Land Between the Lakes 50 Mile Trail Race

Four times now I’ve run 50+ miles. Two of these were 8-hour races on a relatively easy course (difficulty rating ★★☆☆☆), while the other two were 50 mile trail races on more challenging courses (difficulty rating ★★★★☆). I’ve struggled during all of them, but persevered to finish (with good results even).

I wasn’t super happy with my last 50 miler. I felt I had better fitness than for my first three 50 milers, yet I fell apart early in the race and ended up running my slowest time yet. I wanted my next race to be different. I wanted to do something special, but I didn’t know how to pull it off. It was obvious I would need to have a similar level of fitness, if not better. But fitness clearly wasn’t enough. I needed a stronger mental game if I was going to have a breakthrough performance.

Completely coincidentally, as I was training for the Land Between the Lakes 50 Mile Trail Race I listened to an episode of a podcast I enjoy, Trail Runner Nation. The guest that episode was an unlikely one, a guy named Lanny Bassham. He’s not a runner, but a former sport shooter with Olympic and World Championship gold medals. As he talked I was fascinated with just how similar the mental aspects of long distance running were to those of shooting, or golf, or any other sport. To make a long story short, I read his book, With Winning in Mind, and it provided many valuable tips to get me where I wanted to be for this race.

I trained throughout the harsh winter, in the rain and snow and ice. I trained for hours at a time, gradually increasing my pace so I finished each run strong. I trained my stomach to handle the types of foods I would need to eat during the race. I used metabolic efficiency training to teach my body to burn less sugar (which the body can only store so much of) and more fat (which even fit people have a virtually unlimited supply of). Every single run I visualized my target race.

I was happy to run my fastest time ever on the 14 mile Chubb Trail today. Even more so that it happened on my second lap.

— Rob Raguet-Schofield (@ragfield)

February 24, 2014

I didn’t train so hard because I required the fitness to perform well at my race. I was pretty fit at the start of the training cycle. I trained hard because that’s what I needed to do in order to gain the confidence that would be required to perform well at my race. And the confidence is what made all the difference.

That makes 82 miles run in the last 8 days. And I took 4 of those days off.

— Rob Raguet-Schofield (@ragfield)

February 24, 2014

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We packed up the family and headed to Grand Rivers, Kentucky. I would be racing, while Melissa and Will would be spectating and providing me with support.

Food for the weekend. Photo by Melissa.

My drop bag with food and spare clothes.

We ran into a number of friends from our former home of Champaign-Urbana, as well as some Saint Louians I knew. LBL is one of the biggest trail ultras in the midwest, so there were runners there from all over. The 11.3 mile trail would host four different races simultaneously: 23K (1 loop), marathon (2 loops), 60K (3 loops), and 50M (4 loops). On paper, at least, this particular trail (difficulty rating ★★★☆☆) is easier than the two previous trails on which I’ve raced 50 milers. The footing is good (not rocky, very few roots). It’s mostly flat, though there are a few decent sized hills. The trail conditions would be a factor, though, as it snowed 6″ in the week before the race and it was slowly melting away.

Lots of fresh snow melt. The Land Between the Lakes 50 miler tomorrow is going to be muddier than hell.

— Rob Raguet-Schofield (@ragfield)

March 8, 2014

The 6:30 AM start was overcast and 35˚F, though the expected high was 60˚F. Rather than try to change clothes during the race I decided to dress for the warmer weather and add arm warmers and gloves that I could easily shed. This worked out pretty well, though it made for a chilly start.

OH at the start line of #LBL50: Woman: I don’t know where to line up. Man: Well get behind this guy (me), he’s got the Ultra Beard.

— Rob Raguet-Schofield (@ragfield)

March 8, 2014

At the starting line. Photo by Melissa.

The first 2 miles were on a paved road before we hit the trail. I started quickly in order to not be held up once on the single track. My first two miles were 7:26 and 7:22, and there were about 20 people ahead of me.

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Once we hit the trail I kept my GPS watch going, but I made a conscious decision not to look at it the entire rest of the race. This is fairly abnormal for me. As a data junkie my running is heavily influenced by my mile splits. But this gets back to the mental game I discussed earlier, and one of the points from that book. Focusing on the outcome (running a certain distance in a certain time) is the wrong way to go about it. Instead I wanted my focus to be on the process of running my own race at a comfortable pace, whatever that pace may be (The lost art of running by feel). I had to focus on executing the race I wanted to run, and have faith the outcome would be satisfying. After all, if I was happy with how I ran the race, how could I not be satisfied with the outcome? It sounds so simple, yet it was so difficult to buy into.

