Recreation Through Endurance

The SM100 is less than a month away and I haven't got nearly as much mountain riding in as I did last year or wanted to at this point. I don't care what anyone says, there's no way to duplicate a 2500' climb by doing anything around here. The forest is the only place to be.

I tried the usual suspects to recruit for a week-day daytrip out to Sherando, but no luck. All had jobs or looking for jobs or whatever. I reneged on no-mountains-solo rule to get in some much needed training and headed out early this morning for Big Levels, though there's nothing level about it.

About 6 hours and 50 miles later, I still felt something was supernatural. Strangely, I had an eery feeling, like I had experienced a cycling ghost. Physical near-exhaustion, barely seeing or speaking to a soul all day, pedaling without breaks for hours, listening to just crunching rocks and compressing pine needles, grainuals of the mountain covering my body. The rain washed the sweat off, and the sweat washed the rain off. I felt alive from experiencing effort few attempt, but lifeless for lack of human contact. I had some kind of company with me.

Hopefully, this ghost helps carry me through twice the milage next month. Though I'll have plenty of people to talk to during the race, I'm sure I'll be talking to her a few times.

Liz and I went down to Capital Ale House last night to catch a benefit concert for the downtown trails. That there was even such a thing is pretty cool, the band was good, and the beer was yummy. I chatted up with a bunch of friends - the upcoming SM100 and 18 hour race. Good times.


Before heading down there, we got a call from a couple of drinking friends from when we were dating that who always invite us out, but never make it because work or a race or something else going on. Finally, we decided to hook up with them after leaving the show. We fired up our walking shows and had a 2-alarm response to their emergency call to extinguished our thirst. Liz and I stopped by to drop them a line after rolling down to Halligan's in the Bottom. I'd never been there before, but the place was smoking hot.


One of the girls, Anna, had just completed her first sprint tri and was looking to do an olympic distance this fall. Props to her.

Old Cassette:

New Cassette:

The Good-Eye Award goes to the one who call say what's wrong with the old one and why it's been giving Liz so much trouble.

Surveillance cameras. Security Guards. Police chases. Hospital Visits. Breaking news over the stolen bike case here.

I never really got into the Dave Matthews Band until I got to know Liz. Since then, I've found out that he's/they're one of the few band that's better live than in the studio.

"Big Eyed Fish" is about finding your place in life, something we're all striving to do. Maybe each of us has, maybe not. But you can't know unless you keep looking. Even if you have, you may find something better.

As DMB sayss: "He turned red then blue, then purple, so colorful indeed, so matter how much his friends pleeded... ...things seem so much brighter on the other side."

One of the great things about mountain biking is that its' a fairly small community. You see the same people at races, you get to know you fellow riders, and most of all it's more of a lifestyle than a hobby. It's easier to run into someone you know of the trail than not to.

Running, is something else. I expect to see more people I know at an out-of-town mountain bike race than a local 10k. Be definition, I guess, running appeals to a much larger spectrum of people and has a greater variety of routes to run, so naturally, it's much more spread out.

Today, I went left the house for a 70 mile road ride and near the end of my warm-up phase I stated across the Boulevard Bridge. A runner was crossing, not unusual, but looked familiar, which is unusual. I stopped, talked, and found out it was one of the runners I was had been trying to recruit for the Blue Ridge Relay. I'd never met her but had looked up her name and race results and pictures when scouting out a potential team. Maybe endurance running isn't such a large community after all.

I've done dozens of mountain day trips and hundreds of mountain bike rides without ever a serious incident. Granted "incident" is a relative term, but only on a road ride have someone in my group (that time being myself) ended up in the hospital. It had to happen eventually. I don't plan on duplicating Travis's write-up, so you can read it here.

Of course, you can't miss the view of the ride from "Bald Noggin' Overlook".

We've been swamped. With traveling back to Nebraska to visit my mom and remodeling our kitchen, things have been nuts. Our house is now almost presentable and completely cookable.


That doesn't include the Chicken Verde Enchiladas I made tonight, which were scrumptious.


...more to come when it's completely done.

Spending some time contemplating my mountain biking last week, I felt something had to be done. Last weekend at the Rappahannok Ridge Rumble, I had another DNF this year and, had I finished, I would've been last again in Expert Men. The DNF was due to flat tire, which had a slow leak even after I fixed it trailside. Another me, in another time, would have filled it up or fixed it again, but really, I just didn't see the point. The self-respect gained from just finishing didn't seem worth the effort and pain. I enjoyed the race and Konrad does a great job, but it just wasn't my day. ...again.

