Long Live the Rut!
Ok, I feel like I need to say more after my last post. Marc has been giving me a hard time all week. I didn't mean 'rut' in the way that I hate cross. I love cross. It's just a bit all consuming, that's all. I've had a huge break from it this week as I've been sick all week. As it turns out I miss my rut. I've been longing to get back out on the bike all week. I even tried one night, only to find that I had an endless supply of snot and mucus and my head was on fire. But hey, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right. I sure hope so anyway as I was just checking out the weather for tomorrow's race, 40 and raining! Just keep moving forward.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Monday, November 05, 2007
Cross Rut
I've been kinda in a funk lately. I wait all year for cross season and now that it's here and we're pretty much in the middle of it, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I feel like all I do is work, ride, eat and sleep. I know that's the way it goes and once it's over I'll be missing it all over again. But as for right now I'm feeling a little like I'm in a rut.
Last weekend, like many weekends lately I went to a cross race. Last Saturday was the Wayne Scott Memorial race at Fair Hill. It was a blustery, cold, overcast day. However, the course was pure beauty. I absolutely loved the course. It was fairly flat with false flats, some natural barriers, a short run up and a really long sand pit. Oh and did I mention about 50 billion turns. It was great. I wasn't feeling the sand pit at first. It was a lot of running and incredibly long, but it seemed to work to my advantage. Who knew I could run. It was great to have a course that was actually my style. I couldn't complain at all. I gave it my all and had a great race. Minus a few errors (like not paying attention and running off course) everything went well.
So today I'm back in my rut. Figuring out what I need to do each day, even though basically everyday is the same. Today is the one day I usually get out of my rut and go climbing. I love climbing but it has definitely taken a back seat to cross. Today I'm not going though as I feel a little under the weather. So I'm going to stay home and rest. Rut, rut, rut...
I've been kinda in a funk lately. I wait all year for cross season and now that it's here and we're pretty much in the middle of it, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I feel like all I do is work, ride, eat and sleep. I know that's the way it goes and once it's over I'll be missing it all over again. But as for right now I'm feeling a little like I'm in a rut.
Last weekend, like many weekends lately I went to a cross race. Last Saturday was the Wayne Scott Memorial race at Fair Hill. It was a blustery, cold, overcast day. However, the course was pure beauty. I absolutely loved the course. It was fairly flat with false flats, some natural barriers, a short run up and a really long sand pit. Oh and did I mention about 50 billion turns. It was great. I wasn't feeling the sand pit at first. It was a lot of running and incredibly long, but it seemed to work to my advantage. Who knew I could run. It was great to have a course that was actually my style. I couldn't complain at all. I gave it my all and had a great race. Minus a few errors (like not paying attention and running off course) everything went well.
So today I'm back in my rut. Figuring out what I need to do each day, even though basically everyday is the same. Today is the one day I usually get out of my rut and go climbing. I love climbing but it has definitely taken a back seat to cross. Today I'm not going though as I feel a little under the weather. So I'm going to stay home and rest. Rut, rut, rut...
Monday, October 22, 2007
Blunders and Bloopers
This past weekend was my first double weekend and the beginning of the MAC races. Day 1 was Granogue.
I knew I was in trouble the night before. We had spent the afternoon taping the course in the pouring rain walking up and down hills. Probably not the best pre-race workout. Then my dinner got me sick and I didn't get to bed until late. Great. Saturday comes and the rain is gone. Only blue sky. That's a plus. I grabbed something to eat, tried to warm up, but my legs were wood. They refused my every attempt. So I raced on dead legs, had an absolutely horrible start and last lap and didn't even contest the sprint finish. Yup, that's bad. So I ended up getting 15th. Not horrible, but not what I wanted either. To make matters worse, once I checked the results and all looked good I went off to do what I needed to do. Apparently then t
here was a protest and they moved me all the back to 20th! I was not 20th. There were girls that continued to race after they were done and they protested the results. It's not my fault they didn't pay attention when the officials told them to stop, or the lap cards. So yeah I wasn't happy.
