It was red, but seemed like no big deal.  It looked like this:

It was puffing up FAST.  I popped some Benedryl, put some ice on it and proceeded about my business.  The weird droopy feeling on my face made me keep looking in the mirror.  Four hours later, I looked like this:

I went to bed figuring it would be gone by morning.  When I woke up, I looked like this!  OH MY. I opted against a mountain bike ride due to my impaired vision.  I went road riding instead and did hill repeats on Galena Summit. It’s a little better and I can now see out of my left eye, but it’s still not pretty. I’m going to a party tonight wearing big Jackie O. glasses.

The course in Targhee was 25 mile laps with around 4000 ft of climbing per lap! The sweet thing about that much climbing is that there was equally as much descending. The course was 70% single track and the descents were FUN! I used the first hour as a warm up, then tried to hit the hills harder and push my HR up as high as I could. There was still a bit of leftover fatigue left from Leadville, but overall, I felt surprisingly good. I ended up winning the women’s 50 miler and was 3rd overall. Mud Honey, Sara Schroeder, had an awesome race and was 2nd in the women’s 50. The Wood River Valley had a strong showing in all the races. Mike Shane was 1st in the 100 SS. Greg was 2nd in the SS 50. For me, it was such a blast to camp out, ride bikes and hang out with friends with no pressure. It was just a great weekend of bike riding.

Now, this week is back to the work grind a bit. I have to jump back on more specific training, follow up with a bunch of Leadville interviews and I’m working on planning a birthday/Leadville party at the Ketchum Pump Park this week.

Happy Trails

The 2009 LT100 was icing on the cake of an already fantastic season.  I had come to Leadville just 3 weeks after defending my 3rd 24 Hour Solo World Championship title.  I arrived two days before the race, did not know the course, the scene or much about the event.  I was blown away last year by the magnitude of the race and the spirit of cycling and endurance racing that hovers over the town.  I had a blast last year and got lucky enough to pull off a win.  That intoxicating experience laid the groundwork for my 2010 season.

This year, I approached the season differently.  24 Hour Worlds got moved to October, so that left me to focus 100% on the Leadville Trail 100 as my “A” race.  My coach, Matthew, designed a very different training approach that focused on racing fast for 8 hours instead of 24.  8 hours might sound like a long race for most people, but for me, it is short and fast.  I had to work on speed.  I packed in four multi day stage races before summer rolled around, raced XC, and then stacked on multiple 50 and 100 milers in the 6 weeks leading up to Leadville.  I won’t tell you all the training secrets, but I will tell you that Matthew broke me down hard and I was very doubtful about my performance in the middle of all that hard training.

I also went to Leadville 10 days early this year so I could ride the course  and acclimatize.  I was there alone hanging out in town, riding my bike and with plenty of time to think about the race, my nutrition, my bike, what to wear, the weather.  Some days, there was too much time to think, but mostly the lack of distraction just before the race was a great way to focus.  By the time all the Specialized riders, crew and posse showed up, I was like a horse kicking in her stall.

This year, Specialized jumped on as the official bike sponsor of the LT100.  Once again, company owner, Mike Sinyard showed up with the goal of bettering his time.  Also on the team roster was newly crowned XC and ST National Champ, Todd Wells, the legend Ned Overend, Anthony Sinyard, plus a host of other Specialized employees and dealers.  It was really great to see the big red truck roll into town and to see so many Specialized kits out on the course.  I am normally at many of my races as the sole Specialized athlete, so it was a huge treat to have the team there.

Race morning dawned super early.  Since I won last year, I got a great line up on the front row next to Dave Wiens.  It was warmer than last year, so I started the race in my regular kit, plus arm warmers and a Buff under my helmet.  I knew the course this year and had the key time splits memorized, so  I did not have to tape a course profile to my top tube this year.  I knew Amanda Carey had peaked for this race as well and would be stiff competition.  I did not know about the rest of the field and was really just trying to focus on my race instead of reacting to other athletes.  The gun went off and we were soon climbing the first hill up St. Kevin’s.  Amanda was stuck to me like glue.  I tried to shake her a few times up that hill with no success.  She sat in with a group of about 5 other guys until the next climb.  I pushed again and we shook some of the guys.  I got a small gap on Amanda, but she clawed right back up before the Powerline descent.  I relaxed a bit on the descent in order to get through safely.  The next road section through Pipeline Aid Station and all the way to Twin Lakes Aid station found us together playing a bit of cat and mouse.  I ate, drank, relaxed and mentally prepared myself for the 3200 ft Columbine ascent.  At mile 40 Amanda and I were still together pushing each other to a record breaking time.

