I am racing in the Mountain States Cup Crested Butte 40 next weekend so I had to get out for at least one long mountain bike ride beforehand. I set out early Saturday morning and headed over Cottonwood Pass to Gypsum and then up into the Eagle maze of amazing singletrack.  At about three and a half hours of riding, I came up on the tail end of a cattle drive and ended up driving about six cattle back to the group. Just a little smelly. Despite being slowed down by the cowboys, I was able to really enjoy four hours and fifty miles of riding.

Sunday was Father’s Day which meant I left early again so Ian could be a father on Father’s Day.  Isn’t that what the day is for? Oh well, but it was great of him to let me get out for two plus hours of trail running with Elinor before he enjoyed a long ride. I was amazed how great my legs felt after a hard week of training which gave me more confidence the CTS coaching has been a very good investment.

I’m a little (okay, a lot) nervous for the race this weekend. The CB40 is technical and therefor not a fast forty miler. My ride on Saturday was the longest in ten months (and the longest I have left Axel so far). What if it takes me six hours to finish? Will I be able to make it without stopping to nurse? I raced for five days when Juniper was five months old but hadn’t done a race this long this early in the game.

The moms (Elinor, Joy and I) and the kids (Reed, Selah and Juniper) enjoyed an awesome eight and a half mile run on Saturday morning.  Even though we started when it was a balmy eight degrees out, we got ourselves moving at a good pace pushing the Chariots over snowpack and ice to stay warm.  We even threw in an additional hill just for a little extra push.  With a hard push at the end (and only one potty break for me), we all felt energized and ready to go for the rest of the day.

While the moms were running and blabbing, the dads all enjoyed backcountry skiing sessions in Marble and on Huntsman’s.  Good snow and bluebird skies keep the boys as happy as great runs for the ladies!

Despite not having had much snow in the past few weeks, I decided a day of skiing at Highlands was much needed on Sunday.  The hike up to the bowl could not have been any better with very few people and unlimited visibility.  The snow lower on the resort is not amazing right now but as usual good turns were to be had in the bowl.  Taking advantage of the warmer weather, Ian and Juniper enjoyed a day of sledding and snowman making.  What else could anyone ask for on a January weekend in Colorado?

As I finish up my last week in the second trimester, I am hoping to enjoy a few more great runs alone and with Juniper.  At this point, I have gained twenty pounds but continue to feel great and am looking forward to the next phase of training while pregnant.  I’m also looking forward to hanging out with the randonee crowd next weekend at the COSMIC Sunlight race.  I’m not sure I’m capable of racing at an appropriate pregnant pace so I think I’ll be cheering and helping out.  Come race!

Joy Schneiter training with the Chariot. We cannot live without these!

With the Adventure Race World Championships starting this week in Portugal, I’m beginning to miss racing a little.  Team Nike Beaver Creek, consisting of Mike Kloser, Monique Merrill, Chris Forne and Gordon Walker, are heading to Europe this week to hopefully regain our World Champions title.  After a great race last fall in Brazil, Team Orion Health pulled out the win just ahead of Nike which has left my teammates yearning for the win this year.  If I receive any updates throughout the race, I will try to get them posted as soon as possible.

Since I will not be competing this year, I’m just hoping to continue to get out for some fun runs and rides.  This pregnancy has been much harder than the first which continues to have me on up and down swings of training.  I’ve been working hard at listening to my body and not overdoing it.  This past week, that meant much time at work and on the couch while my abdomen and uterus were cramping.  Now that the uncomfortable cramping has subsided (at least for now), I’ve been able to get out the last few days.  It was really nice yesterday to have Ian tow Juniper in the Chariot so that we could get out as a family.  This morning Joy and I enjoyed just under seven miles of running with the kiddos at an eight and half minute per mile pace.  Not outrageously fast but not bad for pushing the kids on some hills.

Come out to watch and play in Beaver Creek or even better, race in one of the races.  There’s also a shorter race for anyone that would prefer to swim, ride and run half the distance.  Or the kid’s duathlon is always very entertaining.  All race information is here. Wish me luck!

Most of all, this will be great training for the upcoming Xterra Winter World Championships, where I’m going to try and defend my title this March. Adam Chase has a nice story about last year’s race in this month’s issue of Running Times. Click the image on the right to read the article. Or better yet, buy the March issue of Running Times on your local newstand. It’s a great magazine.

