The Incident

Last night’s mountain biking was crazy!

We pulled in and there were the most mt bikers ever! We asked a fellow female biker about the crowd and she mentioned there’s a time trial this weekend on the course we practice on. All the serious racers came that night to practice the course...AND there was a Wednesday night bike group meeting at 6pm to ride OUR course! We’ve never seen it this jammed.

Regardless, we had to practice. The first loop we were cautious like usual and made pretty great time, just under 19 minutes. The second loop we decided to start even though we knew the Wed night pack was just behind us. We were moving! Kristen kept a great pace and I would give her the updates on how close the pack was getting to me. It felt like we were being chased, which actually was great practice because we pushed hard and didn’t let up. We made it through the whole loop without anyone passing us and got our fastest time yet: 17 mins and some odd seconds!

The third loop…oh the fatal third loop. We were feeling so great after the second one, that we went into the third with confidence! It was 1.89 miles into ride when we approached the huge log we usually jump with momentum. The momentum is key and Kristen had lost her momentum moments before when a rogue biker came at us going the wrong way on the trail. Being the polite bikers, we pull to the side, but we lost all the speed. Kristen wasn’t at top speed approaching the log…she jumps it… she and the bike are in the air… then the bike comes down on the log… and Kristen falls down on the log … then the bike falls on her. Oh. Man. Not. Good. I saw everything in slow motion. Also, with our luck, it’s at the exact moment she falls, that three professional mt bikers are coming down the trail. They stop to see if she’s OK, which was really nice of them… but then proceeded to stay and watch the show…

I think I’ll let Kristen take over the story from here!

Serious Pre-Race Anxiety!!

The Green Governor BEASTS are nervous. Very nervous. Actually more close to terrified and panicky, then nervous. Probably more nervous for this weekend’s race, then any race before…even the half marathon. Do you get the idea that we’re nervous yet?

We race this Sunday in PA. It’s the season finale for our Adventure Racing series and boy oh boy is it the season finale. Frank is ready to end the season with a bang.

Race starts at 6am Sunday morning. We know there’s going to be 1 mile + of water travel, i.e. swimming in a cold lake infested with large fish and water snakes. There is also 18+ miles of mountain biking through very technical terrain. One online review of the mt biking trail stated: great course, wicked hill down the backside, my tire got caught between a couple rocks and I went over the handle bars, fun! Ummmmm… yeah, we’re thinking it’s going to be a ton of fun. Lastly, 10+ miles of running/trekking. Deep breath.

The anxiety is mainly focused on the swim portion. Also running 10 miles is pretty intense after you’ve biked and swam for 5 hours leading up to it. Kristen said we should think of the 10 miles as really a 6 mile run, then a 4 mile run. When you think of it like that, it honestly doesn’t seem so bad!

Right now we are brainstorming about race day food and clothes. What should we swim in? Should we bring fins, goggles, our own PFD’s, beach towels AND kick boards? Hahah maybe just the fins and kick boards. Where are we going to find 4 glow sticks that can be used in the water? What will we put in the big, orange, waterproof bag Corey got me for my bday? Will we have to carry the maps while we are swimming? If yes, then we might need some new zip lock bags… So much to think about!!

Two GGB training days this week. Mountain biking one day and a bike/run another day. This is the last adventure race of 2009 so we want to end strong!!! Maybe, just maybe we will beat Twisted Sister! Our navigation is improving with every race and I know with our fins and kick boards, we will be able to kick right past them on the swim! Wish us luck!

Finally, Pictures from WAR 2009!!

We finally reached the first CP at the top of a VERY steep hill! Notice the high soccer socks to deflect the brambles and poison ivy.


Kristen running and loving (this was at the beginning of the run)! The first run CP was the easiest to find.

Lost with 3 other teams in a field of nothingness. The CP we're looking for is straight up the hill in front of us. Frank is so tricky!

We finished in less than 9 hours and we are two very happy campers!!

Big smiles with Bethann and Frank! They were very proud of us:)

Grass Roots love!!!!!!!!!!!

Cleveland Rocked in Pittsburgh!!

Reasons why we rocked TURFF:

1. We had some previous knowledge of downtown Pittsburgh from last year

2. We used our strong biking skills and got all the points except for 2 bonus ones

3. Initially we were going to avoid kayaking, but with Franks’ encouragement and Kristen’s adventurous spirit, we hopped in a tandem kayak, got some points, and exited the kayak with smiles

4. Our great friend Lesley volunteered at the start/finish, bonded with Frank and Bethann, and cheered us on to victory

5. Kristen's sharp eye quickly picked up on clues that we almost passed and missing them would have added a lot of time to our bike leg

6. For the first time in an adventure race, we didn’t have that sickening, lost and disoriented feeling. It was replaced with confidence and the luxury to focus more on speed then navigation

7. We placed SECOND in the all female division and 21st overall out of 50 teams – how great is that!??!?!

We’re already looking forward to TURFF 2010!!! Hopefully pictures to be posted shortly!

We love pre-race week!!!

Our next race is this Saturday and for some reason we are fairly calm, which is odd. I certainly feel a sense of comfort with this race because 1. we did it last year, 2. we aren't going to be lost in the woods and 3. we HAVE to finish in under 3 hours. This race is going to be fun and fast! We've mutually agreed to skip the kayaking (for our friendship's sake), to get all the CP's on the bike, and then get some points on the run in whatever time is left.

Tonight we're biking 7 miles and running 5. It's hot today and it will be good training weather for this weekend. Our race fueling will consist of a few gummies and poss a gel. This race, we don't have to pack a backpack full of food and high soccer socks aren't required gear. Last year there was minimal fighting and it was all forgotten within minutes.. well I guess it wasn't all forgotten if I'm still typing about it a year later, but you get the idea!

I do have a feeling that Frank and Bethann may have something up their sleeves... the race never goes exactly how you imagine it to and usually during the pre-race meeting, Kristen and I will share at least one look of surprise/panic!

GO GREEN GOVERNOR BEASTS!!!

August Love!

I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since the last post - sorry Followers! The GGB's have been busy, I guess. Kristen was on a great beach vacation recently and I ... well, I really don't have any excuses. Regardless, the next race is quickly approaching and that means blog time!!

This is a bonus race included in our adventure racing series. It's a rogaine style format, which means you have 3 hours to get as many check points as possible, and you don't have to get them in order. There will be a 6+ mile run, 15 mile bike and 2 mile kayak. You don't have to go the full distances for each leg, but the check points worth the most will usually be the ones farthest away. Last year we got almost all the bike points, we made an executive decision not to kayak (which turned out to be a GREAT decision), and we got only one CP on the run. This year I'm pretty sure our focus will be on just the run and bike again. We haven't set it in stone yet, but that's what the car ride there is for!

Other news: we are so excited to announce that our great friend Lesley will be joining us at this race! She is in town for a "throwback" reunion weekend and she wanted to experience real race day excitement and stress. She already emailed Frank, the race organizer, and said she would like to volunteer - yayy Lesley!! We don't know what she will be doing yet, but Frank said he is going to give her a particularly difficult task ;)

Training for this race has been a little more relaxed. Kristen rode her bike and ran on vacation and I have been attempting to run and I have done some great Kick Punch & Crunch classes, along with a yoga class. Next week we have two training days planned together: a bike and a run on each day.

