Methow Valley Stage Race

This weekend was the Methow Valley Stage race. It was probably my last chance to get a large number of points towards my Cat 2 upgrade so I really was motivated to do well.

The race was 3 stages in 2 days. A time trial and a hill climb (in lieu of a crit ... awesome) on day 1 and a road race on day 2.

Time Trial



The time trial was hard and demoralizing. It was almost nothing but hills which generally I like but I just felt SLOW on this one. Luckily, I had a bunch of carrots in front of me and I just concentrated on picking girls off the whole race. I think I passed 3 or 4 girls. I finished 2nd behind Robin Secrist. I'm proud to say that I'm the only woman who finished within a minute of her.

Hill Climb

The hill climb was so hard but so fun. About 1/2 mile after we started climbing, Robin and Sally Fraser started pulling away and I did my best to stay with them. I never quite got their wheels but I kept them in my sights until Robin dropped Sally. I caught Sally on a flat section and realized that I too had broken from the pack. Sally and I worked together taking long pulls to the top. We weren't able to put any time into Robin but we kept her in our sights almost the whole climb, finishing about a minute behind her. At 200 meters I gave it what I had left and got 2nd place over Sally by about half a wheel.





Road Race

The road race was not exactly my kind of course, more rolling than hilly but I was excited nonetheless. I went into it 2nd in the GC 4 points behind Robin and 7 ahead of Sally and another girl tied for 3rd. We all agreed to take the first lap as a warmup which was really nice.

So here's what I'm really proud of ...

Going into the second lap, right before we were going to "really" start racing, I flatted in the rear. The wheel car stopped for me and quickly gave me a new wheel. I was really upset and said to the mechanic, "I'm not going to catch them, am I?" The mechanic was so nice and just told me "go! I think you can get them!" The pack was probably a minute up the road from me. I had flatted at the bottom of the only decent climb, right in town. I hammered up the hill and just as I crested, the wheel guys pulled up next to me and offered me a pull. I paced the car for a few miles which was scary and fun at the same time. Finally, we got the pack in our sights. I kept hammering behind the wheel car until I was about 100 feet behind a truck that was stuck behind the follow vehicle. The guy in the wheel car waved me through and I jumped and caught the pickup truck. I sat behind him for a second before passing him and catching the follow car. the driver of the follow car waved me through and I jumped again, catching Tamara who was hanging off the back of the pack. Tamara and I worked together and finally, about 4 or 5 miles after flatting, I caught the pack again.

The rest of laps 2 and 3 I just sat in. I was really hurting after chasing back on. Liz from Starbucks was awesome and helped me through the rest of the race so I would have a shot at holding on to my GC place. at 1k she gave me what lead out she could and I gave what little I had left in my legs. 3 girls went off the front and I managed to barely out-wheel a girl from Valley for 4th in the RR, holding onto my 2nd in the GC.



All in all a really fun weekend and as an added bonus, I think I finally earned that Cat 2 upgrade ... updates will be forthcoming.

Ravensdale Cumberland Road Race (aka another win)

I raced the Ravensdale race yesterday. I don't know why, but I'd totally psyched myself up for this race. I'm really familiar with the course since the Black Diamond Triathlon is run on a large portion of it so I knew what to expect around almost every corner. Also, I'm only 7 points away from my Cat 2 upgrade and man ... I just really want to join Travis and Chris and all the other Cat 2's living the luxurious life of a 1/2 tomato.

The 3's were supposed to be raced alone but there wasn't enough of a turnout so they ended up combining us with the 1/2 women. At first I was kind of bummed but then I got excited since racing with the 1/2 women tends to be more fun and can give me faster wheels to sit on if there's a break.

The pace started out easy but that didn't really last. little by little attacks and counter attacks started happening. I chased maybe half of them and sat in for the ones that I knew wouldn't stick. Around 10 or 15 miles in Cheryl from Blue Rooster went off the front alone and just kind of hung out there. For me it was kind of NBD since she's a Cat 2 so I didn't really have anything motivating me to chase her. I guess no one else was feeling motivated to chase her either because amazingly, she stayed away the whole race. I later found out that it had something to do with the Washington Cup and the Wines women not wanting Michele Conrad to win and make up points on Tricia ... I don't know ... it doesn't really matter to me as a 3.

Once it was clear that we weren't catching Cheryl (by the beginning of lap 2 she had 1:30 on us and at 40 miles it was over 2 minutes) people started attacking again. When it was a faster woman attacking I chased since I didn't want anyone else to get away, when it was someone who I knew couldn't stay away, I just sat in and let everyone else chase.

