Mission Accomplished (well...almost) - Genine's Tango Race Report

Whew! What a day! Now that it’s over, I have to admit that I was very nervous going into this race. I didn’t feel that I had done nearly enough bike training on dirt/gravel road conditions and my left hip pain was preventing anything more than 3-3.5mile runs. Not good. I had very restless nights of sleep the week leading up to the race – even to the point of waking up with nightmares of being lost in the woods! Needless to say I made it thru.

I drove to Warren with Scotty on Friday, arriving around 3pm. It was nice to have a riding partner as Matt stayed in NJ to ride with Maija later in the afternoon. The afternoon went by quickly, even without being able to meet up with Craig at Rim Rock. I met Craig, Shawn, Jim and team at the pre-race meeting at 7pm. After the meeting I rode with Shawn, his brother Bart & wife Pam, and friend Greg to take one last look at the bike course prior to race day. Even though it made for a late night, I am glad that I joined them. It was reassuring to have it fresh in my mind for the next morning. I got back to my parent’s house after 10pm. Matt & Maija had just arrived. I was hoping to be in bed by 11pm, but then Craig came over to meet with Matt and of course I had to make our KB2 race shirts. (It’s not that I procrastinated with the shirts, it was too humid in NJ for the ink to dry properly….right.) I finally made it to bed around 1:00am after finishing the shirts and getting my race bags finalized for the morning.

My first alarm went off at 4:30am. I promptly drifted back to sleep, getting up at 4:59. 1 minute before my next alarm. I’m sure I was quite tired, but I think my nerves&adrenaline were already pumping. Got dressed, ate a little and then Matt, Maija and I were off to the Y for the 7am start. We cheered Matt, Maija and Heather as they started the 13.1mile run and then drove to Kinzua Beach to await their arrival and begin the bike. I got the beach and felt strangely alone without Matt there, but quickly set about getting my bike off the car rack and getting ready to ride. My front break was sticking a little on the right, but Shawn assured me that it would fine. I took a spin around the parking lot once more for a final test, put my helmet on and took my spot next to the transition box to wait for Maija. Thank you to Greg for keeping me company for those next 5-7minutes. It really helped keep my nerves in check. Here comes Maija! Tag, I’m it and off I go!

Over the bridge and I slowly climb up that first of many hills. I passed the guy who started right in front of me. 2 other guys passed me on the next hill, and then I seemed to be on my own out there for the next 20-25mins. I focused on keeping my cadence in the 80-85 range and not wiping out in the dirt & gravel. Let me just say now that I am not confident on these types of road conditions, but I was determined to do my best. I went much faster on the flat roads than on the downhills…go figure! Scott Angove passed me about half way thru (I think), exchanged encouragements and off he went. I continued on. By the time I finally reached the end of the dirt roads, by hands & arms were cramping from my deathgrip on the handlebars/brakes going down the muddy, rocky steep down hills. I turned on to the paved road (Thank God!) and there was Craig coming up from behind. We rode together long enough for him to tell me about Matt’s awesome run time and then he took off up the next uphill. It was around this time that I noticed a strange whistling/rubbing noise. I figured out it was my behind-the-seat bottle holder that had come loose on the rough roads and sid down my seat post so it was now rubbing on my back tire. Oh well! No time to stop for that. I felt good getting to the finish as I tagged Maija for the swim. I finished in 1:40. I wanted to do under 1:45, so I was happy. It was nice to have everyone there cheering as I came in. Then my hamstrings and gluts immediately began to cramp. I did some stretches. They were still rocks, but I changed my clothes & drove back to the beach to meet Maija for orienteering. Getting back to the beach, I got to chat a few minutes with my mom, Kryste, Ian, Jon & Joyce and Craig. In about 15 minutes, I spotted Maija’s pink swim cap in the water. After a quick transition, we had our maps & were headed up the hill into the woods to orienteer. Yikes! Would my nightmares come true?

