Crim

On Saturday I ran my 13th consecutive Crim 10 Mile race, dating back to 1997. The weather cooperated much more for the racers this year than in years past, with the temps in the mid-60s at the start compared to the hot and humid weather we're usually greeted with on race day.

Over the years Ive been in varying degrees of fitness for this race, which is the only race I do without hesitation each year, whether Im in shape or not. Not surprisingly, my times generally coincide pretty well with the amount of running I do leading up to the race. In previous years when running was my main form of exercise (obviously now its mountain biking) and I ran 4-5 days a week all year long I did much better. But those days have long since passed, and now I run maybe 1-2 days a week at the most, except for a week or 2 before this race when i foolishly cram in as many miles as possible.

Since my time last year was about 79 minutes, and since I prepared for that race about as much as I did for this one, I hoped to finish around 75 minutes. Then the day before the race I received a little extra incentive from a friend who told me she'd buy me a beer if I broke 70 minutes. When I said that I wasnt capable of doing that anymore she then conceded a little and agreed to honor the bet if I just broke 71 minutes. So, 70:59 was the figurative carrot I was chasing down, although truth be told I realistically didnt think I had any chance of getting that.

For non-runners, the difference between running 70 or 71 minutes versus 75 minutes over 10 miles may seem relatively easy, but in reality that's a difference of 25-30 seconds per mile which is not something that just happens.

So the race.... I lined up Saturday morning along with about 8,500 others intent on getting through the course as quickly as possible. In previous years Ive either been fortunate to have a seeded number and was therefore able to start at the front, or Ive attempted to line up as close to the front as possible to avoid having to run over slower runners in the beginning of the race. This year I didnt have a seeded number, and didnt really line up as close to the front as I could have either which I thought was going to be a huge mistake. It felt like I stood still at the start for at least a minute after the start before I was able to start moving up towards the starting line. Although starting further back in the field isnt a huge deal from a timing perspective since chip timing is used and yours doesn't begin til you cross the starting line, it does take a lot out of you having to run/walk through a sea of people which means it takes quite a while into the race till you get clear and run your own race.

Since I barely run these days, and I certainly dont run on the track and/or do any speed or tempo work to get a feel for a certain pace, I just started running with the hope of making it through the first mile in about 7:30 so I could start to settle in and run my race. To my surprise when I crossed the first mile marker my watch read 6:58 (the clock read 7:23 so from that point I knew it took me only 25 seconds to get to the starting line versus what felt like a couple of minutes) so it turns out I had lined up much closer to the front than I had thought. Lucky break there.

I felt pretty good after the first mile, so I just settled into my race although I missed the 2nd mile mark so I didnt really know what kind of pace I was doing. When I crossed mile 3 I saw I was still running just over a 7 minute pace and I still felt good so I just kept chugging along. At that point I just had a goal to get to the 5 mile mark in the 35-36 minute range and then just try to hold on after that. I ended up crossing the halfway point at 35:35 so I was feeling pretty good but I knew the second half of the race was the hard part. As predicted I got really fatigued in the second half of the race, and slowed a few seconds per mile over the next few miles, but I had some energy left in the last mile and just gave it all I had through the finish line and finished with a faster final mile.

I finished in 71:17, or a 7:08 pace. Good for 68th out of 572 in my age group and 611th out of approximately 8200 overall. Although I missed out on the free beer by 18 seconds, I still am very happy with that time due to my basic lack of training and that my realistic goal was actually 4 minutes slower.

I missed the 2nd mile split, but I got the rest of them:
Mile Time Pace
1 6:58 - 6:58
2 -- -
3 21:22 -
4 28:28 - 7:06
5 35:35 - 7:07
6 42:52 - 7:17
7 50:01 - 7:09
8 57:13 - 7:12
9 64:24 - 7:11
10 71:17 - 6:53

As Ive done on a couple of other blog entries since Im finally now recording everything electronically, Im including my other Crim times for my own reference. Some year's Ive gotten the 5 mile split time and have included that when Ive gotten it.

CRIMS
Year Finish Pace
1997 75:30:00 7:31
1998 68:20:00 6:50
1999 71:49:00 7:11
2000 71:14:00 7:08
2001 65:16:00 6:32
2002 72:30:00 7:15
2003 65:37:00 6:34
2004 73:17:00 7:20
2005 73:13:00 7:20
2006 72:56:00 7:18
2007 72:20:00 7:14
2008 78:53:00 7:52
2009 71:17:00 7:08

Who knows, maybe in 2010 Ill break 70 minutes again :)

Ore to Shore recap

Ore 2 Shore is a 48 mile point to point mountain bike race in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, starting in Negaunee and ending in Marquette along the shore of Lake Superior. The course contains a combination of paved road sections, fire road, power line two track, a little singletrack, with some flat, rolling, hilly sections, one rocky hike-a-bike section and just enough sand to keep it exciting.

It was my 5th time doing the race, and I came into it with two goals this year. Break 3 hours and/or finish in the top 10 in the singlespeed division. Based on last years results and presuming similar course conditions this year (they were nearly identical), I figured that by accomplishing one of the goals I was likely to achieve the other. I was right. But unfortunately I didnt do either.