We really started pushing the pace up that hill after the hard left (corner 2?) and I was definitely working to stay in. Gina from Wines was just hammering up the hills and I just tried to stay close to the front so I wouldn't have to waste any extra energy chasing back on.

When we made the left to the finish Gina attacked and took me and one other Cat 3 with her. I stayed in the saddle and on a wheel to save myself for the final sprint. 200m came faster than I was expecting and I put my head down and started hammering. I realized as I was sprinting that I was spinning out ... still in my small ring ... crap. I was leading but there was another 3 right on my wheel ... crap. I took a risk and shifted into my big ring at full tilt. Luckily no jammed chain or shifting issues. I pushed it across the line, winning the field sprint by what I was told was a decent margin and getting the overall win for the 3's.

Sadly, there were less than 11 women in the 3's so I only got 3 upgrade points. If there had been a few more women I would have gotten the 7 points I need for my Cat 2 upgrade. Oh well ... c'est la vie. I may put my request in anyway and see what Martha says :)

Enumclaw Stage Race: an exercise in pain

Last weekend was my first stage race since my failed attempt at the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic as a Cat 4 in 1999 (I dropped on day 2). I raced the Enumclaw Stage Race in beautiful Enumclaw, WA (horse f*$%er country).

SATURDAY

Saturday was a 10k (actually 6.5 miles) TT in the late morning and a 40 minute crit in the evening.

Lucy and I rolled up to packet pickup to find out that our start times had been pushed up about 20 minutes so we had to scramble to get dressed, pinned, and out to the TT start. Once we got out there I was unable to get air into my front tire. Travis and I both tried to get it to work to no avail and neither of us wanted to pull the valve extender off and screw with it anymore. Luckily my awesome teammate Tim came to my rescue and loaned me his HED Stinger for the race. I warmed up for approximately 3 minutes before heading over to the start tent.

I had never done a TT this short so I just pushed it until my lungs burned the whole time (this was not hard considering the heat and the pollen count).



The course was flat to rolling with one little kicker at around mile 4. I crossed the line in 15:08, comfortably over my goal pace of 25 mph although slightly slower than my reach goal of a sub-15:00 TT. This was good enough to win the Cat 3 TT by over 30 seconds!

After the TT, we had about 7 hours until the start of the crit. I hid out in a room in the hotel and studied while Lucy watched the crits.

It was still hot by the time the 1/2/3 crit started and I wasn't feeling super confident. Unfortunately, I got a really bad start position in the back of the pack and had to fight my way back on as girls were getting shelled.

The crit was like a 40 minute drag race. It made me realize how much I need to work on my accelerations and cornering. I think I just get a little timid in these races and won't fight for a place closer to the front.



I finished a disappointing 12th out of 25 or so Cat 3 women moving me from 1st to 5th in the GC.

SUNDAY

Sunday was the road race. the 1/2/3 women didn't go until the afternoon which meant two things (1) that I got to sleep in and (2) that it was HOT.

We did 4 laps on a 14+ mile course for a total of about 58 or 59 miles. about half way through each loop we climbed mud mountain, a decently brutal 3k climb with two or three 10%+ kicks and slogs.

Lap 1 we shelled a few women and about 4 women got away from the pack. We chased them down, catching them a few miles into lap 2. Same thing happened the second time up the climb.



Lap 3 I was able to stay with the lead pack. The 4th time up the climb, a few women just totally took off and I ended up in a chase pack of 5. We never did catch the lead pack but thankfully there were no other Cat 3 women in that lead pack so I was able to sprint across the line for a 3rd place finish, moving me into 4th in the GC and winning me a total of about $150.

All in all I'm pleased with my performance. I wish I could pull it together in the crits but I'm still pretty new to this so I have a lot of time to learn and improve.

My first win on the road + Onionman Triathlon

I guess this post is kind of a two-fer.

On May 9 I raced the Market Street Road Race in Ravensdale, WA. The Cat 3 women raced with the 1-2 women in this race but were scored separately. The race was 5 loops on a rolling 9 mile course.

We started with about 22-25 women. There were a bunch of Wines, Group Health, IJM.com, Blue Rooster, and even a few Hagens women. I was an orphan as were two other women. The pace was decently fast for the first lap and I think we shelled a few women. The second lap was pretty pedestrian. There were a few half-hearted attacks but nothing stuck.

Then, at the beginning of lap 3 a Group Health girl attacked and took a few other women with her. This break of 5 just kind of hung in front of the pack for a few miles. After a little while, I noticed that the break had a girl from almost every large team in it which is why no one was chasing. Right as I noticed this, Martha, who was also racing alone, made a move up the side of the pack. I jumped on her wheel and when we got to the front I attacked and started chasing the break. It took me a couple of minutes to catch the break and once I did, I realized that I hadn't taken anyone else with me!

