This week was wicked hectic at work. 5 day workweek felt so much longer. Last week I had hit the fatigue wall. This week I wanted to ensure I could rebound for Sunday's big, super fun race in DC. DCCX.
Below was my past week at a glance:
Monday: rest. Just work. Plenty of work to do!
Tuesday: AM short Intervals, decided to skip the crossfit (very wise, very wise). More work! Lots of it!
PM speaker series season kickoff w Bill Clinton (super fun Fall/Winter ritual with some cool ladies)
Wednesday: mo-work then...cross practice locally. Short Intervals. Fun on my CX bike! Felt great being out, felt like "play" with some efforts.
Thursday: more work... running errands with T, crossfit and house chores
Friday: work count down to 5p...then evening easy road ride
Saturday: easy road w opener. hair cut. lunch out. chores. then rest.
Sunday: RACE
This week also represented the "countdown to Cancun week" as well.
T minus ____ days to Cancun.
Tracy and I booked this trip this past March (what feels like a forever ago). Two primary reasons.
1) We/she would need a break from the endless CX weekends...
2) We needed a warm weather getaway
3) Maybe three reasons....we haven't had a big trip in too long...The goal: create a 4-day escape to a warm weather climate where we could just chill, relax and be pampered. Yeah. Tracy is wicked smart for booking this trip. We leave Friday morning. 4 days to Cancun. :-) And I have a feeling we'll be sure to introduce more out-of-Baltimore, vacation time for the 2013 season. I have some good influences at work too who help remind me how awesome "Quarterly" vacations are... :-)
Anyway, back to cycling!
DCCX:
Morning was weird or should I say: I was reacting "weirdly" to circumstances...
1. Tracy was nearly sure she had strep throat. My concern should have been her health and well being but honestly I was having an episode of Jen-self-ish-ness. I wanted her at DCCX. She was the only one I wanted there. Well. Even when T is not feeling well, she is sooooooooo patient (yes, def a key for an eight year relationship lasting, thanks T). She dealt with my cr@ppiness until I came around. So while I head out to the races with the Mother, again all dressed in pink from lipstick to fleece, T went to Patient First.
2. Sister was supposed to join me at Race before she returned to Va Tech in Blacksburg. If anyone has heard me talk about Amy, you get that she and I are def alot alike. I had ALWAYS thought of her as my younger, 24-year old Hero. She is just so smart for her age. Just gets life and puts herself first. I freaking love her so much...
This weekend I learned not only is she my Hero, she is human and maybe more of TILLMAN than previously thought. Yes, Amy was up for a wedding this past weekend and like so many do at weddings, Amy drank. And drank. And drank. Well needless to say, she was also sick Sunday morning. Her date was with a cool looking piece of porcelain.
Sorry you missed it Amy but honestly, you seem more like a regular 24 old to me now. It's a good thing. Ha.
So that left Me and Mom off to DCCX.All the locals love this race. Why?
- It's a great course, punchy. Twisty. Tough. This year it was wicked dry and crazy fast.
- Tons of vendors, lots of beer drinking to be had. None for me though. I'm a bit boring in that area as of late. At least others in my bloodline are drinking enough for me, thanks Amy.
- Tons of racers from all over the Midatlantic come out for this event
There were over 40 Elite women preregistered for DCCX this year. Some seriously fast women from the area were pre-reg'd too. Our favorite CX results "race predictor" had me at 15th place if I recall correctly. Last year, I finished 15th and the competition def was not as thick. I was curious about this year. Also curious as to whether my body received enough rest and recovery nourishment to fuel this race day effort.
Officials had their typical 30 sec and 15 sec warnings before the whistle blew. I was lined up in the first starting grid since I've been able to race most of the local MABRA series. The whistle blew and we were off. A big field racing for the first turn.
I was 5th or 6th wheel off the start. I had an issue clipping in but don't remember it bothering me too much. I was in the right gear, I was able to get clipped in and I was racing/chasing the leaders hard and fast.
I remember thinking: "I really don't care if I burn all my matches this race. Freaking burn the book Jen, just burn it all."
Sometimes you think you have more and you don't.
Sometimes you think you should conserve and you shouldn't.
Today, I decided I would race my first lap wicked fast and hard and continue to go as hard as I could for as long as I could. Today would be a day to deepen the pain cave.
By eliminating the "match" question, I freed up some brain space to just focus on enduring the pain and suffering and race my @ss off!!!!!
Into lap 1, I got passed by Erin and Laura. In the meantime, I continued to play a good hand of tit and tat with my friend and training partner, AT. Honestly, I was surprised to be so close to her as she usually has rockets in her calves. But I was and I was pushing. I found I could really put down some serious power in the flat, long sections on the grass and the road. I'd make a pass, she'd pass back. I'd make a move, she'd pass back. It was actually fun in a painful sort of way to be racing against a friend who has been part of my training history. Anyway, we did the cat / mouse thing awhile (trying to ignore some of the ruckus from the sidelines, right AT?) and eventually AT pulled away in the last lap. We were hustling through 3/4 traffic by this point and it def was hard trying to stay attached to her wheel and get around the 3/4 racers.
I remember sprinting up the road section the last time, the road before the turns/barrier and standing up and just hammering up to that left hand turn grassy turn. I can remember the feeling of my quads boiling. I tried to chase down and get back to AT by the finish line but in the end she had me.
It was an awesome race.
I "felt" my training pay off today.
I felt more rested than previous weekends.
I still feel blessed to have my health, be surrounded by my people at the races and have a few awesome friends within my inner circle to share it with.
It really is an amazing sport. And I love my Reflections after the race when all goes quiet for awhile, when my body stills, and all that is left are my thoughts. What did I learn this week? A lot. For that unveiling, I'd need another blog...
.JPG)
- Erin, thanks for your comments on the starting grid line. It meant a lot to have that compliment come from someone I chase regularly at the races.- Tracy R, thanks for calling me a rocket off the line. Trust me, now I know listening to my fatigue warnings was def the right thing to do.
- Mark, thanks for ensuring my bike doesn't fall apart anytime soon. Ha. 2 nutz. You help me the other six days a week when we're not racing. Really awesome stuff.
- Mom, thanks for cheering. Maybe we can filter some of the cheers next week ;-) It is all about the fun at end of day anyhow!
- AT thanks for being my race carrot this week. Thanks for being a friend. We've taught one another a lot this past year and this season has been an absolute blast racing with you. Keep smiling. And yes, that is def a challenge!!!!!!
-Laura M - thanks for being you. You are fun to be around. Strange and so very cool. Keep bringing that fun to the races.
- Tracy P - thanks for loving me.
-Allyson J. - thanks for seriously spoiling me. You know exactly what I mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll be taking some time over the next week to seriously Renew my body in Cancun.
And then I'll be back to racing and more blogging.
Until then.
Peace
No comments:
Post a Comment