We hope your August is going as great as ours!! WAR pictures to be posted soon.

1 hr and 38 mins in a canoe with the Green Gov Beasts

I would like to break down the story of the canoe a little bit. I would love to say that it was smooth sailing and we traveled in a straight line, sang row, row, row your boat in various languages (and in rounds)…but that is what an experienced crew would write about…and well…we are the newbie crew...

Out of 48 teams, we are the second last to launch. We finally get our canoes in the water and you can barely see the other canoes in the horizon, all 46 crews are already starting to look like tiny tiny tiny little dots. As I jump into the canoe in the front, Lisa pushes our canoe gently into the water as so not to tip us and our bikes (especially in front of the cameras and media…I'm sure that’s what they were waiting to capture from us). A "fan" yells out, "hey what's your name" we say "Green Governor Beasts", she yells what our your first names, I say "Kristen" and Lisa says "Lisa", she says "ok I am cheering for you girls" which I must admit at the time of watching the whole rest of the field float away to victory made us feel a little bit better.

Side Note: There is supposed to be a current, there is no current (Frank where is this current you emailed us about?), and the wind is blowing in our faces, at some points it feels like we are going backwards which brings the morale back down.

Once on the water we start off paddling, I think we were both thinking lets just row hard and keep that other team who entered the water last way back there, we cant finishing this canoe Last, we just cant! . We start to row for about 5 minutes, and I say "Hey Lisa tell me about what it was like in the school bus coming back from the YMCA", she huffs "K, I need to get into the rhythm" I'm sure she was thinking K this isn't social hour, and was giving me the lip snarl, even though I could not see it. Ok, I should have waited a lot longer until I started trying to make boat conversation. We row in silence.

I continued to row in silence, I was really focusing on my powerful long strokes, I was rowing on the left side of the canoe, because I am left handed and Lisa is right handed. After about 10 minutes of silent concentrated rowing, the last place team comes up next to us. Team Rush. They say "hey where are you guys from?" "Cleveland" we say, then they "BOOO" they are obviously from Pittsburgh. They ask us some other questions and as we put our attention towards the conversation our boat starts to go towards the right, and we really start to zig zag. I being the more blunt member of the team yell out "HEY WE CANT TALK TO YOU" "YOU ARE MESSING US UP" "THIS IS A RACE" and put my head down and continue to paddle, they just laugh as they effortlessly pass us….and now we are in last…urhhhh!

We then approach another male team that we pass, and now we are the team with all the smiles! I climb on board and run on land for about 5 meters to get check point number 1! Yes we are feeling good! And we pass Team Rush again!

We are now in front of two teams, and we can see another co-ed team about 3 boat lengths up. We see them turn completely horizontal. I laugh to Lisa "they must be hating life" while also thinking man we have this down, how can they be so bad at steering…...we get to the same exact spot about 20 seconds later and also turn horizontal…….errgggg!!! I jump out, with my socks and shoes and push us in the right direction, there are some shallow parts and Lisa is doing a lot of steering. I try to help by paddling on the right side and she yells! "NO K I need you to row on this side" I yell "I can't see you so I don’t know what THIS side is" oh why was I so sassy. She doesn’t respond. So I got back to my side. We row in silence for a little bit again.

We come around checkpoint 2 and with teamwork we are able to spot it and paddle right up to it. We are more then half way done with the canoe and things are looking up! We are even giggling a little bit and Lisa giggling yells "Stroke Stroke Stroke"! Then I notice that there is a little water in the bottom of the boat from me jumping in and out and that’s where I had the maps, so I now have them pinched between my legs, but sometimes they slip down and down, so I have to let go of the paddle to re-adjust! Lisa yells "K you do have the maps tightly between your legs, right?!" I respond "Yes Lisa" although I am freaking a little, I know how she gets about the maps and I can see a few drops on them, I just hope she doesn’t see that when we get on shore, luckily it starts to drizzle when we get on shore, I think to myself she will never know :) (half just kidding)

We ended up doing really great docking our boat and jump out of the canoes, we are ready to hop on the bikes! We did the 6 mile canoe (with no current) in 1 hour and 38 minutes! Our goal was 2 hours!

Race Partner Birthday!

Happy

25th

Birthday

Lisa!!

(tomorrow - July 24th)

Thanks for being such a great racing partner! You are always pushing us to be stronger and faster! and I love that about you

The WAR - Race Day

Kristen and I arrived at the Kinzua Dam Visitors Center Parking Lot right on time at 635am. The weather was overcast, maybe a little threatening looking, but wasn't too cold. Our long spandex and high socks were a great decision. We checked in with Bethann, got a couple canoe maps, 3 clue sheets and instructions to pick up some PFD's and paddles. After examining the clue sheets, K and I knew for sure the bikes were going in the canoe. Luckily, we were mentally prepared for this so it wasn't a huge shock. We do believe that a majority of the others racers did not see this coming, regardless, they were still quicker then we were with the bike to canoe transition... but at least our bike soccer socks were cooler..??

At 715am, I left for the Warren YMCA parking lot. I was to park my car there, take the school bus back and meet Kristen at 815am at the pre-race meeting. Before I left, we made sure the bikes and hydration packs were ready to go. The school bus shuttle was right on time and I met up with K just in time to catch most of the pre-race instructions from Frank. He went over all three clue sheets, general rules and what we should do in case of an emergency. We felt confident standing there. We had the correct gear, K was taking great notes and there were some teams that look ill-prepared. Combine all those factors and the pre-race jitters were melting away.

At 830am exactly (we were very impressed with the punctuality) the race started. We ran down a steep decline with our PFD's on, jersey's over top and paddles in hand. We got to the river and made an executive decision to use a canoe at the top of a short hill because it wasn't crowded next to the other canoes jumbled at the bottom of the hill. Maybe not the best decision. We got the bikes in and bungeed down and then lifted. Ugh! The canoe didn't move. OK, time to take a bike out. Kristen ran hers down to the river, then ran back up, and we lifted again. Not as heavy, but still awkward to carry. We finally made it down, launched and we were the second last canoe in the river...we could only move up, right?

I was in charge of steering and I know I didn't induce confidence from Kristen when I asked her where the rudder was on the canoe, but despite that one comment, the canoe paddling didn't go so bad. We quickly found a comfortable rhythm and we're cruising down the river. We found both CP's with ease, Kristen maneuvered us through some shallow patches (thanks for being the one to get your feet wet! you're a great partner), and we even passed two teams! I was ready for the canoe to be over after the 6 miles because although we were passing teams, it felt like we were going in slow motion. I was just imaging other teams biking already...

Our goal was to paddle 6 miles in under 2 hours and we did it in 1 hour and 40 mins. Wohoo for beating our goal! With the canoe ashore, we got our bike maps and headed out. There were only 2 other teams around us and we lost them quickly... then we got lost and couldn't find where the trail started. It took about 15 mins and a little guidance from another lost team to get us where we needed to go.

The bike was tedious. A lot of steep hills, vague trail markings, crucial compass skills, and chains falling off. The good thing was we caught up with a bunch of teams that had made some wrong navigational decisions, which was easy to do on this course. Seeing other teams around really gave us a boost in spirit. We were still in it! The bike odometer really helped us, along with moral support fromTeam Rush (Gary and Tony) and the all of our training on the hills of Bedford. We didn't have much of a chance to show off our new technical biking prowess, but there's always the next race. We finished the 21+ mile bike course in 3 hours and 21 minutes. Not so bad when we anticipated it taking us 4 hours.