Last year I finished in 3:11:43 and 13th place singlespeed. This year I finished in 3:09:27 and 15th place singlespeed. Although I didnt accomplish either of my goals, I still got my personal best time by more than 2 minutes, but unfortunately this year the race was just faster and more competitive. Oh well I felt that I gave it pretty close to all I had so I cant really be disappointed.

I ran a 34x16 setup on the 29'er which is 62 gear inches. I was pretty happy with that set up as I ran a bit bigger gear than some other singlespeeders and was able to put the hammer down a few times and distance myself from them, particularly at one point just after the only water crossing where I grabbed the wheel of a passing tandem on a flat two-track section for about a mile and hung on for dear life rolling behind them at 22 mph. Noone else was able to hang on with us, so that was a lot of fun passing multiple geared and singlespeeders for about a mile or more before I fell off their wheel.

Another time about 28 miles into the race I came out of the woods onto the pavement in a group of about 7 including 3 other ss'ers including two mysinglespeed.com guys, so I put the hammer down hoping some of the geared guys would go with me and help me out, but unfortunately none did so I ended up just spinning myself out needlessely for a few minutes. Well I guess I did distance myself from those guys for a while, I just spent a lot of energy doing it.

The only real bummer for me in the race was in the "wash out" section a bit later just after passing the "welcome to Canada" sign when the two mysinglespeed.com guys caught back up to me and were again riding in a group of about 7 and I took the wrong line and ended up faceplanting in the creek. D'oh! At that point I lost contact with that group after spending a minute or two recovering and getting back on form and then I never saw another ss'er for the rest of the race. I did continue to pick off riders over the last 12 miles so Im happy that I was able to finish strong, but next year I think I need to get out of the gate quicker. FYI, those two mysinglespeed.com guys finished in 13th and 14th place just over 2 minutes in front of me.

I now have the same goal for O2S 2010. Lets hope it works out a little better next time.

The rest of the weekend was tons of fun as always hanging out with the Tree Farmers. 14 of us stayed up in Marquette till Tuesday so it was a nice long weekend riding, eating, drinking and relaxing. A few of us even went on a UP Geology tour on Monday afternoon :)

Tree Farm Relay

Saturday July 25 was the 4th Annual Tree Farm Relay at Lakeshore Park in Novi, MI presented by Team Tree Farm, Dark Horse Racing and the Michigan Mountain Biking Association. The race is an MMBA MetroSouth Chapter Benefit Race featuring a roughly 10 mile loop comprised primarily of the mountain bike trail at Lakeshore Park, with some fast two-track sections thrown in for fun.

Each team is comprised of four members, with each member in the Sport Division completing one lap, and each team member in the Advanced Division competing two laps. This year there were 59 teams in 6 Divisions, Sport Mens, Womens and Coed, and Advanced Mens, Womens and Coed (although no teams registered for the Advanced Women's Division). 31 Teams just happened to be in the Sport Men's Division, which is the division my team was in. Needless to say it was pretty competitive. My team, "!SeiknurDekopS" finished a respectable 9th out of the 31 teams.

Truth be told though, this race really isn't about winning for myself and my teammates, being part of the group who puts the race on every year. Our primary focus is to make sure that all the racers and spectators who come out each year have a fun day hanging out and riding bikes.

In its short 4 year history, the race has continually grown from meager beginnings of roughly 18 teams the first year, to 37 teams in its second year, to 42 teams last year, and to 59 teams this year. A major success by most any standards.

The weather didn't necessarily cooperate throughout the day, but after postponing the start of the Advanced Division for 30 minutes (the Advanced race was supposed to start at 9, while the Sport race was scheduled to start at 11 to allow the races to finish more closely), most of the rain had passed by the time the gun went off. Amazingly, after the early morning showers the rain stayed away for the rest of the day, with the exception of an absolute downpour in the middle of the afternoon, which just happened to coincide perfectly with my lap. So I was soaked and my bike got a little trashed but it was worth it. While having a race in wet/muddy/rainy conditions is not ideal for a mountain bike trail, we (the organizers of this race) also maintain the trail year round, so we will be the ones out there repairing the damage. Surprisingly, word from the trail the day after the race is that there was relatively minor damage except for a couple of sections which we had been holding off repairing till after the race anyway. So we really lucked out there!

It is definately a personal victory when things go well and we are all very proud to be a part of making it happen. Congrats to my fellow !SeiknurDekopS teammates Pat Audet, Jeff Shotwell and Frank Bean, as well as to the rival SpokeDrunkies team comprised of Dave Cox, Jon Banas, Scott Silvers and Adam Claar. The teams were evenly matched this year, with the SpokeDrunkies edging out a 2 minute victory over !SieknurDekopS. Next year things will be different :)

Here are my pics from the day.



Here is a short video clip of the start of the Sport wave. Keep an eye on the guy in the gray who is first down the hill. Hilarious!