US National Championships Re-cap

Saturday morning came and my stomach was in knots. I had a peanut butter banana bagel and some coffee. I drank a ton of Nuun. I went to the bathroom several times. I took an Immodium since my stomach was being very ornery. I then packed up and headed to Sol Vista to get ready to race. I warmed up for about 40min, did some efforts, drank lots of EFS and Nuun. I had a bottle of Pre-race mixed up. I was still feeling pretty good-legs felt good, lungs felt good, a calm had settled over me. My mantra for this race was going to be "Strong, Smooth, and Steady". I had cold bottles of EFS ready for Ann to pass me, and I had a cooler of ice-filled water bottles for one lucky family member to hand me to douse myself with.
Soon, it was time to line up. I was one of the very last to be called up to the line-that's always a bummer. My goal was to line up on the outside, ride steady and strong, but not go too hard. I wanted to be ~20-25 going into the first single track, knowing that there were lots of passing opportunities throughout the uphill climb and knowing that a lot of people would blow up on that first grunt of a hill. My strategy worked and I was able to consistently pick people off on that first hill. I went into the downhill single track riding by myself. This is when I sort of lost it- I got nervous and twitchy. I got to the one knarly downhill section where all the photographers were waiting for people to do something spectacular. And I did a spectacular somersault down the hill with my bike still attached. Nice! My good friend Jen Gersbach came down right behind me and just kept saying "you're ok, you're alright, you're ok" as she passed me and then I was like "you're damn right I'm ok!" That didn't hurt! It was go time.
Each lap I got my two bottles, I drank one, and poured one. I was covered in black dirt from my tumble, but I was feeling good. I felt strong, smooth, and steady. I picked off a few people each lap, and I got smoother on the downhill on each lap. I finished the day in 16th. I was happy that I had a strong race from start to finish.
The next day was the short track race. I had loftier goals for this race. I love short track, and I'm relatively good at it. So, again I was called up 3rd to last to the line-ok, this is getting old! The start sucked. They had us lined up on a steep hill that was super rutted. Therefore, anyone in the back rows (me) had either their front wheel or back wheel in a deep rut. That meant that when the gun went off the first 20 girls already had a huge advantage because they were able to clip in and go. Those of us in back had to roll to smoother ground, then clip in and go. I rolled, clipped in, and went to the outside and tried to pass as many people as possible on the uphill. Then, tried to be as smooth and fast as possible on the downhill. Then repeat the process for as many laps as it takes. I was feeling good and had worked my way into the top ten, then I sort of blew up. I had thought I was going to get pulled, but then I wasn't. So then I was like "uh oh, you might actually have to suffer through this whole damn thing". So I decided to ease up a bit. I was passed by a group of 3 girls, and I got on to the wheel in front of me getting ready to sit in for another lap and then try and attack next time up the hill. It was then, to my extreme frustration and dismay, that the official decided to pull me. ME, just ME. Not any of the other 3 girls that were directly in front of me. I was pissed. I may have let loose an expletive that I rarely say and happens to rhyme with my last name. That really sucked.
Anyway, I was in 13th place when I was pulled. That's still not bad. I can be satisfied with that.
My first national championships and it's interesting to see how I stack up. It's been a rough summer for me so far, so I was happy with how I did. I definitely think having the race in my backyard was a significant advantage. I also definitely think that having a full-time job is a significant disadvantage. In fact of those 15 people that beat me in the cross country race, not one of them has a job other than racing their bikes. So now I just need a special jersey for being the "fastest female cross country mountain bike racer in the USA with a full-time job" Yeah, it's official. I AM A BIG DEAL. It also helps that last week I was able to put on a wind jacket succesfully from start to finish, while riding my bike. Didn't touch the handlebars once during the process. I wonder if I can get a jersey saying something to that extent as well...

