Training is going well. I have finally found a race for my first attempt at qualifying for the RAAM. Since my father lives in Oregon, I have chosen to race the Race Across Oregon (RAO). The RAO is a 527 mile jaunt through some of the prettiest parts of Oregon. The race begins with a 35 mile 4,700 ft climb over Mt Hood. In fact, the race promoter boasts that there will be over 40,00 feet of climbing overall. This will be the major challenge for me. I have never considered myself a great climber. So, I will be switching some of my training focus to help me sustain long climbs at a steady pace.
In order to qualify for the RAAM, I will have to finish with 15% of the first finisher in my category. I am not sure what the finisher did in 2010, but in 2009 the first place finisher was Kenneth Philbrick with a time of 32h:46m. If I use this time as a basis, I would have to complete the race with maximum time of 37h:40m. That is an average speed of about 14 mph. Definitely doable if I can get my climbing speed up.
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| 2010 Race Across Oregon Route |
Well, I am off to do some hill work. We do not have mountains in the Texas Hill Country, but I have enough rolling hills do some good hill work.
