Natural Bridge Caverns Off Road Duathlon

Jay holding my award because I had to get home to Sofia.

I registered for the NBC Duathlon so that I could force myself to practice running. So one week before the race I started training. Not much time to train but as long as I could get my legs into the run groove, then I would be fine for a slow 4 mile jog.

A bunch of my friends got together to race the various route choices they offered. Of course I opted for the off-road run and mountain bike. It was a 2 mile run, 12 mile mountain bike and 2 mile run.

The race started deep at the bottom of the caverns. It was a steep hike up to the top before I started running. This was definitely the steepest hike I've done since I left California one year ago. (I'm not proud of that.)

Anyhow, Jay and I stayed together through the run and then we started biking. I wouldn't call the path that we rode a "trail." I would call it a cleared path with a bunch of large stickes, roots and rocks. It was the kind of super extreme technical riding that I don't really like. But I did it and I ended up passing quite a few people who had to walk their bikes. I must have made up a bunch of distance on folks because towards the end of the ride the race volunteers were telling me I was the second female going through. Not bad for someone who hardly trained for the run.

I had originally planned to coast the second run but since I was in contention, I decided I needed to give it my all. I ran as fast as I could and ended up finishing first in my age group and second female overall.

I was stoked with the workout and stoked to get a decent result. Guess I should work on my running again.

Mellow Johnny's 6 Hour Mountain Bike Race

Lance Armstrong opened up his Juan Pelota Ranch for a 6 hour mountain bike race.

I hadn't really trained much but I decided that the race itself would be some good training so I packed up the bike and headed to Dripping Springs to ride a few laps.

To my surprise, it was 40 degrees when I got there. I had only been paying attention to the chance for rain and hadn't paid any attention to the temperatures. Luckily I had packed my leg/arm warmers, a buff and my full fingered gloves just in case.

The racers started in waves so I was able to watch the pro men take off and Lance was right there. I snapped a cool pic with my brand new Android phone.



It had been a year since I had ridden those trails and they had changed a little so I didn't know how long each lap would take. Turned out it took me a little more than an hour to ride each lap so then I was able to set myself a goal of 6 laps. I had that number in my head and I wanted to reach it.

However, after the third lap I was already feeling tired. I could have easily talked myself into doing 4 or 5 laps since my training had been minimal to say the least. But I toughed it out and kept going. I told myself that as long as I had time, I would keep riding no matter how slowly.

At one point I knew that Lance was going to lap me for the second time so I was watching out for him. I had just hiked my bike up some large rocks and was going to hop back on the bike when I saw him coming. I said, "Hey, thanks for having the race here." He said, "Yup, sure thing." So that was cool. I was glad I got to thank him for opening his ranch to us.

Another cool thing was that I beat Lance! Yup, that's right. How many ladies can say they beat Lance Armstrong in a bike race? So what if he did 4 laps in the time it took me to do 2. He stopped at 4 and I kept going. I completed my goal of 6 laps, I was super happy with my workout and I was super happy with the climbing and technicality of those trails.

Rocky Hill 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race

Rocky Hill 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race, Smithville, Texas Oct 23-24

Since I hadn't had much time to train, I decided to ride a few laps and also support my friend Ross Willis. I rode laps 1, 3 & 5 with him. Then I supported him through the night. When his wife and sister-in-law returned in the morning, I hopped on the bike and rode laps 14, 15 & 16 with him to finish out the 24 hours.

It was a good workout for me and I was able to give Ross the experienced support he needed to be successful. He rode an excellent race and finished in 3rd place at his very first 24 Solo!

Next up for me is a 6 hour solo mountain bike race and then an off-road duathlon.

Out of the loop...

I've been out of the loop when it comes to writing my blog. I'm currently doing relatively short races and lots of short training sessions.

I got busy working on building a golf driving range in the San Marcos, Texas area so I've taken all my time to do that.

I plan to get back to more frequent updates sooner rather than later.

