Discburner 6 Hour Race Report

After back-to-back 40 hour workweeks, I was ready to unleash some stress on the trail. Yeah, 40 hours may not seem like much, but when you are only used to 20 ...

My training plan called for 3-4 hours of race effort this past Friday. Having to motivate yourself at that intensity for that length of time can be quite difficult. Luckily, Dave Holmes' race, the Discburner, was happening Saturday. And Coach gave me the o.k. to race the 6 hour! Game on!

It was a LeMans start. I ran pretty decent and got onto the trail in the front group. The course was fast and flowy, with a few techy spots and a few tight, twisty sections. Climbs were in the 30-60 second range. Considering how tough the last two weeks were on me, I felt really good and was able to push the pace. On one occasion my front tire washed out and I kissed a tree. At that point, I made a conscious effort to back it down a notch. After all, this was just a training race.

I raced with bottles, with was really sweet! I stashed my cooler underneath a tree just before the Start/Finish line and grabbed a bottle each lap. Pit times were just under 10-15 seconds. The first 4 hours I kept it pegged. Temps were in the mid-80's but most of the course was in the trees, so heat was not really a factor. I managed 5 laps in 3:50 minutes. Each lap was 46 minutes and some change. I was happy with my consistency. I felt that I could still have gone hard, but backed off the pace as Coach instructed and just cruised around the course the last two laps.

I came away with the win and an awesome training day. Dave put on a great event and some awesome schwag ... too bad I registered late and missed out on the Mountain Hardware T.

Thanks to my hubby for coming out and cheering me on, too! He had Reese, our 13 year old Lab in tow. Unfortunately (or comically) for Charlie, there were just way too many male dogs around, and Reese ended up peeing on his shoe. Never done that before, but I guess Reese was making sure that everyone knew who his human was.

It was also good to see Eddie and Namrita out there rippin' up the course.

I hope I feel as good at the Cowbell as I did at this race. Could the third time be the charm?