Team Inov-8 athlete, Emma Garrard had a very nice race at the Xterra World Championships yesterday at the Makena Beach & Golf Resort in Maui, Hawaii. Emma was the 11th pro female with a time of 3:20:05.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Emma Garrard Stellar Race at Xterra Worlds
Team Granite Wins USARA Championships!
Team Granite took 1st and 2nd OA at the USARA Adventure Race National Championships this past weekend with a winning time of 21:36. Checkpoint Zero / Inov-8 bagged 17th OA out of 50+ teams that qualified. Congrats everyone!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Who will win the 2009 USARA Adventure Racing National Championship?
Cast your vote NOW...poll closes at noon tomorrow!!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
YogaSlackers Rest Day
Team YogaSlackers train… I mean Rest day.
Location: Mt. Lemon, Tucson, Arizona
Time: 4 hrs
Activity: On/Off Trail hiking, scrambling, Technical Rock climbing to 5.11
Distance:
• trail 1mi
• off trail 2mi
• vertical rock 100meters
The day after we finished our monster AcroYoga teaching weekend, we were in desperate need of a rest. And we tried, but YogaSlacker Dan had flown all the way from Minnesota to Arizona for the Acro workshop, and we couldn't let him go back to the cold north bitterness without showing him exactly what sort of things he'd be missing....so we kept the climbing to 5.10 and 5.11, and since Chelsey was teaching yoga classes all day - there were just three of us so we all got a bit of rest while the others climbed. The routes were all long (35m) and really really disgustingly sustained. As someone in the video says - "we are gonna need another rest day after this rest day...
Who's Racing This Weekend
The big event for Adventure Racing is this weekend in Pilot Point, TX. The USARA Adventure Race National Championships is on the plate and we have 3 co-ed teams of 3 competing. Checkpoint Zero/Inov-8 ranked#9 in the USARA National Rankings will be ready to do battle as will Team Granite ranked #16, fielding 2 teams. In order to take part in this 30 hour time limited race, all teams have to qualify at specified regional races throughout the year. Teams are required to navigate a series of checkpoints using only a map and compass to guide them while transitioning between several disciplines such as: Trail Running/Trekking, Mountain Biking, Paddling and Orienteering. Good luck everyone!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Taking a rest day, YogaSlackers style - and getting ready for the storm
Chelsey and Jason of the YogaSlackers are back in Tucson for a few months of hot winter training before heading off for three expedition races in the span of three months. Most of their fellow adventure racers think the toll on the body will be too much, but people said that to Dean K when he said he was going to run a marathon every day...
They start on Nov 4-8 with the Gold Rush Motherlode race, then have three weeks to recover before heading to Abu Dhabi for the brutal Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge which includes an unsupported trek across the longest unbroken sand dune in the world - known as the "empty Quarter". (anyone have advice for serious desert running/trekking in Inov-8s?) Finally, they travel at the beginning of February to race against 14 other elite teams in the Patagonia Adventure Challenge - largely regarded as one of the few remaining true expedition races. Last year only two teams finished...
Weekend Results
Anne Lundblad made her 24 hour debut a great one by placing 1st OA for both the men and women at the 24 hours of Boulder. She ran 121 miles in 23 hours. Partial laps are not counted at this venue unfortunately so she could not get another lap in before the 24 hour time limit expired. As I predicted Aaron Saft (pictured) easily won the Black & Blue Classic trail race with a speedy time of 44:05. I managed to get 2nd OA in 47:05.
Sean Andrish won the inaugural Wild Duluth 100k on Saturday with a time of 10:52 on a brutal and very challenging course. Kevin Tilton ran a fast 2:41 at the Bay State Marathon placing 17th OA. Great job everyone.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Who's Racing This Weekend
Kevin Tilton will hit the roads this Sunday at the Bay State Marathon in Lowell, MA. This marathon also serves as the New England Marathon Championships. The course is a double loop and billed as flat and fast. Anne Lundblad will be trying out a new distance this Saturday at the 24 Hours of Boulder Race. The course is 7.1 mile loop with an even mix of pavement, dirt road, and single track with views of Boulder's front range. Aaron Saft and myself will be at the 6.5 mile Black & Blue Classic trail race in Asheville, NC. A course that goes straight up a mountain the first half and straight back down to the finish. I'll tether myself to Aaron so I can keep up.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Todd Walker's Grindstone 100 mile Report
Below is Todd's race report from his strong 3rd OA placing at Grindstone 100 mile.
Race day was beautiful and sunny. As evening approached, it was getting cloudy and a few showers came our way. I went out fairly conservatively as I was wearing my heart rate monitor and was determined not to work too hard. That being said, I still let my heart get up to 145-146 while climbing in the first many hours of the race. A typical moderately hard workout for me is a 130-135 average HR.