The run, oh the run... where to start. Well, we started off strong and finished strong. We refueled at TA (PB sandwich) and threw off our bike gear, happily. We found the first CP with ease and once we got into a great running rhythm, we had big smiles. CP2 was tough to find, we once again met up with lost Tony & Gary and a couple other teams, but even with all the brain power, it still took us forever to find it. It was during the search for CP2 that we had our fresh orange treat and that really lifted the spirits. The rest of the run was tough, a lot of walking/running and just walking, a lot of wandering until finding the check point, but we kept going. Although it may have stopped being fun when we were searching for CP3, we didn't quit. CP4 and CP5 were fairly easy to find and from CP5 to CP5, the shortest route back was due North. We were ready to use the compass. Kristen kept that compass pointed North and we bushwhacked our way to freedom (or where we had dropped the bikes but freedom sounds better), while eating PB M&M's and dodging spider webs. I believe it was one of the high points of the race.

Upon emerging from the deep woods, we ran to our bikes and found out we weren't the last team out!! The run took us 3 hours and 6 minutes. There was at least one other team behind us, so we needed to book it on the bikes. The final bike leg could have been anywhere from 6 miles to 8 miles long - we couldn't tell, well, I forgot to set the odometer... Luckily it was mainly downhill and pretty easy navigation. We passed one team on the final bike and we were passed by another team. 45 minutes later we rode into the finish to fellow racers clapping and cheering. It was one of our proudest moments!! Our overall goal was to finish in 9 hours and we crossed the finish line in 8 hours and 55 minutes! Bethann and Frank seemed very happy that they wouldn't have to search for us in the woods, but they were also happy for us because we didn't quit and we didn't come in dead last! All the frustration and fatigue from the race melted away and all that was left was a strong feeling of personal accomplishment. We placed second in the all female team division and we couldn't wait to tell our biggest supporters...our families and friends :)

Newbies Once Again

Its usually the week before the race that we truly feel like Adventure Racing Newbies. We get an email about the race…and…well….we FREAK!!!!!!!!

For example this race we have in two days has so many elements that are completely new, confusing and CRAZY to us:

We are told this week to wear long socks for the race - ummm…doesn't that mean bushwhacking…I think so…ok…first time we will have ever seriously done that.

Ok next…Canoeing…We have done a few adventure races that have involved running, and biking, and maybe a little swimming, but never canoeing…hmm…I mean, are we going to flip, and when they say "navigation is key in the canoe" what do they mean?… Are we going to be able to seriously make a wrong turn in the canoe, or are we navigating between rocks and trees and possibly snapping turtles?? And the bungees, they would never have us really bungee our "stimulus 2008 check bikes" to a wobbly canoe…right??!

And then there is the biking element…the most we have ever biked in a race environment has been 12.5 miles…so 21 is kind of close to double that…YIKES it took us 2 hours and 20 minutes to bike 12.5 miles (and we were the first female finishers), is it going to take us around 4 to bike 21 miles!!! As I'm writing this I'm getting a little nervous…oh who am I kidding now? I know we are going to rock it! Right??…4 hours isn't insanely long on a bike is it…(maybe I should go out and get those padded biking shorts...)?

Next newbie item…flat tires, we are required to bring all kinds of tools to change a flat tube/tire…if that happens…I don’t know if Lisa and I will make it out as friends, I feel like changing a tire after riding 18 miles and having 3 miles left to go could be quite…frustrating!!!

Lets see…then there is the required gear of 4 bungees…nothing I can really say about that...

Also first time we will not be together for the pre-race meeting…what will I do with out my map reading partner!?

We do love new adventures, so we are excited about this one! But since so much is so new to us our confidence is a bit shaky, I'm sure after we get started we'll be ok!

Cross your FINGERS for us!

Bungee = ????

Did our fears/suspicions about the possibility of having to put our bikes in the canoe come true???? This came in a race email update today:

Required per team:
Compass-one per team minimum
Map case-gallon zip loc ok
Additional gallon zip loc-second map case ok
Pen or pencil
4 short (12"-24") bungee/shock cord. Rope or strap ok
Pack or rack for carrying gear while biking
Bike repair kit including one tube-minimum-and tire levers

Seriously blog readers, do you really think they would have us paddle 6 miles with our bikes in the canoe with us? We need some expert opinions!

This Week is Flying By

Happy Thursday!

Tonight is a 5 mile run hopefully around 5o minutes, followed by a 14 mile bike. This workout should take us about 2 hour and 15 minutes which is good training for us. Since the race is expected to be 6-8 hours! We are usually a little more tired at the end of a work week, so I am really looking forward to really pushing it tonight.

Canoe Clinic on Saturday - I cant even explain what will gone on, its a basics canoe clinic with a mandatory cap-size drill. No matter what we will have fun and we will figure out a way to take some pictures!

Looking foward to a race update soon. I feel like we dont have enough details...but maybe thats the point ;)

9 days til the RACE!

New Biking Muscles!

Hello GGB Followers!

Last nights mt bike training couldn’t have gone any better. The weather was glorious and hot, just hot enough to dry up any last bit of mud that might have accumulated during last weeks rain fest. I picked up Kristen after work, loaded the bikes and we were off!

We decided to do 4 laps (almost 12 miles), with the goal of getting faster and faster each lap. The first lap was a little shaky. We hadn’t been on the bikes, off road, since the last adventure race and we needed to get back in the groove. Luckily, there weren’t any major falls, but we did ride conservatively. 1st lap was 22:15 (or something like that). The second lap we relaxed and picked up the speed. We started sweating and taking some more chances. 2nd lap was 20:35. oh yeah! Shaving the minutes off!! The third lap was the most eventful. I finally conqured the “bridge of death” and Kristen conquered the “rocks of death”. We both moved outside our comfort zone and attempted hills that we previously thought were too steep and rocks bridges we thought were too dangerous. There might have been a minor mishap involving Kristen, a steep hill and a tree. Her bike caught on the tree and stopped, while Kristen kept going. She was a trooper though and got up, brushed the dirt off and kept going. 3rd lap was 20:22. The fourth lap was a good challenge. We were feeling some fatique and it felt good to push ourselves. We encountered other bikers on the trail and marveled at the guys who can jump their bikes over the fallen trees. We also saw another female biker on the course and she exclaimed “it’s so nice to see other girls out here!”. The feeling was mutual. The 4th lap was 20:55. We didn’t improve on our time, but our confidence was at an all time high and the smiles were big. Medina Mountain Biking Night was a huge success!

Next workout is Thursday: a 14 mile bike and 5 mile run. Less than 2 weeks until the next race – it’s go time!

Technical Bike Training Tonight

Tonight the plan is to get in 11 miles of technical bike riding. The course we go to is an intermediate course with a few advanced sections (some of these sections are impossible for us!) and when we are not confident to ride over the advanced sections, we quickly run our bikes through in order not to waste any time. Our best time for the 2.75 mile loop is 25:40 and we are going to work on beating that time tonight! Also we will be confident going over the bridges and rocks and will try to keep falls to a minimum since all our scrapes and cuts have finally healed from last months training and adventure race. Our biking has really improved this year, and I really think its this course that helps with our biking skills and our confidence. The more we practice the better we get! Hopefully all 4 laps around we will get faster and faster, and we will have good news to report tomorrow! Looking forward to this Monday night training session (to make up for our July 4th weekend over eating :)!)

