Cowboy Tough 3,5 days Expedition race 2015-7th overall (1st of the Adventure class)

Jason, James and I decided to do Cowboy Tough a few months ago but we didn't have a 4th.
We needed a 4th but most of all we needed a navigator so Jason wouldn't be on his own for the entire race.
That's when the race director put us in touch with Fritz (racer of Rev3).
We didn't know Fritz before and Unfortunately didn't have time to do a race all together prior the expedition.
We all flew to Wyoming on the Tuesday, Jason, James and I meeting up in Denver and then driving up to Casper while Fritz was supposed to meet us up there at about the same time.
After taking possession of what must be the pick up with the roughest suspension on earth, we started our drive and stopped on the way to do our groceries.
Fritz got delayed and delayed again and finally made it to the hotel past midnight...without one of his bags (that he got the next day on time for the race).
Wednesday was the check in and gear check, then race briefing and packing the boxes.
We managed to have a decent night of sleep before the race which is always a bonus in those races.
On Thursday morning we took the bus up to Buffalo where the race started.

 

Day1:
The race started with a small Orienteering course in town with different challenges: a shot of whiskey, punching a CP at the bottom of a 10-12 feet deep pool, collecting a telegram and a bullet casing. The orienteering was on foot and as soon as we were done we ran back to the TA (start), took our bikes and left for a couple of hours on the bike.
The first CP on the bike was a challenge. We got to a corral and were told that one of us needed to get in there and pick up a ribbon from a cow's tail (they were babies).
I heard a start of conversation in the team to know who was going and decided we didnt have time for that, so I jumped in...and then realized that I'm scared of cows :S but hey, I was in there, so I did my best and ended up getting one without getting hurt :)

Jumped back on bikes to get to the paddle.

There were two kind of canoes laying there and we picked the first one we saw that looked ok...big mistake. We ended up being passed by everybody who had the other kind of canoes. We thought they were about the same but there was actually 15 and 17 feet long canoes (if i'm correct).
Anyway the paddle was kind of painful because of the CPs not being exactly where they were supposed to be and one was not in place at all, which made us turn around for a while.
We saw the Yogas, Nuun, and Swiss Army turning around but we decided to try a little more to find it...without success.
By the time we came back, those teams were gone on the bike and we met them back up at the next challenge. In that one we had to guess a 3 letter word by flag signals. One or two persons were running to a far away field and were doing flag signals to make us guess a word.

We did relatively ok at it and were back on the bike quickly.
A couple of hours more and we were in TA ready to tackle the first big Trek that would take us up to 10 000 feet.
We started the trek with the Yoga and left them behind as we were climbing (one of their team mate wasn't feeling great). We had a great climb, passing a few teams on the way. Jason's navigation was awesome and we got all the CPs without any troubles up to CP 18. On the way down from CP16 we met Dart Nuun going up, which meant we had passed them somewhere on the way. We were moving well. On the way to CP18 Fritz started to have feet problems so we stopped for him to fix them. As we kept on going he started not feeling very well with GI issues that went on for the whole night. CP19 ended up being the race breaker for us.
The trail disappeared and we turned around and around for 4 to 5 hours. We were by then at 10 000 feet or close. I was feeling sicky from the altitude and just wanted to get back down. I really wanted to find that CP quickly. Fritz wasn't feeling any better at this point, so he couldn't help Jason which didn't simplify the situation.
After finally finding the CP we made another mistake going to CP20 that cost us another 2h+...the race was kind of over...we had missed a cut off.
The morale of the team went down and by the time we got to transition we didn't know if we would be allowed to keep on racing or not.