After last year, I just assumed that I would be better this year. If I am, it's hasn't been showing and I've been leaving races disappointed and unhappy. Liz mentioned that I should ditch Expert and ride enduro at Hilbert and then it just seemed so clear. I'd joked around about being between Sport and Expert, now it just seemed so obviously clear that it was more truth than fiction. I could go out, race as hard as I could for 20-some miles, come in last, and shrug it off. I couldn't do it all season though.

At the Enduro starting line, I felt better and was excited to ride. People talked about how many laps they wanted and not needing to warm up. They talked about how tired they'd be at the end. They didn't talk about getting creamed or holding on to the pack. People were out there ready to race against themselves and that's a world I feel more at home in.

I pushed out 8 laps for 48 miles in 5:15. After 4 laps, I could tell my front tire was low and put more more PSIs in. After 7, my back was killing me and I called it quits. One pepsi and a glance at the time clock made me want to get another. I rode it out, slowly, but not to place or beat someone (though I was a little torn when Paul Leeger slipped past me), but just to do what I had set out to do.

Afterwards, I tried to hang out and chat, but felt like I was going to pass out, so just sat on the ground drinking Mountain Dews. I never did check out the results but will shortly when they're posted. I was probably mid-pack, but regardless, I had a great time doing something I love and even got some good training for the SM100. Maybe, someday, I'll compete in Expert again, but not until I can leave knowing I had fun out there.

When I was training for my first marathon a couple years ago, I would have long run, sometimes successful, sometimes not. During the 3 hours I was out there, I wouldn't think about much other than running and when I was done, the only thing on my mind was running, and when Liz got home, it's what I would talk about. She would listen.

Now, Liz is doing the Marathon Training Team and her long runs are about to pass her previous longest runs. When she's done, we talk about it.

Last night, walking to Sushi, we talked about how few people "get it" and understand what it means to do these things. Most people are more interested in a story about a mishap taking out the trash than hearing about being on track to meet some athletic goal. Maybe it's the same as saying "Want to hear about how much money I'm making this year" or "Guess what movie star I'm friends with." Running a 10k or even a marathon is within most people's realm of ability, with enough time, effort, and the right expectations. Just watch the finish line of one for proof.

Still, why? Last summer, I was playing around with a Rubik's Cube when things were slow at work and got to where I could solve it in just over a minute. Did this mean I was a geometric genius? No, it meant I could memorize moves I found on the internet. When researching the cube solutions, I came across one guy who said (paraphrased): "Why solve the cube? It won't get you any girls, barely impresses friends, and has no practical value. Because even if you're not good at anything else, it's important to be good at something and it might as well be the Rubik's Cube."

I haven't touched my cube in a while and couldn't solve it now, but I did go through a "Into The Wild" phase. One line of the movie that really caught my attention was the narration: "I once heard it's not necessarily important to be strong, but to feel strong."

Doing something most believe they can't. Doing something you didn't think you were capable of. Crossing pain towards accomplishment. That's why we do it. Whether you run a 6 minute mile or a 12 minute mile, the finish line makes you feel strong and you know it's something that your good at.

A quick review of my training diary will reveal somethings I'd rather not have seen. The problem with displaying things publicly when they're good is that people also see them when they're bad. About half a month of "nones" due to a variety of causes like 60 hour work weeks, remodeling a kitchen, and other, more personal reasons. Busy schedules can be overcome with drive, but lack of purpose don't fix itself by squeezing in a workout.

I've done lots of racing this year, over a dozen and some several weekends in a row. I can't compete this way, not without something season-long to shoot for, like I did last year with the Xterras. At least, I can't compete and do well. My lack of focus has brought disappointing results and along with finishing very low in my new Expert class, has put me on the wrong course.



I'm cutting back, trimming the fat, and eliminating excuses. I have a 100 mile mountain bike race that I need to beat 11:08 in, and a 208 mile running relay this fall with 11 people counting on me. No racing, no skipping workouts, no extra days off. Fast runs and long rides. Mountain day trips and dehydration.

It's either that or more disappointment, and I'm not one to disappoint myself.