What better way to enjoy my trail run than to be with my best friends.
Brett, Zeke & Boston joined me today in Beaver Creek. As you can see we got snow. It is time to bust out the Gore-Tex shoes, it is muddy. Gloves would have been a great idea too.
I must make a special mention of all those who ran the Denver Rock-n-Roll half & full marathon today. In particular, Christy Geyer.
She did an amazing job. Way to go. Thank god the track workouts paid off! I am so proud of her 1:53:35 finish time & her 8:40 pace for 13.1miles. Nice work.
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So I have had a little rest & recovery time from Nationals & have been fighting a cold. I must say our weather has flipped a switch on us in the last week & right now as I write it is SNOWING!
I actually started a workout yesterday on my bike & turned around after stopping to answer a phone call. I realized that I was damp from sweating on the warm up, & by the time I got off the phone, 5 mins later, I was shivering from standing still. I rode back to work, got on a spin bike & did my intervals. A least I would be breathing in warm air. I am glad I didn’t try & be a hero.
Today as you can see it is snowing. I am facing the same dilemma. Do I ride outside or inside? Zeke’s vote is for outside but my lungs are pushing otherwise.
My workouts leading up to worlds are fairly intense. Shorter intervals for the bike & run, VO2 efforts. It’s really important that the rest/ easy days are exactly that, so the intense workouts are productive, without just getting though them. I missed out on getting to the track with Jen this Wednesday morning & it was horrible weather in the afternoon, so I ended up doing my track workout on the Woodway:
Warm up 1 mile on track
12 x 400 at VO2 max interval pace
float 200m (easy jog) between reps
take 3-5 min rest after #4 and #8.
cool down 1 mile
I was not happy about this. I almost puked. I was happy at least that I was able to hold 1:30 – 1:33′s.
Otherwise I am feeling great mentally. My swims have been feeling solid. I usually hate swimming sets of 400 & 500′s. I am getting better at counting (I would forget how many laps I had swum) & they are becoming effortless, where I can actually push the last 150-100m…Hooray
Here are a few more pic’s from Nationals.
I am playing around with the idea right now of what tire to run in Maui. I am excited that we are allowed to pre-ride the course this year. We leave Thursday October 20th.
Here are a few more pics from the run. I suffered & it was definitely not my best run but it was good enough.
So I am off to watch a little shake & bake while knocking out a brick, & the snow continues to fall. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be on a beach in less than 2 weeks.
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To start off I need to mention how lucky I am to have such an amazing support system. Brett puts up with A LOT. I can admit it, I can be selfish when it comes to training. Our weekends can revolve around it or races & he is always on board & understanding. I love you.
Thanks to Bob Branden, my swimming has dramatically improved this year. Bob is the guy who makes you do all the stuff you don’t like doing. For example I never worked on my kick, thought it was a waste of time & mine sucked. I would always do pull or the things in the pool that I felt I was good at. When Bob suggested after our first session that I do 1000m of kicking on my side 4-5 times a week before my swim workouts, I nearly drowned myself. He didn’t make me do it, he just calmly asked “How much do you want it?” Bob thank you, for believing in me. I love & hate you.
Saturday was Xterra National Championships. It was a race that I have been thinking about for a long time. I love the altitude & the climbing & was ready to rock.
My results ended up as follows:
Finish Time 3:04:01
12th Female Overall
1st Amateur Female
1st F35-39
Swim 30:24
I warmed up for a good 10mins doing some drills & trying to relax. I was wearing brand new Aquasphere Kaiman goggles (I love new goggles for a big race, they never fog). I settled into a good pace pretty early. My race stroke is pretty much 3/4 catch up drill. I was surprised I wasn’t getting climbed over like usual. My swim time consists of my swim, the run up the boat ramp & into transition, & transition. I don’t know what my raw swim time was but I know I didn’t crack 25 (i guess that means more kicking on my side & 1 arm backstroke), but it was 3mins faster than last year. Geez the run on the asphalt was ouchy. T1 was pretty smooth, no complaints, but I have decided next time I will try putting my helmet on while I pull my feet out of my wetsuit – multitasking could save a few seconds!
