Savageman70.0

There is really only one way to describe the race: EPIC. Savageman 70.0 will go down in the books as one I will never forget (and honestly hope I will do it again!). A Bucketlist race for sure, and by far the hardest race I have ever completed. If you didnt know already, Savageman is known to be one of the hardest half distance races in the world, with a 6k ft of climbing bike ride, a massive 31% climb, and an equally hilly, almost 2k ft run.

My race week started off a little bit different then it usually does. I was in a wedding friday and decided to take the day as a complete rest day in efforts to conserve as much energy as possible. Saturday Morning after a night of dancing, I made my way to Deep Creek Lake, MD, which is in the Mountains of Western Maryland and lies on the WV/ PA Border. On my drive up, it was pouring down rain and I knew that if the race was already going to be challenging enough, this element would make it even more difficult. I told the rain gods, "Bring it".I did my pre-race shake out workouts, checked in to the race, and took a look around the course before heading to bed early. Lights out at 8pm (hey I was tired from the wedding)!!

One of the nice things about the race (and maybe the only "nice" thing) is that you get to sleep in. The race starts at 830AM, due to it being in the state park and having to wait for the actual state park to open. With this, I actually woke up before my alarm, feeling fully rested, and ate my normal pre-race breakfast. I chilled in the hotel for what seemed like hours because there was really nothing else to do but wait!

I was happy to see that it didnt look like it had started raining just yet, but the roads were still pretty damp. With a 90% chance of storms set for race day, We knew it would rain on us at some point during the event, so I was just glad to keep dry for as long as I could. One of my main goals for the race was to 1)get a good long training day out of it, in efforts to my build for IMAZ, but most importantly staying SAFE. I chose this race obviously because it was on my Bucketlist, but also because of the course elevation I felt it would be a very proper and demanding training day.

8:30AM Swim Start: I lined up in the lake with 11 others. They mixed the males and female ekites so I was excited to be able to start with some very fast male feet. The swim was a BLUESEVENTY wetsuit swim and the water felt GREAT. We took off fast before we even knew we had started (literally alot of us didnt even realize we started) and rounded the Big TURTLE buoy to head back to shore. I swam with two guys neck and neck and let them do most the work. I exited the water in 28 minutes for the womens swim prime, and went up the hill to grab my bike. I thought to myself, Here, we, GO.

Elevation total

The bike ride is not for the faint at heart. In fact there was only 39 females in the whole race because of this epic and <scary> ride. Almost immediately upon jumping on my bike we were already climbing. I swear my HR was over 200 and I was already questioning what I had got myself into. Its hard to run up a hill post hard swim, and then jump on your bike and do it again. I told myself to Catch my breath and settle in. We would be going downhill before we know. In fact, really the only downhill of the whole ride. The downhill was so steep and fast that they actually had signs that said "NO AEROBARS". Yup, Stay safe people. I was basically freezing by the time I got to the bottom, but I knew I was slowly approaching my first adventure of the day--The Westernport Wall. 

The crowds were amazing and the devils were chasing. Before I knew it, I was up the "Wall", dubbing my brick to go down in history. However, this wasnt even the hard part. It was the miles that followed where you continued to climb, already maxxed out in gearing. My Garmin files says I maxed out at 419 watts and a whopping 3.7mph. OUCH.

Sarcasm at its finest...

And so we keep climbing, On to Savage Mountain, Otto, and KILLER MILLER. Let me stop here and rant--OMG, killer miller. It was brutal. 1.2 miles @ 22% grade. You thought the Wall was bad? Try Killer Miller after already going 40  miles into the race. Another Zing! Here was the sign right before hitting Killer Miller (of course I looked).

Right before going up Killer Miller

At this point it started to rain and I thought atleast I was almost done. The rain was refreshing but I defiantly tried to stay focused on each part of the road so I did not end up a savage kill. In the mean time, the whole bike ride because of the humidity and moist air, my brakes kept sticking and locking up. I got off the bike 3x to unlock my rear wheel. Talk about added resistance. I finished the bike 3.5 hours later.

The Run: 
After being passed on the bike by one girl I knew I had some work to do. I started off this hilly trail run around the state park and actually did not feel too bad. I just took each hill as I could and tried to stay focused on drinking/eating, forward momentum. Around mile 4 you had to climb up this tremendous tire road with huge rocks and divets. It was actually faster to walk up the hill then run it, and so I did in order to keep my HR low. I ran back down the hill and man, it was pouring rain by now to add to the effect. I was cruising through the second lap and was thinking to myself how proud I was. I have not had a good run off the bike in a while and I was really feeling good. I knew it was nutrition and patience with training that was finally paying off. I crossed the finish line in second, but with the fastest run split of the day (1:45 --no not too fast but on such a hard run, I was pleased)!.

2nd OA Female!

Post Race Thoughts: 
1)For those of you wondering I took in 1500 calories EXACT, throughout the 5.5 race (so almost ~270 an hour). 1000 of these calorites were on the bike, and 500 on the run. I could have kept running and know that my nutrition plan is set forth for IMAZ. I also sided on a little more calories this race because of the cooler conditions. For many girls this is ALOT of calories, but for me its what my body knows best.
Also in the last couple weeks I have been taking a more detailed look into my nutrition. I always feel I am very healthy and know how to eat. I shocked myself by realizing my carbohydrate intake was a little on the low side (roughly 49%). Though, this is not too low...For someone who is training up to 20hrs a week with lots of intensity this was just not enough. After pinpointing this and upping my carb intake, things were finally starting to fall into place. (How did I recognize this? Recovery time was very slow, I was gaining weight in my abdomen (usually always indicates nutrition deficit), and sleep was poor). Once I fixed this, everything (weight, sleep, recovery) went back to normal.
2) Having run poor most of the year, I was thrilled to "feel good" on the run. In particular after 6k of climbing already in the bank.
3) My swim is on point, and my biking is heading in the right direction. The east coast is "doing its thing" in helping me become a stronger rider. Hell, its even WAY more enjoyable when the scenery is up and down!

Pearl was Happy with this and wanted to celerate.

I am Heading to Boulder this week for work <and play>, and then its a head strong 8 weeks into IMAZ. Excited to put the efforts in and watch it unfold. Until next time...

Liz