Ozark Greenways Adventure Race 2009

Ran in the Ozark Greenways Adventure Race on Saturday near Lebanon, MO. We had some fairly severe downpours the night before which lead to the race coordinators pulling the paddle portion of the race. They didn't think the river was safe. Instead, they extended the bike and orienteering legs.

I flatted within the first 5 miles, then managed to break the stem off of the replacement tube - which really set us back a bit. Other than that we had a fairly good run. The previous nights rain turned the trails to soup which made for tough going at times. We were completely covered in mud.

19th Overall. Finished in 8:48.


Matt, Me, Clayton, and Kate at the finish.

Steamboat Classic Triathlon (plus 216 miles)

Biked down to Cape Girardeau, MO again this year to run in the Steamboat Classic Triathlon. Departed from Columbia, IL on Saturday morning about 9am, crossing the Mississippi at Chester and then on to Cape. We had a brutal headwind the entire ~108 miles down there - averaging only about 14mph for the day.

Raced in the triathlon at 9am on Sunday. I ran a fairly conservatively considering that the 108 mile ride back to Columbia was going to start soon after I crossed the finish line. The unofficial results put me at 24th overall, which was better than last year when I took 35th.

Since we suffered such a terrible headwind on the way down, I was hoping we would get the benefits of a tailwind on the way back - although I wasn't counting on it. However, we lucked out and managed to keep a 19.5mph pace all the way back.

VO2 Max Testing at HIT Center

Did my first VO2 Max test last night with Betsy Godar the program director at the HIT Center in St. Peters, MO.

Results: 64.6 ml/kg/min.

Eco Expo and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Went to see Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. talk at the St. Louis Science Center's Eco Expo kick off on Tuesday night. In his talk, titled "Our Environmental Destiny", he described his personal history with environmental defense and his take on the roles government and corporations should play in the future.

While there were a few questionable "statements of fact", I think the core proposition was reasonable. In short, that the corporation is designed to generate profit by whatever means necessary. This is a fine objective which has proven itself to be a great engine of innovation. However, the corporation must not be allowed to drive government, for by its very nature it will exploit the resources of the people without regard for a common good - and it is the preservation of the common good that is the responsibility of government.

The Eco Expo will run April 18 & 19 at the St. Louis Science Center and is presented by the Missouri Botanical Garden. It is free to the public. Thanks to Ivona Blazevic, volunteer for the Botanical Gardens Earthways Center, for the invitation!

Land Between the Lakes 12-Hour Adventure Race 2009

Raced in Land Between the Lakes Adventure Race this weekend. Put on by Bonk Hard Racing, it was held at the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area near Golden Pond, KY.

The weather was perfect, clear with temperatures in the 70s. The area was hit hard by ice storms over the winter which left a significant amount of debris on the forest floor. The USDA Forest Service did a great job clearing most of the roads and trails, but bushwacking through the mangled branch systems was slow and challenging.

I ran in the 4-person coed division for the 12-hour race with the team Epic Machinery. We hit a snag early in the race when I made a navigation error on the way to checkpoint 2, costing us at least 20 minutes and quickly dropping us to the back of the pack. The rest of the day however we hit each of the remaining controls with little issue and picked up position.

We finished strong, getting all 23 checkpoints in under 12 hours. The unofficial results put is in 8th out of 37 teams overall, 6th in our division.

Tour de Cure 2009 Kickoff Party

Attended the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure kickoff party last night over at Autohaus BMW. Food, drink, a live music and prize raffle. Phil Bruno, spinning instructor and member of the Gold's Gym team was there getting everyone pumped up for the ride. I've known Phil for a couple years now and he's got a great story about how exercise in general, and cycling in particular, impacted his life. Great guy. Also there rallying were the members of Team Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, LC.

St. Petersburg, Florida

Took a little break and went down to St. Petersburg, Florida for a couple of days this week. Stayed at the Ponce de Leon, a little boutique hotel on Central Avenue. It could use a little updating, but it was a decent place nonetheless. A nice feature was the tapas restaurant, Ceviche, on the first floor. So wednesday night involved a few bottles of La Zaragozana and a dinner of boquerones, caracoles and ancas de rana. After dinner we walked a couple blocks down to The Independent on 3rd street. Fun place with a very laid back atmosphere.

The Bonk Hard Chill 2009

Ran with a 4-person team in The Bonk Hard Chill 12-hour adventure race down in Lake of the Ozarks State Park this weekend. Years past it was cold enough to freeze the water in your CamelBak, but this year it was warm enough to run in shorts.

One section of the race we had to paddle across the lake with our bikes in the canoe. Through some bizarre circumstance of physics my bike melded with Al's during the paddle and we had to spend at least 20 minutes trying to unhook them (photo below).


Me, Al and Rick. Photo courtesy of Bryan N., Mudskunks team captain

We ran fairly well, but missed a checkpoint deadline near the end of the day and suffered a severe penalty which knocked us to near the bottom of the pack. I did win a tube of Zanfel at the pre-race raffle though!

With the exception of a few beautiful bruises, Adam and Lisa, the pillars of Sisu Adventure Racing, were there running strong as usual! At least they weren't called upon to save anyone during the race this time.

Thanks to Bonk Hard Racing for putting on another great event.