Bernice

San Gabriel 12 Hour Adventure Race

Shayne was laid up with a broken thumb and Sebas was busy with work so Ross and I did the San Gabriel 12 hour race together. We started with a paddle on really flat water but about an hour into the race the winds picked up and we felt like we were paddling on an ocean. It was a tough few hours on the boat but we did well together. We had a couple of little nav issues, but only lost a few minutes.
After the paddle, we mountain biked on the gnarliest, rockiest trail I've ever ridden. It was so rocky and technical that we could never relax on the bike. After a couple of hours and a couple of falls, we made it to the Georgetown park. We went on a 6 mile trek around town taking photos of a list of things on our race rules. Unfortunately we didn't bring our trekking shoes so it was tough on my feet to run around in my bike shoes.
We got back on the bikes and had to ride all the way back that gnarly trail. That was tough.
We then went on the final trek and did well until the second to the last checkpoint. It had gotten dark and we failed to find the CP even though we were literally right on top of it. It was hidden under some overhanging rocks below the trail.
All in all we got in a really great workout and had fun racing with each other.

Fiest Wildflower 40 mile Road Ride

Ross, his buddy Dave and I decided to ride the Fiesta Wildflower 40 mile road ride. I'm still learning the area so I thought it would be a good idea to join some organized rides. I originally wanted to register for the 100 mile ride but Ross had registered for the 40 mile so I did too. To make it a little more challenging, we rode our mountain bikes. I'm pretty sure we were the only ones there on MTB's but I didn't care. In fact, I was pretty stoked when I passed some roadies on their sleek, light, fast bikes. :)

Ross immediately took off and rode really well. I spent the entire ride trying to catch him. It was a nice day and really nice back country roads with little traffic.

Over all I had a great ride and a great workout.

Eco Lone Star 12 Hour Adventure Race

We started the race with a 20 minute run that turned into an all out sprint. Of course I'm not quite a sprinter so it sucked for me, but at least was jumped right onto the bikes after that.



Unfortunately within the first 10 minutes, Ross got a flat. Sebas and Shane took to it quickly and got it fixed. We tought that we had gotten our bad luck out of the way...

...But all races don't go smoothly; especially adventure races. Adventure racing is full of the unknown. This time a simple numeral, a digit, a freakin' miscalled/misread/miswritten number is what held us up.

We weren't really supposed to cross this river but we did. We don't know if Sebastian called out the UTM wrong or if Ross wrote it down wrong but either way, it was wrong. So we spent at least an extra hour in the place we had plotted our point only to find that the point was plotted wrong.

The funny thing is that there was another team crossing the river right in front of us which made us feel that we were going the right way. Turned out they had misplotted their point as well. Anyhow, that tiny mistake took lots of time and we ended up racing just to finish instead of racing to place. That really shows how much the navigation means to a race.

Miles of Discomfort 50 mile MTB Race

I was really looking forward to this mountain bike race. I was finally at full health and getting fitter so I was looking forward to a great long workout where I could really push myself and get in some good training.

I also had my nutrition plan pretty well charted. I was stocked up on all my Hammer goodies and they were planned out to give me everything I needed for a 6-7 hour ride.

Unfortunately things didn't turn out as I had hoped.

It had rained for the past few days and it was also pretty cold. Luckily there was no rain in the forecast for race day but the temps were to start in the high 20s and not get above the mid 40s. I must admit that I have gotten "soft" by living in SoCal. I'm used to riding in sunny & 60-70 degree weather so the cold has been an issue for me in Texas. However, after surviving the 14 degree trail run race I did a few weeks ago, I was able to wrap my brain around the 20-40 degree temps for this bike race and I was ready.

I carpooled with my AR teammate Shayne and his buddy Kyle. When we arrived to the trail head it was 29 degrees. But the feed station was set up and completely dry so all looked good. UNTIL, I realized I forgot to bring my entire food/supplement/water bag!!! I had absolutely no food and water. I was so bummed! I had my nutrition and hydration all planned out and I was ready to go hard on the course because I knew my Hammer supplements would give me all the strength I needed.