This past weekend was my first double weekend and the beginning of the MAC races. Day 1 was Granogue.
I knew I was in trouble the night before. We had spent the afternoon taping the course in the pouring rain walking up and down hills. Probably not the best pre-race workout. Then my dinner got me sick and I didn't get to bed until late. Great. Saturday comes and the rain is gone. Only blue sky. That's a plus. I grabbed something to eat, tried to warm up, but my legs were wood. They refused my every attempt. So I raced on dead legs, had an absolutely horrible start and last lap and didn't even contest the sprint finish. Yup, that's bad. So I ended up getting 15th. Not horrible, but not what I wanted either. To make matters worse, once I checked the results and all looked good I went off to do what I needed to do. Apparently then t
here was a protest and they moved me all the back to 20th! I was not 20th. There were girls that continued to race after they were done and they protested the results. It's not my fault they didn't pay attention when the officials told them to stop, or the lap cards. So yeah I wasn't happy. Then comes Sunday. I decided I'd use my anger for good and put it into Sunday's race. I knew it'd be a tough one as it was more wide open and not my style, but I was hell bent on having a better day than Saturday. I took off well from the start, then as I got into the sand I struggled something fierce. I didn't think much of it as it's sand and there wasn't a groove yet. On the other side Marc's yell
ing at me to stand up and 1 more gear. I kept thinking I don't have anymore as I'm mashing away. I'm loosing places quickly as everyone goes past me. I continue on, still struggling. I come around again into the sand pit, still struggling. That's when I hear Marc yell "get out of your big ring". Yeah, found my problem. I never shifted back down. I was mashing away with no more gears cause I never looked down to see that I was still in my big ring. I quickly shifted and took off. Now in last place I had a long way to catch back up. I started picking people off one by one. Then as I come through the start/finish going into my 4th lap I get lapped by the lead C guy. I throw up my hands and ask the officials what they want me to do. They waive me on. Luckily I made the cut to have one more lap. I passed 4 more girls and had another sprint finish where this time I gave it my all and it worked out. I ended up with 19th, which isn't great. But hey, I raced a hell of a race, so I'm ok with that. 
ing at me to stand up and 1 more gear. I kept thinking I don't have anymore as I'm mashing away. I'm loosing places quickly as everyone goes past me. I continue on, still struggling. I come around again into the sand pit, still struggling. That's when I hear Marc yell "get out of your big ring". Yeah, found my problem. I never shifted back down. I was mashing away with no more gears cause I never looked down to see that I was still in my big ring. I quickly shifted and took off. Now in last place I had a long way to catch back up. I started picking people off one by one. Then as I come through the start/finish going into my 4th lap I get lapped by the lead C guy. I throw up my hands and ask the officials what they want me to do. They waive me on. Luckily I made the cut to have one more lap. I passed 4 more girls and had another sprint finish where this time I gave it my all and it worked out. I ended up with 19th, which isn't great. But hey, I raced a hell of a race, so I'm ok with that. 
Rotten Rob sporting some flora in his helmet.
Noodles. 
This is the band that played at the race Sunday. Yup, a band played all day! It was awesome.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Weekend Off
No racing this past weekend. Marc and I packed up and headed out to Portland, OR to see Erika and run around. She was awesome. She took us all over the place showing us all the cool things that is Oregon. We even went wine tasting one day. I don't like wine, but it was very interesting experience. Instead of saying I don't like wine, I can now I say that I don't like woody wines and dessert wines are ok. Really I prefer a Mojito, mmm.
Marc and I headed out to the beach to see the Pacific Ocean. Marc was thrilled at being able to say he touched the Pacific. He actually went out and stuck his hand in the frigid water. I felt seeing it was enough. It was a sight to see however. Very different from here. There were big rocks and the waves seemed to come in forever.
We saw some logging, that was sad. Everywhere was deep lush green forest and then you'd come across a huge patch where it was just stripped clean.