Bike 1:43:22
8th Fastest Female Bike
This was going to be a long day of climbing. It was 12-13 miles before the descent. Brett had reminded me to try & drink early. He said I probably wouldn’t feel like it & he was right. The first 5-6 miles up Wheeler Canyon were kind of in the shade & I didn’t drink much. I had 1 bottle on my bike & had planned to pick up another at the aid station, mile 6. I got a gel down around mile 4 & had some to drink but I realized when I got to Brett I still had half my drink left, oh oh. He called out “Stensland is 1min 30 up”. This lit a fire & I found another gear. I was also now riding with a girl, Heather Lyman, in the 30-34 age group (the beauty of having your age on your leg) I didn’t grab any water & flew through the aid station which I would later regret.
Heather & I rode fairly close for the rest of the race, she is a strong rider. I passed her at the top of the climb before the descent. I was feeling solid on the downhill & caught one of the Pro girls, Carina Wasle who I couldn’t quite figure out how to pass. I sat on her wheel for what felt like forever, frustrated trying to find somewhere to squeeze by. I got a little too close right before a great place to pass & had to jump on the brakes, slid out & hip checked on a chalky corner, my own fault, silly billy…ouchy.
I passed her on the fire road soon after & stepped it up for the last 2 miles. I wanted to get a little more space between Heather & I for the run. The course keepers called out “First Amateur Female” as iIcame through, I wanted to keep it that way.
Run 50:15
T2 was smooth but I was feeling the effects of not drinking enough. I usually have a small water bottle that I have the option of grabbing & running with but not today… DOH. Not really thinking, I didn’t grab a gel either, not that I could wash it down with anything, but I could have had it later with some water from an aid station.
Straight off the bat is a good mile of climbing, yay! The first mile was tough & not my usual pace, seeing mile marker 2 was, ‘hmm this may be a long run for me’. Somewhere just before mile 3, I came across 2 cows or horses in the middle of the single track. I thought I was losing it for a minute. They looked like 2 black ponies from 15ft away, all I could see was their bums. I cleared my throat, they heard me, they step politely off to the side for a second & I kept running. I am still not sure if they were cows or small horses, what a trip. I was just grateful they didn’t kick me as I shimmied past them, cause i wasn’t stopping.
I quickly forgot about this encounter & thoroughly absorbed myself in my cadence. Mile 3-4 was another decent climb with no shade… ‘water’. Somewhere between 4 & 5 was an aid station which I stopped at for both water & gatorade. I kept looking to see who was coming just in case. I don’t usually stop at aid stations but I figured I may regret it. I figured that most of the race was downhill from here & tried to go with gravity. This year’s run course was longer than last year. I knew my run wasn’t going to be very fast but it was good enough & I knew I wasn’t going to get caught. The last uphill sucked but I new I was in the clear, which put a smile on my face.
I crossed the finish line & heard them announce that I was the First Female Amateur & threw my arms up.
I am absolutely blown away that every athletic goal I have set so far for this season has been achieved. I have challenged my own limiting beliefs & now believe that the impossible is possible. The cherry I want is the first Amateur title at worlds… till then, I am convinced that I need to work on my run. I just found out that it’s 7.5miles & that ain’t fun when it’s on sand. So till then I will be laying off the ice-cream after tonight!
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Location:Ogden, Utah
So far so good. Back in July, Beaver Creek Xterra, was to date…the race of my life. It was one of those days that everything came together.
I swam under 25mins, had a seamless bike & ran just as fast as I have run that course on fresh legs. I was pretty stoked being the 6th girl across the line (in a field of 11 Pro Women) & 1st Amatuer Female. Not bad huh?
The first week of August, Brett & I visited family in New Hampshire. I raced in 2 Xterra’s while we were there. Race at the Rez was in Burlington, VT & Xterra Stoked was in New Hampshire. It was nice to win both of these events.
