PC50

To start with this was the most emotional finish I have ever had in a race.  Crossing the finish line I was filled with so much emotion over meeting my goal and overcoming so many obsticles fromm the past and the present I ended up choking up and then crying as I crossed the line.  This race meant so much to me and because of it I know this will go down as one race I will never forget and hold dear to my heart.

Leading up to the Race
Two weeks prior to the PC50 I felt great.  In fact, I felt right on track after I finished racing USCS Round Valley race.  I had raced at an even pace and when I finished I felt good.  I had a lot of energy and knew I could keep on riding.  I knew I had two more weeks of preperation, so I felt confident things were going to go well at the PC50.  Boy can things change quickly.

Three days after round valley I discover my sinus infection was back.  I don't know about others, but when I have a sinus infection I am sooooo tired.  I immediately went to the doctor and he gave me a shot as well as a prescription, so I could kick it in time for the race.  I left relieved knowing it would not be long before I felt better.

Apparently my body had other ideas.  That same evening I had an ovarian cyst rupture.  The pain was bad enough I eventually ended up in the ER, and was throwing up from the pain.  The ER doctor sent me home with some pain meds and instructions to see my doc the next day.  Which I did since the pain was still very intense and I need pain meds every four hours.  It was there I found out it was a pretty large cyst and it could take up to 2 weeks before the pain went away.  Okay, so now I am just a little stressed.  I realize I am a week away from the race and I am taking pain meds every 4 hours because I hurt so bad, and it may be a bit before the pain subsides. 

Little by little the pain began to subside, but it was not until the Tuesday before the race I could quit taking pain medication (by pain medication I mean the stuff the doctor prescribes)  The abdominal pain contninued, but was now manageable without pain meds.  I figured I would try a ride on Tuesday to see how I faired, and let's just say it was not pretty.  Trying gasping, and struggling just to ride up Spiro.  I went home realizing this was going to be a tough week. 

The rest of the week I was only able to work half days and then I would have to go home and rest in bed, because it really hurt to sit.  Another stress, I was wondering how I was going to sit on a bike for 50 miles when I could barely sit in an office chair for 4 hours.  I guess I was going to find out.

The Race
The race started out slow, and so did I.  I was going to take it at a very low pace working on keeping my abdominal pains at a minimal and hoped it all worked out.  It turned out this put me at the very back of the pack.  For once this did not bother me.  I just plugged along the climbing the hill making sure I did not over exert myself.  Oh, and while I was climbing I kept thinking "I ski down these slopes!".  Skiin at PC has it's benefits.  I may not know the singletrack at PC, but anytime we hit double track I recognized the slope and knew what to expect.

A lot of good things happened to me during this race.  Lyna and I ran into a group of racers going into single track after making a wrong turn.  This meant we didn't make a wrong turn.  We ended up passing everyone in that train and continuing on to the first aid station.  I refilled at the first aid station losing Lyna, but getting what I needed to make it to the second aid station.   Aid station two Jen Hanks helped me get my camel bak, water bottle and gels ready.  Without her I probably would still be trying to fill up my camel bak.  I was able to kill the downs and pass a lot of people on the trail both up and down.  On mid-mountain I rode with Carl Irwin, his knowledge of the trail and what to expect got me to aid station three and then on to the home stretch.

This race was hard.  My abdomen hurt during most of the ride and because I was compromised abdominally my lower back hurt too.  And as much as I love going downhill mid-mountain can really beat you up.  So much to the point you lose all feeling in your hand.  Although it was hard, and although I really hurt by the end I accomplished everything I had set out to do, and that was to finish.  This race was about overcoming more than just the last two weeks of physical aliments, this race was about overcoming all past aliments and proving they were in the past.  So crossing the line not only proved I could do it, it proved I was not going to let them keep me down.

Do Overs - Round Valley

I did the second race for the USCS series last night at Round Valley.  It was a great course and a lot of fun to ride on.  I have to say if you have not had an oppurtunity to particate in one of the USCS races you should.  They are low key, fun and your kids can race for only $5 dollars--who can beat that.