Day2:
They decided to put us on an "adventure class" course, which only meant that you had missed a cut off and were not forced to get mandatory points from there on but could get any CPs (mandatory or optional).
We decided to go for it and get as many CPs as we could, like if we were still on course.
After a sluggish 1h45 transition, we left on the bikes. We reached the rappel CP pretty quickly and decided to go for more CPs instead of just riding to the End of day transition. So we kept on going on the regular route and picking up CPs. One of the CP was on the top of a mountain. It was so windy.
We decided to go to the end of day after CP32 (I didnt want to but got outvoted). That ride was ssssooooo long and boring. We did it all at night and it was just a repetitive gravel road with not much to keep you awake. That was our second night awake and we rode all night until early morning (we actually stopped for a 15min nap on the side of the road).
Day3:
We got to TA and decided to go for some Optional CPs since we still had a bit of time. We hit two of them pretty quickly and messed up one in a creek that cost us a bit of time.
We got back to TA just on time to leave for Day3..on the bike again.
We rode a part of that bike ride with the Yoga. I guess we were kind of just following but we had to stop after a while and then we didn't know where we were. After turning around for a while we finally made it back on track...for 10 minutes before my first flat.
My tire was pretty new but had so many little cuts it was unbelievable.
The rocks were sharp I guess. We changed the tube just to get a second flat 2 min later.
James decided to cut open a punctured tube to make a protective layer for the new tube inside the tire...it worked.
We got to a CP at the canyon that was really pretty and even got burgers thanks to NYARA :)

Leaving there was again pretty hard (as every transition or stops we did) but we managed to get back on the road and picked up more optional CPs.

 

We struggled for a while and ended up not finding a CP at a well and decided to go to TA.
We got to TA end of day 3 after 63 hours of racing or so...and no sleep. We agreed on having a 2h stop which would include getting changed eating and sleeping. Alarm was set for 2am and we were supposed to leave for the orienteering course at 2:15am sharp....After barely 1h15 of sleep I was awake, looking at the map to see which CPs we would have time to get. By 2am I had a plan and was ready to wake the guys up.
That last TA was a nightmare to leave, and we ended up not getting out of the transition until 2:45am. But Hey at least we went...We picked up the first 3 Cps easily and decided to go for a couple more...problem is we went way too far and ended up picking up a CP we didn't plan to pick and missed the two others that we wanted to take closer to us...it was a bit of a rush to get back in the TA right on time to not be cut off and jump on our bikes.
Day4:
The bike was a 70 mile bike ride back to Casper with some elevation, especially at the start. We managed a good pace and within half the bike ride we had passed many teams.

The second half of the ride was my favorite.
We rode in an echelon formation with Nordic adventure racing team for a while and that was very cool. After a while we decided to go just our team and we took off. It felt fast and great.
By the time we reached town we had reached and passed a lot of teams. We got to the last TA where we took our packrafts and ran to the put in 3 miles upstream. We picked up our last CP and went down river in no time thanks to the current.

Arriving at the finish line, Jason and Fritz decided to race James and I to cross the line first :)

In summary a lot of fun but very disappointed to not have stayed on the full course. We were fit and fast and I am more than sure that we could have done great if only we could have helped Jason with the nav a little more when he needed it. This is the second race that Jason, James and I have done together and once again I loved racing with them and would do it all over again anytime.
I didn't mention it too much but I did spend my time freezing my butt (I really thought it would be a warm race) and when i wasn't freezing I sunburnt real good :/
On a super positive side I loved my Altra Lonepeaks to bits. I didn't have any feet pain which is really rare for me and my 2XU and Pearl Izumi clothing and equipment worked really well. We rode 392km in 3,5 days and I didn't get a rash. First time ever and I only used cream once prior to the race...I am stoked!!!

Frenchie

Photo credits: Michael Sero and Randy Eriksen, two kick ass photographers

UltimateXC 60km Trail Race - James' Race Report

I was not approaching this installment of the UltimateXC 60km in the same way that I have prepared for this race in the past. The main reason for this was the fact that I am still recovering from an ankle injury sustained close to a month ago. I had done two adventure races since the injury, but I was able to walk or lightly jog for the trekking sections of both of those races. I knew from having done the race before that this course is an all-out assault on your body – particularly the quads (from the climbing and the descents) and the ankles (from the technical terrain). So I was quite concerned about tackling the trail at full speed. I considered skipping the race altogether but ultimately decided to approach it as a training run. I’d been running with a little bit of pain in the injured ankle, but it seemed to be stable in the technical trails, but I could tell that my fear of rolling the ankle again was making me hesitant at higher speeds. But during our Natural Fitness Labs Tuesday night run the week before the race, I chased a pack of runners at pretty high speed a trail that I knew pretty well, so that gave me a little more confidence that my ankle would hold up. But I still didn’t think I was going to have a very good race since my training specifically for trail running had also suffered over the past month and I was a little on the heavy side for a pure trail running race. Regardless, I was excited to be getting out into the trails once again.

