tic tic tic...

There aren’t enough days between now and IMCD to count…I need more time. After spending time with Justin Trolle, Vanguard Triathlon, and listening to the sage advice of friends…I had decided not to decide if I was going to do IMCD. The weeks after my father’s death have been bizarre, stressful and a blur. Nicole, who lives in my other bedroom (formerly my home office) warmly points out that I haven’t grieved yet and everyone better watch out because when I do….well I don’t know what it will look like…all I know is that life moves quickly and in order for me to feel whatever it is I need to feel I need time and space…neither of which I have right now.

My coach Justin insists that I have the engine for an IM already…it’s just the conditioning and pace that I need to improve so that I am (hopefully) not out there all day! I sure as hell don’t see it right now however I need to trust others right now because all I want to do is put my head down, pout a little, sleep a lot and trail run…and run and run and run. My own form of escape and therapy. Trail shoes are much cheaper than formal therapy!

Shit.

Head up, eyes forward, deep breath…GO!

At this point I am covering 90% of the workouts and I am trying really hard to nail all my swims as that is what scares me the most. The longer the swim is for me the longer the day will be. I need to keep working on my form that Justin has helped me find and do the workouts on the clock in the pool. ON THE CLOCK!

I have had some really good workouts but I don’t feel the endurance or the power the way I want to. On April 17^th I did the Haystack TTT with Sandi and Kathy, Peak to Peak/Fast Labs teammates, and I got dropped. I actually dropped myself when Sandi yelled we should now be able to push it to 90% of our effort and I had already been at 90% for 10+ minutes! It was brutal. My legs gave me all they had that day…I am not used to having my legs quit on me and it scared me. I am used to having that power to call on. Not yet. I’ve taken almost a year off and have not regained my usual strength….patience….head up, eyes forward….breathe…

I did a long ride out east with Tyler, Sonja, Keith, Michele, Michael and other friends and I felt great the entire day….even for the 45 minute run after the 4 hours on the bike. I am still not convinced I have the endurance I will need but I keep building each day. Sonja was really funny when she said in a very supportive way...."you'll be fine Bethie....you have done a ton of this crazy stuff...you'll be fine". Oddly I knew what she meant and I took it to heart. Thanks Son!

Last weekend was a good indication that my strength is on the rise…I raced in the Deer Trail SW45+ bike race. This was my first time racing this course and I had heard nightmares about it. Bad weather, wicked wind, brutal rollers and strategic 180 degree turns. The race met all my expectations…perfect weather as it was cool and sunny. Windy as shit and the rollers were relentless. My former coach taught me how to corner, ride in packs and stay focused on a long road race so I found myself very relaxed at the start. I dig my new kit and I was thrilled to be out there with Robin, Sandi and Kathy. I assumed that we would work as a team to stay in the front pack until my legs “cracked” and then I would finish strong and alone. Not worried about it, just ready for it to be a solid training day.

One of the keys to a safe road race is to stay near the front and out of the pack. Well, we started with the SM55+ and they turned out to be great at breaking the wind. I don’t think they were thrilled to have a couple of us hanging with them up front once we blew most of the racers off the back after the first turn…but that wasn’t my concern. I stayed with the front pack and felt very comfortable until the first return EW leg…all of a sudden I had nothing in my legs and I was falling off the back of the front pack at the base of every roller. I couldn’t figure out why I was struggling so while everyone else was seemingly so comfortable…each hill it got worse and I was using my full body to propel my bike forward to that illusive wheel in front of me…then we were preparing for our next 180 on the 2^nd leg (just in time) and the men slowed to eat and drink and I discovered that all the other bikes in the pack were in their small rings…REALLY? I was in TT mode and trying to push and spin my big ring and suffering for it badly!  Elizabeth! I KNOW BETTER! Ugh! So we rolled for about a mile eating, drinking and getting ready for the race to begin. 5 women and 6 men.

One of the things I still don’t understand about the men’s race was why they would slow down on the downhills???? If anyone can explain this strategy to me please do! On most every downhill we would have this accordion effect as the front of the pack would slow. This is when I made my biggest mistake…I am not strong enough for this move…but I did it anyway…a former teammate from GS Boulder who is a wicked strong cyclist would pull to the left and bomb down the hill so as not to lose momentum. I decided to go with her on each downhill but when we were half way up the uphill and our momentum had died she would tuck in and I would end up pulling off the front up the hill. I knew this would eventually catch up to me but I decided it would be fun to see how much I could take and how many people we could dump off the back.

When we were on our last leg toward the finish line I received my punishment for taking those pulls. We blew around the last 180 turn and there was no one behind us. All this time I am racing my guts out to stay ahead and it worked because we were alone…and I missed the jump down the hill and the pain I endured to the finish line was phenomenal! I loved it! I was completely spent and yet I pushed on. I caught Ann, as we had both dropped off the pack, and we tried to work together to catch them but she was stronger than I so she pulled out and I stayed steady. I passed a woman from the Rio Grande team who had just hammered the entire race. Then I came upon a guy from our group and he offered to help me catch Ann. HAHA! I ended up pulling HIM to the finish! Too funny! A very nice guy who had no business trying to tuck his 6 foot 4 frame behind my 115 pound ass but he tried! I rolled in behind Ann with the biggest smile on my face! I dug deep and I found more on Sunday! Sandi, Robin and Kathy all rolled in right behind me and we had a great win for the team as well. 

It was also fun to be out there with Pam, our solo SW35+ She had a hard day yet stayed strong and confident. I have huge admiration for anyone who hits the start line alone and finished strong! Great 3rd place Pam!!!

I have about 7 weeks of training left until IMCD. We close on our new house on the 19^th and then I fly to Idaho on the 20^th to celebrate all this craziness!

Head up, eyes forward, deep breath…