RACE UPDATE

Bathing suits for the canoe...????? Just Kidding....Just Kidding!!

We received another race update yesterday.

The distance now are:

6 mile canoe (but longer if you don't navigate correctly)

15-25 mile bike (Frank wrote in his email that the bike would be down hill, but followed that comment with this symbol ;)...which mostly likely means the bike is directly uphill!

6-7 mile run (which is a relief, its down from 9 miles in our last update)

New race start - 8:30, and since the race is 2.5 hours away...we have to figure something out!

Happy 4th of July!!

JULY TIME

July Training Schedule - 18 days til WAR (the name of the adventure race, but I'm sure its going to literally be like war, with our bikes, our canoe, and our bodies…but hopefully not each other…:)!)

Monday July 6th -
Technical Mountain Biking - 12+ miles on Cleveland Mountain Biking Association's Course
Thursday July 9th -
Endurance - 5+ miles run followed by 14+ miles on the bike. Hilly Course
Saturday July 12th -
Canoe Clinic

Race week training - TBA!

Ps. We officially have a song: I Gotta Feeling by Blacked Eyed Peas!

(such POSITIVE ENERGY!)

Some new GGB pics

Kristen post-race clean up at HVAC. Can the smile be any bigger?

OK, so I might be modeling the padded bike shorts and the new helmet in this pic... poss poss?

Pre- Race Smiles!

GGB in our Jerseys and Green! With a little bit of pre-race jitters!

Racing Partner Love

Hello GGB blog readers!

I think it's time to talk about my racing partner, fellow GGB'er, Governor of Green Gables, KLO or K-alicious.

It's hard to find a good racing partner, let alone a great racing partner. You and your partner should have similar athletic abilities. Running distances, biking skills and stamina and water travel desires/fears should be fairly the same as your partners. It’s best to have the same goals; whether you want to complete or compete and it’s best to talk about those goals before the race starts. You and your partner should have an idea of how the other reacts under certain stressful situations (i.e. hunger, fatigue, being lost, equipment failures, traveling in the dark dark, cold night wearing nothing but a small, midriff jersey, etc.) If you know how your partner is going to deal with the stress, then you should also know how to respond (or not respond) and prepare accordingly.

Should you suggest packing extra food “just in case” you get lost, when you really know that the food will be needed regardless if you get lost or not? Should you remember that no one likes to be wet and cold and maybe pack some towels and extra clothes? Should you agree on a non-racing related word that can be shouted into the empty wilderness that lets your partner know you are in real trouble and need their assistance? Should you maybe just not respond (or develop selective hearing) when a partner is venting, visibly frustrated or they might have whispered that they aren’t having fun anymore? Obviously, the above ideas are geared towards the GGB’s and things that make for added stress, but every team is different and so much is learned during every race.

Kristen puts up with a lot. I’ve been known to get very crabby when hungry, tired and hot…which is what we deal with every race. Kristen knows that I get nervous when I’m running late and that I have a small fear of being alone in the middle of a body of water with my legs dangling down for any snapping turtle to sample. Actually the list could go on for quite some time, but you get the point. I have a great racing partner that loves the thrill of the race and, of course, every pre-race email that comes the week before. We have modified our goals from wanting a first place finish, to not quitting and improving with every race. There have been some super mini-arguments and maybe some side-eyes, but we can usually laugh about it 5 minutes later or definitely in the car on the way home.

We should all take some time to thank our racing partners because it’s not every day you find a great one! Thanks GGB of GG!!

P.S. Check out Kristen doing Crow on the beach in the Bahamas. So much talent!

Bike Shorts Review

The Tuesday before our last race, Kristen and I went mountain biking in Medina. The trail there is a lot of fun and really challenging - just what we needed before our big race! Along the trail there are various obstacles, such as logs, rocks, tree roots, bridges, steep hills, etc. The one thing that I learned while on the 3rd loop was that it's best to lift your butt off the seat when going over rough terrain. It was a great tip, but it came a little too late for me and I was definitely feeling the soreness that night and into the next day. It even prompted me to look for padded bike shorts. I did a search online and saw that I could purchase a nice pair for around $30 and I decided that it would be totally worth it. I went to the sporting goods store and found a great pair made by Quest. They were tight around the leg so they wouldn't ride up, padded where the padding need to be and fairly flattering.

Approaching race day I started to have second thoughts.. do I really need these shorts? why are they so tight, I feel like I'm losing circulation to my knees and calves? Should I just return them and put the money towards a new helmet?

On race day, I still had the shorts and I felt confident wearing them. As you know, the race was great with few mishaps and I loved the shorts! With even longer biking legs coming up, I'm even more pleased with my decision to purchase the shorts and I would recommend them to any mt biker going long distances. The only thing I don't know is how fast they will dry off if I end up swimming in them... that may be put on the list of things to do before the next race because I'm pretty sure we're going to be in the river!

Freaking Out!!!

Yesterday around 3pm I get a call from Lisa at work (and work phone calls are reserved for very very important information). "K" she says, and I begin to worry, she sounds like she in the back of a bear den being cornered by a hungry bear. I knew this wasn't a good call. "WHAT" I said, "Is everything , OK", I thought something bad had happened like an accident of some sorts. She had enough courage to slowly speak…"d...did…did…you check your email" she said. "No I didn’t WHY WHAT" I thought the race had been cancelled…but NO it was way way worse...
We received an email yesterday explaining the length of our next race on July 18th. On the website it lists the race as a 4-6 mile trail run, 10-14 mile mountain bike, and 2-4 mile water travel. Sounds good, totally do-able for us! We are ready to rock it!

INSTEAD! He said we would be on a trail run for 9 miles! A bike for 20 miles and in a canoe for 6 miles! Seriously Frank…it took us 4.5 hours to do 4.5 miles last time…ok granted we got really lost but using that math it would take us 9 hours to do the run (ok ok…I know it won't…but still) errrrrrrr! If it took us 6 hours to run 4.5 miles/bike 12 miles, how long is it going to take for us to do twice that? 12 hours…(Ok Lisa, add the head light to the packing list! I think we are going to be out there past dark…that was my only negative thought…ok back to positive thoughts).

There will be no TA at this race, and Bethann gave us a little hint that there would be an obstacle in the canoe…we thought: what could be in the canoe, are we going to be blind-folded…hmmm…no…is there going to be something in the canoe, hmmm they would never have us put our bikes in a canoe right?

We asked Frank via email, his response: "I plead the fifth on the bike/canoe subject. Never say never! : )"

And this is why we are "FREAKING"!

and now the bad news...but we still FINISHED!

