Third time lucky!

We did it! Team Luba earned a buckle at the Vermont 100 Endurance Ride :)

Here are the official results.

There are lots of endurance maxims that I have heard and even some that I have learned over the years. All of them stood me in good stead at this epic ride.

I still have to pinch myself and I catch myself looking at the belt buckle at every opportunity. With the unwavering support of our stalwart crew, Deanna and Veronica, we completed the VT100!

SuperCrew Veronica and Deanna :)

Photo: D. Ramsay

Ride your own ride

Thanks to all the ultra marathoners on trail with us, Luba and I were able to ride our own ride.

We come from flat land, and although we have been doing as much hill work as possible since April, nothing prepares you for Vermont but Vermont. The Green Mountains are either going up or down. 14,000 feet of elevation gain. Roads named Agony Road. You get the picture.

We started out near the back of the pack with  Dawn, Dean, Rachel and April. The horses were moving out at a steady 8-9 mph pace. I know Luba can hold this pace on less aggressive terrain for 50 miles.  But I was aiming for a slower overall speed so we would have enough gas to tackle all the ups and downs of double that distance.

After about 10 miles, Luba finally agreed to slow down and let the others go. I had promised my crew we would not go faster than 8 mph before the 10 minute stop and go at Gratiot's Fild 14 miles into the ride.   As soon as we arrived, Luba had a big lemonade pee to exorcise the tie up ghost of the 2012 Pine Tree 100.

Arriving alone and unafraid at Gratiot's Field - 10 minute stop and go at mile 14

I had the voice of WendyB in my head - a 100 mile ride starts at mile 50.  So I needed to get through the first 50 miles with a horse fresh enough to ride a 50 :)  By this time, we were catching runners, so we slowed down and chatted with them. I would call out, "Hi Runner, coming by on your left side."

Luba LOVED her runners. She loved catching up to them. She loved trotting along side them. She loved passing them.  Runners were our trail buddies for most of the 100 miles. She knows what the word "Runner" means now. We got to know some of them, as we played leapfrog - passing the runner, then going to vet check hold, then passing the same runner again. Norm, Seth and Richard, Gary, Kim, Guy - just some of the amazing athletes who share trail with us :)

Dismount for the downhills

In some respects, the downhills are harder than the uphills. My mentor, NancyB passed along the message that I should get off and do the downhills on foot with Luba to save her front legs. I did this after about mile 20.  I had no idea how hard this would be!!  Yesterday (Thursday) was the first day that I could go up and down stairs without grimacing.

Next time, I will specifically train my own body for the downhills. Here is some advice from Zeke in the VT100 runners blog with one month to go:

Respect the Downhills: I know you respect the Uphills, because we all do. You’ll be walking many, if not most, of them, which is smart. That which is responsible for the majority of DNF’s in 100’s, however, is the running of the downhills. You absolutely DO want to run the downhills, but if you have not practiced aggressive downhill running, your quads are quite likely to give out on you. When that happens, they will become intensely sore, and even walking will be painful. Your body is well-trained and your endurance is at a peak, but the legs just refuse to cooperate. We are somewhat short of time, BUT you can hit the downhills in the next two weeks. Don’t go banzai, but do be aggressive, such that the quads ache a bit the next day. That means you’re strengthening them, and preparing them for the race. 

By about mile 60, Luba was walking the uphills, so I started dismounting for those as well. And after mile 80, there were stretches of road where we had no runners or other horses for company. Luba started to flag. So I got off and ran a few miles beside her. This seemed to lift her spirits and gave her a break from me - I was getting tired and was surely less balanced than usual in the saddle. We ran with one  runner on a dark part of the trail. He was grateful for the company, as he said he had been running alone for the last 3 hours.

Never hurry, never tarry

Luba and I have worked hard to learn to keep a steady pace.  Our cruise control is an 8mph trot. She can do this all day. So I worked hard to keep her in her happy place as often as possible. This was  actually much easier to do when we weren't riding with other horses.

We caught up with Rachel at the Sound of Music hills and rode together for a short while, but her horse wanted to graze and Luba wanted to go, so we carried on at our own pace.

We also played leap-frog with Daryl, Adrianne and Skip as we were heading into Hold #3 - Mitchell's at mile 60. They were walking some uphills and Luba preferred to go up at an easy trot. Normally Luba will match her pace to the other horses, but with all those runners out there to chase down, she just did her own thing.

We also rode a good piece of the 10 miles between Hold #3 and Hold #4 Springbrook Farm at mile 70 with Daryl and Adrianne. However, their horses trotted at 9-10 mph and Luba's comfort zone is a bit slower, so I kept her back at her pace and we ended up coming into the holds at about the same time.

We mixed things up with some easy canters and later in the ride, Luba demonstrated a very steady uphill walk.

Arriving at Hold #3 Mitchell's at mile 60

Keeping a steady pace helped both of us conserve energy. Luba's CRI at mile 60 was 48/48, all A's, good gut sounds all around and she flew out of the hold at the canter, on the hunt for her runners!

90% is mental and the other 10% is all in your head 

I think this saying is attributed to Ray Zahab of   Impossible to Possible.

I said this a lot during the ride.  I ride vet check to vet check. So knowing how many miles we have to go on each loop or phase of the ride is critical for me. But I got confused about the distance between Hold #1 and Hold #2. I expected it to be 20 miles, but in reality, it was 22 miles. The trail was marked with yellow plates with black directional arrows, but white plates indicated where horses split off the trail to enter the vet checks. So the last two miles heading into Hold #2 GMHA was a big mind f*ck, as I was afraid that I had missed a white plate!! I asked a couple of runners if they had seen any white horse plates, and finally found one who said with some certainty that he had not seen one for quite some time. Whew! However, by the time we arrived, the worry of being a few couple of miles off trail had me quite tired and mentally frazzled.  Thankfully, my SuperCrew did a great job taking care of me and Luba, and had us back in the zone before we headed back out on trail.

90% is mental and the other 10% is all in your head.

The Challenge

going the Distance

leading to a Discovery 

that Luba and I are capable 

of achieving the extraordinary!

Our first 100 mile completion. 

Third time lucky!