The first real mountain was pretty intense. It was a long, steep climb. They all were as it turns out. As we climbed , we entered a very dense, wet cloud bank. It was pretty much a white out. I was chatting and enjoying myself. As you hit the top, you are supposed to punch your number to prove you were there. The punch was about 30' off the trail. This guy and I came up to it alone. We were in maybe 8th or 9th place at that point and didn't have a group to work with. Finding our way back to the trail was a challenge as we were in a complete white out. It was kind of fun as it was so over the top.
While coming down off the top, I saw Donna. She was not too far behind and climbing strong. This course really is Donna's strength. Anyway, as we started to descend, I found myself taking off and feeling great. I moved up 3-4 spots on a long, rocky descent. It was a ball. The rocks were a little loose and it was little technical but it was somehow great fun.
I was basically back and fourth with 3-4 guys for the next whole bunch of miles. We were working together and having a pretty good time. My good buddy Mike Mason was just a little behind us at that point. At one point we were a group of about 5 all working together. I can't remember how I ended up running with a guy named Chris but we were together when my friend Mike Mason came blowing by us while we were getting food at an aid station. He just blew by and yelled out "4 in/out." He looked like he was going to really gap us, but I caught up with him on the next very long climb. We started working together and soon caught up to Bill. We were putting the hammer down. Any spot with great running and he'd put the hammer down. I stopped looking at my heart rate monitor but knew it was too fast.
I knew it was not going to last for me. For one thing, I did not prepare my drop bags well enough and did not have a crew. I was already having some issues. I had not taken any e caps since mile 22 when I changed drop bags. By mile 34 I was feeling a little off. As Mike, myself and Chris were flying into the mile 34 aid station, I knew it was too fast. By the time I got myself fuel, Mike was long gone as he had a crew and did not even stop running. I started suffering as soon as the climb began in earnest. This climb was horrible. The whole section was 8 miles. One mile was consistently downhill, the rest was basically uphill with some rolling miles. The main climb lasted like forever. I threw up, bonked and basically fell apart. I was literally staggering a bit on the trail. By the time I hit the aid station I couldn't run downhill. I couldn't even get my heart rate up to 95 running downhill. The only good thing was the weather. It was clear and the moon was up.
As I left the aid station with food in hand, another runner came in. He caught me pretty quickly as I was still walking downhill. As soon as I got some food in me, I was able to start running again. I started feeling pretty good and was pressing as best as I could once again. Knowing that we were all fighting for 2-5th place was a turn on. It felt like a solid race. I could see Chris up ahead. After coming into the next aid station, you run up another hill and punch your number again. While I was heading up, he and Bill were coming down. I think they had about 2 minutes on me at that point.
The descent was about 2.5 miles. I thought I was running OK, but during the next out and back (the turnaround as the course is basically an out and back) I figured that they had opened up a little bit of a gap. At that point, I could tell that Mike had about 8-9 minutes on me, Bill had about 3-4 and Chris had a couple. By the time that I started back up the long, paved road climb I could see Chris. I was working hard and keeping my HR at 120-125. I pushed most of the climb and got within a 100 yds or less as we approached the top of the hill but then ran out of steam. He opened the gap right back up.
This climb also featured a lot of weather. For awhile the moon was out and beautiful. We also had another very dense cloud bank to contend with and a few drops of rain. The threat of rain had me a bit freaked as I made another critical error with my bags and was only running in shorts and a tank top. It was probably 45-50 degrees so I was nervous about a downpour. 2 plus hours between aid stations and no crew.
I fueled up at the top and started running pretty well again. I finally caught back up to Chris. We started running the same section that had nearly killed me earlier. Chris was really putting the hammer down. We caught Bill and blew right past him. Only Mike and Karl remained ahead of us. Karl was obviously out of reach and not even remotely on my radar. Chris was pretty much flying on the downs and hitting the ups with good speed. I was fine until I once again ran out of fuel. Once I was out of fuel, I ended up walking the last two miles into the aid station. I got there just as Chris was leaving. The sun had just come up during that last section of trail. It took me awhile to get my legs back from bonking but they eventually came back.
The next aid station folks told me that Mike was 8 minutes ahead and Chris was 12. I caught Mike within 40 minutes. Someone else told me that Chris was only 2 minutes up at that point. I was jacked and was pushing pretty good. A few minutes later, Mike's crew told me that Chris was 10 minutes up. My bubble was a little burst. From this point on it basically became a death march. Bill was pretty consistently 25 minutes behind. Chris was pretty much in front my 20-25 minutes. Mike and I ran together for better or worse for the remaining 28 miles. They were pretty ugly miles. My electrolites were off. My fingers were swollen up like sausages and my quads were sucking on the downhills toward the end. I was out of gels for the last 25 miles and that didn't help either.
