Miles of Discomfort Race Report - Marathon Season Finale
The trails at Comfort and I have a love/hate relationship. My technical skills still have so much room for growth and being that it starts out throwing technical at you and never stops I have had trouble there. The spring race was a disaster including a racer have a pretty serious wreck in front of me, my own clipping a tree and wrecking and culminated with totaling our truck and my Gary Fisher mountain bike. But lately the skills are growing and I am starting to lean towards the love side, this trail has so much to offer.
Originally I wasn't sure I was going to do this marathon, I had said at the start of the season I was going to do as many as I could and I felt like I was cheating myself if I didn't do this one. After having a great ride last weekend there I knew I needed to finish what I started with marathons. The announced cut off time to do the last 11 miles was five hours and I knew I would be extremely close but I would give it 100% no matter what. The marathon consistent of one pass at the Lower Loop (15 miles), then the Upper Loop (11 miles) and then you do it all over again. The cut off was after your second pass at the Lower Loop.
The day started very cold but I was extremely comfortable otherwise, I had actually slept well the night before and was pretty excited to finish the season. I felt like I was really starting to know Comfort, at least from knowing where I could push it hard and where I may have to get off the bike. I started onto the fire road climb and went pretty hard, legs felt loose which was a great feeling. We got into the singletrack and I was actually feeling overall very loose on the bike. This is normally my problem early in rides that I am too tense and it makes any obstacle that much harder.
The lower loop of Comfort can really tear your body and mind apart, there is climbing, some pretty technical areas and it seems so long. My goal was to push myself where I knew I could (the fire roads and smooth single track), manage the strong winds we were faced with and get back on the bike as fast as I could if I had to bail. I also wanted to not go too hard which is so easy to do on the lower loop so I had plenty left in the tank for the climbing of the upper loop, I felt like I was riding awesome. I did struggle quite a bit with all the tight trees, I really have issues with this and it is worse since switching to the 29er with wider bars. I have to work on this more. One thing I was extremely happy with my downhilling on the lower loop though, I know a year ago I was too scared to ride some of the parts I did ride. Somewhere around mile three two of my competitors got around me. I knew that I had more marathon experience and chasing them down was not the right idea, I just needed to stick to my plan and hope it was the right one. Around this point I also startled a group of about 7 sheep, it was one of the fun things about mountain biking is the variety of domesticated and wild animals you encounter, luckily all riders and sheep made it along safely. At some point near the halfway mark I reeled back in one of the girls giving me a much needed adrenaline shot. The fast half marathoners also started to close their 15 minute stagger but it was not causing problems other than dabbing a few spots when they passed a bit close in a less than ideal spot. One of the early catchers of me was my friend Sarah, she is a cheerful person on the bike and it is contagious. She quickly flew along to her eventual win but left me feeling happy to see a friendly face.
I still could not see the line on Evil Worm which annoyed me but the rest of the lower loop went great. I made the switchback that drops right after Evil Worm, last year I wrecked here pre-riding, cracking my helmet and I haven't made it since. I was not only downhilling well, I was climbing well (usually a strength for me) and this gave me confidence for the upper loop. For a last bit of fun I nailed Hospital Hill ahead of a guy trying to catch me even though I was bummed the usual photographers weren't there. I finished the lower loop at 1:40, on par with my pre-ride time but I little slower than I had hoped. My thought was this was due to the traffic at the beginning and I should be able to do the same time on lap two.
I was stocked on food and fluid so I skipped stopping in the pit and headed to the Upper Loop, my favorite part of Comfort. Through the pits I heard my friend Natalie and maybe Jen's boyfriend Jason who were doing support cheering, nothing like hearing your name to tell you to keep going hard! At the start of the upper loop I took on more food and I saw the girl I had caught come back, dang my gap hadn't widen as I hoped. I knew from watching her on the Lower Loop she was more confident technically but not a climber of my caliber, I hoped to shed her off as soon as we started to climb. The Upper Loop starts very suitable to my strengths, climbing but relatively non-technical climbing. I made spots I missed last week which was exhilarating. On the long climbs I stuck with my plan and put it in a relatively easier gear than I would if I was not only 1/3 a way through the race and spun up them. As expected I lost the girl and never saw her again. I was still struggling to get over the logs in the trail even though I should be able to attack them with the 29er, again something I need to work on!
