Syllamo's Revenge 50

I registered for Syllamo in January thinking that I would focus on MTB racing for the year. I had plans to do Syllamo, and travel to Colorado, Wisconsin, among other places. Plans change, and all of a sudden Syllamo was the only MTB race on my race schedule.

I didn't think I was very prepared for a 50 mile race on all singletrack. I have been preparing for 10-20 mile distances, sandwiched between two other disciplines.

Not going wasn't an option, as Wes and I wanted to race together. He also didn't think he was very prepared due to another discipline. I have been riding quite a bit more than Wes, and knew that I was pretty fit, but just wasn't sure how fit I was over 50 miles. We talked about whether we wanted to stay together or not, and we both hoped that we would.

After we got to our hotel and had dinner, we swapped out my skinny tyres for some more suitable to muddy conditions. We heard that they had two inches of rain on Thursday, with drizzle all day Friday. I'm so glad I did - the amount of Stan's left in my tyres was probably not good. I had a nice booger in one. And the new Mud X/XDX combo hooked up awesome on the trail, in both muddy spots and dry spots.



I slept crappy the night before (big surprise), we got up early and headed to pick up our race packets. When I saw my race number, 6, I knew it was going to be a good day. I have a good history with that number... I didn't say anything to Wes, but showed him the number - he asked if I was kidding.

We rode around a bit then took our spots at the start line on the third row. The start was fast, like we knew it would be. We fought through traffic up the initial mile long climb to get to the singletrack in good position. I had watched the other women at the start and up the climb, so I knew I was first into the singletrack. Wes went in right behind me and we rode and passed people together. After awhile we got into open space and passed each other back and forth as each of us would bobble. We stopped briefly at the first aid station (mile 15) so I could dig my gel flask from my pocket.

Up to that point I felt great and was riding pretty well. I was absolutely nailing the descents and Wes was riding the technical uphills really well. Wes said he was working to keep up with me on the descents, so that made me feel pretty good. We were really having fun together and marveling about trail conditions both good and bad. We were going at a pace that was pretty comfortable. Not too hard up the hills, but strong enough to keep a good pace. The trail was not in too bad of shape. There were the normal hills covered with the slipperiest rocks imaginable and mud, then there spots that were completely dry.

At about mile 24, Wes' rear wheel started rattling and he asked me if it looked like he broke a spoke. I didn't see anything, but at the top of a climb, he stopped and looked and a spoke was broken and the whole wheel was about to explode. Game over.

He told me to go and that he would see me at the finish. I descended to checkpoint 2 at mile 26 and filled up with what they told me was Heed. It was water. The technical stuff on this section didn't seem so bad. I was riding both the uphills and downhills faster than the guys I was riding with. The super long ascent to checkpoint 3 (mile 35) was not as bad as I remembered and I dropped the three dudes I was riding with. I really, really wanted to open it up on this climb, but really tried to hold it back.

When I got to the top at CP3, Wes surprised me and asked if he could get me anything. He got me some salt pills as I filled up my gel flask. I took off pretty quickly, looking forward to the last section of trail. The last section is so fast. I was not touching brakes on the descents, powering out of the saddle on the steep climbs... I felt great. Then I ran out of water. My Camelback had been leaking for awhile leading up to the race. I thought maybe I should get a new reservoir, but it was the last thing on my mind and I really didn't think it was that big of a deal. It was just a drip.

A drip over along period of time is a lot. Put that drip under a little pressure and it gets to be a stream. Several times I looked down and saw a steady stream coming from the mouthpiece. I should have been smarter, but I didn't think it was leaking that much.

I rode at least the last 10 miles with no water. I had filled up with "Heed" at CP 2 and my pack felt heavy enough at 3, so I didn't refill. Whoops.

I kept hoping I would come upon a bottle someone else had dropped. I contemplated asking someone who had pulled off the trail for a swig... but if they've stopped riding, they must be worse off than me, so I always kept going. I really was riding so well the last few miles, so I wanted to nail it, but once I ran out of water, I was a little scared of cramping, or whatever else. I think once I had the water issue, I started thinking a little too much. Whatever. I finally hit the "wall" on the last climb up to the fire road descent and just tried to smoothly get through it. I braked the whole way down to the pavement, as a wreck or flat is not ideal in the last mile.