So we finished 21st out of 45 teams in the bike, and we were the 1st of 5 female teams to finish the bike leg. The run did not go as smoothly as the bike. It wasn’t that we were'nt fast enough, it was that our navigation was not the best. There were 11 check points in the run. We made it to the first 3 check point with ease, and we were keeping up with 3 all males team, one team was def an Army team of sorts and we were keeping up! (YEHAW) We arrived to a point where 2 guys teams went one way and one team went the other. We stopped and looked at our map and our compass and decided we needed to be on the Forbes State border trail, and take that until we see a few houses. We followed this trail…and still we saw no houses, we started to panic a little but reassured ourselves when we saw footprints, or the grass we claimed was freshly stomped down in the direction we were going...we followed it FOREVER. We even saw two competitors who told us that it might not be the right way, we brushed them off and said thanks, but we are going to go this way anyways. We must have gone 30 minutes in that direction until we decided to turn around...Errrrrrrghhhhh we were wrong! After turning around and half walking half running back to where we were, we found checkpoint 4 totally by chance, we continued easily to find 5, 6, and 7, check point 8 took some time, almost an hour. We were 5 hours and 30 minutes into the race, we knew that the awards cermony was probably over, and we were starting to wonder if there would be any food left. Morale was down and we were sick of the luna moons, and gummies, and cliff bars, we wanted real food and we wanted to be out of there!! We knew we had to finish, so we conutined on to 9, and 10, and evententually back to TA. As we rounded the corner back to TA we started a great run because we wanted everyone to see us finish strong…when we turned the corner, where 6 hours before there had been over 100 bikes, we saw only 2 lonely lonely bikes…they were our bikes, there was not a soul left. No one was still recovering or socializing or even packing up…it was like no one was ever there. We waved down Bethann and she said "oh I'm so glad to see you girls, Frank is out there looking for you". It ended up taking us 6 hours and 17 minutes. We finished 50 minutes behind the second last team. But we finished! And that is exactly what we wanted to do. We were proud, and we pulled up our cooler and ate our picnic lunch of pasta salad and watermelon, with my ankle dripping some blood and with enough energy to take off our helmets - we FEASTED. We drove home and laughed about our adventure that day, while munching on a fresh pack of OREOS (thanks Lisa)!
P.S. Frank mentioned our finish in the race re-cap

And our "lantern rouge" goes to Team Green Governor BEASTS—Kristen LoGrasso and Lisa Miano—who stayed on the course for six hours and seventeen minutes so as to not repeat last year’s DNF. These girls are coming on…

Yes Frank we are certainly coming on…Look out for us on JULY 18th!! We are definitely ready to place in the Women's Division! Fingers Crossed

HVAC - Bike Leg re-cap!

During the pre-race meeting we find out that the bike leg will be first. Usually the run is first, so this is a nice twist. Frank and Bethann go over the map in detail and Kristen takes copious notes (notes which really pay off). Frank tells us what to look for at certain check points (CP’s) and Bethann tells us that we are not to ride our bikes on any main roads unless the clues indicate that we are allowed. There will be a bag with poker chips at every CP and we are to take one poker chip a team. Lastly, Frank tells us that the first CP is at the top of a killer, monster, very long hill and the first team up will get their poker chip handed to them, while the other teams must bike a short distance to another spot where they will be scattered on the ground.

After the meeting, we have 10 minutes to get ready for the bike and lay out the running gear. We have a mini-pep talk and decide we are going to take our time getting to the first CP because there is NO WAY we would ever in a million years be the first team to the top. Hills aren’t our strongest suit.

With 3 minutes to go, all the teams are supposed to line up by bib number. We are team #19 and should have been near the front, but for some reason the teams can’t (or strategically don’t) line up by number and it’s just a mass of bikers crowded together waiting for the “go”!

I’m not going to go through every CP because there were 11 total, but I just want to start out and say WE ROCKED THE BIKE LEG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were near the middle-end of the pack, but we stayed steady. We didn’t follow the crowd and it payed off in a lot of instances. It was muddy, rocky and rooty but we kept a quick pace. There were definitely some crazy long hills and we were forced to walk our bikes, along with a bunch of other teams, but we stayed on our bikes for 90% longer this year than we did last year. When I think about last year’s race, I think about walking the bikes for a majority of it.

There were a couple minor falls. During one particular harsh “fall” going over a log, Kristen may have yelled out in pain, then said she didn’t like being rushed and then asked if I would be a surrogate mother for her if she couldn’t have children because of the said “fall”. I said, of course I would be a surrogate for you, and then didn’t respond to any other comments. We had just gotten a little off track and tension was mounting, so sometimes it’s best to not say anything! :) That really was the worst of it on the bike leg and it wasn’t even bad – as our loyal followers know, it has gotten wayyyy worse!

In case you were wondering, the other teams were helpful this year and in return we offered help too. There were many times when another team would give us a heads up on where a clue would be located and we would pass the info on. We usually didn’t give the info out to teams that were directly in front of us or behind us; it was more to teams that were super lost and didn’t pose a threat.

After we got our poker chip at CP 11, 13 miles later, we cruised into TA and found out we were the first all girl team to arrive (our time was 2:24:46)!!! Later we found out that the next all girl team rode in 20 minutes after us. After a bike leg like that, we felt on top of the world and ready to finish the run like true champions!!!

Pre-Race Routine - HVAC

5:32 am - Lisa picked me up and we packed up the bikes, we had all our gear ready to go, and we were very giddy and excited! We chatted the whole way there, no radio was needed, we talked about strategy: a) we will not follow other teams, because usually they are wrong, b) if someone is complaining, ignore them and cross your fingers they will stop complaining because they think you can not hear them, c) we will not be friendly or help other teams, because last race no one was friendly to us, until after the race and d) we will do anything and take as long as necessary, but we will FINISH!

8:33 am - We arrive at the parking lot to see that many team have also just arrived and everyone is unloading their gear and starring down each others legs and bikes. We must wipe away our smiles and put on our evil eyes. We are in race mode now. A friendly competitor comes over and tells us it might be easier to back our car down to the TA, instead of walking everything there. We snarl our lips and say, no we are fine, we walked our bikes down "LAST YEAR!". We wanted him to know we had been here before!...(poor guy, he was just trying to help and he went back to his car with a sad Eyeore type waddle) this was no time for socializing mister!

8:48 am - It takes us two trips to walk everything down, yes, it might have been easier to back the car in, but we couldn't take a competitors advice (that was rule a.) We set up our gear a little bit away from the TA bars on some rocks by a bench. We laid everything out and this year it seemed like we actually had gear to set up. Last year we were just looking around thinking "what is everyone setting up??". This year we had to lay out our bikes, helmets, biking gloves, etc., and then our running gear. We weren't sure which was going to be first: the bike leg or the run leg, so we had to be set up for both.

9:03 am - Lisa debates over whether or not to get the tarp in the car to cover our gear incase it rains. After much debate, and no help from me on the decision (I really didn’t think it would rain), she went to get the tarp. While she was gone the other female teams pounced on me! They saw me alone and they came up and tried to be overly friendly, "can you take our picture", "isn't it a lovely day"…Lisa was coming back and I saw her give me the lip snarl and the left evil eye squint... she is probably thinking "K, why are you being friendly to the other teams" but once Lisa came back they quickly scurried away!

9:15 am - Pre-race meeting. At the pre-race meeting it was announced that the bike leg would be first! A 13 mile bike ride, and we went over the map and the rules in detail. Then he told us following the bike leg would be a 5 mile trail run. YES we thought! The bike first would be good for us because running 5 miles would be as easy as cake…

Of course we thought wrong...

Success!!

Hello GGB Followers!

We are back from the race and feeling a great sense of accomplishment! WE FINISHED!!!!!! We may not have been the first people to finish, but we ended the race with big smiles!