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The first 11.3 mile loop was fast. The trail was covered with 1-2″ of crunchy snow (if there must be snow, this is really the best kind). As I was near the front it was still in pretty good shape for me. I gradually moved up several positions and by the end of the first loop I was the 11th or 12th runner on the trail (including participants from the three shorter events).

The first loop was snowy. Photo by Paul Farr.

One loop down, three to go. Photo by West Kentucky Runners Club.

Near the end of the first loop I caught up with a guy I know from Saint Louis (Tommy) and we ran the next several miles together, chatting about races, jobs, and desirable locations to live. What had been nice crunchy snow on the first loop was now muddy on the second loop. At 1½ loops I refilled my pockets with food from my drop bag (which for some reason was placed surprisingly far away from the trail) before continuing on ahead of Tommy.

Arriving at the aid station after 1½ loops. Photo by Melissa.

I heard Will cheering each time I approached the aid station. Photo by Melissa.

The mud got more intense on the second half of the loop. At the end of the second loop (when I had nearly finished the marathon distance) I briefly realized how far I had run, but I quickly refocused on the task at hand. I found it much easier to break the race up into four loops. Knowing that I only had two loops remaining was much easier to handle than thinking I still had 25 miles to go.

On the third loop the trail went from bad to worse. Everything was muddy, and there was now a lot of standing water on the trail. Given that most of the water was fresh snow melt at around 33˚F, my feet got cold, and even went numb a few times during some of the longer sections. Check out these great photos of the mud here on Flickr (which I can’t repost here for copyright reasons).

The trail was pretty soupy by the third loop. Photo by Seth Byers Photography.

Muddy legs. Photo by Melissa.

After 2½ loops the leader of the women’s race passed me. We were going about the same pace so I followed her for several miles. She asked if I was in the 50 mile race and I said yes. She responded, “Me too. That fourth loop is going to be an epic suck.” I didn’t see how the trail could get any worse.

She was running the uphill sections faster than me and she frequently pulled ahead of me, while I often ran the downhill sections faster and caught back up. While this was by no means a hilly course, there are some hills. They’re not even 100 ft high, and they are shallow enough to be runnable, but steep enough to hurt when you do run them.

Back in 2009 I ran the LBL 23K race. I was a strong runner then (I finished 6th place), but I was reduced to walking up a few of the hills in that one-loop race. This year, confident and stronger than ever, I had decided I was going to run every hill, every loop. By the third loop it was a struggle. But as I was following this woman up the hills I would briefly consider walking before looking up to see her running. Each time I thought to myself, if the person ahead of me isn’t walking, what excuse could I possibly have to walk? And then I kept running.

Eventually I slowed a bit and she pulled away from me. The fourth loop actually wasn’t any worse than the third loop. I had been lapping a steady stream of runners since about the 1½ loop point. By the fourth loop nearly all of the runners from the 23K and marathon races were gone, so the lapped runners were fewer and farther between. On top of that the previously frigid standing water the covered much of the trail was beginning to warm up a bit and was now simply chilly, not cold enough to numb my feet.

At 3½ loops I saw Melissa and Will for the last time at that aid station. Melissa asked me how I felt, and before she could finish I blurted out I feel fantastic. Okay, so maybe that was a bit of hyperbole. In absolute terms I didn’t really feel fantastic, I had just run 43 miles fairly hard. In relative terms, I felt better than I ever had before at mile 43. Of course I felt fantastic. If I didn’t believe that how else was I going to make it to the finish line?

I feel fantastic and I’ve never felt as good as how I do right now except for maybe when I think of how I felt that day when I felt the way that I do right now.

–Jonathan Coulton

In each of my previous 50 mile races I went through a rough patch where I felt terrible and I slowed down drastically. In my most recent 50 mile race it began uncharacteristically early (mile 22!). That wasn’t going to happen this time. I was going to get through this feeling great. Why? Because I wanted to with every fiber of my being. How? By convincing myself that was the only possible outcome, focusing on the process of running the race I wanted to run, and working to get the job done. The hardest part was convincing myself this would happen, but that happened long before the race began.

I finished the fourth loop, ran a 1.2 mile out and back on the road before heading back into town to the finish line. During the out and back I saw one person ahead of me (the women’s winner) and nobody behind me, so the gaps were large. I had no idea what position I was in all day. As I passed the last aid station one volunteer told me I as in 5th place and another told me I was 4th male. Both were right.

