Winter Challenge Race Report

Ok, so the results are in. Let's start with the data.

14th place overall
1:18 Run (18th)
1:11 Kayak (23rd)
0:55 Bike (13th)
3:27 Overall

I'm not quite sure what's going on the with the official timing as I thought my Garmin indicated a 3:12 finish. I'll have to look at that tomorrow. Overall, I'm happy. It wasn't quite the 3hr finish I wanted, but for the race conditions, this was good. Now for the details:

The Run: Since I've been fixated on running since Nov., I knew what to expect here as long as I didn't blow up in the first two miles. Pacing is the most important thing in any race and I'm generally terrible at it. In endurance races, the last thing you want to do it use up your reserves early in the race. Luckily, experience helps here. Experience = failing many times before. I felt like I started too fast, but the first mile clocked in at 8:30 which was exactly where I wanted to be. Perfect. Nobody was passing me and I had picked off two people by around mile 6. Then something unexpected happened. The group chasing the leaders shows up running towards me. They (and I) had missed the turn off. The funny part was that the group included the race director. Luckily, for me, it was maybe a quarter of a mile off course. At this point 8-10 of us regrouped and finished within about 30 seconds of each other. The total distance ended up being about 7.5 miles which was a little longer than expected, but that's what I love about this race. You never quite know what to expect. I got tangled up in some briars half way through and drew first blood. Overall, I averaged around 8:21 on some overgrown trails. Success.

The Kayak: Oh boy, what to say here.  Definitely better than 2009, but just plain hard. Paddling for time is not something I EVER do except at this race. This part of the race is more about survival than competition. I fumbled with my water bottle the whole time in the kayak. I debated whether or not to use my Camelbak bladder for this which would have allowed me to drink while still paddling. As I was fumbling with my bottle a guy passed me drinking from his Camelbak hose with ease. FAIL. The wind was so bad that if you stopped paddling, the wind would carry you off track in seconds. Even more problematic when trying to take a sip of water. I don't really remember much of this part except for the bottle shenanigans. I'll fix that next time I do this race. Oh, go ladies. The top 2 female finishers passed me in the kayak. Yes, I tried to keep up.

The Bike: I certainly feel the most comfortable on the bike, but I took a risk in this race. I decided to bring my cyclocross bike to this race thinking it would make me faster. With some more cx skills, maybe, but I would have crushed it on my mountain bike. Instead of attacking the downhills and jumping all of the logs, I babied my cx bike throughout the course. The course added a lot more single track from 2009 which is normally a good thing. I struggled more than I needed to, but part of it was mental. I've never pushed myself that hard on the cx bike. I kept thinking that I was going to flat at any moment. Good thing I aired up to 70psi before this race. I normally run 60, so that was a good move as I surely would have pinch flatted with anything less. I should have been able to pull a top 10 performance on the bike, so that was a little disappointing. Nevertheless, it was still my best leg of the race.

Overall: Well, I was exactly mid-pack with my 14th place. Nothing to get over excited about or depressed about. It was a solid finish for me this early in the season, so I'm happy about that. The run will be a good lead in for the Charlotte 10 miler in a few weeks, then I think I'll get back to cycling specific workouts as I've mentally committed to a 40 mile mtb race in April. More on that later.


Of all the races I've done, the Winter Challenge is the most unique. Great atmosphere, unique adventure race format, family atmosphere, casual (yet competitive if you want to be), and great food as well. If you don't have fun at this race you might need some type of intervention.

Recovery time. I'm still hurtling a litte from this race.