The last Sport hurrah

Photo: Superfly

Well, I knew today was going to be tough, that it was going to hurt and that I'd have to give it every ounce of everything I had to survive in that heat & humidity. I was right.

Got a good start. . . .thought about contending for the hole shot since I was right up there, figured it wasn't worth the extra effort as I knew I'd NEED that extra effort later in the race so I came through in 4th, missing the money. We dumped into the single track and took off. Somewhere there was a shuffle of places, I gained, I lost, we caught the boys quickly and getting around some of them was no small feat. I practiced my "aggressive" passing skills, instead of just sitting on a wheel taking time to recover and waiting for a big open spot. It worked pretty well. I don't think I screwed anyone up.

I do believe I actually popped a bit on the first lap as my heart rate was through the roof. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold that pace for 3 full laps, so I was forced to take it back a notch and hope for the best. I seemed to recover pretty well, actually riding SMART and conserving energy so I didn't DIE in the heat.

I remembered to hit my lap timer through the start, which was kind of cool. My first lap was approximately 28:30, second lap was approximately 30:29 and the last lap was about 31:00. I was pretty happy with those times, given the fact I consciously had to scale it back on lap #2 to survive. Lap #3 I turned into an idiot. . . . .all my "clean riding" was gone, I started to endo before the bridge, but managed to catch myself before I ate mud. I clipped out on numerous occasions due to one stupid mistake or another and I brushed more than one tree that time around.

BUT, I did the BIG log jump each lap (with style), and I made it about 2/3 the way up the equalizer on my first lap before I popped the front end up. The second lap 2 sport boys yard saled it RIGHT in front of me and I had to run the WHOLE FREAKING THING, and the last lap I was so cashed I THINK I got about 1/2 way before I had to run (or shall I say "try to jog"). And I managed to hold off several sport girls who were barking at my door. THIS one got away and left me in her dust, but I managed to close the door after she passed by (effortlessly I might add).

Standing on the podium one last time was bitter sweet. We had a full podium for the 35-39 sport women, which was awesome. I collected my medal, darted back to my water bottle bitch duties, and actually shed a couple tears on my way. I came to give it all I had. . . . .and I did. 6th place overall. . . . . . .and I worked my ASS off for that. Next year is going to be a WHOLE different animal. I hope I'm ready.