Marian Cross Country Missile

As the lactic acid burned my muscles after each stride, the only thing on my mind was the finish. I had to think about what I truely wanted. At the moment, all I wanted to do was collapse but what I really wanted in the long run was to go out with a bam! I wanted to get the best time of my life considering this was the most important race of my life. Only the elite were there. The best runners from the best schools in Nebraska, and I was one of them. I needed to prove so. I got 34th overall in the Girls Class A State championship and finished 1st for Omaha Marian. I also had the best time of the season for Marian (16:08). My next goal--break 16 and get into 15 minutes. Since I'm a freshmen, I'll have three more years to do so. Go Marian Crusaders! Back in the hunt once again!

Trash or Treat

Veloers Troy, Fred, Todd, April and Pete gathered early on Halloween to do our bi-annual Adopt-a-Highway litter pickup. We scoured the roadside between 72nd and 84th streets on Hwy 36. Todd found lawn chairs for the biggest litter of the day. No dead critters were discovered. It seems like smokers feel entitled to discard their butts and their empty packs of smokes. Icky and unbelievable.

We decided if anyone found a satchel or duffel of money, we'd put it in the Velo bank account and all get new Cervelos. Alas, nothing of value was found, but we did gather about 10 bags of litter as we performed this valuable community service. We piled bags up under our Velo Veloce sign that adorns the hilltop on Hwy 36. The next scheduled cleanup will be next Spring. Thanks to all the volunteers today!!!

More Cross Racing-Boss Cross et al

Dave Randleman and I decided to race in KC Saturday at Boss Cross #3. The course was tight and rough, but well-designed, given the constraints of the park. Riders were bitchin' and moanin' about the two sand runs included in the course, other features created more difficulties for them. Tons of off-camber work, lots of fallen walnuts, a large number of turns, and my nemesis, a tricky little dirt berm climb, provided plenty of challenges.

Dave raced 40+ and I raced in the 50+ group. I was late to the start, so stuck in the third row. Dave was well-situated and got a very good start. Halfway through the first lap, he was in 5th place amongst a strong group of riders. Getting to the first sand run, he managed to drop his chain, a action that would be repeated several times during the race. Losing position, he kept hammering away and by the end of the race finished 7th, a very solid ride again a tough field. A bit more luck, maybe the top 5.

My race went even worse. Trapped behind a lot of slower riders, I had a difficult time getting to the front. Meanwhile, Paul Fancher is off and has no one holding him up, gaining a 8 second lead through the first lap. Caught behind a crash (d'oh, Paul, here's 5 seconds you can have), I finally get towards the front, and am starting to close on him, when I drop my chain in the sand run. Here, Paul, have another 10 seconds! Get back on, start the chase again, and crash on the berm, can't get unclipped-have another 10 seconds. Chase again. Too scared to climb the berm, I run it-have another 3 seconds, Paul. I finally ride a couple of clean laps and have closed again, and with 2 laps to go, I'm almost on top of him-he has only a 20 meter lead, has slowed as the race progressed and is ready to be crushed. After the sand, into the tape I go, losing another couple of seconds. Hammer again, get to the berm, and I'm down again, except this time I bend my derailluer hanger. Game over. I cruise through the final lap and finish 2nd. Subtract the 50-60 seconds I lost crashing stupidly, and it's the difference. Just an embarrassing performance.

Made a last second decision (at 9:30 AM) to ride Spooky Cross this morning. Bad idea. Racing the open division, I got into the 2nd lap and my legs were absolutely dead. Saturday was apparently harder on me than I thought. Having competed as a runner and cyclist for the past 30 years, I'm learned not to be too proud to pull the plug on a bad race-there's always another. Not looking forward to spending the next 50 minutes suffering like a dog to finish DFL, I DNF'ed and went home.

Nebraska CX Racing

Two races in NE this last weekend-nice to only drive 2 hours instead of three to get to a race. Norfolk modified their course from last year and did a nice job. If they cut out some of the repetitive weaving through the trees, it would be excellent, but right now it's a shade too technical. Four of us made it up to the race; Dave, Andy and I raced the masters, and Ted and Dave raced the 3s. Jim Winklepleck from Lincoln won the masters on a mountain bike, which was the right bike for the course. I managed to crash on the barriers on the first lap while in 2nd and Winklepleck's gap was too much to overcome. I didn't think I could beat him on this course, and didn't-ended up 2nd. Pioneer's Park might be a different story. Andy was 6th and Dave 8th in the race, riding well on a difficult course with some climbs. Ted was 5th in 3s, riding extremely well.

Sunday I went to Lincoln for the Flatwater race. It's terrific that the Flatwater team put together a well-organized race with a big prize list, but...Van Dorn Park is a poor cx venue. My rant: I know it's a matter of taste, but the VDP course is just a dirt crit. It's too short-only 2 km, if that. Lots of "turn, three pedal strokes, repeat." Almost all turns are slick dirt corners, but only one dismount, no need for power, handling or climbing skills. The pros in Madison averaged 30 kph on a difficult technical course, and I'm willing to bet that was the average for the masters and open winners on this fast course. What differentiates cx from crits are the difficulties: powering through grass, sand or mud, run-ups and other dismounts, off camber riding, and skills aside from cornering on dirt. There's no point in racing, in my view, if you're not challenged by a variety of terrain and obstacles. I was reluctant to start after riding practice laps and dropped out halfway through the first race lap. I just couldn't see staying on that course being bored for the next 40 minutes, and risking a nasty crash. It clearly suited others, but it didn't suit me.

