Transrockies: The North Face Bendites

Once again, Zach and I decided to team up and take on the 6-day, 120 mile GORE-TEX transrockies race across the Colorado rockies. Last year we tackled the race as an unprepared, undertrained duo not really sure what we were getting ourselves into. We ended up finishing third, but almost killed ourselves in the process. This year we were much more prepared and ready to get revenge. Turns out training and working together pays off! 

Celebrating the win!

We started the trip by flying into Denver and spending a few days with two of my best friends from high school. It was so nice to relax and have some fun before heading out to race. On Sunday afternoon we took the bus up to Buena Vista for the start of the race. Again, we had a couple days to relax and get used to the altitude since most of Transrockies is at or above 10,000ft! It was so much fun to see the town transform and become alive with energy as the runners started to arrive. Hundreds of runners filled the streets, shops, and restaurants in anticipation of the start of the race. 

Buena Vista, CO

This year there was a big crew from Bend, including Zach and I, Jeff and Katie Caba, Jeff Browning, Rod Bien, Max King, Mario Mendoza, and honorable mentions to Sean Meissner (past resident) and Jorge Maravilla (future resident :) It was so much fun to have such a great group of talented individuals and really puts Bend on the map as a mecca for runners!

Bend runners at the front 

Photo: Jonathan McLeod

One of my favorite things about Transrockies is the people. There are so many great people both racing and working at the event! I'm so sad to leave all my runner friends after a week of bonding! It's amazing how running instantly draws us to one another. After a week of running, laughing, and suffering together it's amazing how close everyone becomes. It's truly a special week and the last day is so bittersweet! 

Open Mixed Podium
Photo: Jonathan McLeod

Zach and I had a spectacular week! Each day we got a little bit stronger and increased our lead by a little more. Thanks to our patience (ok, Zach's patience not mine :) and some great competition we were able to push ourselves and throw down some fast times. Some really impressive performances by Dave James & Amy Lane (2nd place) and Geoff Reid & Amy Schneeberg (3rd) really made us work to earn the win. I was so impressed by both teams, both on and off the race course. Truly some great people!

Photo: Chris Hunter

 It was really cool to finish first this year, but the thing I will remember most from the week is all the fun I had. Each day the race course took us across some beautiful scenery up and down mountains with breathtaking views. At the end of the day it really didn't matter if you were first or last, just that you were out there taking it all in. I kept thinking to myself "how cool is it that you are running across the top of a mountain right now?" I would recommend transrockies to any runner looking for a fun adventure in the mountains or an opportunity to attend running camp for adults. I know I'll definitely be back :)

Photo: Chris Hunter

Finishing a great week of running!
Photo: Chris Hunter

Mt. Ashland Hill Climb

Climbing to the finish line

Ah, the Mt. Ashland Hill Climb. The race has kind of become a ritual for me each August. For the past 4 years I have traveled down with other nordic skiers to participate in the half marathon hill climb. The race itself is painful, and never gets any easier, but the experience is always great! We try to make a weekend out of it and do something fun on the Sunday after the race.

Each year I've run I've gotten a bit faster and come across the finish line first. This year I still finished first but was about a minute slower. Oh well, it was pretty hot out! Most people's times were quite a bit slower. I've been just shy of the record and thought maybe this was year I could crack Evelyn Dong's (a fellow XC Oregon nordic skier) time. No such luck. I was actually about a minute slower than last year. I blame the heat. Most runners were actually a bit slower this year too. Full results & story: Ashland Mail Tribune

