from Colorado).

BIKE 2, CPs 11-13, 25mi
gravel to start, then some pavement. my shifting was mildly off once we got on the pavement but i fixed best i could while rolling. we caught back up to Journey and rode w them for a while. had a nice chat w Todd the construction dude as he held us a few minutes at a work zone. then onto fire roads w lots of climb. Mike started to overheat. the first few climbs were okay as he was able to recover on the downhills. at the first creek crossing (mile 12ish?), i carried my bike and tried to further fix my shifting once across. the drive-side crank nearly fell off! horrible! it needed a 10mm hex wrench to fix and the biggest we had was 8mm. asked a couple other teams (Journey, Rev3, others) and no luck. Garrison figured out a way to use my tire lever to sorta tighten the bolt but it would only hold for about 1mi at a time. luckily/unluckily, there was a lot of bike pushing for the final 10ish miles so the crank wasn't needed as much. Garrison also cramped badly in this section so we dialed back the pace and swapped packs/bikes to help. the downhills were super sweet and i would have enjoyed them a lot more if i wasn't scared of losing the crank bolt. limped ourselves into CP13 (8500'), happy to be done w bikes.

TREK 3, CPs 14-21, 14mi
passed 3-4 teams right off the bat here, most of them stocking up on water. knocked out the optional CPs (14-17) w no issue. these were all around 8500'-9000' so as flatlanders we were stoked to be moving well. caught Journey at CP17. slight bobble for both teams coming out of CP18, but we eventually found the right trail, hiked the up together and then Journey went ahead on the down. took a feet/lights break at CP19 (Sheep Bridge). sun set, we got to CP20 (falls overlook) in the dark and somehow Journey was behind us on the out-n-back trail.

TREK 4, CPs 1-10, 6mi
all days ended with 10 optional CPs. we did this in the dark, but it was mostly a trail-o in Sinks Canyon SP (around 6500'). we moved well but Garrison and I each used a pole for the last 5 or so CPs. rocky33 was a MACHINE w the punches, especially CP4 which we spotted from the road and without a second's hesitation she motored on up with the rest of us straggling behind. rolled into the EOD TA at 2:15am.

EOD1 TA
i ran around to anyone that was awake, trying to find a 10mm hex wrench. finally found one from JR, one of the medics. tightened the crank and returned the wrench along w 2 cookies. had a really hard time falling asleep, my feet were v fatigued, more so than i remember from even much longer treks. we closed our eyes for about 2.5hrs but i bet i only slept for 1. stars were beautiful tho.

Event: Cowboy Tough Expedition Race
 

THTCAB walk to train station

besides my knee injury, i haven't run this short since taper for IMCdA! muggy and felt slow/heavy.

to/from Alpine (direct on Big Bend). i was cutting thru Deer Creek Park and I ran head first into a child on a bike!!!! no bueno. it was around a slightly blind R-hand corner, and the boy was in my "lane", there was nothing i could do to avoid him. we both went down, i was ok, he was crying about a scrape on his arm. tried to comfort him until his dad got there (a few seconds later). no blood, he seemed to be okay, his dad seemed kinda pissed but let me go without yelling or anything.

36min out/38min back

mini loop around FP after the WC. not going to lie, felt slow and horrible. hot n humid too.

errands.

Event: Wilderness Traverse
 

EZ to CW to spectate Pfirecracker. got there just as marathon was ending.

partial lap of the race route to help clean up signs/ribbon/trash.

EZ back home, took the wuss way out of CW (New Ballwin instead of Ries) and just cruised. pretty hot.

C • CTE WY Race 7

taper slowly starting to work on me.

WU:
5min skiERG (1k), foam roll, 3x3 WS, 2x10 SD, 2x10 AS, 5x2 assisted pull-up, 2x10 push-up.
THEN:
load some KBs and DBs into car and drive to Berra Park
THEN:
3x Litvinov conversions: 12x KBS 45#, sprint 25m, full rest.
3x Litvinov conversions: 6x OHS narrow grip 20#, sprint 40m, full rest.
CD:
load KBs and DBs into car and drive back to PD.

i was a little worried about going to FYF so close to CT but this was perfect. short, hard, full-body engagement. also figured out a pull-up assist method that doesn't require people/equipment so i'm ready to rock those out post-CT.

EZ to/from PD w extra mile or two at the end.

morning jog.

shipped my gear bin last night. 71 lbs! picking bike up from the shop today (new BB) and shipping it. cheaper and WAY less hassle then dealing w airlines.

C • Smart! 4

the usual. w SFBE insoles since Alpine was out of orange ones.

day 9 of no caffeine! the first week was hard, i felt slightly foggy at all times. not my best, probably combo of no caff and racing fatigue. but last few days i have got my spark back. AND i have been sleeping so well. zombie sleep, as Jameson would say. head down, OUT, wake up before alarm, ready to rock!

g'morning. did this in new cascadeeahs, the 9s. when i first had them on i didn't like them but with the SFOE insole i think they'll do.

around the block. wake up brain.

tried to do a few errands in between t-storms but not a big enough window.

no sleep, breakfast at courtesy, then into FP for Noah G Memorial Ride. perfect weather to start, it got hot later. alternated between keeping SOCIAL tempo at the front and riding sweep. a good day!

vampire century, except we ran out of time for a full hundo so just an out-n-back to SIUE singletrack. so fun. perfect pace, weather, riding buddies, everything. also no caffeine!

C • Warbird 3

GORC trifecta. cruisey. LV was probably my least fave conditions - dry and dusty. Matson was much better, some new reroutes introduced lots of shelfy stuff. i was not prepared (going too slow) for the first few so walked em. then later on i was annoyed and tried to ride one anyway, crashed. nothing hurt too bad but just a reminder to stay healthy for CT. so instead of making the trek to klondike we stopped in Defiance for PBRs and chat, then rode back. v enjoyable.

quicker than expected loop of FP. lots of FairSTL stuff going on. we saw The Band Perry's trucks, maybe we should have stopped for autographs?

C • The Band Perry 2

i had a rather invasive dentist appt this morning and wasn't feeling so great at the start line. but Melisa told me the secret to a good start ("just stay on my wheel") and i did and it was way better than normal. the course was FAST and i held my own til the last lap when Maria caught me. which was pretty awesome cuz i love riding w her! she got a gap in the twisties, we sprinted for 2nd place, she got me by 1/2 wheel. GOOD STUFF. go Team Noah!

05:32
05:05
05:06
05:08
05:04

also a cooldown lap w my BFF, priceless!

C • Dentist 2

EZ. i am not drinking coffee til CT so need to do stuff in the morning to wake me up!

C • bike polo pic 3

EZ checking jobsites and over to FP to check parking for Sunday. super good chat w Sami11 afterwards, all about bin management. time to start packing!