The details of the race are forthcoming and we can’t wait to share all the details!!!! Thank you for the good luck wishes and support. We really didn’t want to type the “Q” word in the re-cap, so it was definitely one of the things that kept us going! :)

Secret Weapon = FOOD!

We are kind of new to endurance races, and figuring out when to eat and how much to eat. Last HVAC adventure race we went into the race without an eating plan. We thought we didn’t need one, but we were wrong! After 5 hours out on the trail we were draining mentally and physically! Now we know there has to be some energy source to keep us going! (And Lisa smiling…ha-ha jk/jk)

This is our plan: On Saturday morning we are going to have a plain bagel with PB and a banana at 8am (2 hours before the race!). We have Luna Moons, Cliff Gels, and Cliff Bars packed in our bags, as well as WATER and GATORADE! We will be refueling every 45 mins-60 mins! But the biggest motivator is after the race we will be the two standing outside of Lisa's car standing up wolfing down her famous pasta salad with our helmets still on, and blood gushing down our knees.

We are bingers…and well frankly we are ok with it :)!

Also we will also have fresh cut up watermelon! And even a special treat for the ride home!

And poss a famous cookie if we finish before all the race amenities are gone or packed up!

We will FINISH!

Double Redemption...poss?

We have a big race coming up this Saturday June 13th. The bikes are broken in this year, we've done far more training, we are stronger physcially and mentally, and the weather is supposed to be sunny with clear skies! It looks like we are ready to go.

One year ago we raced in this race (HVAC) we swam, ran 6 miles, and biked over 12 miles, and with 3 miles left to go we...QUIT! We just couldnt go anymore. (dont judge...please...we really couldn't...plus we were on a road instead of a trail...tensions were tight...we were hungry...tired...and drained...oh the list goes on and on...why after 5 hours we couldnt go three more miles...) but this year we are ready to REDEEM ourselves and the name of the GREEN GOVERNOR BEASTS and that we will!!!

Pre Race Emails - We know from our pre-race email updates that:
A.) trail run will be about 5.2 miles
B. ) bike 12.5 miles
C.) there will be massive hills
D.) there will be swimming

Let's hope for the BEST! and that Monday's Update will be full of GOOD NEWS!

p.s. Lisa has even purchased the great "Padded Shorts" (we'll report back on their success or failure on MONDAY)

HALF MARATHON FINISHERS!

Sorry its been awhile! We are back! and the Cleveland Half Marathon went very smoothly! And was actually very very very fun! We ran hard and our fastest! Finishing in 2:07!!

Half Marathon Jitters

The Cleveland Rite Aid Half Marathon is only 4 days away! It seems like we have been training forever. We started in January and we have done long runs in the cold rain, snow, ice and hot heat. Training in Cleveland is always an adventure. I’m a little nervous for the big day. I have never actually run 13.1 miles straight and we want to keep the pace at 10 minutes or so. Will we be able to keep that pace? Will we be hating life at 10 miles in?

I do know that excitement will be at an all time high. This is my first half marathon and Kristen’s second. The most we have run together is 12 miles, so I’m looking forward to hitting another milestone with my governor at my side! We will have family and friends there to cheer us on and the Luna Moon gummies will be tucked in the secret pocket of my GGB’s new spandex shorts.

It WILL be great! It really will! We are going to run with our backs straight and tall! We are going to keep our own pace and not the pace of the racers around us! We will stay strong on any increase in elevation! We will think about all the calories we are burning! We will feel the excitement of all the fans and other racers! We can’t wait to cross the finish line strong, with smiles on our faces!

Wish us luck!

Hermes 10 Miler - No Drama

The race this weekend went really well. Our goal was to run the race in 1 hour 40 minutes, and we beat our goal and ran it fast in 1 hour 38 minutes. The weather was: beautiful clear skies, a slight breeze, and the sun shining down. But as soon as we started running it seemed so hot (it was about 80 degrees). The race was mostly flat, and I really enjoyed the course. There were water stops at every two miles which very nice, we grabbed some water at every spot because of the extreme heat. (There were also some yards with sprinklers going and I made sure to run through every sprinkler on the course.) It was nice to have the boys cheering us on, the green shirted boys, Zack and Corey handed us off our Luna moons at mile 7. Woo Hoo - Only 3 miles to go. The last 2 miles of the race were very hard for us, our lungs and legs were becoming very sluggish very fast! We stayed strong and consistent with our pace and we were able to pass other racers throughout the whole race. I'm proud of us that we were able to start slow, instead of going out to fast! I think that’s what made this race so steady. We finished pretty strong (even thought we may have exchanged some words at mile 9.5, Lisa said "I am not having fun" followed by myself who said " this is not fun at all") and ran the whole race at a steady 9:51 minutes per mile. This race definitely brought our confidence up for the half marathon in 20 days! One more long training run this weekend, and then we taper. I think all this hard training is going to pay off on May 17th! (fingers crossed)

Why the middrift jerseys?

OK…so now I'm sure you are getting the feeling that the race didn’t go as planned…but now since some time has passed and we are no longer frusterated and embarrassed we can laugh about it…right!

The race was set up starting with a 5 mile off-trail run, followed by a 12.5 mile bike, followed by another short 1 mile run, lastly followed by a brainteaser. During the run there were about 12 check points. At each check point we were to collect a poker chip, and at the final "brainteaser" portion of the race we would use the poker chips with letters on them to unscramble a word. Our run started out great, we were in the middle of the pack and things couldn’t be better. We were with around a lot of teams, and we were in this race!! We were! After about 4 miles of running and collecting poker chips we came to the next clue "on the island of lake JB". There was only one kayak and probably about 8 teams at the lake when we arrived. If we wanted to gain some ground, one of us had to volunteer. I volunteered, I like swimming I really do, and I was so ready to just jump in and get it done. (Now this race is south of Pittsburgh, In April…this lake was probably frozen solid only one month ago). It was freezing at first and so so cold, and I had a life vest on but managed to swim some sort of version of freestyle. As I started swimming I was feeling good, I was warming up! I climbed up the rocks and grabbed the poker chip…I did a little woo hoo dance for Lisa, but she just looked at me and said "Come on K, Let’s GO". I saw other teams were putting the chip in their mouth so they wouldn’t lose it on the swim back. I knew I couldn’t do that because A) I would swallow it or B) I would drop it...so I held on to it in my fist with all my might. I started doing my free style swimming again but felt strangled by the life vest so quickly flipped myself over and started doing my famous backstroke, I think its called elementary back stroke (I know I know…but we are still AR newbies). I quickly got out of the water, and lisa helped me put my shoes on while I put my shirt on! We were off…leaving those other teams behind who were waiting for the kayak. We eventually returned to T/A and hopped on our bikes for the bike portion of the race. I saw my long sleeve shirt, and laughed at myself thinking "why did I even bring that…haha…I don’t need it…

errr…I did need it. We were off on the bikes, and I was soaking wet, but it felt good at the time because it was cooling me down. But as the sunset and the tempature dropped! I got cold really fast. It didn’t help I suppose that we were out on our bikes for over 2 hours and only on the second checkpoint! It occurred to me that we werent going to be back for awhile. I could make it being that cold for a little longer, but knowing I would be out there for a while longer freaked me out. I was saying to Lisa "im freezing, my teeth are chattering" and she would ignore me, which was good, I shouldn’t have been complaining, but I was starting to get worried about my body and started complaining more and more, then Lisa came over "oh my gosh, I totally forgot that you were wet" she gave me her shirt, and put the little mid-drift of a jersey on. What a great teammate I have, to take her shirt off her back for me. It felt so good to have a warm shirt. We were back on our mission of finding "The Big Tree at Tee #4". Lisa looked good in the mid-drift but was so embarassed. We were approaching another team, and she looked back at me and said "Now K, when we go up to this team do not shine your headlight on me, I don’t want them to see me in this bathing suit like jersey." We approached the team and I completely forgot not to look at her, I noticed that she was hunching her back so much so that the bottom of her shirt would hit the top of her pants, then I got it again "the SIDE EYE" and the "LIP SNARL" oh SHOOT! I quickly remembered and turned my head away so no one could see her in the jersey alone, but the damage had already been done. The team we had asked for help had quickly pedaled away, judging my partner for just wearing her jersey, and they ignored us for the rest of the race.