So I did what any desperate MTB chick would do, I whined until Shayne and Kyle gave up some of their extra gels, bars and bottles and then I went to the mobile taco stand and bought 2 meat & potato tacos and a gallon of water and then I whined some more until a kind bystander gave me one of his bananas. Well, it wasn't Hammer but it was gonna have to do! It was a minor set back but I knew I could still pull it off.

The Open Men category started 30 minutes early. Rumor has it that the start was moved up so that Lance Armstrong could finish in time to charter a helicopter to pick him up from the race so he could make it to his son's basketball game in Austin. That's cool. I mean, come on, it's Lance Armstong. Yes, he's just a person, but certainly a person unlike the rest of us. He's an incredible bike champion and he's loaded! So why not?

Lance Armstrong's bike at the finish. He said it weighed 22 pounds at the start and 32 pounds at the finish.


The rest of us mere mortals started a 9am. This was my first time to ride these trails and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. It was super fun single track. A bit rocky, but I like to see the rocks as challenges. After I dodged a few folks who thought they were doing a 12 mile XC race and tried to pass me at inopportune moments, I had a very nice first hour of riding. The trails were a little muddy, but nothing I couldn't handle. I kept thinking that the trail must be absolutely incredible when it's dry. I got into my grove and took a little extra time to be careful through the mud.

I caught up to Shayne and we started riding together. Then the trail started getting really, really muddy! I mean, I hadn't seen this much mud on a trail since we did a 5 day adventure race in Brazil and it rained the entire time! Of course I hadn't ever seen such muddy trails! It hardly rains in SoCal. And if it did, then we would wait a day or two until it dried out so we wouldn't ruin the trails.

The usual mud related problems that I've always heard of arose. I couldn't shift, my wheels wouldn't turn freely, the bike got chain suck and worst of all I couldn't get out of my pedals! I fell off my bike when I rode over a muddy slick rock. I fell when the wheels stopped and I couldn't get out of my pedals. I fell when the chain sucked and my bike was suspended mid muddy rock. And then I fell again. I hadn't fallen off my bike this many times since 2001 when I was learning to ride a 39 pound "mountain bike" with a kickstand that I bought for $300! Seriously, I haven't had this many bruises on my legs since 2002 when I joined a San Diego "senior citizen" mountain bike club so I could learn to ride. It became apparent to me that I really hadn't had much experience riding in mud and I was not doing very well.

According to many of the locals, they had never seen the trail in this poor of conditions. They said the rain usually drains right through. However this situation was unique because the rain they had received the past few days froze with the cold temperatures and wasn't able to drain. Consequently, when 150 riders went through and melted the ice everything turned to mush and as the temperatures warmed up to the 40s, everything turned to "crunchy peanut butter" type mud.

Anyhow, after two hours of playing in the mud I decided I was done for the day. My thought process was this: It was a "training ride" for me. There was no reason for me to potentially hurt myself or hurt my bike. I was out there to ride hard, get in a good workout and have fun. Well, I was not riding and not having fun so I decided two hours of a workout was all I wanted out of this event.

Chris Eatough posing for me



So I cleaned up, packed up and settled for watching Lance Armstong and Chris Eatough finish the race. It was funny to see Lance finish, stop for a quick photo with the RD, ride to the helicopter, hop on and fly away. Then a few minutes later I got to chat with Eatough.

Unfortunately I didn't get the race or the workout I wanted but I just had to remind myself; it's January! It's still Winter! I have plenty of time to get in lots of races and lots of training in the milder temps and conditions yet to come.

I must give kudos to my AR teammate Shayne and his buddy Kyle who finished the 26 miles they set out to do! It was tough but they roughed it and finished with bodies and bikes still in one piece.

Big Chill 12 hour Adventure Race

It had been 3 years since my last adventure race. Probably 4 years since my last 12 hour adventure race so needless to say, I was out of practice. But that's okay because one of the things I love about adventure racing is that it is very mental. One really has to get her mind in order even just to pack for such a race! The crazy/scary thing is that it came back to me so naturally, just like riding a bike. No problem.

I even packed lighter and better than I ever have for a 12 hour race. Is it because I'm now a Mommy? Now I really understand the concept of packing only the things you know you will need and use? That very well could be it! They say women come back stronger after having a baby. I always thought that just meant physically stronger, but I think it's also mentally stronger.