I didn’t slow down, because I feel fantastic. I sped up and got back under 8 minute per mile pace. Once I hit the road back into town I relented and looked at my watch for the first time in 7 hours. 7h28m it said. This was a good run. But I already knew that.

The finish line. Photo by Melissa.

I crossed the finish line in 7h39m, over an hour faster than my previous best 50 mile trail race. It was a wee bit slower than my first 50 miles at Howl at the Moon last summer (7h24m), but that was on an easy course in ideal conditions. This course was more narrow, technical, hilly, muddy, snowy, watery. I’d handicap this course at least 40 seconds per mile slower compared to that one. This was a far better race.

Fourth place male.

LBL 50 miler is in the bag. I finished 4th place in 7h39m on a super sloppy snowy/muddy/frigid standing water course. So much fun.

— Rob Raguet-Schofield (@ragfield)

March 8, 2014

The first thing I want after finishing a 50 miler is to sit down, and this was no exception. Once you cross the finish line and your brain is no longer saying shut up legs, you begin to realize what a world of pain you’re in. I hobbled back to the car, inhaled a container of BBQ Pringles, then headed back to the hotel for a hot shower.

This poor can of BBQ Pringles never knew what hit it. Need more calories. #LBL50 #VegRunChat pic.twitter.com/wiPg4zfrfU

— Rob Raguet-Schofield (@ragfield)

March 8, 2014

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The notable aspects of this race:

• no walking
• no blisters
• no chafing
• no bonking
• no cramps
• no falls
• no bathroom breaks

I did get sunburned, despite the cloudy 35˚F start. I also had the misfortune of getting Hammer Gel stuck in my mustache that, for all I know, may still be in there.

Only I could get sunburned running through a snowy forest for 8 hours.

— Rob Raguet-Schofield (@ragfield)

March 9, 2014

I ate/drank roughly:

• 80 oz Tailwind (lemon)
• 60 oz water
• 8 Medjool dates
• 8 Hammer Gel (orange and green apple)
• 8 orange slices
• 15 S!CAPS

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Rob’s difficulty ratings:

• ★☆☆☆☆: paved roads
• ★★☆☆☆: grass, gravel/dirt roads, easy double-track
• ★★★☆☆: moderate single-track, few hills
• ★★★★☆: technical single-track, moderate hills
• ★★★★★: technical single-track, mountains

Running

My mysterious only-hurts-when-not-running knee issue continues, but it didn’t stop me from doing a bit of running last month. I did several long progression runs (gradually increasing the pace over several hours), including a 28 miler last weekend where the last 14 miles were the fastest I had ever covered that particular trail before. Earlier that week I had done a strong two loops (22.6 miles) around the LBL Canal Loop Trail, where I’ll be running a 50 mile race next weekend. Things are looking good. The only prediction I’ll state publicly is that I plan to run significantly faster than my last (slightly disappointing) 50 miler.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	192.03 Mile	19	10.1068 Mile
February	227.4 Mile	19	11.9684 Mile
Total	419.43 Mile	38	11.0376 Mile

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Cycling

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	64.74 Mile	4	16.185 Mile
February	15.9 Mile	1	15.9 Mile
Total	80.64 Mile	5	16.128 Mile

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Walking & Hiking

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	27.72 Mile	11	2.52 Mile
February	26.8 Mile	11	2.43636 Mile
Total	54.52 Mile	22	2.47818 Mile

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Cross Country Skiing

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	6.85 Mile	2	3.425 Mile
February	4.24 Mile	1	4.24 Mile
Total	11.09 Mile	3	3.69667 Mile

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Stairmaster

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	11.85 Mile	2	5.925 Mile
February	12.54 Mile	2	6.27 Mile
Total	24.39 Mile	4	6.0975 Mile

It rained all day Saturday just in time to freeze into an icy mess for Sunday morning’s Nippy Niner trail race. The 22˚F weather felt okay when I left the house, but when I arrived at Columbia Bottom Conservation Area at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers a short while later the blustery wind was howling across the flat, wide open prairie.

I was hoping to debut my new race costume at this 9 mile event, but the extreme cold briefly caused me to reconsider. My four year old son Will is really into super heroes and we all really like The Incredibles, so I wanted to race in my new Mr. Incredible outfit. I decided to stick with the plan, though the effect was somewhat lost by the fact that I had to wear an additional jacket to keep warm at the start of the race (I took it off by the end).