Hal Koerner finishing

Runners making their way to the finish

So, those of you who know Zach know he is infamous for his 'adventures'. I can't count the number of times we've gone to do something and it's turn into some sort of epic sufferfest. Deep down I kind of like it though :) The day after the Ashland Hill Climb has always been some sort of 'adventure'. One year, we went on a bike ride to 'spin our legs out'. I guess I missed the memo that it was a 60 mile ride with a 15 mile hill climb in the middle and a sprint finish. I bonked. The next year we biked around Crater Lake, which if you've been there you know you are either biking 3 mph or 30 mph. There is no flat. I think we biked about 70 miles. This year may have topped all other adventures. We decided that it would be a good idea to run down after the race. Since we have TransRockies coming up soon Zach thought it would be a good idea to run the 13.3 miles back down to get used to running downhill. Somehow I thought it sounded like a good idea too. After running hard for 2 hours up to the top of Mt. Ashland, we turned around and started running back down. The beginning wasn't too bad since there was still aid stations set up near the top. After we got to mile 10, as in 10 miles to run back into town, the aid stations were closed. It was around that time that it started to get hot. I mean really hot. It was like we got hit by a wall of 100 degree heat as we descended into the valley. I ran out of water about halfway down. Somehow we made it back to the house AND in time to watch the men's olympic 10k on NBC. Success! If that wasn't enough craziness, the next morning we drove over to Oakridge to join some friends running the second half (30 miles) of the Where's Waldo 100k. It was an awesome run! There was a small group of us, including Meghan Arbogast and Kami Semick, who are two a my good friends. It took us a little under 6 hours to run and we finished right before a thunderstorm rolled in. Double success!

Top of Maiden Peak with Kami, Meghan, and Zach

I had to take a few days laying on the couch watching olympics to recover. Such a great race weekend, and just enough time to get recovered before TransRockies…stay tuned……

SOB 50 miler

With Ecuador 50 miler still in my legs I attempted to race another 50 miler just two weeks later. I contemplated dropping down to the 50k race or skipping it all together, but in the end I decided to just give it a go. I really wanted to race and I also wanted to try out some new nutrition strategies. I went into the race with an attitude that I was just going to have fun. 

Photo: Long Run Pictures

Well, I sure did have fun and I also had a great race! For the first time during a race I used PocketFuel as my primary energy source early on. I have never felt so good and for the first time I didn't have any stomach issues. I started taking PocketFuel within the first half hour and felt great! Not only does it taste good, but it also works! Success! 

Beautiful Views!
Photo: Long Run Pictures

Photo: Ashland Mail Tribune

Ashland is one of my favorite places to race. I love the town an the people and have a great time every time I visit. Over the years I've gotten to know quite a few of the Ashland crew, including Jenn Shelton. I really enjoy racing with Jenn because we always chat and have a good time. SOB was no different. We started off together and were just running and talking for the first couple hours. It was so much fun and  the miles flew by.

Jenn and I running & chatting early on
Photo: Long Run Pictures

My common sense kicked in around mile 17 and I got a little concerned about the pace we were running. I've learned the hard way about starting too fast, and my tendency is to be conservative at the beginning and walk the hills. The problem was the trail at SOB was so runable!! The hills were not quite steep enough to walk so I ended up running everything.

View from the trail
Photo: Long Run Pictures

Photo: Long Run Pictures

Jenn and I reached the 25 mile turn in 3hrs30min, and I was definitely a little worried. I didn't think I could keep up our current pace for the next 25 miles. I mentioned that I was going to chill out for a bit and Jenn responded by bopping past me and taking off down the hill. Grrrr. I really didn't feel like running by myself for the next 4 hours so I tried to at least maintain contact. Tim Olson saved me for a bit by running and chatting with me for a mile or so. He was helping out with the race and running a bit with some of the runners in the 50 mile race near the turn around. I was so grateful to have Timothy to run with, he is such a genuinely nice person!

Suffering together
Photo: Long Run Pictures

After a few more miles I hit the big uphill. Again, it was such a runable grade that I couldn't really walk. I had more or less caught back up to Jenn at this point and we suffered together making our way up the hill. I swear we ran uphill for over an hour. I'm not sure how many miles it was, but it took FOREVER! Jenn and I yo-yoed back and forth taking turns leading for the next several miles. Even though we weren't talking much anymore it was really nice to have someone else to suffer with!

