I think my body is still in a state of shock. Going from racing in Boulder, CO on Sunday getting completely dehydrated, wearing a short sleeve skin suit and putting on sunscreen in the 70 degree weather to coming home this week and training in 30 degree weather has been pretty interesting.
Last year the temperature drop was a lot more gradual and took its time which meant your body had time to adjust. But going from 70 to 30 degrees in 3 days? Wowzers and "Burrrrrr!!!!!"
So today I had the privilege of racing in my hometown of Heber City. How great is that! I only have to travel 6 blocks instead of 600 miles to race and I could watch my husband race too! It is certainly a nice change from all the travel I have been doing, that is for sure. And the fact that I got to warm up in my basement before riding to the start line....well yeah.. that really was kind of cool.
I went to check out the course on Friday and found this:
Mushy and gloppy mud and puddles
and a bit of snowy grass next to the barn that we always ride through in this race.
Not sure what to think there except that I was hoping some of that mud would get pressed out by the time the A Women were off. I love mud and muck and all but I had to do 2 races today and was going to be working hard anyway without mud involved. So having my legs fry double time trying to get through mud and muck wasn't appealing to me much at this point because they were already going to get fried as it was. But at the same time you get what you get and you have to suck it up and take it!
But I didn't have to take anything. Today we woke up to a misty morning but as the day wore on, the mist wore off and things dried up substantially.
And by the time the A Women's race began the mist had lifted and everything had been pressed out from the previous races (thanks for doing all the hard work for us guys and gals!).
We had a great turn out of women from the mtb side as well as the road side. I love to see that. Our group is just growing and growing and I think that is just so cool!!
The fun part about the race in Heber is the run up. This picture is taken from the top of it. I was actually enjoying it a ton! A fast approach with a quick hop over the barrier at the bottom
and you were running up that muddy thing full speed or as full speed as one gets (ugh)
getting to the top completely maxed only to make a u turn.
remount
and ride down that same muck that was like squishy play doh while watching your braking and balance on the way down!!!
I feel like I am really getting the hang of throwing that bike on my shoulder quickly but can ALWAYS use more practice!
In true Heber fashion, we had cows and bulls to ride by during the race. Oh and a "peter rabbit" came out of this area too while trying to commit suicide under my wheel but thankfully he and his little white cotton tail decided to run away at the last minute.
Another part of the race course:
I grabbed a win in the Women's A race which felt really good but it couldn't feel that good because my mind had to immediately start focusing on my next race with the A Men in 15 minutes. Good lord what was I thinking? I had just enough time to thaw my feet out, have a gel packet, sip on some water and then gather at the line with the best dudes in the state. This was gonna hurt especially after already putting some pain in.
I lined up on the last row with a plan. That plan was to build my mental confidence more than my fitness. That wasn't my coaches plan but it was mine. She was after the fitness but I know what I need and a mental boost could do me some good right now. Plus I will race hard weather starting at the back or in the front so I wasn't worried about not committing to puking.
Last year the temperature drop was a lot more gradual and took its time which meant your body had time to adjust. But going from 70 to 30 degrees in 3 days? Wowzers and "Burrrrrr!!!!!"
So today I had the privilege of racing in my hometown of Heber City. How great is that! I only have to travel 6 blocks instead of 600 miles to race and I could watch my husband race too! It is certainly a nice change from all the travel I have been doing, that is for sure. And the fact that I got to warm up in my basement before riding to the start line....well yeah.. that really was kind of cool.
I went to check out the course on Friday and found this:
Mushy and gloppy mud and puddles
and a bit of snowy grass next to the barn that we always ride through in this race.
Not sure what to think there except that I was hoping some of that mud would get pressed out by the time the A Women were off. I love mud and muck and all but I had to do 2 races today and was going to be working hard anyway without mud involved. So having my legs fry double time trying to get through mud and muck wasn't appealing to me much at this point because they were already going to get fried as it was. But at the same time you get what you get and you have to suck it up and take it!
But I didn't have to take anything. Today we woke up to a misty morning but as the day wore on, the mist wore off and things dried up substantially.
And by the time the A Women's race began the mist had lifted and everything had been pressed out from the previous races (thanks for doing all the hard work for us guys and gals!).
We had a great turn out of women from the mtb side as well as the road side. I love to see that. Our group is just growing and growing and I think that is just so cool!!
The fun part about the race in Heber is the run up. This picture is taken from the top of it. I was actually enjoying it a ton! A fast approach with a quick hop over the barrier at the bottom
and you were running up that muddy thing full speed or as full speed as one gets (ugh)
getting to the top completely maxed only to make a u turn.
remount
and ride down that same muck that was like squishy play doh while watching your braking and balance on the way down!!!
I feel like I am really getting the hang of throwing that bike on my shoulder quickly but can ALWAYS use more practice!
In true Heber fashion, we had cows and bulls to ride by during the race. Oh and a "peter rabbit" came out of this area too while trying to commit suicide under my wheel but thankfully he and his little white cotton tail decided to run away at the last minute.
Another part of the race course:
I grabbed a win in the Women's A race which felt really good but it couldn't feel that good because my mind had to immediately start focusing on my next race with the A Men in 15 minutes. Good lord what was I thinking? I had just enough time to thaw my feet out, have a gel packet, sip on some water and then gather at the line with the best dudes in the state. This was gonna hurt especially after already putting some pain in.
I lined up on the last row with a plan. That plan was to build my mental confidence more than my fitness. That wasn't my coaches plan but it was mine. She was after the fitness but I know what I need and a mental boost could do me some good right now. Plus I will race hard weather starting at the back or in the front so I wasn't worried about not committing to puking.
So the idea was to line up on the last row and go through as many people as possible because it is only up from the last row right?! It was that vs starting in the front and having 80 men blow by me like I was standing still and I didn't want to end a good day like that and have that be my last thought going into next weekends race.
So I raced hard with the boyz and made some passes before getting lapped by Ali socks and Bart who were putting a hurt on the field.
Incredible! Dem are fast boys. And at about the 30 minute mark of the 60 minute A Men's race I started losing my s*&^. I hadn't had anything significant to drink since BEFORE my race (2 hours prior) and I was starting to feel the effects. I popped a gel at that point which really didn't do much because I was staring to dig the hole that you don't want to dig when you are in the middle of race season and there are tons of germs going around. Your body is going to be messed up enough after 2 cyclocross races in one day without dehydration and all so it was at that moment that I thought about pulling out of the race to save my body the stress of trying to recover AND being in "the hole". But I couldn't!! I just couldn't do that because I don't DNF unless I break something (me or the bike!) so instead I backed off the gas a little maintain my position and rolled it across the line completing the A men's race in full.
Those guys are so nice to let me race with them and it was such a pleasure being amongst the fast guys in the state handing me my tail left and right. That is how you get fast if you can handle the demoralization of it all mentally. But the guys were awesome and I appreciated the opportunity! I got a great workout in and now its time to rest and recover and get ready for New Jersey this weekend!
Barfing seems appropriate about...........right now.
You think I am joking? Not but it wasn't massive.
Barfing seems appropriate about...........right now.
You think I am joking? Not but it wasn't massive.
Oh and I graduated a bit today too. I didn't wear my wrist brace in the Women's A race and didn't think twice about not having it on!! Just to make sure, I put it on for the Men's A race and it only drove me crazy! Cool! The brace will now retire in my medicine cabinet in the cemetery of all the other braces, wraps, splints, etc.
Ah yes and all photos today are with the big courtesy of Lady Cross. That would be my good buddy and fellow bike ripper extraordinaire Theresa Carr.
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