SONAR Race Pics

Ready to start the bike portion... we thought it was in the bag!

Jake!...and Zack's parents' feet We had the most fans ever supporting us!

A little nervous but loving the headlight and bike lights! Here we go!

SONAR Race Pics

Our fearless supporters! Thanks Corey and Zack for not running scared when we got mean! OK fine, when I (Lisa) got a little bit mean.



Before the race...so much hope in our eyes! Check out the sweet jerseys though...

April 18th - SONAR race at Nemocolin, PA

I hope none of you had your expectations too high for us. Our blog does have “newbie” in the title… OK, I’ll start out with this: we are not injured, not major injuries anyway, we are still friends and we are still looking forward to the other races in the series. We may be a little embarrassed and we might have gotten frustrated, but at least we know where tee #4 is now.

Saturday’s weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The sun was shining brighter than ever and we were both on time for the race set up. We found a great spot on the grass for our bikes so we could lay everything out and not have to deal with the other bikers during the transition. Our jerseys are pretty sweet. The logo looks great and our team name is correct. They are a little on the short side, but will definitely be perfect when the weather gets hot and you don’t want to wear much! The bearing clinic was helpful and when Frank had the pre-race meeting, Kristen and I thought the race sounded fun and totally do-able!

7pm sharp and we are off!!

Pre-Race

Tomorrow is the big Race! The Race is at Nemocolin Lodge and is the first race in the G.R.A.S.S. roots adventure racing series! We've been given little information which makes us that much more nervous we have no idea what to expect! We know these 4 things: 1. The run will up to 6 miles.2. The bike will be 12 miles.3. There will be climbing. (yikes)4. There will be mental challenges (oh…geez!)The race starts at 7pm and first finishers are expected at 9:30pm and the last finishers around 11pm. We are hoping to finish in the middle of the pack around 10:30pm. The race will be run mostly in the dark so the required gear included: hands free head lights, headlight for bike, and blinking tail light! We've never run a race at night before, so this should be very interesting!!!! (My biggest fear is tripping on a root in the dark and knocking my front teeth out completely…)We are planning to arrive at T/A around 5:30pm. There will be a bearing and navigation overview at 6:15pm which Lisa and I will definitely be attending :) Then the pre-race meeting at 6:30pm. 7pm…Race starts! Hopefully we'll be on time, get our bikes set up in a strategic location and be ready to go! We've been mostly training on paved surfaces this month, because the race director kind of gives us the feeling that the bike will be mostly on paved surfaces making it very very fast! Mental Note: pump up those tires to full capacity!! And hopefully it will be on all paved surfaces! (Frank our Race dircetor has been known to be tricky with what he says in his email about the course, and the actual course) We've been also working on shifting gears on the hills!! Hopefully all our extra training on the bike this spring will really help us stay strong in this race!Keep those fingers crossed! And wear some green!

The First Race (from another point of view)

Prior to the start, we were informed there was a short swimming element involved. One teammate would have to swim across a short lake to retrieve their checkpoint card while the other teammate plotted the checkpoints on a trail map. Kristen volunteered to swim and I was relieved; I was happy that I had avoided getting in the murky water where anything could have been lurking beneath the surface!

The whistle blows and we are off! Kristen jumps into the water with her PFD and I’m plotting the points. While Kristen is cruising across the lake, I plot and then try to have her gear ready when she gets out of the water. We transition quickly and with our maps in hands, we head out on the trail running portion of the race. I won’t go into great lengths about the run, but I will mention the ski hill. To get to the first checkpoint, we had to run up a huge ski hill. It was steep and it almost made you want to call the whole race off. We huffed and puffed and eventually made it to the top. The rest of the run was hilly, kind of muddy and we miraculously stayed near the middle of the pack and got all the checkpoints in order. We were loving life after the running portion.

Back at the transition area we learned that the other teammate will have to swim across the lake to retrieve the biking checkpoint card. Nooooooo!! There was nothing I could do but jump in and stay close to a fellow racer. I even attempted to make small talk while swimming in order to alleviate my nerves, which I learned after the race that the whole conversation could be heard by all the spectators. How embarrassing! Regardless, Kristen had all my gear layed out for me by the time I was done and we were off on the bikes.

The biking portion, ohhh the biking portion. It was a love hate experience, mostly hate. We started off the whole thing on the wrong foot by getting lost on the way to the first checkpoint. We must have carried our bikes more than we rode them and can we say “hills, hills and more hills”!!! Also, some of us, which really means me, don’t like to go downhill at fast speeds. Fast speeds referring to anything over 5 mph, so biking was painful in so many ways. There might have been some tears shed, choice words shouted into the wilderness and even a confession of defeat that was strategically ignored. Our bodies hurt, our loving life attitude was slowly getting snuffed out and we were still friends, but we were reaching the brink of taking our frustration out on each other, something we really wanted to avoid.

Quoting the race summary by Frank: “Seemingly the GRR racers have stepped up their training because only one team—A/R newcomers “Green Governor Beasts”—DNF’d. And they were only two CP’s, a few miles, and a bunch of hills from TA when they succumbed to their better judgment and tossed in the towel so they could “live to fight another day!”

We quit. OK, we hate the word quit, but we were listening to our bodies and we really did want to stay friends and we really wanted to like adventure racing after the race was over. It was a mutual decision and there really wasn’t any regret after. In the van, on the way back to the finish, we made a pact that we wouldn’t decide about any other races until a week had gone by. We didn’t want to make any rash decisions.

The first Adventure racing tizzy

There is something about an adventure race that makes it very different from a road race. In a road race the only job of the brain is to zone out, to relax and let the body do its work. Not so in an adventure race, in an adventure race your brain is working the whole time, asking questions: what will be next?, will we have to swim?, what direction should we be going in?, is it worth it getting that extra point? Ahhh!! your mind and your body are at full force, which sometimes can create a bit of stress and maybe even a bit of crankiness…

We were just finishing the run leg of our first adventure race at Hidden Valley, we ran up to the T/A table and handed in our run punch card, we were then told by one of the race directors that we were in the middle of the pack, “wait what?...no way” We were already on a high from finishing the leg race and now we are told we were in the middle of the pack!, things couldn’t be better and smiles couldn’t have been bigger.

Those smiles were short lived, “Now one of you need to swim across the lake to get the bike punch card while the other team mate plots the bike points on this map” the race director told us. Lisa looked over at me “I can do it” I thought (“Yeah, you’ll do it since I already had to swim”) but I said “You are going to do great, do it to it gov!!.” (smile…nod…smile).

