Last Saturday I was a wreck of nerves. There were over 25 women signed up to race the marathon course. There were several top pros including Sari Anderson and Tracy Thelen in the lineup. The course was a brutally bumpy 22 mile lap and marathoners signed up for three of them. I hadn’t even pre-ridden the course!
I hardly slept the night before. I’ve been working with a coach since December, and though I’ve improved dramatically – I haven’t really practiced ‘going fast.’ My training has been solid on building base miles at easy-to-handle speeds to get lots and lots of miles in the saddle. And here I am, about to compete against a lot of very fast women! I was so scared of getting dropped at the start and being lost and alone on the course, unworthy of ‘the pack.’
At registration there was some relief, as I only then found out I was in a category of my age group and the pros were in their own neat little category by themselves! So 5 women in their 30’s. This is my crew. And my goal is to beat 2 of them. …. Or at the very least, try to hang with at least one of them!
We started slowly as a pack of all women in all marathon categories. It was a neutral start, so we cruised together until the pay station. I was right up front and feeling great! The pack became the epitome of a peloton and it wasn’t more than a couple minutes later that I realized I was in serious trouble! There was NO WAY I could keep up with them, and we’re only 5 minutes into the race!
So yup, before we even turned off onto singletrack, I was already my own peloton. But this is for fun, and singletrack is certainly fun! I quickly found myself surrounded by 3 other women, two of which were also in my category. So I opted to push myself to hang with them. Which I did, but only by riding at the highest heart rate I have ever sustained! I kept looking down at my bike computer, wondering, could it really be? Am I feeling rather ok at this heart rate? It was only a few months ago that I would keel over if I hit this high for more than 2 minutes… and here I was riding about 15 miles of the first lap at this rate. Wow, I thought, and wondered if this meant I was going to bonk in the next lap.
I took it down a notch, realizing I just might be the last lady to complete the first lap even though I was riding at probably the best I’ve ever ridden before in my life! I had brought enough food and water with me to skip the aid stations and continue for lap #2. It was here I came upon two women 8 miles in that were clearly slowing down from what they were achieving in their first lap. I passed them with my heart pounding in excitement – could I keep this up? I wonder how long I can go at this rate? I was going a little slower than the first lap, but still putting on a strong performance.
The heat snuck under my skin like a Trojan horse equipped with an implosion bomb ready to explode the instant I stop hydrating. It was like a masked veil of hell just waiting to suck me in. I quickly responded by drinking a ton of Carbo Rocket and remained vigilant of my hydration the rest of the race. It was apparent the Voodoo was among us, with many racers laid up trailside with flats, hydration issues, and overall fatigue. Luckily they all seemed to have what they needed, though some unfortunate pedal pushers were stuck hiking out.
The third lap was truly amazing, as I was winning the war on the heat and the trails were rather barren now that the half-marathon and cross country racers were all finished. I truly enjoyed the trail as I was able to go at my own speed most of the time, occasionally passing another racer. I tried to keep up a decent speed, though without a rabbit from my field of women in sight, it was sometimes easier for me to slip into a more relaxed pace. But then there she was, half way through my last lap, a woman from my field and she had slowed down considerably! Another pass – woo hoo! I didn’t think I’d catch any more women as there seemed to be none in sight. But as I came up to the aid station with 8 miles left to the lap, there was a woman just leaving the aid station. How exciting! Motivation to finish strong! But oh that was a struggle. She was strong, and nailed every steep climb while I sometimes had to walk. I figured, oh maybe she deserves to beat me, she’s stronger than me, and I think she’s a 20-something anyway. But as she slowly climbed that steep in front of me, I realized on her leg was ‘33’, not ‘23’. She was IN MY CATEGORY! Well dang, I can’t just let that one go. So I got myself strong. On the next climb I nearly hit her back tire as I wanted to go faster than her up it (I am motivated now!). I asked to pass, she let me and I took off. I would look back every few minutes, and there she would be, always within eye sight. I knew the end had one big evil steeps climb and then like 5 more steepish climbs – OMG can I actually beat her? I opted to do what I do best – go fast on the easier sections J I rolled up to the really steep one and held the mantra, “You WANT this, so RIDE THIS STEEP!” And… I freaggin’ did! And oh, it hurt, but she was still on my tail! “Only 10 minutes left. Just go hard! Don’t let her catch you!” And I worked it, and rode as hard as I could, always checking on my chaser until I couldn’t see her anymore. Then rode even harder, just in case, to be sure, to finish strong, to do my best, and mostly – to get done!
It was such an exciting finish, a great way to race with competitive motivation right to the end! And yes, she was in my division and I beat her by under two minutes! And my first podium on a ‘short’ race, with a second place finish!
Apr 25th by sugar
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