I did have to get a little work out in since we didn't have the bikes with us. One day we went climbing. It was a really cool gym in the heart of Portland. It was the middle of a Thursday afternoon and it was packed. Well, packed for a gym. Everyone was really nice. The holds were way worn, so it was very challenging. Saturday went for a run at Tabor Park. It's an old volcano, so it was quite hilly, with a million steps which Marc made me run over and over again.
Later Marc, Erika and I went out to a gorge, I forget the name. It was cut by the Columbia River. On one side of the Gorge was Oregon and Washington on the other. I could even see Mount Saint Helens. That was cool.
We went and hiked up the side of the gorge to the top of this huge waterfall. It was beautiful. Marc was making fun of me though because I took off strong at the bottom following the John Hopkins XC team who just happened to be out there. About half way up I died and staggered the rest of the way. Marc and Erika just laughed at me.
Overall beautiful trip. It was one of the most bike friendly places I've ever seen. There are bike paths everywhere and tons of commuters. So cool.
This was actually supposed to be a picture of the bike path, but by the time I shot the picture the riders were out of the frame.
No racing this past weekend. Marc and I packed up and headed out to Portland, OR to see Erika and run around. She was awesome. She took us all over the place showing us all the cool things that is Oregon. We even went wine tasting one day. I don't like wine, but it was very interesting experience. Instead of saying I don't like wine, I can now I say that I don't like woody wines and dessert wines are ok. Really I prefer a Mojito, mmm. 
Marc and I headed out to the beach to see the Pacific Ocean. Marc was thrilled at being able to say he touched the Pacific. He actually went out and stuck his hand in the frigid water. I felt seeing it was enough. It was a sight to see however. Very different from here. There were big rocks and the waves seemed to come in forever. 
We saw some logging, that was sad. Everywhere was deep lush green forest and then you'd come across a huge patch where it was just stripped clean. 
I did have to get a little work out in since we didn't have the bikes with us. One day we went climbing. It was a really cool gym in the heart of Portland. It was the middle of a Thursday afternoon and it was packed. Well, packed for a gym. Everyone was really nice. The holds were way worn, so it was very challenging. Saturday went for a run at Tabor Park. It's an old volcano, so it was quite hilly, with a million steps which Marc made me run over and over again. 
Later Marc, Erika and I went out to a gorge, I forget the name. It was cut by the Columbia River. On one side of the Gorge was Oregon and Washington on the other. I could even see Mount Saint Helens. That was cool. 
We went and hiked up the side of the gorge to the top of this huge waterfall. It was beautiful. Marc was making fun of me though because I took off strong at the bottom following the John Hopkins XC team who just happened to be out there. About half way up I died and staggered the rest of the way. Marc and Erika just laughed at me.
Overall beautiful trip. It was one of the most bike friendly places I've ever seen. There are bike paths everywhere and tons of commuters. So cool. 
This was actually supposed to be a picture of the bike path, but by the time I shot the picture the riders were out of the frame.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Bad Bad Day
Ok, I may go on a little rant here. Yesterday was 
Hagerstown. I already wasn't excited for this race. I didn't like it last year, so couldn't amped up for it this year. I will say the course was much better, besides being bumpier than hell. But the part that irritates me is my 40min race was practically cut in half as I was pulled at about 25min and I had only done 3 laps! I didn't even the extent of it until I got back to the car and checked my watch and saw that I should still have another 5min of racing left and I had already stopped had 2 conversation and was now changing. The reasoning behind it was we "the women" we towards the back end of the men's field and they were pulling the men because there
were too many people on the course, so they pulled us too. Well let's just think about this reasoning for a moment. They're comparing pulling the back end of the men's field with pulling the entire women's field, mmm. Did they forget the fact that we're always towards the back end of the men's field? Or that we start 2min behind the men's field? And I've been pulled a lap short before because the leaders have come through and I've finished on their lap, 1 lap down. It's all good it happens. But this was beyond that. Who knows if those last couple laps would have changed my standing. The point is, I'll never know because I didn't get the chance to actually finish my race. 
