Quantum Z

Posted by sarianderson on October 24, 2011
Posted in: Training, Training and racing with kids, Upcoming Races. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

After finally unpacking the last few boxes from our move 15 months ago, I made it out for a run on Red Hill yesterday. My coach Lindsay  had me doing three 15-minute hill repeats at a running/hiking pace. It was the perfect opportunity before my adventure race in Tasmania to try out the new ultralight, folding, carbon fiber Black Diamond Z-Poles as well as a new pair of Quantum trail shoes from La Sportiva.

I started with a few fun miles of warm-up on the road while Juniper rode her bike alongside. After dropping her off at a friend’s house I got down to business and headed up Mushroom Rock. As  I got closer to the top I realized the climb was not going to be quite 15 minutes. So I tried for consistency and finished my hill climbs in 12’55″, 12’36″ and 13’24″. Somehow I made a wrong turn on my final climb.

I was able to use the Z-Poles in many places both climbing and descending and they were really helpful. When the trail leveled out a bit  I carried them, and hardly noticed because they’re so lightweight. Admittedly, I’ve never really been a fan of  hiking poles but now I’m looking forward to using them in Tasmania.

Tasmania is going to be a long race, so I thought the new Sportiva Quantums with their MorphoDynamic technology would feel nice and cushy after being on my feet for four or five days. But, before trying them, I was a little worried the shoes would feel inefficient, as if I was being sucked into the thick outsole. But, on the road and on the trail, I was totally impressed by how good the shoes felt. I felt nimble and super stable even on the technical descent. The traction was superb as well. Instead of using the Quantum for the last few treks of Tasmania, I may have found my new everyday trail shoe.

Overall, I felt strong even after a long day of training on Saturday. Hopefully I’m ready physically and mentally. Now to make sure my bags aren’t too heavy.

Last Big Training Day

Posted by sarianderson on October 22, 2011
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It’s been three years since I last attempted Billy’s Epic Training Loop, but with less than a week before my race in Tasmania and a forecast for beautiful weather, I figured today was the perfect time to do it again. After a 5am wake up call, I locked my kayak at the Loma boat ramp and started riding from Westwater at 8:15am. Although it was a little chilly to start, the morning was gorgeous with clear blue skies.

I rode for almost two hours to Rabbit Valley before seeing anyone. The peacefulness continued all the way to Salt Creek where I saw five guys climbing up from Troy Built. Salt Creek is a gnarly descent and these guys looked like they had felt every foot of technical elevation gain. I think they were more surprised to see me coming down than I was to see them.

About to head down Salt Creek overlooking the Colorado.

I finished up my 40 mile ride to Loma in 3 hours and 40 minutes (5 minutes faster than last time) and then quickly transitioned for 25 miles of paddling back to Westwater.

Before I knew it, I had paddled 11 miles and was feeling good. At about hour three, I noticed I slowed a little bit and was ready to be done. I pulled up to the boat ramp after exactly 3 hours and 40 minutes of paddling – the exact same time as my biking leg. Weird. Although I felt a bit slow for the last five miles, I still managed to drop 20 minutes off my paddling time from three years ago.

I made it home in time for dinner with kids and Juniper was excited to tell me that she rode her bike a long way today as well – six miles all the way down the bike path to the Harvest Festival at Rock Bottom Ranch. She was so proud. I love it when an awesome day just gets better when I return home.

Prepping for Tasmania

Posted by sarianderson on October 19, 2011
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The family headed west to Moab for the weekend to enjoy some camping, running, biking and paddling. As much fun as Ian and I had training, Juniper and Axel had much more fun playing in the dirt with their friends. Tasmania is approaching very quickly so it was awesome for the family to spend an amazing weekend together.

With the temperatures in the 80s in town, we headed up into the La Sal Mountains for a 20 mile run/trek. The fall colors are a little behind in Moab making for some spectacular scenery.

 

Warner Lake

So thankful I have Joy to go on adventures with me

It is a very good thing Joy took a picture of her map before we left as my 10 year old map was not so good

My run/trek in the La Sals brought back many memories of Primal Quest 2006. Joy and I ran on many of the same trails and came through Warner Lake as we had in the race. Poor Joy listened to more stories and memories than she was prepared for.

Juniper, Selah & Axel test out my kayak

I love the Colorado River

A little rock jumping to freshen up after a weekend of playing hard

Golden Leaf, Golden Weekend

Posted by sarianderson on September 25, 2011
Posted in: Race Results, Random Fun, Training and racing with kids. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Autumn has always been my favorite season in Colorado and this weekend reaffirmed that.

Despite being a little sore from the Lead King Loop last weekend, I continued a hard week of intervals and training thanks to Lindsay Hyman at CTS. On Friday, I enjoyed an easy day to prepare for the Golden Leaf Half Marathon on Saturday.

I took the last two years off from the Golden Leaf but three years ago I managed to pull off a win with a time of 1:45:47. My main goal this year was to better that time by a few minutes.

Training on the road with the kids in the Chariot has helped my speed on the flats and the descents but my pace on the steep climbs has suffered. This was obvious both last week and this week as I struggled up the starting climbs in both races. As the Golden Leaf course topped out and started heading down the Government Trail, I began to feel stronger and eventually found I could to push the pace.

 

Axel, Sari & Juniper at the finish of the Golden Leaf

I finished as the second woman in 1:47:52, four minutes behind Stevie Kremer from Crested Butte and two minutes slower than my time in 2008. After talking to many of the racers at the finish, we agreed the course was at least a few minutes longer than a few years ago so I figured my pace still was a bit faster.

Overall, I was  happy with my race and how strong I felt throughout the 13.1 miles. I even managed to get in a brick of sorts, with a mountain bike ride in later that afternoon for an hour and a half.