Walking to the starting line I saw a runner who looked really fast (sometimes you can just tell). Well, he shot off the front immediately. I eased into it before giving chase. The early miles were on gravel roads with the wind at our back. I wasn’t too surprised to see 5:48 at the first mile. I started to pull back a little bit of ground in the second mile, ticking off a 5:37. In the third mile we turned into a stiff headwind. Then we traded the moderately icy gravel road for a completely iced over asphalt path. We all slowed considerably.

After a mile or so of that we turned onto the “trail.” This wasn’t like any trail I’d ever run before. The former trail was destroyed by flooding last year, and apparently the replacement trail had just been completed the day before the race. To say it was rough wouldn’t be doing it justice. It was a fairly wide swath of trees that had been cleared, with lots of ruts and stumps still in the ground. Most of the length of the trail was constant up and downs of 3-4 feet at a time. Having to constantly adjust my foot placement to avoid breaking an ankle, I simply could not find any rhythm.

This photo really doesn’t do justice to the tough, lumpy, uneven trail.

I took a wrong turn before quickly getting back on course. Still in 2nd place I passed the lead mountain bike, who was finding the rough trail even more difficult than the runners were. It was then I took another wrong turn and went quite a bit out of my way. Once I realized I was way off course I turned back and once again passed the mountain bike (who presumably was quite confused). Right then the 3rd place runner caught up to me and we ran together for the rest of the race.

We came out of the woods at an aid station. I asked the volunteers which direction to go and they (eventually) shouted “right.” We went right. We ran down the icy asphalt path for a while before nearly reaching the finish line when I realized we were off course again. If we continued this direction we would reach the finish line coming from the west, but I remember from the course map on the website that we were supposed to finish from the east. We discussed the situation and debated various options before realizing that the race was over for both of us. We had run a hard 9 miles and turning back would require several more miles even if we could find the correct route.

We reached the finish line and explained what happened, assuming we would both be scored as DQ or DNF. Whatever. It was then that we saw the leader cross the finish line coming from correct direction. So at least he didn’t get lost.

I went back out to run a few more miles easy when I saw a steady stream of 20-30 runners all going the same way we had gone. This is going to be interesting. I’ve never been at a race where this many people went this far off course. At this point I was really curious A) how they would score the race and B) where the hell did everyone miss the turn?

I continued to investigate as I was cooling down. There were still plenty of runners out on the course. I eventually found the real course and talked to some more volunteers. I put all the pieces together and it turns out we were supposed to turn left where the aid station volunteers told us to turn right. Whoops.

I’ve been to enough road races to know that people can get pretty pissed about this sort of thing. The great thing about trail runners is that nobody seemed terribly upset by the snafu. Everyone appeared to take it in stride. I ran from that turn and followed the real course to the finish line, passing the last few runners on the way. At least I would be a finisher, even if I had gone 5 miles out of the way.

The organizers took pity on us and scored everyone based on the time they crossed the finish line, regardless of which direction they came from. The distances were pretty close (though the way we went was a little shorter, which is how we arrived there just before the winner). So I tied for 2nd place, which seemed fair. I suppose the alternative would have been 4th from last, but I think I would have been fine with that too.

I am thankful for the race organizers and all the volunteers who braved miserably cold conditions to put on a really fun event at a really interesting location on a really awful day. The best laid plans of mice and men something something.

Running

Photo courtesy of Lori Vohsen

I followed a week of no running (skiing and travel) with 8 days of 10-ish miles per day. This was my longest streak in over 10 years. Later in the month I eased up a bit. I’ve been having some nagging pain in my bad knee since the Forest Glen 50K in October… but only when I’m not running. Unfortunately, I spend far more time not running than I do running, so I need to lock that down.

Race tomorrow. Should be very cold. Fun times.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	192.03 Mile	19	10.1068 Mile
Total	192.03 Mile	19	10.1068 Mile

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Cycling

For the first time(s) in a few years I managed to work up the motivation to ride my bike on the trainer in my basement. It’s strange, but I just can’t put out any power on that thing, which got me down a bit. Fortunately, I managed to sneak in one outdoor ride on a windy 39˚F day and I felt good and had good numbers. Need more.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	64.74 Mile	4	16.185 Mile
Total	64.74 Mile	4	16.185 Mile

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Walking & Hiking

Now that I’m no longer pushing Will to and from daycare everyday, I’m getting far less walking in than I used to. I’ve picked up some slack by walking at work. Need more.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	27.72 Mile	11	2.52 Mile
Total	27.72 Mile	11	2.52 Mile

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Cross Country Skiing

Snow!

