|
|
March 2008 Team Santa Fe Activities
RACES
Arizona Distance Classic: Valley of Gold Half Marathon
http://www.arizonadistanceclassic.com/
Oro Valley, AZ (north of Tucson)
March 16, 2008
Barb Dutrow 1:43:53 3/25 50+F; 26/481 F; 104/775 total finishers
By Barb Dutrow
Early morning in the spring desert has perfect running conditions. At
7:00 am with temperatures in the 40s, nearly 1000 runners lined up
for the start of the Arizona Distance Classic - a John "The Penguin"
Bingham production. At the starting line, he inspired the runners with
several hilarious comments such as: "You've paid for this, take four
hours, enjoy yourself", "Start off slow and taper". The crowd was
ready to go. The course was a circuitous and hilly out-and-back route
on four-lane asphalt roads that wound through the Dell-Web built
retirement community landscape typical of cities in Arizona.
Fortunately the mountains and the desert-in-bloom provided a scenic
backdrop for the otherwise scenery-
lacking course. While the elevation varied between 2800 and 3200
feet, there were no steep climbs but no flat sections either. Aid
stations were numerous and well staffed with cheering volunteers.
Having completed a 12 mile training run the day before, I went out
conservatively. About mile 10, I picked up the pace and passed
several people including two women, whom I were sure were in my
age group, in the last 100 yards (they weren't). A host of volunteers
greeted you at the finish line to remove your chip, thrust food and
drink in your hand, and take your photo. Many health displays passed
the time while you were waiting for a massage. After the race, clouds
rolled in, wind and rain came. One only hung around long enough for
the awards. The race organization had a bank of computers set up so
that you could immediately check your finish time and position. What
fabulous race organization and a terrific finisher's medal, complete
with a penguin.
More on the race can be found at: http://petersracereports.blogspot.com
Tele Fun Day
Taos Ski Valley
March 23 2008
Carl Gable 2nd overall (2 minutes, 21 seconds)
This is a festive race that has been run at Taos Ski Valley for many
years. About twenty five Telemark skiers gathered to race, party and
generally have a good time. This years race was held on the ski cross
course below the Kachina chair. The start was a steep drop down a
bump field onto the ski cross course, then down the ski cross course.
Part way down the course veered off to a short uphill climb then a
tuck to the finish. A strategic decision not to try to straight line the
bump field paid off since those that tried that strategy generally blew
up at the transition to the ski cross course. Racers were given two
runs and the best time was kept.
Oceanside 70.3 Ironman
http://www.ironmancalifornia.com
Oceanside, California
March 29, 2008
Kim Bear 19/27 age group finish; 7:19:03
JJ Bear 11/13 age group finish: 7:19:03
Ryan Patterson 7:19:03
By Kim Bear
Last year I did the Arizona Ironman which my daughter, JJ watched
via internet. When I got home, she told me she wanted to do an
Ironman in her senior year of high school. I convinced her that a 1/2
Ironman would be a great challenge. Then she convinced her
boyfriend, Ryan to undertake the challenge as well. They would be
two of three 18 year olds in this event with 2000 racers.
Oceanside 70.3 Ironman is an event where you swim 1.2 miles in the
harbor of Oceanside, bike 56 miles into the rolling hills of Camp
Pendleton, and run 13.1 miles along the beach and into beautiful
neighborhoods of Oceanside. We signed up last year and started
training in between soccer and swim season at St. Mikes. We were
nervous about the swim portion, as Jan had taken us on training at
Cochiti the week before the race. Even though we swam in wetsuits,
the water was unpleasantly freezing! I could barely talk because my
lips felt like they were frozen. I was concerned the water at
Oceanside would be just as cold, so we were all dreading the
swim. We drove out to California and were able to swim in the ocean
the day before the event. Cochiti was much colder! My goal was to
stay with JJ through the bike section as she is new to cycling. The
longest she had ever biked in a race was in a 13 mile triathlon (it was
the White Sands and she was exhausted at the end.) However, both
she and Ryan had ridden 50 miles one time to Galisteo and then
back home.
The swim turned out to be our favorite part as we got to swim in the
same wave. They put different age groups together and every 3-4
minutes a group of swimmers would begin the race. They put the
youngest women and the old ladies together. The swim was great.
It was not as cold as Cochiti and was our favorite part. JJ and I
came out of the water within a minute of each other. JJ swam it in
35:12, putting her 6th in her age group and I came out of the water at
36:34 putting me 3rd in my age group. Ryan was a couple of waves
in front of us and he came out in 39 minutes, putting him right in
transition with us. We took off on the bike together and I am really
glad I stayed with them. The ride was beautiful, but J kept bonking. I
ended up handing her food and Gatorade to drink. She found that
she was having a hard time riding and maneuvering the water bottle
in and out of the bottle cage and trying to eat. The "4" hills were
challenging. I actually thought the first one at 30 miles was the "big"
one. We got in from the bike still staying together. We came in at
3:48:16. On the run, since I am very slow; I sent JJ ahead. The
concrete was very hard, but running next to ocean and into
Oceanside was beautiful! I just kept my plodding along pace and we
ended up crossing the finish line together. It was a great experience!
I would definitely do this again. You can't beat that ride on Camp
Pendleton. Our time was 7:19:03 which is our PR (personal record)
as it was the first time for us to do a 70.3 Ironman.
Training Events
San Ysidro Dirty Century
2008 New Mexico Endurance Series
http://nmes.wordpress.com/nmes-events/san-ysidro-dirty-century
March 15, 2008
Jan Bear, Loop 1 82 miles in 7:40
Kim Bear, Loop 1 82 miles in 8:40 (There were only 3 solo
women who finished and we all finished at the same time of
8:40; the other women were on tandem)
By Kim Bear
This informal endurance race series started as the sun was just
coming up at 7:05 am. I was riding with 2 other women and Jan rode
by himself. It was very cold, so I led us quickly out on the 6 miles of
pavement. We then had to ride 19 miles of dirt "washer board" road
to a central place called the Natural Gas Compressor
Station (NCGS). We chose to do loop 1 as it was supposed to have
12 miles of singletrack on the White Mesa. It turned out to be a great
choice. The women I was with pushed me to ride a bit harder than I
would of by myself, so I was glad that we stayed together. The White
Mesa was beautiful. In researching it, White Mesa is named for the
color of the gypsum that forms much of the mesa. It is a white
mineral consiting of hydrated calcium sulfate according the BLM. The
terrain would change from red rock, to white gypsum, to ridges with
huge blow holes or springs lending itself to great views. At the
western edge, the Tierra Amarilla Anitcline forms high, narrow mesa
ridges. These ridges were fun single track. However, on the way
back the wind came up and made the ridge ride a bit more
challenging. My friend, Debbi took the time to teach me how to use
my GPS which I will need for the Trans-Portugal Mountain Bike race
in Portugal in June (which is an 8 day staged race; the route is
downloaded daily onto your GPS) Debbi works search and rescue
and is very knowledgable about using GPS.
We headed back to the Compressor station and the wind was
beginning to blow. After a quick lunch, we unanimously decided that
riding the White Mesa loop would be enough for us. We ended back
into Rio Rancho around 3ish having ridden for almost 9 hours and
decided that we would make this an annual event. It was a great
event to begin our endurance training. When we got back, Jan was
already there. While climbing, he felt a pop in his back and as a
result was in quite a bit of pain. This was not the best race for him.
|