Race at the Rez, July 31, was a technical bike course. I certainly left some skin on the course. I managed to twist my handle bars enough that I needed the multi-tool that I left in transition! Luckily, I met the incredible Stephanie Landy who put me back in the race, she unfortunately was dealing with a broken derailieur.
I managed to finish strong enough to be the first overall female. The next weekend after a week of eating pretty much non-stop was Xterra Stoked, NH. This was a particularly special race. I was Kim’s (Brett’s Sister) 1st Xterra. It rained pretty much all day for this race. The tree roots & rocks were slick. It really paid off to be conservative over tree roots & rocks. It was frustrating to slide out on the easiest stuff. There were no crashes in this race.
I will post a better race report of these soon!
I also raced in Granby, a few weeks ago at the last Mountain States Cup of the year. This was my 1st finish in Cat 1. The Crested Butte race ended with a broken chain at mile 19 out of 40!
My luck wasn’t that much better, but I finished & won my age group. Pre-riding the day before made me aware I had next to no Stans left in my tires. The spare tube didn’t hold up & to be honest it was in the too hard basket with no bike shop open on Sunday blah blah… well I rode Brett’s bike the next day. Not the race plan I thought I would go with, but hey a least I had a bike to ride seeing though we drove 2 hours to getting there.
So what’s next…
Xterra National this Saturday in Utah.
I have been pretty run down for the last few weeks, working my butt off in the pool & doing mile repeats at the track. My bike feels amazing, so we will see. My ultimate goal for this race is to be the 1st amateur & win my age group. It is going to be tough field, I am sure I am not the only one who wants to win. Unfortunately we will have to wait till Saturday to find out. I sure am feeling like I have put in the hard work though. So this week is all about resting, eating & sleeping. These are pretty much the things I believe I am most excellent at!
I am going to leave you with some video we took in the pool. We just got a waterproof case for the incredible Drift Innovations HD camera’s we use with Ells Angels. Check it out!
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I have now been riding my Ellsworth Enlightenment 29er for 2 months & love, love love it.
I admit it is the first & only 29er I have ridden, but I am converted. I also have a 26 inch bike, an Ellsworth Truth and love it for riding bigger rocky-drop, downhill type terrain (which to be honest doesn’t happen a ton) but like a favorite pair of jeans, I reach for my 29er carbon first.
My stats are:
Sex: Female
Height: 5’7″
Weight: 130-135lbs
Frame Size: Medium
Type of Rider: Xterra Triathlete & XC Mountain Bike Racing
Getting a 29er just made sense with the type of racing I do. Typically most of the Xterra courses are not super technical (albeit Moab) and the bigger wheels just make it more efficient at covering ground.
The fact that the Enlightenment is a hard tail is hard to believe. Not only because 29 inch tires smooth out the bumps with less rolling resistance, but the carbon frame is designed that the layers actually have some dampening/ absorption properties. It is a structural element of the carbon that allows is to absorb some of the force, so it is a surprisingly smooth ride. I didn’t notice much difference on the trails around where we live in Vail Colorado.
The pro’s for me are: it is more efficient at rolling & it’s light because it’s carbon and a firm tail. Although calling the Enlilghtenment a ‘hard tail’ just sounds too harsh to describe how this baby rolls.
The frame is just flat out sexy! So many dudes give my bike the up and down, like they are checking out a woman. The rolling curvy frame is hot. But don’t be fooled, it does require some TLC. Carbon, although strong, is tough to repair if it is mishandled. I was petrified of falling and scratching my bike for weeks. Whenever I took a digger my husband would yell “Did you scratch your bike” instead of baby, are you alright?” I guess the sexy bike had his attention more than me!
Now that being said, I am generally pretty fussy with my stuff. Carbon frames typically cannot handle the same forces as a metal bike. They are strong and sturdy, but they require you to be careful. Packing them in the car for instance, I always wrap t-shirts and old towels along the frame. Now this doesn’t mean you can’t ride it in fear of crashing, rest assure I have done plenty of that. Yes the bike may scratch but it buffs out really well. Just be mindful of having another bike or something rubbing up against the frame.