At mile 41 we entered an aid station and I decided it was time to go. I left the aid station first, put my head down and ran hard. And I didn't let up, I suffered and kept moving. One by one the miles went down and I found myself with only a few miles to go. The last 9 miles also had quite a bit of climbing and I did my best to run! We had met back up with the 50k course at this point, so I was able to catch and pass a lot of runners. Everyone I passed was so courteous and let me squeeze by on the narrow trail. So many runners were cheering as I ran by and it really motivated me to keep going. Plus, I didn't want Jenn to catch me again :)

Pushing hard
Photo: Long Run Pictures

I ended up crossing the finish line first in 7hr34min. It was also a new course record, well technically any time would have been a new course record because it was the first year of the 50 mile distance :) I was pretty excited, 7:34 is my fastest time, and I was proud of how hard I pushed myself despite having tired legs. I really have to thank Jenn for my fast time, she really made me work!! She ended up finishing a little ways back, all smiles though! After I left her at mile 41 she had an epic bonk. Props to her for sticking it out and finishing!

It was a great day for other Bend runners too: Zach finished 4th in the 50 miler and Jeff Browning, hot off his San Diego 100 win, finished 6th. In the 50k, both Max King and Marci Kilmek took home the wins. Awesome!

Ashland Mail Tribune Write-up:
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20120715%2FSPORTS%2F207150316

Never Stop Exploring…..

Video: TNF Endurance Challenge Ecuador

This past week I was in Quito, Ecuador for The North Face Ecuador 80k trail race. I had such an amazing time! It was so different racing in South America and I got to spend the week with some amazing people and run in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It was truly an amazing experience.

Never Stop Exploring…… That was the theme of the week. There were so many crazy things that we encountered over the week and we really just had to roll with it. Everything was an adventure, which made it even more exciting.

View of the Cumbaya Valley near Quito

TNF Training Run

Pre-race Technical Meeting

Hanging out at 4000 meters!

Quito is at 3000 meters, which is approximately 10,000ft above sea level. Thankfully we arrived a few days before the race to acclimate to the altitude. We did a few runs   in Quito and also took a tram to the top of the mountain to really get some altitude training and see the beautiful view!  I usually do ok with altitude and was happy that I didn't feel too bad running so high. I was expecting pretty hot weather since Ecuador is very close to the equator, but due to the high altitude it doesn't actually get very hot. It was a pleasant 60 degrees and partly sunny for most of our trip which was perfect for running!

My Pre-race Interview: Lo importante es disfrutar de la competencia

 The race took place in small village, San Pablo del Lago, Zuleta which is about 2 hours outside of Quito. The village was right on a lake with mountains surrounding it on either side. It was beautiful! The race course had a lot of vertical, stating went with a huge climb up a mountain that was so tall the top was in the clouds!

The race started at 4:00am, which meant a 2:15 wake up call. I have never been up running that early, let alone racing, so it was a totally new experience. I was surprised at how good I felt. I was awake and ready to go. The start of the race was exciting! There was music blaring and a huge screen showing footage of other TNF races around the world. As the countdown approached zero, fireworks were shot out of the start gate and the race began! It was definitely exciting!

Helen, Jordan, and I pre-race

Race Morning

Running in the dark early on

Running in the dark is tough. The race organizers did a good job of trying to mark the trail, but at 4:00am it is so dark that its tough to see. I ended up getting lost about 10 times during the race. Not just ran off trail a little way, but full on run a mile in the wrong direction or spend 10 minutes searching for the trail. It was a frustrating to keep losing my way, but almost everyone had the same experience. Helen was ahead of me for the first couple hours and then found each other both lost in the same spot. I'd have to say I was really relieved to find Helen and have a friendly face to be lost with! We spent the next 3-4 hours running together trying to navigate the trail. We also ran with Jordan for awhile. He was suffering some pretty bad stomach issues and decided to just run easy with us. Despite getting lost and having so many issues, it was really nice to all run together. It was one of my favorite parts of the race :)

Helen and I running together about halfway through the race

Around 55k I started to feel amazing! This was totally different from my last, and only other 50 mile race (Lake Sonoma) I've run. I started to pick up my pace and was able to run pretty fast. I pushed hard for the next 20k and past about 15-20 men. It felt great to be passing people rather than just trying to make it to the finish line!