It was my first adventure race in Texas and my first time racing with Shayne, Ross and Sebastian (Cbass). Over all I think it went very well. They are all pretty laid back guys with very good senses of humor and the perfect amount of competitiveness. We worked well together and made a great team. I feel really lucky to have jumped on to this team right away with this group of guys.

We started the race with a 30 minute orienteering run that took us around the campground area in order to spread out the teams. It was a little congested and we had to wait in line to punch our passport a couple of times so we ended up leaving for the next leg behind a bunch of teams.

We returned to the TA where we found out what we would be doing next and we got the maps. Ross and Cbass plotted the points and devised our plan. We were allowed to get the check points in any order so it was always hard to tell what our placing was throughout the race.

We took off on the bikes and rode a very wide trail through the trees and through several water crossings and muddy areas. I felt like we were really moving well because we passed several teams and just kept on truckin'! There was only one little mishap when Cbass didn't make it though the water crossing and fell in. But other than that, all was great! We rode for a while with the Houston AR Team until we went down one path, decided we didn't like it, turned back and took a different path and that's when we lost them.


After about 2.5 hours we returned to the TA to find that we were to paddle next. Shayne and I were in one boat and Cbass and Ross in the other. Luckily we hit the water before the wind picked up too much. Ross did a great job leading us directly to the furthest check points then back towards the TA. But about 20 minutes before we exited the water, the winds started howling and we could see the white caps in the water. We felt badly for those teams that were just headed out.

At the TA again we found out we were in 4th place overall and 1st in the 4 person co-ed division. Our transitions were really fast and we ended up catching and passing some teams because of those fast transitions. We all stayed focused and helped each other.

The run was a little tough. We were all starting to get a little tired so we walked/ran this section. We ran on some nice wide foot trails, found the check points and returned. I got a little help from Ross with the tow rope but over all I felt pretty good.

We went back to the bikes and rode on the streets through the town. We picked up the points and moved quickly. We kept seeing the teams that were 20-45 minutes ahead of us and the teams that were just behind us as well.

The last leg was the orienteering trek through the forest. Unfortunately we had a little trouble with the first check point and we spent a little too much time looking for it. We finally left to find the other points only to return to look for that one on our way back to the TA. It was dark by the time we returned but we found it and ran back to the finish.

I guess we must have lost more time than we thought on that check point because we ended up getting passed by a team that we never ever saw the entire race. So we finished 2nd place in the 4 person co-ed division. But we were super happy with our performance and encouraged to keep racing together to get even stronger and better for the rest of the season!

I really enjoyed my teammates, the course and the weather for my first Texas adventure race!

A 12 Hour Adventure Race?

A 12 hour adventure race? I can't even remember the last time I competed in one. I guess I could check out my race results and find that it has probably been about 4 years.

For a while there it was not even worth my time, energy and money to do a 12 hour race unless it was in my Orange County back yard. I was hooked on international multi-day races and I used the relatively "short" 24 hour races for "training." Man, was I hard core back then! :)

These days I'm wondering how much it's going to hurt to run, bike and kayak for 12 hours!

Since giving birth to Sofia 16.5 months ago, my training has been under par. I've been getting in about 6-10 hours a week of some sort of work out but that's not nearly enough to make me feel good about racing. I'm still 10 pounds over my race weight and it's been super tough to shed without being able to train like I used to.

Why do I not train like before? Well the main reason is definitely time. I have to,,,, no I mean I WANT to be there for Sofia. I want to give her the quality time she deserves with me. Sure I could leave her with Daddy or with G-ma or with a daycare while I go train for several hours at a time. But I wouldn't feel good about it. So that's it. I have re-defined my priorities. (Not to mention, I'm working a lot more seriously than I used to. Not harder or longer hours, just paying more attention to work than to racing.)

Anyway, my plan now is to register myself for as many one day weekend races that I can so that I will keep myself motivated to train. Even if it is only one hour at a time.