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	6.85 Mile	2	3.425 Mile
Total	6.85 Mile	2	3.425 Mile

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Stairmaster

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	11.85 Mile	2	5.925 Mile
Total	11.85 Mile	2	5.925 Mile

Welcome back winter once again. It’s January, so there’s not much racing going on… which is one reason the SHivering Icy Trail Run (SHITR) sounds so appealing. With no entry fee and no pressure to perform it’s a good excuse to get a good hard run in through the woods at night in probably rotten weather with no aid.

Photo courtesy of Lori Vohsen

The temperatures warmed up and some of the snow melted, resulting in a super sloppy mess. The run was shortened from 13.1 to 10.8 miles at the last minute so we wouldn’t absolutely destroy the fragile single track trails. We stayed on double track gravel roads the whole way. It sounds easy enough, but there were a few big hills and lots of ankle deep snow-on-top-of-ice-on-top-of-water to keep things interesting.

40˚F and windy was fairly unpleasant prior to the start at sundown, but once we started moving everything was fine. At least it wasn’t 35˚F and raining like last year.

Photo courtesy of Lori Vohsen

Photo courtesy of Lori Vohsen

Photo courtesy of Lori Vohsen

I started conservatively and tried to stay as close as I could to other runners. I wanted a good hard run, but I probably would have stayed with other people for several miles if I saw someone else was moving at a good strong pace. While trying to keep my pace under control I accidentally ran off the front. Once by myself I decided to just go ahead and get a good hard run in. One slippery mile gained 300 feet in elevation, and that one was around 7:50. Aside from the hills, I maintained a steady pace in the 6:40-6:50 range through the slop, gradually speeding up as the run progressed. Then I finished strong with a 6:15 final mile.

Photo courtesy of Lori Vohsen

Photo courtesy of Lori Vohsen

I was hot until the moment I stopped running. Then I had about 30 seconds at a comfortable temperature. Then I was freezing. It was a good sign that I wasn’t as wiped out as last year. Again, I was the first person to finish the event and was awarded a trophy.

After changing into warm dry clothes I stuck around for a while and met people and had interesting conversations before succumbing to the cold wind and heading home.

I’ve done a handful of different fat-ass races (lightly organized, no entry fee, usually no awards), and this was by far the most organized. Race stickers, homemade finisher medals, (used) trophies, the works. Kudos to the Rock Racing people on a super fun event. Since we’re moving out of state I likely won’t be back next year to defend my two-time Fastest SHITR moniker. Alas, I may never be a fast SHITR again.

2012

Those who have been reading for a while may remember that 2012 was a breakthrough year for me racing endurance events. I had an unexpectedly successful year:

• 3 wins
• 9 podiums
• 18 top tens
• 26 total races

2012 Race placings

2013

I hoped I would be able to follow that up with a similarly good year in 2013. In the back of my head I knew I was getting older, and I am susceptible to injury, so success was far from certain. Fortunately I stayed relatively healthy and my fitness continued to improve throughout the year. My results far and away exceeded my hopes (I finished either 1st or 2nd in half of my races):

• 5 wins
• 13 podiums
• 21 top tens
• 23 total races

2013 Race placings

I focused more heavily on running in 2013 and less on cycling and triathlon, though I still competed well in the other events. As far as middle distance racing goes I hit my peak at age 17-18. Now focusing on longer distances, at age 34 I set Personal Records across the board:

• 1 mile road (4:47)
• 5K road (16:37)
• marathon (3:02:28)
• 50 mile (7:24:??)
• 8 hour (53.64 miles)

I continued to gravitate from road events toward off-road events.