Along the Mount Park climb I got caught by a half marathoner on a Single Speed. I am not sure if it was inspiring or humiliating when he said he was 64 and had one gear! Either way it was a needed distraction to keep me in my zone. Oddly someone on my wheel gives me wings, some people push too hard but I find it often just inspires me. I had no desire to shed him and work too hard but it did make me push and not let myself give up to walking. We made it to the steep flat rocks at the top and I cyclocrossed this part to the Mini-Kelly Creek section, one of my favorite parts of the Upper Loop. It is just slightly challenging but mostly fun. At some point Mr Singlespeed and I became a little pack, I can't figure out how he had some much energy to be quite chatty, talking about my wheels, being from Georgia, how I need to "chick" (catch) the guy 5 or so bike lengths ahead. He said I reminded him of Amanda Carey, who kicks his butt so I could stay ahead. I am NO Amanda Carey but hey compare me to the reigning champion of the National Ultra Endurance Series, I will take it. I told him "My name is Amanda but I am definitely not Amanda Carey." That told me we needed to ride hard because I could answer a full sentence but we were in a rocky section I can't exactly turn on the afterburners in. I just kept riding my ride until we hit the little downhill sections that I could finally fly on, Mr Chatty Singlespeed also finally decided to pull ahead. I had so much fun dropping those small ledges and screaming downhill, I remember walking those last year!
The fun was short lived as we had another nasty climb to the top of the Upper Loop and the so-called "Rock Garden of Dispair", not sure what the official name is but that is the one I hear the most. I made it pretty far up the climb, just not the last rock outcropping which was a successful climb and finally "chicked" the guy I had been watching as my carrot. After that I was happy to see the rock garden was actually kind of fun on my bike. Last year I remember walking most of it on my 26er. But this year I only dabbed a small bit. We got to Jimmy's Joy a very technical drop which I bailed but noticed my time was quite good. I knew it was only one more bad climb and pretty much all downhill. I saw that I was within 1/10 mile of the other competitor that had passed me, Susannah, this really made me happy. I got back on quickly and was determined to reel her in. I didn't catch her until after Daytona (the best part of Comfort) but when I did she said she was hurting and borderline cramping. She asked if I was hurting, shockingly I was feeling really good at this point. So I just said I was glad it was mostly downhill, I didn't want to tell her I was feeling great since that seemed like the last thing she wanted to hear. We stayed together the rest of the loop into the pits. I finished at 3:05 I full 55 minutes faster than my half marathon last year!
I briefly stopped to put fluid in my Camelbak and take some Sport Legs. I got out of the pit at 3:08, energized by the enthusiastic cheering of my friend Natalie and some others who I had no time to identify. Susannah pitted a little longer than I did and I wasn't sure how big of a gap I could get. I thought I was still going to be super close to the cut off, so I just pushed as much as I could and hammered the fire roads. About halfway my legs really got tired, I felt like I was "pedaling squares". I even at one point quoted Jens Voigt and said "shut up legs!" My right leg tried to cramp but I just kept taking on fluids and was able to pedal it out. I kept trying very hard to push the pace, knowing 5 hours was closing in. Susannah finally reeled me in towards the end of the lap but never was strong enough to pass and I would pull away a bit then she would come back. When we got to the last stair step downhill I knew it was going to be a matter of minutes, it was going to be brutal if we made the cut off to fight Susannah the upper loop. My lap time was ending up quite a bit slower than I hoped, overall adding 14 minutes. I did everything I could just to see Hospital Hill, bombed off of it and came out the gate to see the race official closing the course. I had missed it by 2 minutes according to my timer but 30 seconds from the looks of it. When I got to the official, I saw my teammate Rachelle who had done the half and she shook her head with a bit of sadness. She later told me they even told him "but look they're right there" as he closed it off. I knew I had left it all out there so even thought I was a bit bummed I knew I gave more 100%. Out of my age group only two women made the cut off. One very strong rider in the 19-29 division I raced against in the fall also missed it about 5-10 minutes later. I was the first one to miss it, coming in maybe 1-2 seconds ahead of Susannah and finished third out of five total racers in our age group.
Looking at the day I don't know that I could have done anything differently, I rode hard but also a pace to be managed if I had to do 11 more miles. Maybe I should have road the upper a little faster although 1:25 is pretty dang fast for me. Maybe if I carried my biggest Camelbak that holds 100 oz I wouldn't need to pit at all, I only had 70 ounces but I was drinking a lot since allergy medicines and the strong wind seemed to be dehydrating me faster than usual. All in all I think I did everything I could and for next year the only thing I can do is get stronger and stick to my plan again.
Even without finishing the entire course I had done every marathon. I did not DNF, I pushed myself further than I ever imagined. My mantra for the season was the words my Mom always said to me,"Can't Never Could", now I know I CAN. The crazy part is I ended up with a win, two additional podium finishes and a fifth in the Excruciation Exam. All of this added up to me being named the Marathon Series State Champion for 30-39. And to think when this journey started all I wanted to do was finish! It was a great season, I can't wait for Palo Duro next November when I will be smarter, stronger and just as hungry for my goals.
My State Champ Trophy, there is a Jersey on the way!
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...StateChamp.jpg