Greg was my official crew for feeds and time splits and was ripping between aid stations on his motorcycle.  He’d gone out the day before and scoped all the aid stations and agreed where he’d be for hand offs.  We practiced with musette bags to keep the feeds fast and rolling.  I had never used a musette, but it worked great.  LT100 is definitely a mountain bike race with road tactics mixed in.  This year I was experiencing that first hand with the feeds and with a group of riders sitting in for the first 40 miles.  I actually enjoyed the strategy and tactics and was ready to hit the big climb hard to see if I could open a gap there.

I punched hard at the bottom of Columbine and did not look back.  Well, I looked back a little to see where Amanda was.  I lost sight of her due to the switchbacks in the trees, but kept pushing, focusing on a good spin and keeping the odometer rolling.   I started catching a few guys and moved up into the 20′s for placing.  I felt as if this was the decisive place in the race and treated it as a bit of a time trial.  Near the steepest part on the top, I was starting to cramp a bit and kept hammering Endurolytes, drinking and trying to keep on top of nutrition.  The top of the climb is still just the 1/2 way point, so it’s a fine line between pushing hard and burying yourself too deep in the cave.  At the turnaround, I looked at my Suunto.  I was 8 minutes ahead of record breaking pace.  I could not believe it.  I began to calculate the time until I saw Amanda again.  I calculated that I had put about 5 or 6 minutes into her on the climb.  I did not take chances on the descent with uphill traffic, loose gravely corners and 50 miles to go.  At the Twin Lakes Aid station, Greg was there again and I could see the excitement in his eyes when he realized I was alone and had finally shaken Amanda.

I am forever the pessimist and would not settle for the 10 minute gap I had opened.  Twin Lakes to Pipeline is the really windy part of the course.  It was a headwind, of course.  I found one other lonely rider out there.  Well, I had to pin it for about 20 minutes to finally catch up to him.  We got to ride together for about 20 more minutes, which doesn’t seem like much, but it was really nice to have company out there.  You really feel alone in your suffering, so just having someone else there suffering too takes a bit of the edge off.  I had seen Ned Overend ascending just after I turned around at the top of Columbine.  I was confused as to why he was behind me, but also excited that he would probably catch me and we could ride together.

I waited and looked behind me.  Ned never came.  The back story is that in the first 45 minutes of the race, Ned was with the top 5 guys including Todd Wells and Levi.  Todd and Levi got tangled up and Todd flatted and broke 6 spokes.  Ned, the ultimate teammate, gave Todd his wheel and rode 15 miles on a broken wheel.  He made it to the Pipeline aid and the only wheels in the Specialized crew area were mine.  Ned took my wheel, then waited for me to roll through to make sure I would not need it.  He gets my vote for the Gentleman’s Award for this race.  The even better part is that he spent the rest of the race trying to catch up to me, but could not.  So I did not truly beat Ned Overend fair and square, but I did gap him on the 2nd half of the course!

Back to the race, heading up Powerline at mile 80 was pretty torturous for me.  I had been flirting with cramps since Columbine and digging really, really deep.  Powerline is very, very steep at the bottom.  I started to power the pedals and felt the cramps coming again.  I decided to play it safe and get off my bike.  I did not want to end up with full blown cramps writhing on the side of the trail.  I put my ego aside and my adventure racing skills to use.  I walked up Powerline, but I walked hard and tried to open up my stride in order to keep a decent pace.  It held off the cramps and I was able to drink while walking.  Back on the bike, I was in the home stretch, but still with over an hour to go.  I had my eye on the watch trying to calculate the record time.  I must have been too stupid from lack of oxygen because I couldn’t really figure out how much time I had left.

I was on my own at the top of the last big climb.  I needed water and there was a mini aid station coming up.  I had to step off the bike to fill my bottle and as soon as I put my foot on the ground, my calf fully seized!  I fell over with my bike on top of me.  The aid station volunteers stared at me in disbelief as I rubbed the cramp away.  I asked for electrolytes and after a brief shuffling of items, they presented me with a salt shaker.   Well, not exactly what I was looking for, but it couldn’t hurt.  I cocked my head back and took a few big shakes straight into my mouth.  I should have tossed a bit over my shoulder for good luck as well!  I got back on the bike and began the last sketchy descent.  This is the place where many weary riders get lazy and end up flatting on the rocky descent. It felt great to go downhill and I carefully hopped the rocks and ruts and got through clean.

