From the Peaks to the Prairie (Race Report)

Wow! It was a tough day out there, April 25th.

I had signed up to race Montana's first adventure race, Peaks to Prairie. In its 32nd year, P2P has challenged its competitors by racing 73 miles from the National Forest Boundary in the mountains above Red Lodge to the river valley and lowlands of Billings, Montana. It is the combination of running, cycling and down river kayaking that makes this race unique. It is "all downhill" making for fast splits, but is often complicated by inclement weather and tough water conditions. This year was no exception.

The morning started out with 28 degree temps and a fresh coat of snow on the ground. I wasn't too worried about the weather as the sun was out and the winds were calm. I was more concerned about my calves. See, I've been dealing with a chronic calf strain since racing the Lasse Viren 20K this past December. Then it was the Palm Springs Half Marathon and the Desert International Triathlon that both re injured me. I thought that I was through the woods until heading out for a 5-miler three weeks ago, when it came back with a vengeance, forcing me to walk the last two miles back home. I hadn't run since that day!

But the race started off well. I had no pain and was running fast. The miles were clicking off at sub-6:30 pace and I was one of the leading soloists. Then at mile six, my "good leg", the left calf, went into spasm.

I couldn't run.

I had to stop and stretch along the side of the road and watched as EVERYONE raced by. I began to hobble and turned over a couple of 9 minute miles until my legs freed up enough to move a little quicker. But the damage was done, only six miles into the 73, gulp.


I finally made it to the transition area, at 59 minutes. Before the spasms I was on about a 54 to 55 minute pace. I put on a long sleeve jersey and headed for Laurel, Montana some 43 miles away. It was cold, but bearable. But the wind was picking up and 30 mph gusts were hitting us from the left. We had to battle the cross head winds the whole way. I pushed the best I could, focusing on using my quads and glutes, as the calves (now both) were protesting. I passed lots of relay cyclists then began to pick off soloists. At one point I had passed the eventual winner (as I found out later), but with the winds so hard, I skimped on my nutrition and bonked about 10 miles from the transition point. I quickly began to eat, but he and another soloist ended up passing me. I tried to minimize the damage and hit T2 only a minute or two behind them both.

The bike to boat transition took me 5 minutes easily. I could get off my bike, but that was it. My legs were cramping and I couldn't get down to put on my shoes or get into my boat! A lovely volunteer asked me if she could help. All I said was, "just give me a minute." I finally got myself ready and into my kayak, and then it was "paddle like Hell mode."

The wind was shifting from a north westerly to a north easterly, which put it into our faces. For the next two and a half hours I paddled NON-STOP. It was tough, but once I was in the boat, my legs began to feel better. Determined to finish strong, I paddled hard and took good lines down the river. I passed two soloists along the way, but got passed by another just before the finish line. I crossed the line exhausted and in 5th place. Man was I glad to be done.

My final time was 5:20:52, seven minutes faster than when I won this race back in 2006. Which tells me two things: the first is that the competition has gotten a whole lot tougher, but also that I have too. I literally hobbled to a faster time than 4 years ago, and likely would've been 10 minutes faster had I been at full strength. This would've put me in the top 3 and in contention for the win!

So even though I didn't win, or even make the podium, I was happy with my result. It was a "tough day at the office" as the Pro's would say, but made for a memorable race.


Now I'm taking an extended break from racing and will finally concentrate on rehabbing my legs. I think I need to see a PT :-)