THAT was hard

That was hard. I knew it was going to be hard. . . . .but WORS race #1 was very hard. My goals going into this race were 1) to finish. 2) to NOT finish last. 3) to not have to get off my bike. 4) to hopefully not get lapped by TOO many sport boys.

I achieved all those goals. I finished 10th overall (3rd in age), as for stats, I'm not sure. . . .I only took the time to look briefly at my finish. I did touch a foot down twice (once so as to avoid face planting, once because too many sport girls tried to ride through the sand at the same time). I got lapped by 2 sport boys - the first probably a good 20 minutes before the second. And I dragged my butt across the finish line in one piece.

From what I can tell by peeking at my watch each lap, I was relatively consistent with my lap times. And every SECOND out there hurt like hell. It's funny. I often surprise myself with the amount of pain I can actually tolerate. It's not that I'm really much faster than any of the girls who finished around me. . . . I can just put myself into the hurt locker better, that's all. Anyone riding (or standing for that matter) anywhere NEAR me could CLEARLY hear me gasping for breath. A few times I literally saw spots I was working so hard. But the whole time I kept telling myself, I have to give it everything I've got. No matter how much it hurts I have to push on and keep trying becuase I CAN. I'm alive, I'm able and I owe myself at least that much. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to give it 110%. That's my new motto. And at THIS race, it worked for me. It hurt. . . . .A LOT. . . . . but I'm still here to tell about it.

Now it's time to focus on our OWN 12 hour race at Greenbush. Time to give back to the cycling community and bring them (you guys) a race you'll thoroughly enjoy.