6 Hours of Triumph!

Well, I made it through the 6 Hours of Ithaca. This is how it played out:

During the first lap I was the absolute dead last person on the course. I felt like I was going in slow motion and was very tentative. However, when I got to the end and could see the pit area, I couldn't believe the lap was over already. For a minute I was scared I might have accidentally skipped part of the course. For some reason, the fact that the end came sooner than I expected it energized me. Or maybe it was just that I was starting to get warmed up. At any rate, I started my second lap right away, without stopping at all, which I wasn't expecting to do.

I felt a lot better on the second lap, but I started to get a headache and my back was getting sore, so I stopped briefly after that lap to take some Vitamin I. I felt pretty good the next couple of laps and with each lap I completed, my confidence was increasing.

After the fifth lap, I was so excited that I was close to my goal and it looked like I could actually do it, so I took my longest break of the day—about 25 minutes. I felt rested enough after that to complete three more laps. When I completed my eighth lap, it was about 5:50, so I could have gone out for another lap, but I was pretty gassed and decided what I really wanted to do was be done, particularly with another race coming up in a week.

My goal for the race was to do seven laps, so to get eight was above and beyond. There were five solo women in the six-hour race. I ended up coming in fourth. Another lap wouldn't have helped much. The third place woman had 13 laps.

Chris also met his goal, which was 10 laps, so it was a successful day for the Davis household. All in all, I feel pretty pleased with our first six-hour race.