This was my 10th 100 mile finish and I made more errors than I ever had before. I was not meticulously prepared. I usually plan every last detail. I think I was almost taking it for granted. I'm not unsatisfied with my race but at the same time expect that I can run it 90 minutes faster next year. I had issues with the electrolites and my body that I've never had before. I was 11 lbs heavier two days after the race than before the race. I'm feeling OK and my weight is back but that was a little spooky as I typically gain 4-5 lbs right after a race. 11 was new territory.
I didn't see any bears although the area is thick with them. There was bear scat all over the place and plenty of sightings but other people. The landscape was beautiful and the people were great. The competition, the people and the land have me coming back for more. Had a chance to hang out with Karl Meltzer afterward and enjoyed his company. Running in with Mike's crew, Amy and his friend Mitchell was also a nice treat.
Stats: 17,256 calories burned. Max HR 156. Avg 125. 22,300 climbing. Hooked on 100's: 100%.
Shoes: Inov-8 Flyroc 345. This was my first 100 wearing the 345's. I had not put a lot of miles on the 345's going into the race and was not 100% on what to expect. The bottom of my feet felt great throughout, traction was terrific and I had no blisters. I did go with one size larger than I normally do and that turned out to be a bit problematic as the top of my feet got a little sore from going downhill.
The 345's are going to be the shoe I wear in 100's going forward. The added support coupled with their being waterproof and breathable is just icing on the cake.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Jenny Anderson's Race Report from the New River Trail 50k
Attached is Jenny Anderson's race report from her 50k victory this past Saturday.
New River…New Milestones
Jenny Anderson
Coming into the New River 50k, I had several doubts. In fact, I didn’t register until six days prior mostly because of the uncertainty that was contaminating my mind. New River is a flat trail. Flat? Can I do that? I love mountainous trails for a plethora of reasons but practically speaking I dig the variety of terrain, the breaks I get through speed hiking the long uphills or tearing it up as I let gravity do its thing on the way down. Relatively speaking, I don’t have speed so this 50k was going to be a whole new adventure for me. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to this new challenge.
On race day, I wasn’t feeling 100% after having the flu the week before and a few other small obstacles/excuses that I allowed to creep into my head. However, I had a few things going for me that helped to balance out the negatives. Of particular note, I had the new roclite 268s. These shoes rock!!! I thought that inov-8 couldn’t do any better than the 295s. I was wrong. They bettered an already flawless product. The 268s are the women’s version of the 295 and they are nothing shy of perfect. Trusting my training, coupled with the complete running tool (my featherweight roclite 268s) helped me to accomplish some new milestones at the New River 50k which include a women’s course record for New River and a personal best for me with a time of 4:01.
As a side note, I highly recommend this race. The scenery is stunning as the trail follows the gorgeous New River outlined by spectacular fall foliage. Not to mention, the race director (competitive ultrarunner Annette Bednosky) puts on a top notch event.
New River…New Milestones
Jenny Anderson
Coming into the New River 50k, I had several doubts. In fact, I didn’t register until six days prior mostly because of the uncertainty that was contaminating my mind. New River is a flat trail. Flat? Can I do that? I love mountainous trails for a plethora of reasons but practically speaking I dig the variety of terrain, the breaks I get through speed hiking the long uphills or tearing it up as I let gravity do its thing on the way down. Relatively speaking, I don’t have speed so this 50k was going to be a whole new adventure for me. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to this new challenge.
On race day, I wasn’t feeling 100% after having the flu the week before and a few other small obstacles/excuses that I allowed to creep into my head. However, I had a few things going for me that helped to balance out the negatives. Of particular note, I had the new roclite 268s. These shoes rock!!! I thought that inov-8 couldn’t do any better than the 295s. I was wrong. They bettered an already flawless product. The 268s are the women’s version of the 295 and they are nothing shy of perfect. Trusting my training, coupled with the complete running tool (my featherweight roclite 268s) helped me to accomplish some new milestones at the New River 50k which include a women’s course record for New River and a personal best for me with a time of 4:01.
As a side note, I highly recommend this race. The scenery is stunning as the trail follows the gorgeous New River outlined by spectacular fall foliage. Not to mention, the race director (competitive ultrarunner Annette Bednosky) puts on a top notch event.
XTERRA USA Champs report
Thanks for your support for the XTERRA USA Championships in Snowbasin, Utah. I placed 11th in the race (4th American) and 8th in the USA Cup Series (3rd American.)
A great improvement from last year. I was pleased with my finish despite inconsistent training the last couple of months due to injury. My Inov-8 Roclite 295s worked perfectly on the rocky run course and helped me fly by racers on the steep descents.
