spin / second sole multisport team

Another successful weekend of pushing boundaries this weekend, as Aussie Rob continues to hone his bike racing skills, and Kevin Krol runs for 6 1/2 straight hours at Mohican. Was it worth a giant belt buckle? Either way, an amazing effort.

Bruce joined Rob down at the training series, Brandy did a 10k where she was 2nd overall, and Willse ran the Mohican 25k, leaving Krol to slog his way through the other 25k on his own.

Read on for some great reports! Come back tomorrow for Boston Marathon results, too.

Brandy, at the Sandy Ridge 10k:

2nd place baby! haha, it was a small race, but I’ll take it! Training’s been tough – this was at the end of a loooong week (complete with a butt-kicking from Reddy on Wednesday night’s ride) so I’m super pumped with my time. I needed to run about 10 miles for the day and figured 8:30 pace for the 10k would make me happy. I managed about 8:10 (the course was a bit short) so I’m more than happy!

Krol and Willse, at the Mohican 50k:

Well, for the last dozen years I was wondering what running beyond marathon distance would be like, and let me tell you, it hurts like hell.

Perfect day for a trail race. Sun popped out a few times before and during the race. I had answered the bell to do this race based on an old friend who has fled the triathlon scene for mountain biking. Sure, there was a lot of smack going around back in November or December when this issue came up. So for all that smack, everyone bails on the race but me. The guy who started it had the audacity to douche it down to the 25k claiming he hasn’t been running and he’s got a mountain bike race next week. I planned on doing this race as a warm up for Zofingen in 5 weeks, so I was going to be there regardless.

Race starts and it was about a half mile on some park roads, but then the climbing starts in earnest. For those of you who’ve been mountain biking down there, from the half mile point we picked up the bike loop and continued on, and up. Rattled off some 9 minute miles the first 5k and someone was complaining about the pace so we backed off to 9:30’s. Hit the first aid station (near mile 6) and the 10 people in our pack split up. I ran with two other guys for most of the next 9 miles, at a purely conversational pace. Somewhere in there my foot problem resurfaced – every time I hit a tree root or rock with my right foot, that metatarsal area behind my second toe was really sore and would tingle for a few moments. For about 10 miles there I thought maybe I was running with a broken bone in my foot. Things split up again just before the trek up to the Mohican Lodge aid station (mile 16). At this point I felt as though there wasn’t going to be much left in the tank. Sure enough, just before the next aid station (20.2miles) the hiking began in earnest.
From there on out I lost the decent placing I had, lost interest in just about most things. Wished I was mountain biking instead of running. I pretty much hiked most of the rest of the way (11 miles to the finish, I think I ran maybe 2). I didn’t have energy to run the uphills and my legs hurt running downhill. And my feet just hurt.

I kind of got my head back together about the 28 mile mark and was actually able to string together a good 3/4 of a mile. But my chance at a sub 6 hour race was shot the moment I hit the 30 mile mark and they routed us left up the North Rim Trail (think about 300 feet of elevation gain in less than half a mile).

I think I got passed by half the field the last 10 miles. 6:20 finish time, the longest run I’ve ever done, but a pretty sweet belt buckle. –Kevin

Great race, tough course, but I would rather continue riding my mountain bike on that course any day of the week over running it! –John

From Aussie and Bruce, at the Covered Bridge Race #2:

So the day starts out with Andy bailing on us, and things for me went downhill from there. (Editor’s note: Andy may have never actually committed to joining them)

Got there, signed up, and all was good, until the start. Just as we pulled out of the lot it started to rain. First lap was sketchy, people all over the place, tight group. Aussie made a break at the end of the second lap, and never looked back. I stayed in the chase pack until the 5th and final lap. Got hung out up front for too long, then bonked.

Get back to my car, soaked and freezing. While stripping down and changing into dry clothes, must have bumped my fat ass into the door lock. I shut the doors to walk around the car and get the rest of my stuff, and it’s locked. As I am on the phone with roadside assistance, Aussie pulls in, shivering, to find out all of his stuff is in the car. What was supposed to be 45 minutes, was an hour and a half. Aussie stripped down to his base layer, and some people were nice enough to lend him a really nice quilt. So he’s wrapped up in a blanket, there are clothes all over the ground, and all we can wonder is what the tow truck driver is going to think when he pulls into a deserted parking lot in the middle of nowhere, with two guys locked out of a car, and one wrapped up in a blanket. Great day.

Oh, and Aussie won the race, Great job.

–Bruce

Interesting morning! (well by my standards anyway; perhaps i lead a relatively mundane lifestyle, but anyway…)

Bruce picked me up, and we rolled down to collect Andy. Teammates! Sweet! Well, Andy had big things happening the night before and understandably was out n about….so….he didn’t answer the door when i rang the bell. Bruce sent an inflammatory (but deserved) retort via txt, and we rolled on without him.

Get to the race, and it’s cold! Short huddle (huddle, not cuddle!) with Bruce, Matt Bockbrader (Team Spin), and John Kulbis (Club Spin)…where we hatch our master plan. As soon as the pace car pulls out though the skies open up….rain….steady, drenching rain….in 39 degree temps.

The masterful plan was to wait til near the end of the second lap, attack together, and TTT away to glorious victory for SSSMST, Team Spin, and Club Spin. The first victory of its kind, cross pollinating all incarnations of Spin and forever striking fear into our competition. It was going to be epic! Well….Matt raced hard the day before and wasn’t feeling it, Bruce hadn’t laid eyes on his bike in months, and when i attacked, John unfortunately was boxed out and couldn’t come with me. I got a gap though and SnakeBite Mike (Mike Larimer) came with me; while John fought his way to space and tried to bridge with another bloke.

Much to my dismay, John never managed to bridge, and Mike wasn’t having his best day (i ride with him regularly and he’s usually quite strong), so i resorted to yelling at him. He wanted to stay away as much as i did, and under a constant barrage of “encouragement with an edge” proved valuable as we stayed away for the remainder of the race. Came down to a two man sprint and i got some space near the line. It was sweet, until i stopped pedaling and realised how cold i was.

Picked up my prize (cha-ching!), watched the A race finish (eeep! those guys are fast!) and hightailed it back to the car and my warm, dry clothes. Great morning complete. Except that Bruce locked his keys (and my gear!) inside his car. Bugger. Now I’m really cold….and stayed that way for another 75mins. AAA saved the day though, and we ate McDonalds. Great morning saved!

Filed under: 2010 | Tagged: 10k, 25k, 50k, bike races, cold and wet and why always on the weekends?, running races |