I competed in three types of races I’d never before attempted:

• obstacle course/mud run
• mountain bike
• off-road triathlon

Here’s my final training statistics for the year:

Running

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	131.5 Mile	13	10.1154 Mile
February	87.4286 Mile	10	8.74286 Mile
March	162.84 Mile	17	9.57882 Mile
April	169.12 Mile	16	10.57 Mile
May	133.61 Mile	12	11.1342 Mile
June	127.39 Mile	16	7.96188 Mile
July	200.4 Mile	21	9.54286 Mile
August	151.34 Mile	14	10.81 Mile
September	249.57 Mile	26	9.59885 Mile
October	159.17 Mile	16	9.94813 Mile
November	144.46 Mile	20	7.223 Mile
December	176.76 Mile	22	8.03455 Mile
Total	1893.59 Mile	203	9.32802 Mile

Cycling

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	3.7 Mile	1	3.7 Mile
February	15.2 Mile	4	3.8 Mile
March	123.14 Mile	16	7.69625 Mile
April	114.22 Mile	12	9.51833 Mile
May	157.33 Mile	14	11.2379 Mile
June	217.6 Mile	10	21.76 Mile
July	223.1 Mile	8	27.8875 Mile
August	105.83 Mile	10	10.583 Mile
September	56.66 Mile	9	6.29556 Mile
October	16.45 Mile	4	4.1125 Mile
November	60.91 Mile	6	10.1517 Mile
December	9.31 Mile	2	4.655 Mile
Total	1103.45 Mile	96	11.4943 Mile

Swimming

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	0	0	0
February	3950. Yard	3	1316.67 Yard
March	18900. Yard	11	1718.18 Yard
April	15600. Yard	10	1560. Yard
May	13200. Yard	8	1650. Yard
June	11580. Yard	8	1447.5 Yard
July	2093.61 Yard	2	1046.81 Yard
August	0	0	0
September	1943.61 Yard	2	971.807 Yard
October	850. Yard	1	850. Yard
November	0	0	0
December	0	0	0
Total	68117.2 Yard	45	1513.72 Yard

Walking & Hiking

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	37.64 Mile	12	3.13667 Mile
February	50.6 Mile	21	2.40952 Mile
March	92.9 Mile	37	2.51081 Mile
April	41.5 Mile	21	1.97619 Mile
May	91.75 Mile	33	2.7803 Mile
June	32.03 Mile	21	1.52524 Mile
July	14.8 Mile	8	1.85 Mile
August	45.35 Mile	23	1.97174 Mile
September	59.8 Mile	19	3.14737 Mile
October	80.37 Mile	20	4.0185 Mile
November	55.77 Mile	16	3.48563 Mile
December	37.13 Mile	16	2.32063 Mile
Total	639.64 Mile	247	2.58964 Mile

2014

While 2013 was really a more-of-the-same (and then some) type of year, 2014 is going to be quite different. We plan to move from Saint Louis to Colorado this spring, so we have some changes in store. As far as training goes, I expect it to actually improve a little bit. The proximity to the mountains and the high altitude can really only help.

Of course, there are drawbacks as well. First, I’m not acclimated to the higher elevation, and I have little experience running big mountain climbs and descents. With time, both of these will improve. The bigger problem is that Colorado is the fittest state in the U.S. while Missouri is, well, near the bottom. So not only are races in Colorado more difficult, the competition is much, much stronger.

If I can continue to stay healthy and my training improves and I’m mixing in with better competition, I hope I can rise to meet the additional challenges. But it’s not going to happen immediately, and probably not at all in 2014.

So I’m not expecting great results next year, but I am looking forward to the challenge.

My fourth and final cyclocross race of the year came December 8th with the Missouri State Championship just a few miles away from home. On the one hand this race seemed like it should be a big deal, given that it’s the state championship. One would think there would be riders coming into town from all over the state. On the other hand this race was still part of the local Bubba Cross series, it’s kind of far away for the Kansas City people to come over, it was bitterly cold, the ground was covered with snow and ice, so maybe the turnout would be small. I should have preregistered for the race, but that never even occurred to me.

When I showed up my brake levers were covered with a coat of ice from the short drive over. I chiseled that off, registered, and got ready. I sat down in the back of my car to put my shoes on to avoid standing on the cold, icy ground. Of course, I didn’t fit with my helmet on so I briefly took it off. I did my warm up and made my way to the start area. Less than 10 minutes before the race I remember thinking my helmet didn’t feel very tight. So when I attempted to adjust it I was startled to realize I wasn’t wearing my helmet… which meant I wouldn’t be allowed to race.

I made a mad dash all the way back to my car to get my helmet and I made it back to the starting line about 3 minutes before the start. All the previous Bubba Cross races have a first-come-first-serve start positioning, so it pays to get there early. Now I wouldn’t get a good starting position, which pretty much pre-eliminated me from a good finish.

