Lake Geneva

Wow, what a race. That was freakin' hard!

As we lined up, I knew I was going to have to give it my all on that start hill to get a good position going into the single track. I was hoping my legs would cooperate as they were feeling very tired and flat during the warm up. Perhaps too much riding the day before. . . . maybe even too much loading the week before. Who knows. But I figured it was what it was, there wasn't anything I could do about it. I'd just try to ride my best and see what happened.

I tend to be strong on hills. . . .why I'm not really sure because they REALLY hurt, but I dug deep and got up front on the start climb. Went into the single track 2nd or 3rd. It was a good spot to be.

We caught up to the sport boys pretty quickly. . . . we actually caught some right before the dive down into the single track already. I figured that would be a bad course for traffic, but if it was bad for traffic for me, it was bad for everyone. I just hoped I could get a gap and hold on to it.

I got my wish in lap #1. I held my spot, rode relatively clean, although I stepped down that last set of rocks after the rock garden. I don't know WHAT my problem was, but that freaked me out every lap. Oh well, a few seconds lost stepping over something that could propel me into the cheap seats is a good few seconds to lose I guess.

Lap #2 I was still in a good spot heading up the start climb. I was hurting. . . .it was hot, I was sweating profusely, I could already tell I hadn't drank enough. I got yelled at by my easy up of peeps to drink so I tried to force it down on the second lap. Unfortunately, I think it was too late.

Going up the start climb to start lap #3 I could feel my energy drain. I knew I was in for a rough 3rd lap. I just hoped that I had gotten a large enough gap that I could hold my position - or close to it. Every hill felt like death. I was hyperventilating, seeing starts and not sure I'd be able to finish it I was hurting so bad. But somehow I found the strength to keep pushing on. I eased up a bit on purpose. . . .but mostly because I physically HAD to. I heard Sonia breathing down my back so I let her get around me. She had so much energy, there was NO way I was going to match that. Back and forth I went with Mariah. Last time through the rock garden I stepped over the last set of rocks - AGAIN - and Kate flew by. I gave it my all knowing I was nearing the end. I figured if I could make it to the end knowing I had given 100%, I would be happy.

And that's exactly what happened. I ended up 7th overall. Not so bad of a race, but not as good as I was hoping for considering I was in the top 3 or 4 for 2 laps. But I finished and I managed a win in my age group against some tough competition.

I wrestle with how much to put out there so early in the race. . . . . .and I wonder if a bit of conserving would have given me the "extra" I needed yesterday. But after a number of years of racing experience and getting to know my body and my strengths and weaknesses, I believe conserving wouldn't have helped me much. I seem to do the best when I put it all out there right up front. Sometimes I can hold on to that. . . .and sometimes there are just faster girls.

Today I feel like someone took me out to the bike rack and beat me to a pulp. My body hurts tremendously, I can't move my head my neck muscles are so tense and I've had a head ache all day. Mondays are usually not a lot of fun, especially a Monday after a race, but today, well, today takes the cake. Unproductive, low coping skills, lots of "pain". There's no question as to whether I gave my all yesterday or not. I gave it all, and then some. :-)