The mind numbing Boulevard section back into town was all that was left.  The race is actually 103 miles and let me tell you, those extra three feel like an eternity.  I stole another glance backwards on the road before turning onto the last grinder hill.  No one in sight.  You can smell the barn at this point, but it still seems to take forever to get there.  The film crew moto was with me at this point and I could not muster a smile, comment or even a glance.  I had my head down, there was snot all over my top tube and I was completely spent.  It wasn’t pretty, but I wanted that record.  I stared at my odometer and kept glancing at my Suunto to check the race time.  I knew the record was within reach, but did not want to let up at all.

As I crested the very last hill and turned onto 5th street, a bunch of high school girls started running next to me screaming and yelling.  It was the Malone Cross Country team and they were going crazy for me.  I wanted to say something back, but no words would come.  All I could muster was a big smile.  I hope they realized how they helped push me over that last hill.  I could finally see it now.  6th and Harrison with the red carpet and the finish banner.  It still looked really far away.  The film guy on the moto said, “come on Rebecca, only 6 more blocks.”  Head down, shift to a bigger gear and go.  I had ridden this finishing stretch multiple times visualizing this moment.  A crowd was there waiting, the time was ticking and I felt like I was going so,so slowly.  I knew I had the win and the record and as I rolled over the carpet, I was so spent I could not even raise my arms in victory.  I hope the huge smile on my face was enough to show my utter elation.

Greg was the first one to approach me and give me a hug as i slumped over my handle bars.  Being able to share the day with him was incredible.  He’s a 24 hour world champ as well and we race together all the time.  He knows from the look on my face how I’m feeling.  He knew I was digging deep and I think he might have burned more calories than I did during the race.  Thank you, Greg!

As I sit back and think about the day, I was super prepared in every way.  My training, my bike, my course preparation, mental preparation were all dialed for this one day.  However, when people say, “I knew you would win,” I have to laugh.  I did not know I would win.  I knew I had prepared myself to the best of my ability, but that does not take into account the preparation that other athletes do, the mechanicals that can happen, the crashes, the wind, getting sick, etc.  I was absolutely ready for this race and it came together on the right day.  I attribute the record and the win to great preparation, but also a little bit of luck and a whole lot of suffering.

Thanks to everyone for sharing the experience with me. It was an awesome day that will be etched in my mind for a very long time.  Let’s hope that 7:47.35 record stays etched in the books for a good long while as well! Many thanks for the video experience that Specialized put together, Todd Meier and Eric Wynn for all their great photos, and for my friends and family for their support. There is a full gallery up on Flickr as well for all to see.

Watch a larger version & check out some other good stuff on the Media page.

Welcome to the new website design and layout. We have been working for a few months on getting this together, and I couldn’t be happier with the results and increased functionality. Two of my friends here in Ketchum, ID helped put this together. Adrienne Leugers and David Stilwill worked together on the design and layout and I am super happy to launch today.

I am in final race prep mode for the Leadville 100 tomorrow and will be spending most of my day in meetings and doing some media obligations. Town is packed and all the heavy hitters are finally here. Specialized has Todd Wells, Ned Overend, and Mike Sinyard racing, as well as a bunch of other lucky employees. This is after all quickly becoming one of the most famous endurance races in the USA! Tomorrow we start at 6:30am MST, and I will have Myron my mechanic, Greg as my feed zone aficionado, and a few friends using Twitter and Facebook for updates. So stay tuned, enjoy the new website, and I’ll be back on Sunday.

Happy Trails

Reba

Q: I’d like to know… what’s the aspect of your life that is most transferable to people like me, who work in business? Are there any lessons you’ve learned in your amazing career as a professional athlete that is portable enough for someone like me, a young business person, to apply to my own life?

A: It’s very simple, but seems to take years to learn.  It’s the same stuff they teach you in kindergarten.  Try hard, never quit, surround yourself with good people, treat others as you would like to be treated, choose a career/activities that you are passionate about and never, never quit.

I know I said “never quit” twice, but that seems to be one of the main keys to success that I’ve learned.  Even when something seems impossible and they are not going well, just keep working and many times your persistence will pay off in the end.  I’ve won many races after  being sick, being slow, getting flat tires, but just plugging along.