Also, Lyndsay Meyer’s has a great recap from last year’s Pierra Menta here. Lyndsay and Nina Silitch represent the US in lots of Euro races. We’re hoping that they’re racing the Pierra Menta again this year.

From Brian:

Hey, sorry about the group email but I am trying to recruit volunteers or
participants for the third COSMIC race at Snowmass on Saturday February 21st.
 For course details go to cosmicski.com.  We need about 8 volunteers
total and currently have about three.
Here is the deal:
Volunteers will be stationed at transition areas or tricky navigation zones to
assist with encouraging racers, giving transition advice, assisting with
staying on course, accounting for racers, helping injured racers, etc.
 You do not need AT gear.   You will need extremely warm clothes.  You will have a
snowmobile drop you off at your spot or can skin if desired.  Need to be
ready to go by 630 am at Fanny Hill.  Race starts at 700 am.  Most
volunteers will be done by 900am or 1000 am. I need 1 or two volunteers that
are BC/Avy savvy that will be stationed at the cliff/avy zone along the
snowmass/buttermilk ridge and would be willing to run sweep after the final
racer and could also pick up flags or possibly anything that was dropped.
So why would you want to do this?
Volunteers get a 4 mountain lift ticket for that day, an additional lift ticket
for any other day, a cool piece of swag like a hat or polypro top, spectate a
really cool event and get to see the top rando racers.  If you don't want
to volunteer, then race it!
Thanks for taking the time to consider this and please forward as appropriate.
BTown  

I have taken a forced week off from training which may or may not be a good thing.  I’ll have to see this weekend at the first ski mountaineering race of the season, the COSMIC Heathen Challenge at Sunlight Resort.  I haven’t been practicing my transitions on snow as much as I would like so I’ll be practicing in the comfort of my living room.  The COSMIC site has some great videos to help you through the transition process but for now I need to remember:  boot, heel piece, skin.  When I reach the top of a leg and am transitioning from skinning to skiing, I first put my boot into ski mode, then flip my Dynafit Vertical Ti Race binding into ski mode while I’m leaning down and then rip my skin as I stand up.  My boot locks into the binding as I step back down after ripping the skin off and then I move onto the next ski.  When it goes well, it happens in one fluid step but when it goes poorly, it can be very bad.

Folding skins at last year's Sunlight race

This process takes alot of practice.  Luckily, the transition at the bottom from skiing to skinning allows me to take my skis off in order to get my skins back on.  As I come into transition I try to get my boots out of ski mode so that as soon as I stop, I can pull my ski off, flip the binding back into climbing mode and get the first skin on.  Hopefully I have folded my skin well at the previous transition and kept it close to my body so that it will stick to my skis again.  As soon as I get my first boot stepped back into the binding, which I have made easier by making small lines on my boots to line up to the Dynafit holes, then I start on the next ski and get my butt moving back up hill.

The downhill skiing hurts more than the uphill in these races.

I hope it all goes smoothly this weekend but I’m sure there will be at least a few mistakes and some time lost in the transitions.  Hopefully my stomach feels okay and my body can keep up with my mind after spending so much time on the couch.

After racing in the enormous sand dunes of the Arabian desert last year, we found out one of our biggest challenges was keeping the sand out of our shoes (duh!) Even our Nike Aire Structure Tirax shoes with Gore-Tex couldn’t keep all the sand out. Mike, Mona, Chris and Gordon had similar issues at their race in Brazil a few weeks ago. My solution is to order some gaiters from the folks that produce the Marathon des Sables desert race in Morocco. I figure these guys must know how to keep the sand out of their shoes. It’s that, or I’m going to order one of those sweet suits they wore in the movie Dune.lank

Hard to image much sand getting through these.

Of course, ordering the gaiters has turned into an adventure of its own. After a few calls I’ve learned that France is 8 hours ahead of Colorado, the company is only open until 2pm local time and they don’t speak any English. So, I’ll be setting the alarm for the middle of night on Sunday evening in order to reach the sales department before they head out for the day. Oh joy…

The weather here in Colorado continues to be warm and dry and the mountain biking has been great. Juniper and I have been exploring some of the country roads in the area and have found some nice dirt roads with good climbing where I can tow the Chariot. The resistance training is great for me and the scenery and cows are good entertainment for Juniper. Hopefully this pattern will continue for a few more weeks and then the snow will come in full force while we are racing, just like last year!

I’m off for some more riding!