The days before Nationals

Since pre-riding my anxiety and nervousness grew every day. I was just worried that I would have a lack-luster race for no determinable reason-similar to the race in Colorado Springs. I told myself not to worry, save my energy for racing, just focus on feeling strong, etc. But, the nerves remained. I devised strategies to help me stay cool: wear an ice-filled camel back, pack ice into my jersey pockets, get two bottles per lap-one for drinking one for dousing, etc. Still the nerves remained.
The Wednesday before Nationals I raced the Boulder Short track. To my relief I felt strong and won pretty easily-always a good confidence booster! That improved the nerves a little. Thursday morning I got a message that really helped open up some tight spots that were really bothering me. Thursday afternoon I decided to head up to the race that night so that I would be able to get another pre-ride in and just have the rest of the day Friday to relax before the race. So, after work I started packing all my stuff and getting my bike ready. I took off my rear wheel to clean my bike and noticed that the rear hub was loose-so loose in fact that the whole thing came off in my hand. I panicked. I threw bike and wheel into the car and sped off to the Trek Boulder Store. Dave, one of those owners, took one look at my wheel, one look at my grease smudged, panicked face and said "hmm, that doesn't seem quite right. Leave the wheel with me and I'll either fix it or bring you a new one tomorrow morning at the race venue". So, I left the wheel, finished packing and headed up to the Tanner Cabin in Devil's Thumb.
Friday morning, Dave and Brian, owners of the Trek Bike Store and Cutting Edge Sports, were in the parking lot at the race venue with a perfectly functioning wheel. Whew! Dave then preceeded to give my bike a complete tune-he checked the wheels, he shimmed the brakes, he adjusted the deraileur, he tuned my suspension. It was awesome. I then took my like new bike and played around on the mountain for awhile-scoping out the course and cheering for the Tokyo Joes junior and U23 women. I felt good!
I went back to the Tanner Cabin and lounged for the rest of the day. Ah, the life!

Nationals Course Pre Ride

I went up to Sol Vista to meet with coach Ann and her trusty group of juniors to pre-ride the course. These kids crack me up. They've got skills! I always feel a little self-concious riding with them because, honestly, their skills and bravery put me to shame. Anyway, we did three laps of the course. The uphill is steep to start, but then swoopy and fun. The downhill is steep, loose, and bumpy/rocky. Not an easy downhill by any means. My arms, shoulders, and back were sore after the pre-ride(not to self: next season I'll need to focus more on upper body strength). During the pre-ride I got pretty hot and wasn't feeling well (goosebumps, empty legs, nausea)-uh, oh are the issues I struggled with earlier this season coming back to haunt me??!!

Been awhile...

I know. Honestly I just had no motivation to update my blog...I actually had a few drafts saved that represented feeble attempts to update, but they weren't more than a few sentences. So, here's a recap: after Angel Fire I came to the conclusion that I was over-stressed. Not over trained, just stressed. I was telling one of my friends how it's funny that as an athlete I feel like I'm pretty in-tuned to my body. I know when I'm getting sick, I know when I'm too tired to train, I know when something just doesn't feel right that could be the early signs of an injury. But, I'm not so good with the emotional and mental aspects. Anyway, work was stressing me out-a new role with more responsibility. And, I really missed spending time with my husband working on our house. Both things I figured I could train through, until I found myself dreading riding my bike and looking forward to when the next race would just be over with.
Wise Coach Ann put the brakes on for me. Took some time taking it easy with the training...then slowly building back up. Unfortunately, the time I wasn't spending on my bike I was spending at work instead. Waah, waah I know. I had to skip a few races, cause I just couldn't make it work and maintain sanity. But I made the right decisions because I am truly enjoying the time I spend on my bike these days and I've been able to hang out with Ari and the boys (Tucker and Riley) more.
Don't get me wrong-I've done some races-Teva Games Hill Climb(4th), Sunshine Hill climb (5th?), Mike Horgan Hill climb(4th), Winter Park super loop(3rd), and of course Short track(2nd and 1st). And, I'm happy to say they've all gone pretty well.
So now it's one week away from the National Championships. It'll be my first, and 6 months ago I had some lofty goals for how well I'd do. Now, who knows how it'll turn out? I'm heading up to pre-ride the course tomorrow...