The giveaways are going great and we are excited to announce the August contest prize from Hammer Nutrition, a full recovery package! As always, I will choose the best question that lands in my email inbox. So ask away and send them in to askreba@rebeccarusch.com

Athletes have no trouble pushing themselves during workouts and putting in tough training days. However, this is only part of the equation. Many of us fall short in the recovery process. You can train like a champion, but if you do not recover like one as well, you’re not squeezing 100% of the benefit out of your workouts. Training and breaking down muscle is just step #1. Where you actually get stronger and faster is then allowing your muscles to recover from that training effort. It’s taken me years to figure this out, but I’m finally learning to take my recovery as seriously as my training.

The best question this month will win some of my favorite recovery tools.

Hammer Nutrition Recoverite is my recovery drink of choice.  I make up a shake immediately after every hard workout and race.  It restores gylcogen stores and starts to rebuild muscle tissue right away.

My favorite Recoverite recipe after a freezing spring ride in the mountains: strawberry Recoverite mixed with hot cocoa.

We will also throw in the Super Antioxidant and the AO Booster too! So you will have all your nutritional recovery needs met. All you have to do is get out and train!

The second essential recovery item that I can’t live without are Skins compression tights.  These babies are scientifically engineered with gradient compression to provide the correct level of surface pressure to specific body parts.  What all this does is improve circulation to deliver more oxygen to your muscles and remove metabolic waste.  You recover faster.  I wear these after races, on the plane, between stages in a multi-day event.  There are a bunch of compression products out there, but Skins is the only one with hard science behind their designs. If you win this Hammer and Skins recovery package, you are guaranteed to be faster! Below you can see me drinking Recoverite before I even take off my filthy kit after a stage of the Cape Epic. Send your best and most creative questions to askreba@rebeccarusch.com for your shot to win!

It’s been awhile since I have caught up and written some sort of blog that is remotely entertaining! The last two weeks have been full of riding, some racing, and some relaxing at home. As you probably know, the Cascade Creampuff 100 was a tremendous success and a great launching pad for me going into Leadville. There are some race details and results posted on their website, as well as a few nice photos. From there I catapulted into PR world in Keystone, CO for the Specialized dealer event. This is one of the most fun trips for me ever year. Seeing, riding, and just hanging out with the dealers is a great little mid-summer vacation. The riding in Colorado was epic, the new Epic 29er was epic, and the well you know what I mean! The boys from Bicycle Therapy have quite a photo gallery up on Flickr to check out too.

Today is probably the first time that I will be racing at home that I can remember. It is the annual Whit Henry Memorial Galena Grinder race. Whit was a local mountain biker who passed away in a car accident at a very young age. The whole valley comes out and races and enjoys the trails at Galena Lodge. The marathon race is 46 miles, and has tons of climbing and some pretty stiff out of town competition. I’m really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, making breakfast at home, and then swimming in my favorite swimming hole afterwards!

I am also working on a new website as well. A new design, more features, and a better more functional layout. We will be continuing the giveaways, adding gear reviews, and adding some more video features too. So keep an eye out. Until then, make sure to get your entries in for the Ask Reba July Giveaway for some sweet Smith Sunglasses.

Happy Trails

I have been all over the west this past week. From racing in Oregon for the Cascade Creampuff 100, to riding in Keystone, CO for the Specialized Dealer Event. It has been nothing but fun though, even with a few delayed flights and time spent hanging out in airports and cars. The Creampuff was a success on all levels. I placed first in the women and 10th in the mens category, which makes me feel fit again moving into Leadville. The race length definetly played into my abilities well, and I’m stoked to be back on form. I did manage to have a small run in with a pine tree in Oregon, but we hugged and I was left with a little bruise.

Now I am in Keystone testing and chatting with Specialied dealers and media from across the country about the new 2011 bikes. Every year the bikes keep getting better and better, which I can never understand. How do they keep getting stiffer and lighter, yet more comfortable…Anyways I will be back in Sun Valley soon to gear up for the Leadville 100. I was recently interviewed for the new Race Across the Sky movie for this season which made me even more excited for the event! Meanwhile, don’t forget to email in to askreba@rebeccarusch.com for your chance to win Smith Pivlock V90 sunglasses. Just ask me a question, most creative and original wins!

Happy Trails