Monday, April 13, 2009

Gearing Up

(That title's for you, DG!)

Well, the Yankee Springs Time Trial is less than a week away. Last Thursday we had our first team meeting. A bunch of us got together in Jackson to meet and socialize and talk about the upcoming season. There were a few I hadn't met before, but there were also several familiar faces, like Brad, Jake, Laurie and Mitch. It was fun to hang out with everyone and talk about racing. If I wasn't excited already, I certainly got that way quickly.
This Saturday, several of us met at Yankee to pre-ride the course. I rode with Mitch and Laurie. (Thanks, guys. It was nice not to have to drive myself for once!) I was hoping to have a spectacular performance and be so much better than last year. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly what happened. As soon as I was out on the course, that familiar fear returned. I was so hesitant in the beginning that I fell behind the group very quickly. I know I really hurt myself when I'm mountain biking because I lose a lot of momentum due to my fear on the downhills. Then I don't have as much speed to get up the next hill and it becomes a vicious circle.

I got a little bit braver once I got used to it a bit. I'm really wishing at this point that I had spent more time on the trail this year. I know the trainer miles will help my strength and stamina, but they don't do squat for making me feel comfortable on a trail.

I ended up crashing twice on the ride, but not bad either time. I also walked up a lot of hills I should have ridden, due to the aforementioned going slow on downhills and also due a bit to waiting to long to shift. I wish I could have one last crack at the trail before the race. I'm wondering if Wednesday might be an option. I'm going to try it.

At any rate, I ended up finishing with a time of 1:40. Last year, my time for the race was 1:47, so Saturday's time wasn't as much of an improvement as I was hoping for. Still, I know I wasn't riding at race pace and I did stop and wait a few times for people to pass me during the race. I don't think it would be out of line to shoot for a time of 1:35 for the race next week. We'll see how that turns out.

One last thing—I slept in on Friday so I missed my weigh in. I have no idea what I weighed this week, but I'm sure it wasn't pretty. I'm having trouble breaking this binge cycle that I'm in. Today's a new week though, so it seems like a good time to wipe the slate clean and start again. Now that I'm going to Key West I REALLY want to lose as much weight as I can quickly.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like that Title.. I'm also gearing up for KW. Having trouble training my wife to stay in her own yard. Since losing all the weight she thinks she can fly all the time. DG

Anonymous said...

I know the feeling of fear. After the crash at A Oaks last fall, what little riding I have done has been tempered considerably. Cooper and I rode Yankee on Monday and I was very glad I was riding at Coop's pace. So glad that I will ride support for some kid(s) this weekend.
Good luck out there and I hope your hard work this winter pays off!

David

Di said...

Andrea - this is exciting. You're gearing up for your first race of 2009! Think of the PRs you're going to set with your weight loss. You're gonna be a killer out there. :-D