Sprints not marathons
Preparing for the Yukon has been fun, even if it means feeling like my lungs are going to explode out of my chest more often than I'd like. I've done three very different races in the past month. It all started with Rooster Rock, a distance race near Portland, OR. It was hot and windy and I ran out of water, but it was a great day to race 10.5 miles up and down the Colombia River for an hour and twenty seven minutes. We placed third in our division thanks to some strong women and great steering! It was 85 degrees, and even though there was a supposed sewage spill some distance upstream, I decided to throw caution to the wind and hop on in. I think I'm in the clear now since that was nearly a month ago and I don't have any weird skin conditions or giardia.
The second race was Ski to Sea, a seven leg race starting at Mt. Baker and ending in Bellingham Bay. Cross country ski hands off to a "downhill ski" which is actually a 1000 foot climb to then ski down. They then hand off to the runner who books it downhill for eight miles while dropping 2,200 feet of elevation. If it sounds like a knee killer, it is. The runner hands off to the road biker who pedals 42 miles to the canoe (me!) and we then paddle 18.5 miles with a brief portage because people in Washington don't know how to canoe very well. The ending is rough, we have to carry our non-race boat up a steep muddy bank to the line with the help of our cyclocross biker, who then rides through fields and giant puddles to a beach that leads to the final leg, the kayak! They get all of the glory because they get to ring a giant bell at the end of the race and they don't even have to carry their kayaks (I'm not bitter). My canoe teammate did pretty well considering he wasn't competitive. I wasn't allowed to yell at him so I made him do four sides of power tens every once in a while. Overall, Team Ron placed in the top third, what more can you ask for when we weren't even sure if our cross country skiier would make it from Montana?
The third and final race was last weekend. Silver Lake in Everett, WA is kind of dinky, but it treated us well and BBOP pulled out first place overall for the day, we got a trophy and everything! It was a long day with all sorts of weather, but the team was in good spirits and I think if there had been a cheerleading award, we probably would have won that too. There were 45 events ranging from 500-1500m. There were kids and old people, newbies and veterans, and a lot of people in between. I competed in four races, placing 3rd in the 1500 women's open, 1st in the 500 novice women, 5th in the 500 women's open, and would have bee 4th in the women's open 4 if we hadn't dunked our flag on the turn. The open 4 was the last of 45 events and we were already exhausted, so paddling a 400 lb - 6 man canoe with only 4 of us was tough and maybe one of my favorite races. I was so afraid of dropping my paddle that I death gripped it the entire time and couldn't uncurl my fingers for a few minutes after each race, but better to have claw hands than be the R.A.B. who drops their paddle.
