Amber's Adventures: February 2011

It's been a busy couple weeks for me. The new job started and it's great to be back working.... and getting a paycheck! I moved out of the van and into a place of my very own. My mom packed up and is moving all the way to Greenville, SC. Plus the biggest storm of the year hit the Sierras meaning lots of rain on the California side and lots of snow on the Nevada side.

Keeping me sane through the whole process has been Bliksem. She needs to get outside to play at least twice a day so it keeps me moving. Anyone that has had a dog knows how motivating they can be to keep you going. They are so genuinely excited to just be outside running that it is hard not to be motivated around them. With just me at the house it's a bit tricky to get her all the exercise she needs as it often means walks at 5am before work and again at 8pm after work. We're getting it done though and it's a great way to wind down after a busy day at work.

Nighttime walk at nearly 9pm. With the recent snowfall it's still really light outside.

Today's run was slow..... really slow because we were breaking trail in knee deep snow part of the way, but it was a lot of fun!

Crazy dog loves playing in the snow....

In my boots and knee length jacket I'm not nearly as agile as the little rocket dog.

Another good day playing in the park.

Shortly life will settle down back into a rhythm, but for now I'm just getting the basics done. Walk the dog, eat, sleep, work, and train.

12 hours of Temecula or quieting the voices in my head.....

Long events are always a battle for me especially when I don't train for them. During my whirlwind trip around the southwest I spent some time in Huntington Beach with friends from Ultraman. I heard about this race they were doing about a week before the event, but I didn't have my mountain bike with me on the trip. It was actually still packed in it's box from the return trip from Hawaii in October. On my drive to Reno I had the event in the back of my mind. The last couple years I've been thinking about doing a 24 hr solo race, but I've never had the chance with the rest of my schedule. This would be a good stepping stone to try some of my equipment out and get a feel for spending a day on a mountain bike. I got to Reno 2 days before the race, quickly bought a ticket, and off to the airport I went. Luckily the bike was all packed up already.

It was kind of refreshing to go into an event unprepared. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into or what gear or food I'd need or want. The plan was gels during the lap with NUUN in my camelback. I know bottles would probably be faster, and I could have them all filled before the start, but my bike frame is so small it's hard to get a bottle in and out of the cage. I planned to stop every other lap and fill up and grab a solid food snack of some sort.

The night before the race we stopped and picked up a Monster. I'd seen the 2 sizes of Monster before which I refer to as large and extra large, but at the 7-11 in SoCal they had bucket size.

Trying to organize for a race where I didn't really know what I wanted or needed was a little tricky.

Race morning went smoothly with no pre-race nerves. It's nice doing an event where I have no expectations except to get through 12 hours. I did a super short warm up, and then we were off. I wanted to start the first lap fast because there is nothing worse than getting stuck behind people on a single track descent. The laps were a little longer than 9 miles with 1100 ft of climbing per lap. Lap 1 was a little faster than I wanted to go out, but it was good to be riding with good technical riders.

Woooohooo... it was so much fun being back on my mountain bike. It's been a couple years since I've raced in Temecula and the changes to the trails were nice. The course included more single track and the same great roller coaster descents. I think I had a stupid grin on my face for the first 2 laps. After that the climbs became steeper with every lap, but the descents were still a blast. I had an energy low point about 3 hours into the race and backed off the pace a bit. I also stopped and shoveled more food in my mouth as I passed through base camp. After that I felt slightly better, but as always it's the mental part that is the toughest. When I'm out of shape it's that much harder to fight to stay in the race especially when passing though bass camp every hour. It was a back and forth battle during the middle section of the event. I was having fun, but the body wasn't happy at all. The thoughts vary from I got a good workout in already, 5 hours is a good day, I'll just stop and rest for a bit and then get out and ride a couple hours at the end, my butt hurts, my back hurts, everything hurts, I'm hungry...... and on and on it goes. By the end of the day the voices of self doubt had quieted and I finished 11 laps for a grand total of about 100 miles and 12200 ft of climbing. Not bad for the first mtb ride in 3 months. The night laps were the most fun. It almost felt like I was riding on a completely new course as sections would sneak up on me as I lost perception of time and distance. Can't wait for the next 12 or 24 hr race......

Thanks Keevin and Slater for talking me into coming down to the race and for the hospitality!