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| Top O The World |
The week leading up to the event, I caught myself traveling down a path of fear and self doubt. The last time I had attempted the duathlon (66 miles bike, 42 miles run), my body broke down the last 20 miles and I hobbled to the finish 33 minutes over the buckle time of 22 hours. The early weather forecast was not helping my mindset either, as it was calling for rain Friday night on into Saturday. I even tried coming up with a legitimate excuse to DNS.
Would 4 years of strength training and running be enough to make this 57 year old body more durable? Had my ligaments, tendons, and IT bands toughened up enough to bear the pounding of 44 miles (yep, the run was 2 miles longer this year)? Would it be enough to overcome the 4 years of aging I had incurred? Because at this stage in life, it can feel like the aging process happens at 2x speed.
However, with each passing day the weather improved, especially after I swapped my tires from Mezcal's to Barzo's. By the time I had finished my drive up to Marquette, I was "locked in" to get that damn buckle! The morning of the race was a brisk 46 degrees. Normally I have no issues eating a hearty breakfast, but today I struggled to choke down my oatmeal. Making race weight was easy as I was a jumble of nerves.
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| Poker Faces! |
Bike Leg: Forestville to Jackson Park, 66 miles, 7000 feet, 7 hours 38 minutes
At the start, I lined up with Toby and Kristen. It was good seeing them as it helped to keep my mind off of what was about to transpire. Still though, I could not help but feel like we were all soldiers, heading into enemy territory, laden with obstacles that could take us out at any minute.
The LeMans start flew by and the legs felt spectacular. As I approached my bike, I shed my jacket. The early miles felt effortless and soon I heard the bagpipes. The line up to Top O The World was clear. As I crested the top, I was in a flow state. There were a couple of slower riders ahead of me, for which I gave them room before I headed down the rock face, calling out, "Rider back," hoping the walkers would move aside. Most did, but a couple at the bottom were on the optimum line, forcing me to negotiate the alternate line. Fuck Yeah! I cleaned the Top O The World! While I have done on a ride, this was the first time in a race.
The remainder of the Forestville section went by quickly and uneventfully. As I passed by the start, I was 9 minutes ahead of my 2022 time. As I approached Pine Knob, I kept reminding myself to settle and ride smooth. I was in a good group of riders, including Nicholas Mumma, who I had the pleasure of riding a good portion of Coal Country Roubaix with back in April. I nailed all the techy descents and before I knew it, I was zig-zagging along Blue Heron, Collinsville, Pete's Sandbox, and Silver Lead.
It is SO NICE to ride Lowe's when it is dry! I was pleasantly surprised to see the powerline sandbox section to be fast and rideable. Normally crusher rock is a SOB, but it was packed down and made those final miles to my first aid a real treat. At mile 30, I made a 90 second pit stop to swap packs and bottles and choke down a Honey Stinger waffle. I was now 15 minutes ahead of my 2022 time.
Heading out to the South Trails, John Maggard gave me a free ride along the IOHT to Harlow Farms Connector. I took care here to keep the carb game going, as I was still on track with 70-80 grams per hour. Still feeling sparkly, I quickly ticked off the miles. Even the Flow Trail, which in year's past has been a little intimidating, felt unusually easy. I did tell myself once again to settle though, when I saw John plugging a flat.
Gurly and Doctors came and went. When I popped out onto the Marquette Mountain gravel climb, my legs started to get grumpy. Just get to Scary, which I did, and the legs came back to play. But boy oh boy, I had visions of Mountain Chase being an escalator as compared to Zueg's. Nope, nope, nope, it was a kick in the pants. I let some racers by on this climb, as I did not want to blow up. I am thankful I did because only a few seconds later, they got the wrath of the yellow jacket nest. Fortunately I snuck through unscathed.
Above Grade, oh how I hate you. Off/on, off/on, off/on, I played the cyclocross game. At this point I was just wanting to get to Rough Rock Ridge, one of my favorites in this section. But first the spaghetti-like nature of Old Camp Ridge. One of my Marji campers came upon me here; I believe his name was Matthew. He put a little pep into my legs as he passed me and I tried to keep him in sight. Fortunate for him I did, as he blew by a turn and I yelled out to him. I wouldn't see him again until I was on foot. Finally the double track snowmobile/ATV trails! Despite legs that were getting heavier by the mile, I could smell Jackson Park.
Having been a mountain biker for 30 years and only a runner for 5, is it crazy for me to want to be off the bike and on my feet? I hit Jackson Park 36 minutes ahead of my 2022 pace. A 10 minute pit stop had me out of my cycling kit and in my running attire. I chose to wear an UltrAspire Lightning waist pack instead of a running vest like I did prior. I could comfortably carry 2 500ml flasks, 2 gels, and my phone. It even had a small zippered pocket, perfect for tokens.