I also recommend going tubeless. I find I can run my tire pressure lower on a 29er. At 130-135lbs, I personally run around 24 psi, maybe a little more for a bouncy hard hitting downhill course. Running a lower tire pressure also has the benefits of absorbing some of the bumps and producing a softer feeling ride.
Now those ladies who area scared of getting a 29er, don’t be. I won’t lie, it does take a little adjustment. You feel higher off the ground and cornering takes a little more input, but if cross country events and ultra endurance is your thing, get yourself an Enlightenment.
The stand over height is also amazing, there is a ton of clearance. The bigger wheels are are harder to accelerate but they are incredibly efficient at rolling over stuff like jumbly rock. I am definitely covering a lot more ground efficiently compared to my 26. Needless to say I do find myself getting out of the saddle a little more. I put this down to having to accelerate the bike to overcoming the rotational weight of a bigger wheel. Also, since it is a hardtail, there is no “bob” when you climb out of the saddle. I look at it as an opportunity to switch muscle groups and stand for a bit. I don’t find I have much trouble getting it up to speed. Although, I am not sure I would win a sprint on it!
I enjoy the feel of control & stability I have on looser ground, it is calming. I have a narrower straight handle bar and adjusted pretty quickly to cornering. One thing I have noticed is that I do bottom out on my pedal every now and then. I have to be more mindful of which part of the pedal stroke I am in when I get to more technical terrain, again this is an easy adjustment.
One of the feature of my bike I like are, the gear indicators. The little red lines are easy quick reminders of what gear I am in. This is especially helpful in a long ride when fatigue starts to set in. I think this is standard on the newer Shimano XT kit.
My bigger camelBak Podium water bottle fits in the medium frame just fine. Although I find it easier to get it out of the cage with a side mount. I went with Arundel Sideloader from Moontime Cyclery and love it, it is so much easier to get my bottle in and out on the trail.
All in all, I love it. And I could talk/write about it forever. Please comment or send an email if you have specific questions on it.
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Today was the first race of our local mountain bike series. I have to say I thought it was going to pour with rain. But it was a gorgeous day.
Our ‘Angels’ got off to a great start considering they didn’t get the opportunity to pre-ride with the rain. There were a lot of questions about what to expect on the course. Pam let them know that they would go under a bridge & they should be ready for a short steep climb after a tight turn under the bridge. Great tip!
When the girls took off, I did the same to try & warm up. Half way through the sage, I saw Karen & Estefania. Some of the faster Men’s Sport racers were catching them on their 2nd short loop. They were a little rattled by being overtaken. They had no where to go in the sage single track. Unfortunately some of the guys racing were not particularly polite, in fact the girls thought they were jerks. After a few bumped handlebars & “get out of my way”s it was enough to fire them up & they kept on. These girls are tough.
I have to say, I was a little nervous for them. I can remember too clearly the feeling of thinking I was in the way of the fast people all the time. Everyone is racing, unfortunately some get a little carried away with the competition & forget their manners!
I saw the girls at the finish & they were all smiles, regardless.
Next it was my turn:
Pro Women & Vet Expert Men were the 2nd waved to take off. It was a mellow start. I put myself at the back of our wave & took it easy. To my surprise it was not ‘too’ hard to hang with the ‘big boy’s. I climbed well & felt solid. Through the sage, I followed Paul Gorbold & another Single Speeder. Having a wheel to follow & see what was coming up was helpful, so I took it as a chance to recover, if you can call it that!
Heading into the long lap, off the bike path, a guy fell in the bushes. He was obviously upset while people tried to sneak by him, I giggled to myself & reminded myself to relax. The short punchy climb was a train of people & everyone was busy listening to their own wheezing. I was really pleased with my downhills, I passed a few boys & managed to carry some speed into the climb.
