Alaskans are tough. The first bike race of the season continued despite getting a big dump of snow a few days prior. I was unsure that I would race since it was cold out and not very motivating with white all around. Plus, Jason had a minor mouth surgery and was told by the doctor that he couldn't exercise until this Wednesday (nothing serious, just a crown lengthening and he is doing fine, just a bit tired). When your training partner goes down, you have sympathy pains and can convince yourself that your tooth might be hurting too and it's a good excuse to think of anything and everything else to do but work out! ;)
Coach B and Brendan already signed up for the race, so I too decided to give it a shot. In bike racing, there are different categories of racers: Beginners, Masters (ages 40+), Sport (which I have always raced in the past) and Expert. Coach B told me that she was going to race in the Expert division and that I also needed to move up a level. The word Expert alone should have deterred me from that decision, but I went for it. Seldom did I get passed in the Sport division in prior years; however, in the Expert category, I not only had ladies flying past me, but the Expert men as well. It was a bit discouraging and something that has inspired me to improve. There were only 6 ladies in my category, 1 of which had a bike dysfunction; otherwise she would have been at the very top. Coach B also questioned our thought process and had a tough race day as well. She's an animal when it's 90 degrees, but freezes at anything below 80! ;) Brendan did awesome and had a great race! He'll soon be keeping up with Jason! J volunteered during the race and was a flagger for traffic, thank you Jason! He was bummed he couldn't race, but will be at the next one!
On Sunday, the weather was so awesome that I decided to take my road bike outside and do a 2 1/2 hour ride followed by a 65 minute run. Elizabeth met me for a portion of the day and it was really fun to have company and get some fresh air. It was also awesome to get off my TT (time trial) bike and onto my road bike, which is so much more comfortable and fun to ride!
Mondays are our days off from exercise! This is the only night where we eat dinner before 8 pm and I have a few minutes to actually get online. EEKS, we only have 10 weeks until race day!!! I hope all of this work comes together!
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