Now I have to get myself into the 12 hour = short and fast mind set and I'll be ready to suffer! We'll see how I do next weekend...

Sofia's First Day at Gymnastics!

Sofia was laughing so hard when she was on this trampoline that she flew off and fell. She just kept on laughing!

She had so much fun running around the gym floor! She chased balls and pushed around the lawn mower. Whenever she would catch the sound of a good song, she would stop in her tracks and start dancing!

The Coldest Day in History--Bandera 25K Trail Run

New Braunfels, TX set a record for the coldest temperature in history on January 9. It was 14 degrees the morning of the Bandera 25K Trail Run! What the heck was I thinking? Had I not already paid for the darn race I would have stayed in my warm cozy bed with my warm cozy hubby and baby girl.

Alas, Shayne and his friend Patricia were waiting to meet me so we could drive together. When we arrived to the trail head, Shayne's car read 12 degrees! Ouch! I've trekked in that cold of weather and it is not fun! You would think that because I survived the cold temperatures of Alaska for 3 months that I could handle the cold temperatures of Texas for a few hours. Well, NO WAY! I just know that I don't like the cold at all and would prefer not to have to tolerate it.

Once again we were treating this 15.5 mile run as a long training day to get our feet used to the pounding. Our goal was to carry some weight in our packs while hiking the uphills and running the downs and flats.

I was so cold before the start that I broke one of the cardinal rules of racing. "If you are a comfortable temperature at the start, then you will be too hot when you are racing." I would say that I was as comfortable as I could be at the start because I was wearing my puffy jacket and big thick gloves I used in Alaska but I didn't care. I DID NOT want to take them off so I decided I would start with all the clothing and carry it with me when I warmed up. After all, this was a training run and we were supposed to carry extra weight anyway. Well, not a half hour later I was already removing my puffy. The temperature stayed in the 30s-40s for a while but I ended up carrying my puffy and my gloves the rest of the way. My feet were frozen for the first hour and I ended up tripping because I couldn't feel them but after a while they thawed and I felt better.

The three of us did a good job of sticking to our run/walk plan and we finished the 15.5 miles in about 4.5 hours. There were some good little climbs with lots of technical rocks throughout the entire trail. Our feet and legs really got a good workout and it ended up being a beautiful day when the sun came out.

Excrutiation Exam 85 Mile MTB

In case you haven't noticed, I've been checking out the race scene in Texas. This time it was the 85 mile Excrutiation Exam mountain bike race on January 2. Only it wasn't really 85 miles of mountain biking. It started at Bluff Creek Ranch in Warda, TX with a LeMans run start and an 8 mile lap on the trails. Then we rode our bikes 30 miles on back roads to Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville, TX. After a 21 mile lap there, we were to return using different roads and finish with a half lap at Bluff Creek Ranch.

It's quite a race to do at the beginning of January during the cold, short days but we planned to do it anyway. The way I see it is that the more races I can get myself into, the more I'll train and the more prepared I'll be for a super long adventure race in the future.

Unfortunately I caught a cold again a couple of days before the race. I was congested and had to take some cold medicine right before the start. Shayne, Jayson and I started the race in the 20 something degree weather. It was cold and uncomfortable but we got moving and were able to warm up a little. We decided to take our time and use this race as a "get acquainted" training day since Jay and Shayne had never met before. We talked a lot, stopped here and there for snacks and took our time since it was going to be the longest any of us had been on a bike in a while.

Well apparently we took it too easily because we missed the cut-off to leave Rocky Hill Ranch after the 21 mile trail ride. Oh well, we were able to get in 56 miles in about 7 hours so we were happy with our workout.

It was only my second time riding the trails of Texas and I was pleasantly surprised. I found Bluff Creek to be mostly flat and easy with a hint of technical roots and narrow tree passages to maneuver about. Rocky Hill was definitely rocky. There were lots of creek crossing that made for many short, steep ups and downs with technical rocks and roots. The trails were definitely not the long steep climbs or drops of California but a very different sort of riding that I'm going to have to practice.

Over all it was a great day in the saddle and I was glad to have done as much as I did considering my cold.