Quinton and Boulevard Cups

Headed to KC for more cx racing. Michael Dixon and I were the only Nebraskans racing on Saturday in Topeka. Brutal and fun course, with thick power-sucking grass, several climbs and a very difficult run-up followed by a fun but tricky off camber descent. Entered the 50+, and we were in a heat with the other masters riders (30+, 40+, and 60+). 30+/40+ started 30 seconds ahead of us. I started easy because I knew the course would eat people alive. I was in second on the first lap and did the run-up. Shouldered the bike and must have bounced it because I dropped a chain. Lost 10 seconds to the leader. Started chasing and gradually reeled in the leader (Paul Fancher) a lap and half later. Paul started to gradually wear down during the next lap. I was putting 3 seconds into him on the run-up and a couple more seconds on each climb. Won the 50+ by 25 seconds and finished second overall in the heat. Steve Songer won the 40+ and was probably 1-1.5 minutes ahead of me.

Sunday brought one of the best races in the midwest for pure fun: Boulevard Cup. Free food and beer will tend to do that (8 kegs worth of beer brought to the race!). Didn't feel too bad after yesterday's effort, so I thought I had a pretty good shot at winning. Big masters field: 12 in 30+, 24 in 40+, 25 in 50+ and 10 in 60+, promising a big mess trying to pass slower riders. Course was tougher than last year and much longer, close to the legal limit of 3.5 km. Had a poor start and was 7th entering the holeshot. Fancher got a great start and had 5 seconds on me by the time we got to the first set of boards. We caught up with the tail of the 40+ at a very bad spot-a twisty entrance to a sand pit. Luckily, I saw it was a disaster early, dismounted and ran passed all of the riders struggling to ride through the mess. Hammering the road section and the climbs, weaving though the slower riders, I brought the leader back and proceeded to grind out another win by at least 30 seconds. With a half lap to go, I caught the second place 30+ guy and had him sitting on my wheel, then outsprint me at the finish. Well, he sprinted-I sat up to go in alone. Can't understand why he did that-I wasn't in his race and made up a minute on him during the race. Caught all but 7 guys in the entire heat, even those that started 30 seconds and 1 minute ahead, so a nice race.

A lot of NE people came down Sunday: Rich Pearson and Craig Schmidt were in my heat; Rich easily won the 60+ (would have been fun to have him in my race), Craig finished well in the 40+ race. Jonathan Neve raced 4s and finished 16th (great result-44 starters in that one). Rafal Doloto raced SS and cat 3 and looked great out there. Noah Marcus raced 3s and finished 6th (I think-sorry if I screwed that up Noah), Sydney Brown easily won the women's open, and there were some sterling performances in the men's open. Mark Savery and Matt Tillinghast finished 4th and 5th against brutal competition, battling with Brian Jensen for 3rd place after Jeff Winkler and Shadd Smith managed to get a gap over them. The 3rd place battle was great bike racing, Mark, Matt and Jensen trading 3rd back and forth, finally being decided by Jensen's massive surge on the road section at the beginning of the last lap. Troy Krause finished in the top ten-chased Bill Marshall and another guy, only 5-7 seconds behind, and could not quite reel them in by the end. Nate Woodman had a subpar day, but looked great bunny-hopping the boards during the race. I'll have some photos up on Facebook soon.

The Ecstasy and the Agony

Yes, intentionally a spin on the famous movie Agony and the Ecstasy about Michaelangelo. This, however, was not a work of art. Here's a "race" report about my 1st ever marathon; the 10-10-10 Chicago Marathon.

The Ecstasy: I've been training long and hard for this. Why a marathon? Easy answer is I'm going thru a mid-life crisis. Trying to purge the inner demons by abusing the body. Also, checking things off of my bucket list. I've decided running itself is evil as it is so hard on the bod. But it is addictive too. It's ez to do by yourself, with your iPod and a goal. My goal was to run 3:30 or less as a 3:35 would qualify me for the Boston Marathon.

The decision to make this a fundraising run was nice. Never done that before. Our FSIS team raised nearly $5000 for Team World Vision and World Vision's project in Zimbabwe. Thanks to all my friends and family who allowed me to reach my individual goal of $1310. At last count, I was over $1500!

Day of the race I got up early. Got on the El and arrived at start area in the dark. Got up front as far as I could in the Open division, just behind the start corrals that contained the Nike pace groups. I found fellow Team WV runner Christine, who gave me good advice. Finally, with the excitement building, we started moving toward the start line. I felt good out of the gate. It was tuff making your way around slower runners due to the jam-packed roads. I eventually got moving unimpeded and found a runner in Team WV gear that was doing a pace I found to my liking. We eventually caught up and passed the 3:30 Nike pace team which started way ahead of us. I saw Millie and Monie rooting for me at mile 11 at the TWV cheer site and high-fived them on the way by. Felt great thru the half way point and was ahead of pace with a 1:40 half. Things started slowing down for me about mile 17, but I was still well ahead of the 3:30 pace. They caught me about mile 19, so I jumped in with them and picked up my pace.

The Agony: Started at mile 21 or so. Working hard and all of a sudden my left leg cramped up. Brought me to a screeching stop. When I bent over to stretch it, the right leg seized. Arrrrgghhh! The best laid plans of mice and men soon go awry. I had to walk (eventually) for about two or three miles. All the progress I

had made slipped away. I coax the legs back to a slow shuffle, then a half-ass jog and finish the last two miles. The goal poofed into thin air. No 3:30, no 3:35, the only thing left to accomplish was finishing. I managed to stumble across at 3:58:26. So bummed out because I had 3:30 right there for the taking and choked it away. After crossing the line I swore I'd never, ever do another marathon. Pain passes tho, and a day later I'm already planning how I'll do it better next time. Train harder. Better nutrition. Better pacing. Etc. Just like Arnold.....I'll be back. That goal was within my grasp and it slipped thru. Grrrrrr!