I crossed the line in 5:32:29 and Wes was there waiting to take my bike. He could've gotten a ride back to the finish from CP3, but would've risked not seeing me finish... So he hiked a bike 4 miles from the CP to the finish to get there to see me. I was pleasantly surprised to go so fast this year. I wish Wes could have finished too, so my win is a little bittersweet. But, nonetheless I'm thrilled with how I raced and with the win, considering the competition. The women's race was stacked this year! We had 21 finishers, 2/3 of which finished in under 7:30. That's a fast field! The nerd in me looked at the times, and the only fields that were faster comparatively were the Men's SS, and the Men's 29 and Under. 30-39 and 40-49 were about equal. The women were fast this year!


My dirty bike afterwards was actually a pretty easy clean-up. The rock in the background is my trophy. This is also a good look at the exceptional MudX/XDX tyre combo. It was stellar!


I am pleased to add this nice trophy to my collection. And pleased to improve on the 3rd in 2009 (on a SS).

A huge thank you goes out to Steve Parker and all those who helped to organize and support the race. Checkpoints were great and the course was well-marked. The salad, pasta, and bread were amazing at the finish! Thank you for running such a superb event.

The Bad: I need to work on my pacing over a long distance. I felt that it could be improved... Attend to equipment issues if you know you have them. I swapped my tyres, why didn't I swap my Camelback reservoir? Bring clothing for every temperature. I forgot a baselayer, so I was forced to wear a vest which restricted access to my jersey pockets (gel flask and salt pills). I need to work on remounting my bike. Not sure if it's the new bike or what, but my CX style mount is non-existent right now.

The Good: I'm bike fit. The running legs are good after 50 miles (Wes went to get the car and drove by without seeing me, forcing me to run after the car. Nice!). Technical skills are pretty solid.

Looking Forward: I am taking a few days off the bike (grit in the chamois does wonders) and running and swimming instead. Afterall, my run is now the weakest of the three. Slightly ironic. Whatever. I'm working on it. Hopefully I'll be able to ride comfortably by the Thursday Night TT ride, because I really want to go.

Next race is XTERRA Eureka Springs on June 11.

I am a triathlete

And I couldn't be more proud to call myself one. There are days (like 4 days ago) when I scoffed at the sport, but - after competing, finishing, and pushing myself - I can now say my attitude was wrong.

I am not sure there is any other sport where you can have such a variety of people with different backgrounds and motivations competing with and against each other. And cheering for each other, sometimes even WHILE racing. The camaraderie and fellowship was astounding to me. I guess I have only been involved in sports where this is not necessarily the case (that's a blog post by itself, and I don't think I will ever go there). I found that what some of the competitors accomplished today was absolutely astounding and I admire everyone from the overall winner to the lantern rouge. Everyone did something really amazing today and pushed themselves to the limit in the same arena.

After racing today, I wonder what took me so long to come around to wanting to participate in a triathlon, but however this came about, I am ready now and I loved every miserable second of it.

First - a big thank you to UltraMax for running such a fabulous event. It was very smoothly run - how on earth did they do this with 900 athletes?? Thank you to Chapman Heating and Air Conditioning for sponsering the event and handling the aid stations. Sorry I "missed" the trash can. I hope you laughed at me for spilling water all over myself. And also thank you to other sponsors, especially Cycle Extreme and The Starting Block. Also a big thank you to the Columbia Police Department. They controlled all the intersections so we could roll through without having to worry about traffic. It was phenomenal! How often do you get to roll through lights? Also thank you to the people who gave me advice and encouragement in the weeks leading up to the race. I really, really appreciate every bit of it.

The Race:

I got to the transition area at 5:30 this morning. I had most everything ready to go last night, so all I had to do was let the dogs out, make coffee, throw the whole-wheat biscuits in the oven, eat my banana, take salt pills, out everything in the car and go. I got a good spot to put my bike and had a pink towel to lay all my gear out on so I could pick it out. I also strategically placed my bike near a soccer goal. The back of the net is so appealing...