Focused

Add caption

Then it happened again. I got lost. Really lost. I was about 10k from the finish and running with a group about 10 other runners when we came to a 3-way intersection. There were no markings and none of us were sure where to go. It was especially challenging for me since I don't know any spanish! While the other runners stood discussing where to go, I just stood there helplessly since I don't know any Spanish! There were several villagers out watching the race that started pointing down one of the trails. Through hand gestures and body language I understood that the villagers were pointing the direction we were supposed to run. I asked one of the runners who spoke a little English 'if he was sure this was right', because I really didn't want to go the wrong way. He shrugged and said 'I think so'. That was good enough for me. I felt so helpless because I didn't know where to go and I couldn't understand anything that anyone was saying! We kept running and soon after saw yellow arrows indicating we were on course, or so we thought. We kept running following the trail which did lead us to the finish line. I crossed the line as the first female and was all smiles. I was so happy with my race despite getting lost and having such a difficult time early on.

Crossing the finish line in first, or so I thought :)

Happy Finishers!

I had no idea that I had missed part of the course, otherwise I would have gone back and re-run it. I was pretty far ahead and think I would have still had time to run the part I missed. I ended up getting a 3-hour time penalty for going off course. I was pretty disappointed when I found out because I don't think I missed that much. The time penalty put me back in 3rd (I think- I'm still not sure I ever found official results). Since everyone got so lost the results were pretty much invalid. It was more just a battle to find the finish! I was really happy with my effort and despite the result still very happy with the day. It really was an adventure…..we crossed fields, farms, ran through villages, next to pigs, cows, and chickens, got followed by stray dogs, crawled through barbed wire, ran down a rocky dried up creek bed for about a mile, and got to see some of the most beautiful countryside in the world!

TNF Athletes

Never stop Exploring……

Dirty Half: USATF Trail Half Marathon Championships

In typical Stephanie fashion I decided the day before that I was going to race. I wasn't sure it was a good idea because it was between my last week of class and finals week at school, meaning I was BUSY! I really wanted to get a longer effort in before I leave for Ecuador in a few weeks so I decided to give it a shot and have a 'fun' race.

The Ladies and Super Dave
Photo Credit: Mike Albright

Turns out, it went pretty well. I was super happy with my race, finishing third was better than I expected! There was some great competition this year, both local and out of town runners. Locals Max King and Marci Klimek took home the wins. Full results: 2012 Dirty Half

Max King dominating the field
Photo: Mike Albright

Photo Credit: Mike Albright

Looking a little tired early on….
Photo: Mike Albright

 I think I started a little too fast trying to stay with the lead girls. There was a pack of four of us for the first few miles, then Megan Kimmel and Marci Klimek broke away. I tried to keep contact but common sense told me to slow down or else I would die :) I ran mostly by myself, although I kept getting glimpses of Amber Morgan, who was right behind me. I just told myself to see how long I could hold her off. When I reached mile 10 and she hadn't caught me I thought I had a chance. It was around that time that I got a second wind, finally recovered by my initial speed surge. The last three miles were really good! I was happy to be able to push and catch people, rather than trying to just finish. It was a great finish!

The next day I decided to do a loooong run. I'm getting ready for some ultra races in the near future and needed to get some miles in. I took my dog and headed out for a 20+ something run on the Tumalo river trail/Marazek/Phil's trail. It was an absolutely beautiful day! The Tumalo river trail is one of my all time favorite trails in Bend! It's pretty rugged, but the scenery is stunning and there are some fun parts, like crawling through a rock tunnel and climbing over boulders.