The night before the race was a little more eventful than we would have liked. We stayed with a friend at his friend’s cottage about 30 minutes from the bus pick-up and had a great dinner and relaxed evening, up until just before bedtime when the owner realized that the water pump for the house was not working. After unsuccessful attempts at trying to fix it, we all went to bed without any opportunity to use the washrooms or have access to potable water overnight or in the morning. So Nat and I toughed it out (read: held “it”) through the night and decided we’d have to get up early and try to find somewhere in town to have some oatmeal for breakfast. It was a pretty quick transition at 4:40am as we got changed and hurried out the door to try and find a bathroom and some food. We were delighted to find a Tim Horton’s on our way to the bus pick-up but they only had enough oatmeal for one of us. So for me it was a Tim Horton’s hot breakfast sandwich and bottle of NUUN for breakfast! The rest of the pre-race morning was thankfully uneventful.

We got to the start line and after a few instructions we were off. I am always terrible at pacing in a race and I always go out too hard, so this time I purposely tried to place myself closer to the middle of the “mid-pack”, rather than the usual back of the “front pack”. I tried to just let myself warm up and payed very close attention to the trail so that I wouldn’t roll my ankle while following closely in a pace line. As the trail started to climb I found myself wanting to pass people (as climbing is generally my strength). So I tried to hold back for a bit and then I decided I would just slowly make my way to the front of the small group in front of me, mainly so that I could see the trail better in front of me. As the hills kept coming, I caught up to a few more people and proceeded with the same logic of getting ahead so I could see the trail better. To my surprise and delight, my ankle was feeling pretty good. I wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline or something else, but I just decided I would go with it and see what happens.

As we got the first aid station, I figured I was probably somewhere in the 5^th – 10^th place range. As I got there, one of the volunteers asked me if the race had started late. I said “yes, about 15 minutes” and then asked him why he was asking. He said, “you are the first one here”. I was quite surprised and quite skeptical – particularly since I’ve heard this before in races, only to find out that it’s because the leaders were so far ahead that people hadn’t even seen them. There were 4 of us running pretty close together, and 2 of them left the aid station before me.

I eventually caught up to the third place runner and then finally caught up to the leader – someone I know quite well: Benoit Letourneau. I knew Ben has been training hard in preparation for the Harricana 125km race in September, and he was certainly in fine form for this race. I followed Ben for a while and then finally made a move somewhere in the middle section of the race. I was feeling quite good on some flowy singletrack that was slightly downhill, followed by a long gravel road downhill. I had pushed pretty hard and thought that I had built myself a little cushion on Ben and the other runner. But as we started to climb again, I looked back and saw Ben reeling me in. He was looking very strong and steady as he caught up to me and pulled ahead. I tried for a while to keep pace with him, but he was moving very well on the downhills and kept making ground on me until I couldn’t see him anymore.

The second half of the race was challenging for me. The ankle was still feeling pretty good, even after a few close calls on it. I was getting tired and was struggling to keep a good pace. My spirits were lifted when we finally rejoined with the 38km runners again, as I was able to see plenty of people in front of me and I felt stronger as I passed them. The “Vietnam” section (a very rugged and wet section of the course) was easier than in past years due to drier conditions, so that was a mental boost as well. I suspected at this point that Ben was long gone ahead of me and I started to be thinking more about who was chasing me. But when I got to the aid station after the Vietnam, I was informed that Ben was only a few minutes ahead of me. I quickly gulped down a Surge All Natural Energy Shot and headed out.