On the last long loop, I was surprised “Oh wow it’s nearly over”. Not that I had too much gas in the tank, but it was a short race. I thought I would try pushing a little harder & play a game of ‘who can I catch’. I saw Wizza & Baker & was unable to utter a word I was wheezing so hard. The single track was a little tough with where the sun was sitting & unfortunately I did not have a wheel to follow. Courtney Gregory, was right on mine & he was pleased he had someone to follow he told me. On the last part of the course, I could see Brett ahead, this was some motivation to get on the gas. I knew I wouldn’t catch him, but I tried to narrow the gap. Then Courtney tried to sprint me to the finish line, I wasn’t going to have a bar of it & sprinted him right back, we crossed together & LG heckled him.
Unfortunately my time was not recorded & I wasn’t listed on the results at the after party. I picked up 2nd in Pro Women & won myself some dosh. I actually finished in 52:40 although the results say 53:40. Single Speed took off 1min after our wave & I crossed with Courtney who finished in 51:40. Now, it doesn’t really matter, but officially, I did beat my husband! I am only proud of that because he is always crushing me & I obviously think he is crazy fast. If he didn’t fall, the results would not quite be the same.
After the race Jen & I were slated to do a brick. We threw on running shoes & completely polished our legs off with a 25min run around Bailey’s Gulch & back to Peter’s house. We felt like such Tri Geeks. It was fun to chat & wind down from the race with Jen. She had a great race too & came 2nd in Expert Women. We headed to the Dusty Boot & celebrated with a beer!
Hooray, race#1 went smooth & I kept it rubber side down. Till next time…
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Location:Eagle Classic
I think this race may be my favorite race of the season. This is the 2nd year that Pam & I have done this & racing as a Duo. It is nice to have a team mate & it is surprising how many people from Vail make the 6hr trek to Cortez for this race.
I was aware of where I wobbled off course last year in the first 2 miles in the sand. I was pretty thrilled with myself as I cruised past a guy who was sitting where I was last year. I knew I was up front with some speedy riders & to be honest was crossing my fingers that I cleared all the techy parts. I didn’t want to be “that” girl that held everyone up. I held my own & I was feeling really proud of myself.
I jumped on & kept riding. I could tell that it was not going to last long but was hoping it would get me home. Most of the tougher stuff was done by mile 13. I could already feel the front getting flatter & when I hit something hard & felt it touch the rim, I knew I didn’t have long. I should have stopped then but… I waited till I came through the last technical part & the front tire totally went & I flew over the handle bars.
I had to put a tube in & was low on CO2. I got the tire almost full & ran out. I call down the train line of people for a spare CO2. Thanks to a guy called Kevin – whom I now love. He stopped & threw me a spare.
Unfortunately by this time I was at the back of the pack & had to deal with ducking & weaving through the slower riders to make up time. My first lap 1:45 was not terrible time-wise but considering Wizza pulled a 1:28, it definitely did not put us in a great start.
Lap 2 – 1:34
Redemption. I was killing it till ‘Tuffy Rim’ claimed me. I wasn’t going super fast, I just wiped my nose & by taking my hands off the handle bars hit something & flew over the handlebars onto my L shoulder & the back of my hand. It looked pretty bad as everyone who passed me tried to stop & I told them I was fine & to keep riding but I wasn’t moving so I am sure they didn’t really believe me. Hell, I didn’t believe me.
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Location:Cortez, CO
Looks like I am not the only one that has the competitive spirit, go get them Tavyn and Brenna!
Location:Hanover, NH
Race Day was perfect weather. Blue skies, temps starting at 60˚ moving into 70’s, warm but not hot. The water on the other hand was freezing, 62˚.
I rode my Ellsworth Truth. I preferred the ‘Lust’ tires on it. It was an easy choice. My 29er had an issue with the front brake. Brett & I pre-rode & I found I was locking out the back brake on the loose rocky descents & the front wasn’t quite engaging so – 26er it is. Thanks to Ben @Moontime everything shifted & worked smoothly… now it was up to the rider.