I sat in the back of the break for a few minutes while I caught my breath before rotating in to take some pulls. One other girl from the pack caught us making us a group of 7 before the follow car was finally behind us.

The pace was manageable for the rest of laps 3 and 4. On lap 5, the wines girls (who had 3 in the break) started attacking and counter-attacking. I just did my best to hold on. It was during this last lap that I noticed there was only one other Cat 3 woman in the break so all I had to do for the win was beat her.

On the final climb before the 1k mark, we really pushed the pace and dropped one girl. We let off a little bit over the top and then 4 of the 1-2 women took off. I stayed with the other Cat 3 woman and let her pull me to the 200m mark where I sprinted around her and one of the other 1-2 women who had taken off. I finished 4th overall and 1st for the 3's. Not as glorious as being first across the line, but I'll take it.



Last weekend was the Onionman Triathlon in Walla Walla, WA. I did this race once in 2007 and ended up with a really disappointing result, barely finishing in the top 10. This year, I wanted revenge.

SWIM

The swim is 2 laps in a small reservoir just outside of downtown Walla Walla. It's a small race so we do a mass start. Just like last time I did this race, the start was rougher than an Ironman start. Just tons of clawing and dunking and punching. Not much fun.

It took me probably 300m to find a comfortable space to swim in. I was in a pack with a few men and one other woman and I managed to stay with them for the whole swim.

About 3/4 of the way through our 2nd loop, I passed a woman who was still on her first loop. More power to her but man, I couldn't imagine having an hour+ 1500m swim.

I was disappointed with my swim time but when I compared it to other people's I realized that I actually swam really well, the course was just probably long.

Swim: 25:15
4/75 individual women

T1

T1 was uneventful. The transition area is kind of steep so i did more of a shuffle than a run out of the water and onto the bike.

T1: 1:29

BIKE

This bike is what destroyed my race in 2007. I was determined not to let it happen again. The bike is an out and back but it's a false flat the entire way out. I've heard that you gain somewhere between 800-900 feet in the 12.5 miles out to the turnaround. It can also be windy as heck. Sunday was no exception. It was so windy out that when I took my bike out of the car and put the disc wheel on, the wind nearly blew it out of my hands.

The bike was fine for the first few miles until I hit a crosswind near an onion field. I definitely got blown over a foot or two but managed to keep it upright and keep moving.

I passed a few women right off the bat and kept just powering away knowing that after the turnaround it would get a lot faster. At the turnaround, I realized I was in first place although Kara N. was right behind me. I made it my goal not to let Kara pass me until I was off the bike (girl can run) and this was my motivation not to slack just because I was going down hill.

I came into transition feeling good but not super confident in my current run fitness. Kara came in seconds behind me.

Bike: 1:08:34
2/75 individual women

T2

T2 was also fast and uneventful. Kara's T2 was faster than mine and she passed me in transition. Dang.

T2: 0:51

RUN

I know I said I fell apart on the bike in 2007 but the run was where I had really paid for it. I think I ran a bit over 50 minutes last time I did this race ... really disappointing. My goal for this year was to run somewhere in the neighborhood of 48 minutes. My running has been going pretty well although I have been slacking lately so I wasn't sure that I could do it.

Since Kara was just a little in front of me heading out on the run, I did my best to keep her in my sights. I won't lie, I felt like shit. It was windy and hot and my feet hurt and *complain complain complain*.

At the turnaround, I could still see Kara, she had put some time into me, but not too much and no other women had passed me. After I turned around I saw two women right behind me. One was closing in fast and the other was still about .2 miles behind me but was running really fast. I tried not to think about being run down by these women and kept trucking.

A little before a mile to go, one woman passed me. She had definitely picked up the pace and I knew I just didn't have it in my legs to chase her. I tried to stay on her heels but once we hit a hill, I just couldn't.

I kept wanting to look behind me to see if that other woman was going to pass me as well but I made myself just keep focusing on the finish. I could tell that I had blisters on my arches (txs new balance) and I just wanted to be done running as quickly as possible.

With 200m to go, I was pretty darn sure I wasn't going to get run down. I rounded the corner to the finish and saw 2:22:xx on the clock. Awesome! a 10 minute improvement over 2007.

I crossed the line feeling very pleased with myself.

Run: 46:28
6/75 individual women

Overall: 2:22:37
3/75 individual women

All in all, very pleased with this race. I'm happy that all the bike racing I've been doing hasn't killed my triathlon mojo and I'm extra special happy that I got revenge on this race!

pushing on

I've had a really trying couple of weeks due to school and illness (I'm a GIANT baby about being sick). I can't believe I only have 2 more weeks of law school left. holy crap!