Running Leg: JP1 to Finish, 44 miles, 7200 feet, 12 hours 17 minutes
It took a couple of miles for me to get my land legs going. The temperature was in the 60's with cloud cover, and I felt good. I slowly began ticking off the miles. My watch would alert me what my pace was every mile. I am a numbers gal and like to play mathematical games while I run. I intentionally ran the flats, mild hills, and descents, and would fast hike the steeps. The bikers played nice and would shout out words of encouragement when they passed. I would also tell them, "I hear you," just to let them know I was aware and would continue to run and then stray off trail as they passed. But I never slowed down or stopped for them ... I was on a mission!
I met my crew on Malton Road, just before Bacon Strip, around mile 10 (mile 76 of the race). I was way ahead of schedule and worried that they would not be there. They were and I quickly chugged an apple sauce pouch, gave them my empty flask, and carried on with the 1 remaining flask I had. On Lower Last Bluff, Merle Hacker came upon me on his bike. We stopped and exchanged big sweaty hugs, and carried on. That interaction stoked my inner fires, as Merle has had some challenges these past couple of years, but was playing the bike game and tackling his demons.
After seeing my crew again at mile 15 (mile 81 of the race), next up was a nice flat mile, cruising right on by the finishing area, where I could here music, Charlee calling out racers as they finished, and smell pizza and hamburgers. Back in 2022, I was already suffering and struggling, but today, the legs were AFI!
Climbing up Deer Shit, I ran into another of my Marji Campers, Omar. He was crushing it. Seeing him filled my stoke-meter back up and the next 5 miles went by quickly. At Brasswire campground (mile 20 of the run and 86 of the race), I grabbed my lights, as the sun was beginning to set. A little more flattish running before the two big pushes up Sissy Pants and the Hamptons. At least in the dark, they didn't feel near as steep or hard.
On Fruit Loops I saw the sign for a Token Checkpoint ahead. At this point it was pitch dark, but these signs are super reflective. Somehow, I ran right passed the checkpoint. I have absolutely no idea what happened, except that my brain went on hiatus. After about a tenth of a mile, a rider caught up to me, and after asking him, he confirmed my mistake. So I did a u-turn and went back and grabbed my second token.
I arrived back at Jackson Park at 9:06 pm (mile 24 of the run and 90 of the race). I spent a minute or so stretching out my lower back, IT bands, and patellar tendons. I also opted to take my poles. Although the legs were still feeling amazingly good, I knew at some point they would welcome my upper body taking some of the load. Also, they were insurance in case of a stumble, which I knew could happen when the fatigue sets in. Temps were still fabulous and I was still very warm in my short sleeve and shorts.
As I began the climb up to Dirty Mary, I came across a rider named Theresa. I could tell she was struggling, so gave her words of encouragement as we leap-frogged the next couple of miles. I ended up pulling away on The Luge climb and hoped that she would lean on her why and finish this beast. She did end up finishing, hell yeah!
I met my crew on Cliff Drive right after Flannel Shirt (mile 30 of the run, 96 of the race). I was still feeling good, but was beginning to struggle a bit on taking in nutrition. Thank goodness Lisa got me on to the GoGo apple sauce pouches, as I could swallow them without gagging, unlike the gels which were becoming difficult to even gulp down.
With my pace beginning to slow a little, I started playing a game of sub-20. That is, I tried to run each mile in less than 20 minutes. This helped to focus my attention on something other than the fatigue monster breathing down my neck. And it worked, as I was keeping my pace in the 18-19 minute range.
Heading onto Carol Jackson, I suddenly began to have some nausea and cramping. WTF? This was a first for me. And then it hit me ... I need to take a 💩 NOW! I did not want a Joanna Wietrzyk incident (the Hyrox athlete that shit her britches) so I immediately hopped off the trail, turned off my lights, and lightened the load. After that, I felt much better.
As I headed towards Lake Minnie, I could hear the music coming from the RAMBA tent on the beach. Approaching the tent, there sat Zeke! Rubbing my eyes, I realized a moment later it was Danny. I ran up to him and told him, "I am getting this damn buckle!" Right then and there, I knew that Zeke had been with me on this journey.
I met my crew one more time on Cliff Drive just before the Suicide Bowl climb (mile 33 of the run, 99of the race). Choked down a gel and swapped flasks. I wouldn't see them again until Jasper Knob. Angeline came and went, but it is always that section leading to 38 Special where you can see where you want to go, but parallel the trail on double track for what seems like forever.
Old 56 sucks less on foot than bike. I passed quite a few HAB'rs here. Once you hit Cry Baby, you think you are almost done. But over the years, more spaghetti like trail has slowly been added, which indeed does make you want to cry. For me, I had a little Yosemite Sam moment. As I hit the pavement for the final push up Jasper Knob, I realized I was going to buckle.
I hoofed it up the knob, grabbed my final token, the infamous Dum Dum, and made my way to the finish. Now, could I get a sub 20 finish. I pushed as hard as my failing body would allow, ran down the finishing chute, and jumped for joy over the line.
I HAD DONE IT! THE CURSE OF THE BUCKLE WAS BROKEN! Lisa ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug ever. We were squealing like little girls! The volunteer confirmed my tokens and Dum Dum and it was official: 20:05:24. First woman and 8th overall. I could not believe I had taken nearly 2 1/2 hours off my 2022 finish.
