Wow, what a ride

I was going to title this post something about what amazing creatures the mind and body were, but as I sat watching football and munching on chips and dip this one came to me instead.

I'll admit, I haven't been training for endurance.  Not even a little bit.  I had 3 XC races lined up this fall, and one endurance race.  Add to that just plain lack of time and no long rides on the weekends, and I was feeling a lot unprepared for my race this past weekend.

I didn't eat right the weekend before.  Tuesday I ate out twice (I haven't done that in awhile, and it usually only happens on race weekends when we are in a hotel), Thursday I ate a really unhealthy lunch, I had cake throughout the week, drank too much last weekend, and generally felt stressed out, out of time, and unprepared.

Thursday night I was up late, up early, and slept poorly.  Couldn't get to sleep on Friday night, and laid awake for about 30 minutes before the alarm went off.  

So, I was tired, kinda sore, and really nervous about the race.  This lasted even after I found out that one of the big name pro women wasn't going to be racing afterall.  There was still supposed to be about 6-7 Pro/Expert women racing.  

Saturday morning was the normal pre-race routine.  We got to the venue pretty early and unloaded the truck.  I alternated between sitting with my feet up and trying to set up the pit spot.  Hubby finished up working on the bike.  

Wound up heading over to the pre-race meeting (no new info or anything, but it helped to have 15 minutes go by before the start), and then I finished getting dressed.  We all lined up a bit early, with the really fast people up front going out for parade lap and fastest to the top of the big hill.  I wanted none of that, so stuck around about halfway back.  

Just after 9 am we were off.

I could go lap by lap through everything, but essentially: I was sore from the get-go; my legs and back alternated hurting; I drank what I could - usually water; had gel; and basically just tried to keep myself moving and motivated.  It gets difficult after awhile.  And then after another while you start to forget you need motivation and it just becomes routine.  Then the pain comes back and you start to wonder why you're doing another lap; or why you did the last one.

I spent the early laps wondering when the competition was going to take a break.  She'd ride through the pits, grab a bottle and keep moving.  Every lap I wondered when she'd slow down.  She didn't slow down.

It took me a few laps to realize I wasn't stopping or slowing down a lot either.  But, I sat down.  More than one person said she never sat down.  That's dedication to your goals.  

Hubby said I was in 2nd around lap 2 or 3.  I was quite shocked, actually.  I figured I was in 4-5.  I remained in 2nd for about half of the race.  

I didn't think I had a chance at winning.  She wasn't slowing down at all.  I couldn't go any faster.  We were in a deadlock.  

Then, for some reason, she took a break and changed clothes.  She beat me into the pit area by a few minutes, and was just coming out the bathrooms with fresh clothes when I was heading out.  And it was time for the lights since it was about night time.  She didn't catch me again.

We realized on lap 8 or so that I'd have to do 10 to win.  I didn't want to do 10 laps.  I dreaded 10.  I resigned myself to 10.  It was tough, though.

Really tough.

I learned a few things:

I'm a lot stronger (mentally and physically) than I ever thought I was.  

Sometimes even when you don't feel prepared you might just be.

After a crazy effort like yesterday there is something that matters more than fattening food, more than alcohol, and more than the post-race raffle: clean, dry wool socks.

Sidebar funny (?) story:

Hubby didn't want to have to send me out on 10 so he asked a WC marathon pro about how to motivate me.  Essentially the response was: Well, either she wants to win or she wants to come in second.

Nothing special there; just the cold hard facts. 

I wasn't about to give up the win.

Weekday Riding and Other Random Goodies

Wow, it's been a jam packed week. Tuesday I managed to cram a bunch of stuff in, and even did a 3 hour mountain bike ride an hour + away. Yesterday was the busiest day at work in probably a month or so. Managed to spend 150% of my time doing 3 different tasks.

Today I ate too much.

But, I digress.

Got up at the same time as every day on Tuesday, and worried about what traffic would be like venturing with traffic over to one of the bigger areas of industry here locally for some good old fashioned trail time. When I looked at the local traffic site and it showed everything moving smoothly I was somewhat awed. Then I remembered it was a national holiday and many people weren't at work!

So, we got there a bit early and got ready to ride. It was somewhat chilly, but pretty nice overall, and gorgeous clear blue skies overhead.

I decided to break out the new Specialized helmet since I hadn't used it yet, and it didn't seem like I'd get it muddy.



Off we headed up the wide trail through the park. It had been just over a year since I had last ridden there; after the fires and extended closure. It wasn't the park I was looking forward to, though; it was the overgrown truck trail and fun descent that I was awaiting. I didn't know what to expect as far as trail or hillside scenery was concerned. This area in general isn't much in the way of old overgrown trees (though the park was definitely more "open" than it had been previously due to burned brush and old oaks that were now gone) and greenery, but it was definitely a bit more barren than it had been.



(Accidental ground shot while holding on to the camera through a stream crossing)

Up we climbed on the first big fire road climb… It was over before I knew it. I had pushed the pace a bit trying to push myself. It was easier than I remembered it.



We climbed the steep pavement and turned off at the truck trail and again began our ascent.



We got to the flag and found a group that had left a bit in front of us, people we knew, and watched a few of them attempt a gap jump. It worked out pretty well.



We grabbed 3 more for our group for a total of 6. We continued climbing, all at our own pace. I wasn't sure how much further til the turn around spot. I knew it was close, but I kept seeing a fire road snaking up and up the mountain, and I hadn't remembered that part… Luckily when I rounded a corner I saw the clearing and knew that the fire road had probably just been a fire break that ended nowhere.



I stopped at the clearing for a snack and a stretch and watched as others from varying groups rode in and stopped to take in the view and the beautiful day. Eventually we turned around to regroup with the others and headed off toward the day's fun descent.

The flag was flying proud



We descended quickly, far too quickly, and back we were to a short paved descent, a bit more climbing, and then riding back through the park to the start. I was getting nervous about timing, but it worked out okay.

We got some chicken fajitas in a bowl, purchased some bike goodies, and sat in some traffic.

I did talk my way into KEEN Presidio's from REI, and managed to hook myself up with some SmartWool socks as well. I've heard many people raving about them lately!



We got home, showered, and headed off toward dinner out. Food was good, service was crap. That's life.

I wanted to spin for an hour last night, but we stopped at the LBS and wound up staying for almost 3 hours. No joke. I waited around for the owner to purchase my light at a discount (the Seca 700 came in so I will happily be testing its effectiveness, along with that of my glasses, tonight in the dark on the trail) and to chat about the impending bike release (no date, but sooner than January perhaps), and then of course hubby had to talk to a customer and explain bikes and he chatted with him for ever. We finally got out of there around 7 and ran home. I got in 30 mins of spinning, five minutes of stretching, and then got to sit on the couch for about an hour. I did a short bout of core exercises and went to be sore and exhausted. Woke up pretty much the same way this morning.

Tonight is the dirt. Tomorrow I'm not sure. Tomorrow will be kind of crappy. Gonna have to go by myself to pick out a pit spot for Saturday and set up the ez-up. Kinda nervous about everything I guess.