Check out the video (you can see me for a second at 6:16) at xterra.tv or Check out my complete race report here at emmagarrard.com.
Next up are the XTERRA World Championships Oct. 25 in Maui. Taking advice on how to acclimate to heat ahead of time when it's freezing outside (I've moved to Park City for those who haven't heard.)
Happy Trails,
Emma Garrard
Weekend Results
Aaron Saft won the Bethel Half-Marathon in a relaxed 1:14 with no one to really challenge him. Greg Feucht (pictured) won the mountainous Pajarito 10k in 50:03. Greg missed a turn (lost 60-90 secs) and used his kick in the final 1/4 mile to get the win. Greg wore the X-talon 212's on a course that starts at 9,200' and goes up to 10,500' on some slick footing throughout. Amber Moran ran a speedy 35:35, good for 35th OA at the Women's 10k National Championships in Boston, MA today. Jenny Anderson won the OA women's title at the New River Trail 50k in 4:01: 30 (5th OA) this past Saturday.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Team AR Navigation Supplies/ INOV-8 Win Overall at SF Oyster Race
overall win at the 2009 San Francisco Oyster Urban Adventure Race on
September 26th.
Follow the link below to the full story and pictures.
http://www.arnavsupplies.com/news.html
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Who's Racing This Weekend
Some of our speedsters take center stage this weekend. Aaron Saft will be prepping for the National Trail Marathon Championships (Lithia Loop Trail Marathon) in a few weeks by racing the Bethel Half Marathon in Canton, NC. Dewey Peacock will be at the Octoberfest 5k in Bozeman, MT. Greg Feucht will be back at it in a race he has the CR, the Pajarito Trailfest 10k just outside of Los Alamos, NM. On Monday, Amber Moran will be at the Tufts Health Plan 10K also serving as the 2009 Women's 10k National Championship Road Race. Good luck everyone.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
YogaSlackers training day #77
If the adventure race you are planning to do gets canceled - what do you do? Plan your own of course, and make it harder and far more technical than any "official" race could ever be...
for the full story visit Wend Magazine
Roclite 275s and Grindstone 100
The Grindstone course was a perfect course to test out my new Roclite 275s. I went 2 days early to help with all the course markings and even had a close encounter with a charging mama bear and her three cubs. After doing an aid station at 22.8 miles, I ran nearly all the course on the return trip (an out and back 100 miler) to sweep the course. And those shoes--which look as good as they feel--met up with the challenge.
The women-specific shoe looks cool with it's neon green trim, matching very nicely with my black/green zip-T, hat and pack. Have to look good out there on the trails, you know. :) Anyway, right out of the box, I had no issues or sore spots at all. And, when the trail crossed a small stream just a mile and a half from the finish, my feet stayed perfectly dry even though the water nearly hit the cuff of the shoe. Pretty amazing. It is lightweight, cushy, and does great on rocks and mud, gravel or road. Try it. You'll like it!
BTW- I had the help of my oldest son, Caleb and my new college running friends. It was their first exposure to ultras and they did a great job working our aid station and taking turns running with me to sweep. All have committed to at least one spring ultra so we have a pack of new ultrarunners in the making. From generation to generation...couldn't get much sweeter!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Weekend Results
Congrats to Todd Walker for his strong 3rd place OA showing at the tough Grindstone 100 miler this past weekend (2nd from left in the picture). Also congrats to Dwight Shuler for his 2nd off-road triathlon win in a row, this time at the Dark Mountain Challenge in Wilkesboro, NC. Dwight picked his way through the leaders going from 3rd off the paddle, 2nd off the run, then taking the win on the mountain bike stage.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Inov-8 Performance of the Year - Vote Now!
We've have had many stellar performances by Inov-8 athletes this year and I'm sure many more to come in the last 3 months of 2009. I thought it would be cool to comprise a list of what I thought were some performances to date that maybe stood out a little more than the rest. It was a much tougher task than I thought as there were so many to choose from in the first 9 months of 2009. However here is your chance to weigh in and vote on a performance from my list that you think should be Inov-8 performance of the year or feel free to pick your own Inov-8 athlete's performance.
Andrew Thompson - 8th athlete ever to complete the Barkley Marathons (57 hrs, 37 min.)
Scott Williamson - Set new speed record on the Pacific Crest Trail (65 days, 9 hrs, 58 min.)
Jonathan Basham - Set new speed record on the Long Trail (4 days 12 hrs 46 min.)
Women of SB6k- Set new women's speed record on the South Beyond 6k (6 days, 13 hrs, 31 min)
Joe Gray - Won Mt Cranmore (National Championship) and World Mtn Championship (16th OA)
DeWayne Satterfield - Vol State 500k Course Record (3 days, 17 hours, 42 min.)
Other - ?
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