I laid out all my stuff and realized my singlet was still hanging in the bathroom. Taking a very experienced triathlete's advice, last night I showered and tried to put on the singlet while wet. Yeah, doesn't work so hot. I didn't really want to swim in it but trying to put it on while wet changed my opinion.

I drove home, grabbed the top, drove back. And wondered what to do next. I need this time to prepare. I can't show up and hurry, hurry and then start. I need to chill a little before I start and prepare myself mentally. The husband would totally show up 10 minutes prior to start and be okay with it! Not for me.

I eventually wandered into the pool area, and we eventually lined up for the swim. We self-seeded ourselves according to projected swim time. With the way I've been training, I seeded myself 15ish people back at 5:30 for a 400 meter swim, and I honestly thought that was slow. The swim was a 400 meter swim, where you started in lane 8 and got out of the pool in lane 1 (so as someone pointed out afterwards, we really swam closer to 425). I was not happy with my swim at all. I felt stiff, the turns were rough (you had to turn and duck under the lane line at the same time), and I had to stop and breaststroke a few times due to congestion. Not happy about it, but it is what it is. From the swim start to entrance to the transition, my time was 6:55.

This transition went well. Not great but not awful. I was a bit awkward mounting my bike, but as since I didn't practice this at all, my quasi cyclocross mount was okay. I didn't really ever feel smooth and powerful on the bike - the way you feel when everything is just flowing. Didn't have it today and kind of suffered through the 14 mile bike. I can say though that my cornering was spot on. The wind really made the course very tough, as there was never a spot (maybe 200 meters?) where you had a full tailwind. The Old 63 climb was partial tailwind, everything else had gusting crosswinds and fierce headwinds. I typically struggle when it's super windy, so I just tried to stay on top of my gear and get my forearms on the bars when I could. During the headwind sections, I really was yearning for a TT bike. Getting in the drops is not enough and handling in high winds with your forearms sitting on the bars is slightly iffy, especially with the crappy we-had-a-bad-winter road conditions.

Dismount was fine (thank you XTR pedals) and I was able to run around a few people right at the curb because I got off and running with my bike quickly (thank you cyclocross skills). Transition was fine. They had some issues with timing, so I don't know my transition times. The transitions and the bike are all rolled into one time. SO with both transitions and the bike, that was 44:26, a 20.3 mph average including the transitions.

Before the race, I knew I just needed to get past the first 5-10 minutes of the run, then I would be okay, and that's just how it happened. The first mile seemed to take an eternity, but right afterwards the legs started to loosen up and I felt much better. I tried to take some water at the first aid station, but just ended up splashing myself in the face and getting my glasses wet. Fail. I laughed at myself, so I hope anyone else who saw it laughed too. I finished the 3 mile run in 20:37 (6:53 miles), putting my overall time at 1:11:58.

I won the female age-group overall and finished 7-8 minutes ahead of my nearest competitor in my age group. My time as is would have placed 5th in the elite classification.

When I went on the podium, the announcer said that since he had never heard of me, he really looked closely at the results to make sure they were correct. Hahaha - he also asked me how long I had lived in Columbia. I admitted that I had been here awhile and he accused me of hiding out. It was a very nice compliment!

Where do I go from here? I really, really enjoyed the race today. I almost feel bad saying that, because I have made a big time and money investment into doing XTERRA's this year. I know I will have fun doing those too, but there is significantly more travel involved.

For now, the plan is to race the Syllamo's Revenge MTB 50 miler on May 14th, then the XTERRA Eureka Springs on June 11. I know I will want to race another road tri soon, so I am going to have to figure that out. I also know that I will want to be the best I possibly can - and to succeed on the road that will partly involve a significant economic investment, which I am not sure is in a PhD student and a medical resident's reach. I already have a dream MTB, so that part is taken care of for XTERRA.

I know what I need to do training wise now though and I know what short-term investments I need to make (aka a one-piece skin suit). The best part? I know I can do better. I can improve every single aspect of my fitness to be a better triathlete. The swim fix is easy - I need to get into harder sets earlier in my workout, so I require less of a warm-up. The bike is nowhere near where it should be and the lack of high intensity workouts showed today. The run? I just recently started to enjoy running again, so I just need to run more.

Can I go ride now?