An Exciting Spring Ahead

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I always need a goal in my future! Whether athletic, emotional, intellectual or career focused, there always need to be a goal out there to keep me interested. I have never been able to “workout” for the sake of exercise, nor have I been able to stay in a job where I am bored or not learning new things daily. Its just who I am.  I am sure it drove my parents nuts at times, but also brought them satisfaction when I conquered new goals. Now, I find that I am driven to find others like me – friends and coworkers who have a similar drive. We understand and support each other, relish in our successes and provide guidance and encouragement throughout.

Case in point!

Boggs. My first 8-hour mt. bike race. My longest race EVER besides my Ironman. Crazy? Perhaps. Thrilling? Completely. I’ve been training pretty solidly since December for this race, which is coming up in just 10 days. This is the first thing I’ve trained for since my surgeries last fall, and I can’t wait to get out there and tear it up! There have been a lot of long weeks/weekends in getting here, but I am feeling completely prepared. I am also armed with the knowledge that the first time you attempt endurance races of this nature, to expect the unexpected. But what might that be????

Fortunately, I am going to have my faithful race crew there to help me get through the unexpected! Dana and Sam will be there for every last lap, with smiles and food, words of encouragement and laughter to keep me going. What’s also keeping me going? The fact that Jeff is doing the race as well, and has supported me completely along the way.

Now given my propensity for endurance events, this might not seem like that much of a stretch. And it wouldn’t be, if this was a road ride. However, this is a mountain bike race. Prior to this fall, I might have ridden a mt. bike a total of a dozen times. I can climb with the best of them (within reason), but throw some roots and switchbacks at me, and I fall apart. That is to say, my technical skills are lacking. Now I have obviously been working on and improving those skills over the past 4 months, but much work is yet to be done – I still fall down. A lot. I celebrate the ride where I come back home without new bruises. I scare myself on every ride that I go on…but in my own twisted way, I find that exhilarating. I’ve actually been told by one Michael Wilburn (also doing Boggs), that “If you don’t fall down, you’re not going hard enough”. Fair enough, I say.

So unlike my Ironman, where I had complete faith in my ability to technically complete each leg of that adventure, I have to take a leap of faith here and believe that I can do it. Rumor has it that this race is not super technical, so I have that going in my favor. Additionally, the route has 1400 feet of climbing per 10.5 mile lap (shooting for 7-8 laps total), so I also have THAT in my favor. I would chose elevation over technical terrain any day. But given the amount of climbing, I think it is safe to say that patience and pacing will be key to finishing the day successfully. Fortunately, pacing is one of my strong suits.

So speaking of patience, I also managed to sign myself up for ANOTHER 8-hour race on May 1^st – the Cool 8/24 hour race. Jeff and Michael are doing a 2-man relay of the 24-hour, while I’m sticking to the 8-hour distance. As I said earlier, expect the unexpected in the first race. Hopefully I will learn from my experience at Boggs and will be able to tweak my racing to complete Cool even stronger and better.

So after May 1^st, there’s a bit of a gap in the race schedule. But I think it is a much needed gap and really, only 6 weeks. After that, we head to British Columbia for a 7-day stage race, the BC Bike Race. Here, my friend Dave, a BC native, and Jeff’s partner in crime from the 24-Hours of Moab, Simon, imported from London, will be joining us for the 7-day adventure. While this race has been billed as having a lot of climbing as well, it also is VERY technical. Good thing I’m taking that skills clinic on May 7-8^th! But I’m really looking forward to going hard, hanging with Jeff, Simon and Dave, enjoying the revered BC single track and basking in the glory of having completely such a major event. But more to come on BC as we get closer.

Back in the Boat! 

All of this mt. bike talk is not to ignore the fact that outrigger season has officially started! I got back to regular practicing about 2 weeks ago, and I have to say, I had forgotten just how good it felt to be in the canoes and out on the water. Plus, the people in the club are just so fantastic. Sure, there’s drama like there is with ANY club, but for the most part, people are there to have fun, work hard and kick butt! Our club is always a contender at Northern California races, as well as the national championships in Catalina in the fall. And I don’t think this year will be any exception! I really like outrigger for the team aspect – 6 people, 1 boat, 1 goal in mind – WIN! Everyone has their role and knows what to do to get it done. You encourage, you correct, you even yell from time to time, but its all in the name of a good race. My eye is on the prize for Catalina this year – Again! Last year was an amazing experience, and our crew was cobbled together from 5 different teams. This year, I hope to be a part of a pure SFOCC crew, that can practice together all year long, and make a strong play for a top 5 finish again this year.

So when do I sleep? 

A good 8 hours a night. When do I have time for a social life? Whenever people come to work out with me and Saturday nights. That’s pretty much it. But I love it, and wouldn’t have it any other way. That being said, this weekend is taper for the race next weekend, so Jeff and I will be visiting our new place up in Tahoe-Donner for the FIRST time. We plan to clean and assess the work to be done. Plus, get Rollie and Bailey used to their new digs. I mean, the cats need to be happy, too :-) I’m looking forward to the weekend away with Jeff and being up in Tahoe where we both seem to find an inner calm. We’ll be hitting the cross country trails for a few hours of skate skiing each day, and I’m sure we’ll visit the Tahoe-Donner Rec center for a dip in the hot tubs. If I’m good, I’ll do a few laps in the pool to make up for the missed outrigger practices this week.

I’ll be sure to take pictures this weekend so you can all see the new place, as well as to document the progress we make as we clean, paint and make the full move into our Tahoe bungalow. Stay tuned.