The last 18km of the race were really tough. I was really starting to feel the lack of trail running training in the past month and I was having trouble eating anything substantial at the aid stations. At this point I struggled but still managed to get down a Pure Strength Protein Bar from StrongBars Nutrition and an Accel Gel from Pacific Health Labs (two of our new sponsors), which helped give me some much needed energy to keep going. I was still feeling pretty rough and was looking over my shoulder more and more, waiting to get caught by someone else as the kilometers dragged on and on. Then I got to a part of the race I had totally forgotten about – a ski hill climb with a sign at the bottom calling it the “Hell Climb”. This is a quad-busting, soul-breaking, monster of a steep hill that lures you into believing you have climbed it, only to make a sharp left turn and reveal that you are only half way to the summit. From the bottom, I didn’t even really want to look up to see how much climbing there was ahead of me. But when I did, I was very surprised to see Ben about half way up the first part of the climb. This brought me some hope that I wasn’t going much slower than him or the other runners behind us. So I put my head down and just tried to climb at a steady pace. After a while I looked back up the hill and realized I was gaining some ground. So I tried to put in a steady pace to fully close the gap before the top of the hill. I managed to pass Ben somewhere near the sharp left turn (I think… my memory from this part is a little fuzzy!) and tried to put a little distance between us on the second half of the climb. I found out afterwards that at the previous aid station Ben had done an in-race test of a meal replacement shake (in preparation for Hurricana) and it did not sit well with him.

Once at the top, I was informed that it was about 8.5km to the finish, mostly downhill. All I can tell you is that it felt like anything but 8.5km or mostly downhill from that point onward. I was sure I would get caught by Ben and/or somebody else at some point before the end of the race and I was sure that I was going slower and slower as the kilometers wore on. The last 8+ kms felt longer than the whole rest of the race. I just kept looking back, expecting to see someone gaining on me at any moment. But when I finally got to a few long open road sections in the last 2 kilometers, I could see that I had a little cushion to work with, so I just put all my focus on getting to the finish line, all the while just wanting the fatigue to be over with. I was very excited to cross the finish line and finally stop running, all the while taking in the spectacle of the winners of the 120km race who had crossed the finish line shortly before me. I quickly exited the finishers area with as many pieces of watermelon that I could fit in one hand (and one in my mouth) and went to celebrate with a few friends/training partners who had finished their races earlier.

After getting some food, taking off my shoes, socks, and 2XU compression calf sleeves, and chilling out fora little bit, the awards ceremony started. Just as I was getting off the podium I heard what sounded like a familiar scream, followed by Dave McMahon telling me “your girlfriend just came in second place!” We weren’t expecting Nathalie to arrive for at least another 20 minutes, so I was ecstatic to hear she’d finished already – and a little disappointed that I wasn’t at the finish line to greet her. I quickly ran to the fence line to congratulate her on her 2^nd place tie in the women’s 60km race. The pictures of her at the finish line I think tell the story for both of us – a little bit of surprise, a ton of excitement, and even more relief to just be finished such a tough race.

It made a HUGE difference out on the course to know that I was well equipped for the race from a nutritional (NUUN Hydration, Pacific Health Labs, StrongBars Nutrition), clothing (2XU compression), gear (Osprey Packs), and training (Natural Fitness Labs) standpoint. Dave McMahon and Lise Meloche (Natural Fitness Labs) have been outstanding coaches and have helped me to get stronger, faster, and technically better every year. My new Osprey Rev 6 pack felt great through the whole race. And while there were plenty of food options at the aid stations, I carried a few specific nutritional items from our sponsors with me for particular moments in the race and they performed great when I really needed them. And as always, I am convinced that racing (and recovering!) in 2XU compression gear makes a big difference in my performance… and it looks great too!

Nat and I will spend the rest of the week recovering from the race and preparing for a weekend mountain bike weekend at the Kingdom Trails in East Burke, VT next weekend. All this is in preparation for our next big adventure race - Cowboy Tough - in Wyoming in a few weeks.