But wait, this was a slightly bigger race and I noticed they were lining starters up manually. Phew. Are they lining up starters by previous race results (fingers crossed, as I was in the top ten for the series)? Nope, they’re lining up by race number, which was assigned by when you registered. I was the 38th person to register out of 38 starters.

That’s right, I started Dead Fucking Last.

So my race was over before it even started. I had no chance at a podium finish, and virtually zero chance at even a top ten finish.

The race started and I immediately went out wide through deep leaves on bumpy ground in order to pass 5-10 people before the first turn, then another 5-10 people before the second turn. At that point things settled down a bit and I spent the rest of the race moving up one-by-one. The tight turns on top of snow on top of leaves were interesting to say the least. I did fall (very slowly) at one point on a downhill, off-camber, tight turn. I was able to remount without losing any places. My fingers were numb, but aside from that I was dressed appropriately for the weather, so it wasn’t too bad.

I made it up to 12th place by the end, which was fairly anticlimactic. I just got in my car to warm up and drove home. The race was forgettable. At least I can say I passed more people than anyone else in the race. I also ended up 9th place out of 41 for the series, despite only competing in 4 of the 11 races. I guess that’s something.

Sure, 12th place is fine, but it was my 21st highest placing of the 22 races I did this year. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted to end 2013, which had otherwise been pretty remarkable for me.

And I could have easily avoided it.

But I didn’t.

Running

With no long races coming up I haven’t been running as far as usual, but I almost made up for it by running more frequently. Some days I even run twice (dropping Will off at daycare in the morning and then picking him up again in the evening). The bad news is I still have some lingering soreness in my bad knee from the two long races in October. The good news is it’s definitely not getting any worse and seems to be getting better (slowly).

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	131.5 Mile	13	10.1154 Mile
February	87.4286 Mile	10	8.74286 Mile
March	162.84 Mile	17	9.57882 Mile
April	169.12 Mile	16	10.57 Mile
May	133.61 Mile	12	11.1342 Mile
June	127.39 Mile	16	7.96188 Mile
July	200.4 Mile	21	9.54286 Mile
August	151.34 Mile	14	10.81 Mile
September	249.57 Mile	26	9.59885 Mile
October	159.17 Mile	16	9.94813 Mile
November	144.46 Mile	20	7.223 Mile
Total	1716.83 Mile	181	9.48524 Mile

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Cycling

I capped off an abysmal year for my cycling with three super fun cyclocross races (and not much else). I even managed to sneak in a win. Expectations are a funny thing. The few (running) races where I’ve toed the line expecting to win I have always failed. Then a few times I’ve won races where nobody was more surprised by the outcome than me.

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	3.7 Mile	1	3.7 Mile
February	15.2 Mile	4	3.8 Mile
March	123.14 Mile	16	7.69625 Mile
April	114.22 Mile	12	9.51833 Mile
May	157.33 Mile	14	11.2379 Mile
June	217.6 Mile	10	21.76 Mile
July	223.1 Mile	8	27.8875 Mile
August	105.83 Mile	10	10.583 Mile
September	56.66 Mile	9	6.29556 Mile
October	16.45 Mile	4	4.1125 Mile
November	60.91 Mile	6	10.1517 Mile
Total	1094.14 Mile	94	11.6398 Mile

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Walking & Hiking

Month	Distance	# Workouts	Avg per Workout
January	37.64 Mile	12	3.13667 Mile
February	50.6 Mile	21	2.40952 Mile
March	92.9 Mile	37	2.51081 Mile
April	41.5 Mile	21	1.97619 Mile
May	91.75 Mile	33	2.7803 Mile
June	32.03 Mile	21	1.52524 Mile
July	14.8 Mile	8	1.85 Mile
August	45.35 Mile	23	1.97174 Mile
September	59.8 Mile	19	3.14737 Mile
October	80.37 Mile	20	4.0185 Mile
November	55.77 Mile	16	3.48563 Mile
Total	602.51 Mile	231	2.60827 Mile

Coming off the previous week’s 1st place finish I had a bit too much confidence leading up to the Bubba Cross #7 race in Chesterfield. It didn’t take long for circumstances to put me back in my place. The instant I arrived at the race venue in what must be the bumpiest field in the midwest, I knew it was going to be rough. Along with wind, excessive bumps put me at a particular disadvantage to the guys I would normally race head to head against, many of whom happen to weigh 30-40 lbs more than me. I spent a lot of time airborne, and I had a very hard time getting any sort of rhythm going during the race.