Hagerstown. I already wasn't excited for this race. I didn't like it last year, so couldn't amped up for it this year. I will say the course was much better, besides being bumpier than hell. But the part that irritates me is my 40min race was practically cut in half as I was pulled at about 25min and I had only done 3 laps! I didn't even the extent of it until I got back to the car and checked my watch and saw that I should still have another 5min of racing left and I had already stopped had 2 conversation and was now changing. The reasoning behind it was we "the women" we towards the back end of the men's field and they were pulling the men because there
were too many people on the course, so they pulled us too. Well let's just think about this reasoning for a moment. They're comparing pulling the back end of the men's field with pulling the entire women's field, mmm. Did they forget the fact that we're always towards the back end of the men's field? Or that we start 2min behind the men's field? And I've been pulled a lap short before because the leaders have come through and I've finished on their lap, 1 lap down. It's all good it happens. But this was beyond that. Who knows if those last couple laps would have changed my standing. The point is, I'll never know because I didn't get the chance to actually finish my race. 
Rotten Rob blowing kisses.
Lisa and Betsy. Lisa raced her ass off. After a short detour she got back on course and made it back up to 2nd, Awesome!
Monday, October 01, 2007
This is Marc. Also known as Fat Marc or Faticus. He's around 5'10", longish brown hair, big sideburns, usually styling some sort of baggy shorts/pants, t-shirt and probably a hat. Oh and also he's my husband.
This is Soupie. He's around Marc's height, longish brown hair, big wolfing sideburns, also styling baggy shorts, t-shirt and a hat. He is not my husband.
Problem is, when I'm not paying attention these two look awful alike.
Let me explain. Yesterday was Lilly Ponds. After my race, I hung out in the pits all afternoon watching the races, cheering people, helping out when needed, while snapping some pictures here and there. By the last race of the day, I was very tired and very hot, I had shot as many pictures as I wanted to and didn't feel like carrying the camera anymore. So I figured I'd hand the camera off to Marc to put in his pocket. Meanwhile everyone was still very intently watching a close race between Wes and Jeremiah. So I wander over to where Marc had been standing, and look at his pocket thinking I'll just slip it in and not bother him. I notice however that he has something metal hooked on his pocket. I didn't recognize what it was and just stared at it for a moment. Then I grabbed it and pulled it out because I didn't want it to scratch the screen on the camera. As I'm pulling it out, I ask "hey, what is this"? I did get a response, however not from Marc. I looked up and realized it was Soupie. Yeah, I was in Soupie's pocket. Nice huh. I about died. I apologized all over the place, then took the camera to Marc, the real Marc, and looking him in the face, handed off the camera for him to hold. I told Marc what happened, he just laughed at me. Soupie was a good sport as well.
Sorry Soupie!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Do You Need Directions To The Pain Cave?
If so I have them. I spent a lot of time there yesterday.
I've been a little apprehensive about this first race. I wasn't sure where I was in ways of fitness and where everyone else would be. I've been riding, but I can't gauge myself by those I ride with. They're all so fast and I'm always at the back. They always give me positive feedback and are very considerate, saying "you're doing great monkey, and we can't go until monkeys ready". Don't get me wrong, I love riding with them, but that doesn't tell me where I am with my own peers.
So yesterday was the season opener in Charm City. The women's field was huge. We had 27 starters. That's awesome to see so many women come out. But also more pressure. There don't seem to be any slackers in cross. I suppose it hurts too much to just do it on a whim.