Sari & Ian enjoying a rare ride together

Sunday continued a great weekend as Ian and I joined about 10 other Roaring Fork locals for an amazing fall mountain bike ride.  The perfect weather and spectacular views quickly cured my tired legs.

As we descended a newly built trail, Ian and I were forced to make the decision to cut out and head back home to the kids. As much as we would have loved to ride another hour or so, we figured a five hour ride together was a sweet opportunity and we shouldn’t push our luck much more.

Finishing up the day with some family time completed the golden weekend. Here’s to hoping we have more beautiful days of training before I head to Tasmania for the Adventure Racing Wolds.

Golden Leaf results here.

Perfect day in the mountains in my new skin suit I picked up in Chamonix

Lead King Loop 25K

Posted by sarianderson on September 19, 2011
Posted in: Race Updates, Training and racing with kids, Upcoming Races. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Elinor, Sari, Joy & Wendy pre-race

Four years ago I raced the Lead King Loop 25K a few months after Juniper was born. I barely survived the race in 2 hours 45 minutes.

This year, Elinor, Joy, Wendy and I made a girls day of it and ran the race for fun. None of us felt amazing going into the race. Joy is seven weeks post-partum, El has a nasty cold, Wendy is off the couch and I had a full training week leading up to Sunday.

For the first time that I can remember, I had zero race day nerves. Standing on the startline with my best friends as well as Jari Kirkland, Carrie Vickers and Beth Broome, I was relaxed and ready for a fun training run.

Starting at a comfortable pace, I climbed the first 3,000+ vertical feet in about 5 miles feeling sluggish and heavy. I finally crested the top of the climb to amazing views of snow covered peaks and started to feel much better as my pace went from a 15 minute mile to a sub-6 minute mile for a few fast miles.

As I passed the 110 year old Crystal Mill, I realized I would be able to finish much faster than 2007 and possibly close to the course record of 2 hours 19 minutes. I had no idea what place I was in but for once I didn’t care. I was racing myself and enjoying every step.

Great scenery in Lead King Basin outside Marble

Crossing the line in 2 hours 20 minutes 19 seconds and in 5th place, I was very happy with my morning training run. Elinor finished in 2 hours 40 minutes, Joy just over 3 hours and Wendy finished just under 4 hours after battling major stomach issues.

Finishing up the training day with a quick mountain bike ride and I’ve started my training for the adventure race world champs in Tasmania.

The Buzz on Outside TV

Posted by sarianderson on September 1, 2011
Posted in: Media Coverage, Training and racing with kids. Tagged: , , . Leave a Comment

Back in February of this year, I flew to Los Angeles for a photo shoot when I was selected as a “fittest real athlete” by Outside Magazine.  During the shoot, I sat down with Outside TV for a little interview. I just found the episode online – my segment starts at the 17:20 mark. The host messes up my name and my boxing is laughable…enjoy.

The Buzz from Outside Television Productions on Vimeo.

What next?

Posted by sarianderson on August 30, 2011
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Training and racing with kids, Upcoming Races. Tagged: , , . 1 comment

What to do when there are no more races on the calendar

The Leadville 100 race has come and gone (with some lingering frustration about how I performed). Then the Mt. Washington Hill Climb came and went in the blink of the eye. Now what?

About a month ago, my friend Lyndsay Meyer, asked if I would answer some questions about Post-Race Letdown syndrome for an article she was writing. I had no idea what post race letdown was and said I didn’t think I had ever suffered from it.

Fast forward a month when I have no races scheduled and wham, I think I’m experiencing PRLD. Now that I know what PRLD is, I’m wondering if I have experienced it previously and just not known what the problem was. I’m not sure on that one yet but I do know that I’m working on enjoying myself right now, having fun with the family and thinking about focusing on the upcoming skimo race season. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll throw in another mountain bike or running race before the summer and fall are over.

Check out Lyndsay’s great article on post-race letdown on ESPNW.

The Steep of the East

Posted by sarianderson on August 23, 2011
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Thanks to Polartec, a long time sponsor of the Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hill Climb, I had the chance to race the infamous hill climb on Saturday. Despite spending much of my summers as a child in New Hampshire, I’ve never been to the summit of Mt. Washington before. I had no idea just how steep the road actually is.

Racing a course sight unseen can sometimes be an advantage because I just have to keep going as hard as I can – at least that’s what I told myself before the race.  I spoke to a few people who had raced here before and they all told me to use easier gearing. I managed to borrow  a compact crank set, but next time I will make sure to find an easier cassette as well.

I started in the Top Notch group and quickly realized I was going to spend almost the entire race in my easiest gear. I battled with a singlespeeder for much of the 7.4 miles and 4,500 feet of climbing, thinking he was the smart one for not carrying the extra weight up the mountain.

Right from the start I slipped into third place among the women and I kept it right to the finish line. I never saw another woman coming from behind however I knew that one had to be right there and sure enough a woman finished 28 seconds back. Last year’s winner, Marti Shea, finished on the top step and her closest rival, Kristen Gohr finished in second again. I’m very impressed how fast these women are and hope I can be closer to them next year.

Speaking of next year, I hope to be back and hope I can improve my time. Knowing the course will be much better and maybe, just maybe, the weather can be as perfect as it was this year.

A special thanks goes to Ruthann Brown of Polartec for motivating me to race and treating me like a queen all weekend!

Results here.

Suffering to the finish right after the 22% grade.

Media:

The Conway Daily Sun

U.S. Cycling Report

Velo News

Mt. Washington Auto Road Website

Women's winner Marti Shea and myself on the podium. 2nd place Kristen Gohr was hiking down. A woman after my own heart.

22% grade looks like a wall in person.