View from the trail

Riley pausing for a photo

Pole, Pedal, Paddle: The Olympics of Bend

THREE-PEAT! 

Photo credit: Mike Albright

The PPP is the race I love to hate. Each time I race I swear I will never do it again, but somehow I am drawn to it. For those unfamiliar, this is a great description: The Pole Pedal Paddle is HARDCORE!

The race itself is not the hard part- the difficulty is figuring out all the logistics and dealing with the stress leading up to the race. This year was particularly difficult since I wasn't in Bend to line up gear to borrow or to train for obscure sports (like sprinting up an alpine hill in rear-entry alpine boots with nordic boots inside). There were some nice things about being in Corvallis before the race, such as avoiding all the crazies and dealing with everyone and their brother asking if I'm racing and if I'm going to win (no pressure). These are just some of the challenges of racing the PPP.

Photo credit: Otmar Borchard

My preparation leading up to the race was not ideal. I was not thinking about gear or racing while I was at school- my brain was consumed with other things occupying space. In fact it wasn't until 2 days before the race that I got a tt bike to use! I have to thank Mary Ramos for letting me borrow her bike despite not have met me until after the race! 

Awesomsely fast wheels

I didn't actually try the bike until late Thursday night, and it was terrifying. I didn't feel comfortable at all and was not able to get in the aerobars and pedal hard downhill. Not good for less than 48 hours before race time. I think a lot of it had to do with my lack of time in the saddle this spring and not feeling comfortable on a bike in general. Still, not a good feeling. On Friday, the day before the race, I took the bike out again and just made myself just do it. If anyone was driving up Century on Friday, they probably saw me pedaling as hard as I could with a look of terror on my face. But, turns out by the time I got back into town I was fine and felt good about the bike. Sigh of relief.

I also did a bit of panic training on Friday, consisting of alpine skiing, nordic skiing, paddling, running, and cycling down Century Dr. twice. Not my best move- my legs were pretty fried afterwards. Awesome.

Finishing up the run leg
Photo credit: Otmar Borchard

The day of the race I was nervous, but ready to go! The start was pretty awesome- I think the starter was new and hadn't thought about what he was going to say. He did the usual countdown: 10 sec to start….and we all remained motionless on the start line. Then all of a sudden he yells out "Race!" which actually meant "Go!" No one really knew what to do until The Number 3 in a Tacate aero helmet (also known to some as Zach Violett) took off. I think we all started the race off smiling, or I did at least.

Once I got into 'race mode' things went pretty smoothly. Well, most things anyway. I did have a pretty great crash on the nordic leg about 2k into the race. I was going down a steep hill that still had some pretty icy corduroy. My skis got stuck in the grooves and started widening. It's pretty common knowledge that I can't touch my toes, let alone do the middle splits….so I face planted and power slid on the ice about 20 feet down the hill. It was actually pretty awesome and I don't think I lost much time. I was kind of laughing because I'm sure it was hilarious. There was a guy behind me that probably had a great view of the whole thing.

Besides eating shit on the nordic leg the only other issues I had were in the transitions. I just wasn't thinking very well. At the ski to bike I forgot to take my ski boots off and put on my bike shoes. At the bike to run I switched into my running shoes pretty quick, but forgot to take off my tights so I had to take off my shoes, take off my tights, and put my shoes back on again. Minor details.

Take two!

Really though, I couldn't have asked for a better day. I lead from start to finish and never looked back. I was pretty happy to cross the finish line in 1st again, adding a little flair (see KTVZ video below) And to make it even better Zach also had an awesome race, finishing on the podium as well :) 

KTVZ News Video Clip

All About Bend Pole Pedal Paddle Video

XC Oregon’s Howe Wins Third Straight Pole Pedal Paddle; U.S. Ski Team Has Fastest Women’s Teams

Finishing stretch