The temperature was below freezing, which was something I’ve never experienced during a bike race before. I overdressed and shed clothes like crazy between my warmup and the race. Aside from some glazed eyes during the first few minutes, the cold temperature wasn’t really an issue.

I started near the front and hit the first turn in 4th place. The two leaders opened a large gap and after half a lap I passed a guy to move up to 3rd. Then reality set in. I couldn’t power through the straightaways like I normally do. I couldn’t ride in a straight line. I got passed and dropped back to 3rd. Then 4th. Then 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. Things were going poorly and showing no signs of improving. Furthermore, I simply wasn’t having fun. Something had to change.

About half way through the race I just grabbed the tops of my handlebars near the stem (to limit the excessive vibrations), shifted to a bigger gear, and just tried to power my way down the bumpy straightaway like I’ve seen Spartacus and Boonen do so many times on the cobblestones. The lack of power in my skinny legs is my achilles heal in cycling, but the straightaways weren’t that long. As the race went on I did better and better by cornering without using my brakes. Other guys were starting to get tired and I was just getting started so I was able make up some big deficits to move up a few places.

I finished the race in 6th place. If it had been 100 meters longer I probably would have made it up to 4th. But I didn’t, and that’s okay. I managed to salvage a race that was going poorly and was unenjoyable for me in the beginning. The next time I face a course this bumpy I’m going to ride my mountain bike.

The Bubba Cross race at Concordia seminary is the closest bike race to my house, about a half mile away. I missed it two years ago. I barely made it in time to race last year. This year I had the race on my calendar and I was determined to make it on time. The turnout for the C race was slightly smaller than last week (41 vs. 52), but there was still a sizable group of riders. This course was far more technical than last week (more turns, fewer straightaways) and it had a few hills. And although the ground was dry, many of the tight turns had leaves on the ground, which was kind of like riding on ice.

I lined up in the front row and went like a bat out of hell for the first turn, reaching it in maybe 3rd or 4th place. Early in the first lap 1-2 people passed me. After bunny hopping the log pile on the downhill backstretch I started to get my act together. I passed a guy, then another guy. On the second lap I was in 3rd again. Within the span of 5 seconds #2 slid out in a corner, then #1 stopped on the side with a mechanical. I found myself in unfamiliar territory, accidentally leading the race. But the lead was short lived, as my teammate Reid passed me on the uphill section. He got a good gap on me before I started to claw my way back.

We spent most of the race 1 & 2. Occasionally a guy would start to make up ground from behind before we would pull away. With about two laps to go I heard a guy come up behind and we weren’t able to shake him loose. With half a lap to go he made a good pass around me to wedge himself between us. I was a bit surprised to see this guy riding a mountain bike rather than a CX bike, which told me a thing or two about him–notably that he can probably take these corners much faster than we can. If one of us was going to win we would have to stay in front of him through the last technical section.

Photos by Melissa

Coming up the long gradual hill on the last lap the pace slowed and #2 moved out wide to start to make a pass. This could have been it–game over. If I had had time to think I would have recalled the brilliant (and hilariously 80’s) bicycle racing movie American Flyers.

“There are these decisive moments in bike racing alright. When the moment came, I gave up.”
Marcus Sommers (American Flyers)

But I didn’t have time to think. This was the decisive moment. And I wasn’t ready to give up. Before #2 was able to get completely around my teammate I rode out even wider, where it was even bumpier and leaf-covered, and pushed up the hill as hard as I could. I managed to pass them both before the next technical section. Coming out of the final few turns onto the finishing straight in a grassy field I had a very slim advantage. I buried my head and pushed the pedals as hard as I could to the finish line, all the while seeing his wheel catching up with mine. We crossed the line in a photo finish, with my wheel literally a couple inches ahead of his.

The sprint wasn’t pretty. If Cosmo Catalano were to make a How the race was won video about this event, he would no doubt mock my seated position, small chainring, and hands on the brake hoods. But that’s okay, it got the job done.

The #2 finisher was an endurance mountain biker. Usually, I do better the longer the race, but against him I’m not sure that would have been the case. My teammate Reid rounded off the podium in 3rd place. I really expected him to win (he led most of the way). But things change. And at least one of us took 1st.

Photo courtesy of Reid Cranmer

Bike races usually pay a cash prize for the top finishers. I’ve earned small cash prizes a few times, and I actually broke even twice. The $30 payout I received for 1st place in this race marks the first time I actually came out ahead once you subtract out the $25 race entry fee.

I’m moving up in the world.