One True Love

I'm trying some new things this year - racing wise - and it has really helped bring the spark back to my training. I've said this a million times, and I'll say it again, training for a winter marathon is HARD! Training for that marathon cut my "off season" really short and while everyone else was simply doing base training, I was in build, recover, build, recover, build, peak, race mode.

Exhausting. For me anyway.

This zapped my motivation this spring for all things racing.

BUT...now the fire is back! I've done two tris this year and have two more on the books in the next three weeks. I also have this amazing opportunity to head to Chicago in August to train with my coach. She sent out the itinerary yesterday and it looks FUN and CHALLENGING at the same time. Motivation is coming like a freight train!

Another thing that has me all fired up this month is crit racing. When Blue came into my life this spring, I had a renewed love for cycling again - my favorite of the three sports. I've missed group rides and the dinners (and beers) that follow. I've been training on my own for the most part, all on a TT bike in AERO all the time, and while that has it's place in the plan for sure, nothing beats the burn in your lungs and legs of riding in a pack.

So enter the Tuesday night practice crits. Time to pull on the big girl pants and just try it. Lucky for me, I am on an AWESOME team with fantastic girls that are more than willing to show me the ropes. There are two races - an "A race" at 6:30 and a "B race" at 7:15. Of course, we're doing the "B race" and it's 30 minutes on an "easy" course with only four turns (one big rectangle) that are not at all technical and with one tiny incline and a nice decline on the opposite side. I think the whole loop is .63 of a mile.

While warming-up, DR tells me what to expect. First lap is a "neutral" lap, hold your line, watch for squirrels (riders - not the actual varmints), the course is NOT closed and even though there are corner marshals we will need to watch for traffic (luckily this is an office park with little traffic after 6 pm).

Even after all this, I still am not 100% sure what to expect. I expect that it's going to be hard. I expect that I am going to get dropped and probably lapped. I expect to watch and learn. I think DR can see this on my face and graciously offers to ride with me. PERFECT! Even though I'm not that nervous, I know I will learn a lot from her direction.

And so we're off. The first lap - easy (neutral lap). Second - fifth lap are fast but this isn't hard - the effort I mean. It's hard for me to stay so close to someones wheel, or to find the right wheel, but the effort is manageable. I'm still hanging on to the middle back of about 20- 30 riders. About 15 minutes, or half-way, I start to fade. I motion for DR to go on but she is there to help and pulls me out. We pedal around and then wait to hop back in. I give them two laps and then we're back.

First, let me say, I can't believe I made it half-way! From what everyone was telling me, I thought I would be a goner by the third lap.

So we're back in the pack and I'm holding on but it's getting harder. I find MS, a the biggest guy out there at 6'8" and riding a Cross Check (of all things). I'm in his huge draft and I think, "just stay here...do not let him out of your sight". And that's what I do until they ring the bell for the final lap and everyone TAKES OFF! I'm spent. I don't know how to sprint. I'm a triathlete!!! We don't sprint. We ride for long, sustained efforts. We attack but we don't sprint!

So with less than a 1/4 lap to go, and DR looking behind her to see where I'm at, I let them go. I drop back. I'm done. I'm happy with the practice and I don't need to sprint to the finish to make this practice worth it. It's already been worth it. Should I have pushed? Yeah, probably.

Couple of cool down laps and I'm feeling good. Thirsty, but good. Exhilarated! I wanna do it again! One thing ELF told me going into this was, "cyclists talk the talk but have weaker fitness than they admit. You have better fitness but probably weaker skills.....you are there to learn skills". She is so right (as always)! Master the skills - cornering, being comfortable in a pack, strategic positioning, etc. and this will be MUCH easier.

I will head back to practice in the coming weeks and then, first race - Tour of KC OP crit on 8/9. I'm so looking forward to it!

Tris are still at the forefront this season but I love my bike and I could totally see settling down and being a one sport woman...in the future.