No, they would not. Thanks to Craig’s awesome map reading lessons, this turned out to be one of our best legs of the race. If only I could have remembered how to use the compass! As we started up the hill behind the parking lot and into the woods, I spotted Chris Darling & his teammate in blue shirts. They seemed to be headed in the same direction as us, so that was encouraging. We soon came up behind them & said hello. They went to the left & down hill, but we followed our instincts and went to the left & up hill. Our goal was to find point 4 on the hill before moving on to points 1-3. It took us about 25-30 min, but we found it (hooray!) and then moved up to point 1. As we checked in at each point, we asked to see if team 3-4 (Matt&Craig) had been there yet. Nope…Wahoo! We found point 2 easily (still no team 3-4!) and excitedly moved along the trail to the final check point 3. Once again, the guys in blue were ahead of us on the trail we were following, when they veered off to the left. Maija & I weren’t convinced, but I decided to take a peek anyway. Sure enough, there was the final checkpoint for us. We headed down the hill over a lot of wet ferns & rocks –be careful! Checked in (STILL no team 3-4!) and ran out to the RimRock Road. After a few seconds of strategizing, we looked for an opening in the brush and scrambled down the slippery slope, over the embankment and hurdled the guide rail on to Rt59 to run back to the beach. Ok, let me be honest here…the run/walk back to the beach. Just think if we would have run the entire way back, we would have beat those boys by even more than 9 minutes! We finished in 1:35. Yeah!

While in the woods, my Gatorade was no longer quenching my thirst. It tasted like I was drinking salt water. I couldn’t stand it. Maija offered the plain water from her fuel belt. I drank both bottles and had to refill them for the 4.5 mile run, hoping that it would be enough to get me there. I rationed it out until I got to the canoe. The 4.5miles to the Big Bend boat launch were looong, lonely and painful. Pure torture. To quote our nephew, Ryan, “This challenge smells like poop!” My legs were heavy, my left hip was shooting pain into my lower back and my mouth was full of cotton balls. I began playing the games of running to the next road sign, then walk for 2 minutes, then run to the next bend in the road,etc. Matt passed me in the car heading to the boat launch and yelled “Go, Go, Go” out the window. (Thanks!) It was the first I had seen him since the 7am start! How I missed him! I began reciting my intensati affirmations in my head at about mile 3 to the end. I was able to get into a “groove” and made it to the boat launch in 50min. A runner, I am not. I was happy to get in the canoe with Maija to begin our last leg. That joy would be short lived.

Being the awesome partner that she is, Maija had the canoe well-stocked with water & snacks. I was sooo thirsty! I drank 3 bottles of water during the ride. Even though we had about a 10min lead on the boys, I knew it wouldn’t be long before they caught us in the canoe. Let’s just say that tired girl arms are no match for big, strong boy arms….not to mention our canoeing skills (or lack there of). For longest time, we were paddling next to 3 guys in a canoe who were hardly paddling and one was smoking. Tell me why we couldn’t get past them?? (We finally did) Maija kept a lookout behind us for the boys and soon we heard a loud, “WAHOOO!” It was Matt & Craig!! We dug in and paddled hard. We were not giving up easily, but they eventually passed us, as did Shawn & Marty. Those darn boys!! Despite all the cute dog sightings along the way, the canoe took FOREVER! It produced a whole new set of affirmations & mantras that we recited to keep us focused…..”macaroni salad, hamburgers with cheese, corn on the cob, cookies, brownies”. (Hey, whatever it takes, man!) After 2:12, we made it across the finish line welcomed by a crowd of adoring fans! We completed the entire race in 9hrs:16mins – enough to take home the first place award for female relay teams. There were only 2 all-female relays, but the other team had 5 women vs. the 2 of us. Go KB2!

Once again, we had an amazing day of fun competition with great friends who truly enjoy spurring one another on to success! We all kicked some butt out there! Congrats to everyone! A HUGE thank you to Maija for hanging with the “old lady” and being such an AMAZING partner!! You Rock! Thank you to all of our support crews, Scotty, Jerry, Mrs. Cerra & friend, Greg, Bart & the Vashaw family, mom&dad, Kryste&Ian. We couldn’t have made it thru the day without your transportation, rowing and cheering. And another big thank you to Jon & Joyce for hosting and preparing our post race feast. It was delicious…and trust me when I tell you it played a big role in our canoeing! :-)

To end this ridiculously long entry, let me share with you my….

TOP 10 THINGS I LIKE DOING BETTER THAN CANOEING FOR 2HRS&12MINS:

10. Seeing 3 dead snakes on the Tango bike course (better dead than alive!)

9. Riding the Mooseman bike course on my hybrid bike.

8. Driving 6 hours from NJ to Warren while Scotty sleeps in the car.

7. Taking our bikes off of the car top rack – by myself.

6. Riding my bike down a muddy, rocky death trap of a hill in the Tango.

5. Wearing our KB2 shirts with Maija. Yeah boys!!

4. Getting to meet Greg! You made my day so much fun!

3. Sitting on the deck at Jon&Joyce’s cottage, visiting with good friends.

2. Eating my mom’s macaroni salad. Mmmm!

1. Getting a hug&kiss from Matt at the end of the race. Love you!