We lined up and I got a good spot. Christina bumped me on the line and says smiling, " you just make sure you go fast". As she was lined up behind me. We take off and I tapered my start a little. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going as I didn't hear the instructions on the prologue loop. We're on the course and the dust is flying and my mouth is gritty and dry. It's hot and there's no water feeds. Ugh! I keep going. Me and Laura (her 1st cross race ever) are battling back and forth for several laps. I'm having to race the entire time. More Ugh! I start to get close to a couple of girls up ahead. Marc is cheering me on giving me updates on where people are. I catch one, but me and Laura are still going back and forth. Marc tells me I have one lap to go, I need to take off. I question him, the lap cards say 2, he assures me no, it's only 1, the lead C guy came around. I put it all out there. We're still battling. I start too see Doran. I chased her all last year. I can't quite catch her though. As I'm coming around, thinking I'm about to finish Marc tells me I have 1 more, he was wrong before. I about died inside. I hurt so bad and now I had to do another one. I kept going. Marc rode next to me outside the tape trying to encourage me and keep me moving. I was in such pain. I put so much out the lap previously and here I was still racing. I kept going though. Right towards the end I managed to catch Doran. I was about to die, but I had to keep going. I knew she wasn't going to let me go easily. Marc is again beside me trying to get me to stand up and sprint. All I wanted to do was hurl. But I kept on. I ended up keeping my place as I crossed the line. Doran stopped after she finished and says "so me and you again this year huh". We both just smiled.
Yesterday was so fun. We all now have the first race behind us. It was an awesome day. There was a great turn out and everyone did awesome. Marc and Ethan won their races. They were both ecstatic. Wes got 2nd behind one of the Italians, awesome job! Dan got 4th, behind the other Italian. Morgan and Lisa got 4th in their races. I ended up with 9th, yeah, top 10! I'm happy. I know I'm missing all kinds of people. Everyone did really well. Great job to everyone!
If so I have them. I spent a lot of time there yesterday.
I've been a little apprehensive about this first race. I wasn't sure where I was in ways of fitness and where everyone else would be. I've been riding, but I can't gauge myself by those I ride with. They're all so fast and I'm always at the back. They always give me positive feedback and are very considerate, saying "you're doing great monkey, and we can't go until monkeys ready". Don't get me wrong, I love riding with them, but that doesn't tell me where I am with my own peers.
So yesterday was the season opener in Charm City. The women's field was huge. We had 27 starters. That's awesome to see so many women come out. But also more pressure. There don't seem to be any slackers in cross. I suppose it hurts too much to just do it on a whim.
We lined up and I got a good spot. Christina bumped me on the line and says smiling, " you just make sure you go fast". As she was lined up behind me. We take off and I tapered my start a little. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going as I didn't hear the instructions on the prologue loop. We're on the course and the dust is flying and my mouth is gritty and dry. It's hot and there's no water feeds. Ugh! I keep going. Me and Laura (her 1st cross race ever) are battling back and forth for several laps. I'm having to race the entire time. More Ugh! I start to get close to a couple of girls up ahead. Marc is cheering me on giving me updates on where people are. I catch one, but me and Laura are still going back and forth. Marc tells me I have one lap to go, I need to take off. I question him, the lap cards say 2, he assures me no, it's only 1, the lead C guy came around. I put it all out there. We're still battling. I start too see Doran. I chased her all last year. I can't quite catch her though. As I'm coming around, thinking I'm about to finish Marc tells me I have 1 more, he was wrong before. I about died inside. I hurt so bad and now I had to do another one. I kept going. Marc rode next to me outside the tape trying to encourage me and keep me moving. I was in such pain. I put so much out the lap previously and here I was still racing. I kept going though. Right towards the end I managed to catch Doran. I was about to die, but I had to keep going. I knew she wasn't going to let me go easily. Marc is again beside me trying to get me to stand up and sprint. All I wanted to do was hurl. But I kept on. I ended up keeping my place as I crossed the line. Doran stopped after she finished and says "so me and you again this year huh". We both just smiled.
Yesterday was so fun. We all now have the first race behind us. It was an awesome day. There was a great turn out and everyone did awesome. Marc and Ethan won their races. They were both ecstatic. Wes got 2nd behind one of the Italians, awesome job! Dan got 4th, behind the other Italian. Morgan and Lisa got 4th in their races. I ended up with 9th, yeah, top 10! I'm happy. I know I'm missing all kinds of people. Everyone did really well. Great job to everyone!
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