Racing has been going well. I took last weekend off because I had a huge school project/performance due on Saturday the 18th. However, my awesome little sister Lucy went to Walla Walla and raced her first stage race ever and finished 9th in the GC for the Cat 3 women! So proud.

Lucy and I both upgraded to 3 a few weeks ago and our first race in the 3's was a crit with the 1/2 women ... awesome. I raced 2 crits in two days and learned that I'm still not very good at crits which is not surprising. I did manage to take one prime at the brad lewis memorial crit and took home an 8g Zune which was pretty cool!



Today was the Green Valley TT in Auburn. I managed to finish the 12 mile course in 28:08 which was good enough for 3rd in the 1/2/3 race. Tomorrow is Vance Creek, a 53 mile RR which I am told is my kind of course (hills) so I'm excited!

Also, I acknowledge that I'm a bad and inconsistent blogger, I'll get better about it soon. I promise.

finally, a breakthrough

So I'm obviously more of a triathlete/cyclist than a runner. Running has always been really hard for me. Doctors and my PT have told me that I'm just not built for it (really short stocky legs) and I'll never be very good at it. I can accept that I'll never be like ... great at running but thought I could be at least "respectable"

I've always really struggled with longer distance running. Anything over like 5k and my speed totally drops off.

I ran Mercer Island this morning, a tough half marathon, and decided I was going to "jog" it since I raced my bike yesterday. My previous best was 1:47:33 or around an 8:13/mile pace so I just wanted to go a little faster than that. I started off at what felt like a comfortable pace. At mile 5, I asked a guy next to me what our time was, 36:40, way faster than I expected ... probably a little too fast but it didn't feel hard. I crossed the 10k line just under 46:00 which is actually a 10k PR for me. Around mile 10 I started to feel a cramp in my left hamstring but I ran through it even though it slowed me down a little bit. at 12 miles I gave it what little kick I had left in my legs. As I crested the last hill just before the finish I saw 1:39:xx on the clock and was like "holy crap!" and sprinted across for a chip time of 1:39:24 or a ~7:35/mile pace.

A funny aside, my old running coach was watching at the finish and was so shocked to see me she said "Jessica! What are you doing?!?" I was like "running faster than we thought I could I guess!"

In other news, I'm pretty sure I earned enough points to upgrade to Cat 3 in cycling! I want to wait until Lucy gets enough points to upgrade with me. It shouldn't take her too long though, if our calculations are correct, she's only 2 points away!

Back in the Saddle

Okay, so I was never really OUT of the saddle but I have started racing again. I joined a cycling team (Cucina Fresca for anyone who cares) and have started racing road. Okay, so I haven't done a real road race yet but I have done a couple of time trials.

I did the Frostbite TT on Sunday, February 22 and the Icebreaker TT on Sunday, March 1. Both races went really well for my (sort of) roadie debut.

Frostbite

There's not much to say here. This was a 9 mile out-and-back on a totally flat course. The road was wet and dirty so by the end of the race I was also wet and dirty.

I started out hard and just kept repeating my mantra "leave it all out on the course, you don't have to run after this."

I finished in around 22:00 (~24.5 mph) which was good enough for 2nd place (behind the inhuman rhae shaw) in the Cat 4 women. My teammate's wife was kind enough to take some pictures.





Icebreaker

I made a small mistake at this race. The day before the race, I went on my first ride on a tandem. My teammate Z and I rode 56-ish miles (him on the front and me on the back) the morning before and then I ran 4 or so miles on Saturday evening. I knew I was kind of blowing my race but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Sunday morning I could still feel the burn in my legs, oh well.

Icebreaker was a 10 mile rolling out and back course that is slightly downhill on the way out and ... of course ... slightly uphill on the way back. I felt kind of like crap the whole time, like my legs weren't really there but I still pushed it as hard as I could. In hindsight, I probably was pushing a bigger gear than I should have as I kept it in the 53x12 for most of the race and my cadence was probably closer to 75-85 as opposed to 90+ which is where it should be.

Either way, I finished in 25:07 (damn, wanted to break 25:00) for an average speed of just under 24 mph. This was again good enough for 2nd (behind rhae again) in the Cat 4's.



This weekend I have two road races, both out on the peninsula. This will be the real test. I have been feeling strong but I'm not strong enough to TT off the front for a win (especially if rhae is in the pack). I'm going to just do my best and try not to live up to the triathlete reputation of not being able to ride in a straight line.