The start time for the race was 5 pm--different from what I am used to, but apparently my body was okay with this.  We started off with a pretty good group of sport women.  I like this series, because it breaks the up the women's sport division into sport and 35+--although we start together we do not compete against each other. 

As we took off from the start line some of the gals blasted off the start.  I actually started at a reasonable pace and then picked it up--I wanted to take this race at an even pace, so I could ride after and prepare for the PC50 coming up.  During the shake out loop, not to my surprise Sally went blazing by, perfect, now I have my carrot to chase.

For the entire first lap I could see her just ahead--which was fine, because my goal was to turn it up on the second lap.  By turning is up I mean on the up, because anyone that knows Sally they know she can down--like me her favorite thing is to see if she can go down without using her brakes.  I think this may be where a broken hand can be an advantage because you do not want to brake, because it will hurt.  Oh, yes did I mention Sally was racing with a broken hand!  And apparently it did not affect her mountain biking skills at all, because I never caught her.

During the second lap I turned it up and I kept seeing Sally up ahead.  I pushed on the hills and pushed on the downs hoping I could overtake her--no dice.  That girl is sooo fast. On the final climb and descent the majority of the pros started to do their passing.  This was the one place I was hoping to not run into the pros, there is passing, but it is tight.  Thinking I could still see Sally I didn't want to lose much time, so passing without pulling over became tricky.  Thank goodness the pros were so skilled.  As we went up I would go close to one side of the trail and they would hop over and pass.  As a side note, can I just say how amazing it is to watch them climb with such speed it's like I am standing still as they go by.  I wonder if it looks the same to them, the me standing still that is. 

At the top of the final climb is a straight away, then you go down into some semi rocky switchbacks, then you got to another short straight away and into smooth switchbacks.  This is where I wish I could have my do over.  Hot after Sally and hoping I could catch her I hit the top of the climb ready to push it hard on the down.  I am not sure where, but somewhere on the descent I was overtaken by a pro rider and passed.  It had to have been on a straight away, but I am not sure where.  What I do remember is following him for just a little bit as we skidded through some of the upper switchbacks.  Sometime during that period another rider wanted to pass.  We hit a straight away I said pass, but no pass--I took off and we headed downhill.  The rider stayed close behind me, and I was surprised.  I had passed another rider behind me on the down and left him far behind and thought this rider was him.  I couldn't believe the skills the rider was displaying as they had not been present when I had passed him on the downhill before, so this greatly added to my confusion.  At this point I began to wonder if the person behind me needed to pass, was I holding them up or were they fine staying behind me.  I kept going not quite sure what to do.  All of the sudden as I was trying to figure this out.  I hear "Kendra I can't pass without taking both of us out you need to find a place"  My internal response is "yikes"  I am holding this person up.  I immediately pulled over so he could pass feeling awful knowing I had held him back.  As I pulled over I hooked a tree/bush branch with my handlebars and immediately went over my bike.  A few curse words were dropped, I jumped up got on my bike and  took off.  A little shook up as I went down I lost some of my momentum and smoothness on the down--I hate it when crashes do that to you.  I finished, feeling strong and happy with how I did, but with ripped up skin and bruises on my knees and arms.....ugh.

I found Sally and learned she was actually 5 minutes ahead of me!!!  I don't know who it was I kept seeing in front of me, but it obvsiously wasn't Sally (or at least some of the time it wasn't).  I found the rider and apologized for holding him up.  I felt awful, and it wasn't because I knew him or that he was a pro, it was because I held up and rider and I never want to do that.  I don't know what I could do to do it over, but I want a do over.  I want to let this rider pass, and I want to avoid the crash.  I know how frustrating it can be to not pass, as the last two races I have had riders intentionally not let me pass and it held me back from my competition.  In my case I continually asked to pass and was refused, in this case I didn't refuse, I basically just messed up.  

On a brighter note.  I took 2nd place!  Very excited about the win and about how I rode.