The transition area was in the shade in the morning which made it really tough to keep warm. I put my wetsuit on a little earlier than usual. Brett rolled in right around 8am, I was due to start at 8:30am. Xterra start times are so civilized I love it. I liked where we were staying, Montelago Village Viera, especially that we had a kitchen was unexpected. It was a pain to get to the room with the bikes though. Next year I would stay at Loew’s again. Loew’s was actually closer to the race start & was gorgeous. The beach and the pools were much nicer. If you stayed on the ground floor like we did it was really easy with the bikes & they are pet friendly.
Swim
36:03
The water was freezing. It was a deep water start. The Ice-cream headache went away in the first 5 minutes to be replaced by some calf cramps, not horrible, just annoying. The mosh pit at the start wasn’t too bad. No smacks to the head just a little groping. I will always be confused with the swim. What feels smooth is usually horrible. I felt fitter & not exhausted getting out of the water, but maybe that is because I was SLOW. I did note that the pros times were slower this year about 4-5mins longer & our transition time was added to the swim time. I hate that, I wish they would use chip timing. I have resolved that I was a little complacent on the swim & didn’t sight nearly enough. I foolishly relied on the crowd & bubbles around me to send me in the right direction. The exit of the swim was super steep and they ground was just dirt and rock, so your feet were cold and numb enough but it still kind of hurt running to T1.
Bike
1:43:12
Frozen feet made getting socks on a chore. I struggled to get blood flowing to my hands to change gears early on, but as soon as we hit the dirt & were out of the shade, I warmed up. This first half of the 2 lap course was climbing. Keeping my head up while climbing was key they were steep & loose. Keeping an eye on traffic ahead gave me enough room to slide by anyone who faultered on these.
The first lap felt strong: 51mins. I lost it a little on the 2nd lap. I lost some confidence, with a silly fall on a downhill, nothing huge, just disappointing. I lost a lot of speed to get through the sandy wash that followed & then a steep ascent, a lot more energy expended than necessary. I started to doubt myself, not good. Confidence is everything. I am usually much more aggressive on the bike but not having been outside on my bike was definitely proving to be a huge disadvantage. It just goes to show how fitness & strength really is only half of the bike. Technical skill, time on dirt & balance are so important. I wish it would rain hot water in the Vail Valley.
Run
50:14
I was actually looking forward to the run, a first. I’ve had some positive training runs & days at the track to tease me that there was indeed hope. I ran in my new Montrail Rogue Racer’s. I was worried that they were a little minimalist & the rugged terrain wouldn’t protect my feet, I was pleasantly surprised. The traction was great & they felt light.
Last year the run was 2 laps. This year it was 1. I kept wondering where the turnaround point was – DOH! There was a killer hill (landslide) that we rode down last year (well some did) & this year we ran (hiked) up it. It was hard to get a sturdy footing. I realized that the run was probably 1 lap & started to push a little harder. At least most of the 2nd half was downhill. I was glad I ran with a small water bottle, it was just enough to keep me going. I have never cramped on a run before, I tried telling myself that it was not there & visualizing it relaxing & leaving my body. It did leave me, but my inner thigh remained tight. I was happy with my run. For future reference I may want to take a closer look at the course map. For this time of year I am stoaked with my run. I know that there is plenty of room for improvement & I am really positive about getting there. This is a great place to start from early season.
I finshed hyperventilating after crossing the finish line & proud I had won my way to Xterra Worlds. I finshed in 3:09, 1st 35-39. Good times, but a lot of work to be done on the bike.
Primal Wear are amazing. They are making my tri suit and all our Ells Angels Team Apparel. I am going to have an custom tri suit – YEhar, check it out
I am pretty stoaked about this. I won’t have it to race in Vegas but we should have our cycling kits before Pam & I ride 12hours of Mesa Verde, May 7.
I think the bike kits look amazing and I am so proud to be riding on Ellsworth. My new 29er should be in my hot little hands next week! Summer at Ellsworth has been unbelievable & my hero. I love getting new stuff!
Now I just have to go fast enough to warrant having my own custom suit – no pressure!