She was off on the swim and I was starting to feel bad so I thought I would lay out everything for her so that when she got out of the swim we could just jump on the bikes. So I went to T/A gathered everything she needed and laid it in a perfect line. Yes! we were all set. I went over to the dock and started plotting the points. I saw Lisa doing a combination of a backstroke with a little bit of side stroke every now and then. I heard her saying to the lady swimming near her “I hear that there are snapping turtles in this lake.” They were giggling, meaning Lisa was in a great mood and I made sure all the points were plotted, everything was going perfect! We both had this little time for our brains to zone out and relax, we knew what was coming next: the bike, we just had to do good on the bike and we would stay in the middle of the pack

Then it happened…She ran over to the area I had everything set up and she said “I need a towel”. Shoot! I thought, I didn’t bring a towel over. So she ran back to T/A and dried off, there was nothing I could do at that point so I quietly stood by my bike, and then I saw it, I could see it from a mile away. It was the “SIDE EYE” My mind went crazy I was thinking what did I do to deserve the side eye, before I could open my mouth to ask “what’s wrong?” I saw the “LIP SNARL” I never get the snarl, she was showing her teeth, what could I have possibly done. Then she said it in slow motion. “Did you wrinkle the map!!!” “No No, I did not wrinkle the map.” (the map was on a 8 x 11 piece of paper, and the zip-loc bag was 9 x 9, so yes, maybe it was a little jammed in there, ok I lied…a little. Then she said “let me see it, it is wrinkled, let me have it” At this point she was no where near ready to jump on the bike, she was just so concerned about the wrinkled map.

We eventually jumped on our bikes, and rode in silence for a little bit, by the time we were to the top of the hill we were back in race/friend mode looking together for the first check point, on our quite wrinkled map.

The morning of the first race…

Race weekend: June 21, 2008. Hidden Valley Resort in PA. Actual race day was early Saturday morning, so we decided to camp out at a nearby state park the night before so we would be at the race on time. It was just our luck that it decided to downpour on Friday night, which made for quite the camping adventure. Luckily, we didn’t set up camp over a small creek like the summer before, but that is a story on its own. The camping wasn’t the worst, actually it was pretty fun and we ended up meeting a couple adventure racers who were camping there too.

Race morning, excitement was turning to some nervousness and the only way to combat the nervousness was to blare whatever station came in on the radio and scream along to a Beastie Boy song. We zipped into the parking lot and spied fellow racers unloading gear. We turned down the music and tried not to look like newbies. Of course, as we were unpacking, a guy asked us if we had an extra tire and of course, we didn’t (note to self: poss pack extra tires for the next race). We followed our fellow racers to the TA (transition area) and started to organize our little amount of gear. A kindred spirit helped us with our tire pressure (note to self: investigate appropriate tire pressure for mt biking) and we were feeling ready to race…about 30 mins before the actual start time. During the 30 mins, we had time to reflect on the fact that teams were not talking to the other teams and everyone was very serious. We could barely illicit a smile from anyone besides Frank and Bethann, the race organizers. Were we in over our heads?? About 5 min before the race started, Frank called all teams over to talk about the course. During his description, we learned that the biking and running were both going to be longer than we thought AND there was going to be a short swimming element involved. Oh. Man. It was too late to back out, so we trekked on.

Training for the first race...

Our first adventure race was something special. But let’s first talk about the training we did before it. Actually we can talk about the almost non-existent adventure race specific training we did or didn’t do before it. We knew prior to the race that there would be a mountain biking element that could range from 8-10 miles. We also knew the trail running would be 4-6 miles. We thought we would be OK with the running because we could run 4 miles without stopping …on a flat, paved surface. Now the biking…we knew we would be in a little over our heads, but that was definitely an understatement. Prior to the race we took our bikes out about 3 times, maybe. Twice on a paved surface and we probably biked 6-8 miles. We also took the bikes out once on a “trail”. I put “trail” in quotes because it was a trail for about 200 feet, then it tapered off into wooded, unmarked terrain. In the 15 mins that it took us to bike into the woods, realize there wasn’t really a trail, cross a small creek carrying our bikes, then turn around and head back out to the cars; Kristen cut her leg and was bleeding and she also managed to come in contact with poison ivy. What goes on?? That sums up our training. Although we felt poss a bit unprepared, excitement was still at an all time high.

How we Started Adventure Racing

It all started with one simple email. I read in a Women's Health magazine about the new sport of adventure racing. I had never heard of such an endeavor that would combine all the things we love: running, biking, and your best bud! I quickly googled Adventure Race Ohio, and really couldn’t find anything, then I found a sprint type adventure race series in Pennsylvania and emailed it to Lisa. The subject of my email was Adventure Race Poss? "Can we do something like this, this summer" I wrote "I know we cant do this one!!! but I want to find an adventure race we could do together, with mountain biking, and kayaking, and running!! What do you think?" I asked. Lisa replied in about 8 minutes and 30 seconds with this "I'M TOTALLY LOVING THE ADVENTURE RACE IDEA!!!! WHAT A GREAT FIND K!!! I WOULD DO ONE THIS WEEKEND IF IT WAS POSSIBLE!!!! OH MAN! I'M SO EXCITED ALREADY ABOUT DOING ONE!!!!! IT'S ON MY LIST AND NOT COMING OFF UNTIL WE COMPETE...NOW WE NEED TO GET YOU A MOUNTAIN BIKE!"

At the time we had just run our first 5k of the year, it was April of 2008. Lisa was getting married and going on her honeymoon in a month, I didn’t even own a mountain bike and the most we had ever raced up until this point was a 5k. But somehow we knew this sport was made for girls like us. We eventually found a race. The race would be on June 21st 2008, at Hidden Valley as well as the Forbes State Forest. We had two months to train, for something we would NEVER be ready for!

Official GGB Logo :)

Logo courtesy of Zack Hall. Thank you for doing such a wonderful job - we can't wait to see it on the jerseys!!

How did you come up with Green Governor BEASTS?

The partial formation of the name goes back to the Julie Zajac 5K at John Carroll University on Sunday, April 13th 2008. It was a rainy, cold morning and therefore a lime green raincoat was needed. The lime green raincoat made subsequent appearances in future races, along with the immergence of a bright green raincoat. Pretty soon, we were planning on any coordinating green apparel to boost morale during races throughout the summer. That explains the “Green”. Now the “Governor” is a little more complicated and possibly embarrassing, but we know you won’t judge. Some of you may have heard of America’s next Top Model. During cycle 4 of ANTM, the girls had to take an acting class. They were challenged to learn a script in a foreign dialect and then they were judged on their performance. A line from the script is “Hello Governor. Lovely day, isn’t it?” They, of course, have to say it with a crazy accent and it comes out like this “’Ello Gov-nor. Luv-ly day, i-n it” or something like that. ANYHOW (we told you this was a little complicated), we started repeating that line to each other and using an accent during our phone conversations. The line transformed from the whole sentence into, ‘ello gov! Pretty soon, it was just gov or governor, depending on our cheekiness. Cheekiness may not be the right word to use, but whatever. Lastly, “BEASTS”. This is fairly simple and self-explanatory. We are fierce, competitive and intimidating beasts – it had to be incorporated into the name. Also, it we think it might make the all guy teams we compete against a little nervous.