It has been a hectic few days, and it's not showing any signs of slowing down!
Friday night was the 9th Running of the Lake Waramaug Eco-Friendly Charity Tri. Despite the raining weather leading up to the race, race day itself was glorious. Sunny and warm, we really lucked out for the 2nd year in a row at our new location.
We had a great showing of athletes and many first-timers, including friends Jeremy Mikesell, Jodie Ellis and Nicole Griswald. It was a blast and we had a number of returning athletes. Next year, we are planning special awards for athletes that have competed at all 10 year's worth of events.
There were epic battles that took place in the men's and women's races. Aubrey was edged out on the run and took a strong 2nd place finish. Timmy Steitskal took men's laurels by almost 3 minutes - he's come so far in a few short years and def. got a fitness bump from Rev3 a few weeks ago.
Saturday was all about clean-up - I took Luna up to Uncle Al's that day and we had fun running around and cleaning up. She has really grown up and is an amazing dog.
Sam and I opted to make it an early night in with Housatonic Hills bike race early Sunday morning. 6 AM came around FAST and we were up and out the door.
Pulling into the parking area, I realized I didn't have my race license with me - ugg. Thankfully, who did I see sitting behind the registration table, but my friend and crazy amazing cyclist and cross-country ski marathoner, Brian! I told him my dilemna and he got me all checked in.
Despite the rain, the temp was nice and as it neared start time, the ladies lined up and the sun came out. It was steamy on course and we were all dripping instantly. The new course is 55 miles for the Women's 1,2,3 race. 2 brutal laps. About 8 miles in, you hit the old KOM on Hut Hill Rd. An acceleration came and I didn't react in time, I watched a gap form and with my HR at 188, desperately tried to close it. A few girls caught up to me and we started working together - for the rest of the 1st lap, the break would dangle about 200 meters in front of our chase pack of about 12 girls. By the end of the first lap, a number of people had dropped out or faded. Making our way up Constitution hill again for the start of the 2nd lap, Heidi, Kristen, Edie, Cindy and a few other girls and I decided to take our time and re-group at the top and resume our paceline. Making our way to Hut Hill, we saw a rider ahead - it was Gabby from 3rd Nature.
In a total bonky haze, she turned around and came back down the hill towards us. Once she turned around, I saw something on her leg - I thought it was blood, but it was really a chocolate gu she had stuffed in her short's leg. I was just bonky enough myself to actually want to reach over and grab a finger-full. Yea, nasty, I know!
About 17 miles in or so, you hit Davenport Road and climb towards Painter Ridge Road -this is by far the most painful part of the course. Our group split here again and I saw 4 girls ahead about to turn onto Painter Ridge - as much as it hurt, I put it in the big ring and pounded my way up and over and after those girls! I caught on, told them we had a big gap and we accelerated. On that stretch, we caught Cheryl Wolfe of Bethel and she locked on with us.
Up the KOM for the 2nd time, Cheryl and I were chatting and let a little gap form. The other 4 girls saw this and accelerated. We spent the next mile trying to catch back onto them. Hitting Rte 67, about 2-3 miles from home, we each took turns at the front. Near the finish, I decided to work the downhill section - I came in well to the 1km mark and went for it. Went a bit too early and just had nothing in the legs for a true sprint, I rolled across the line happy and beat. The promoter emailed me and has me as the Cat 3 silver medalist from CT, the results got a bit messed, and are being updated. Will post a link soon!
Today is a nice long run, but broken into double runs to get a bit more speed. Yay.
I've lost 10 lbs on the diet so far, another 6-10 and I'll be psyched. I'm extending the diet until that happens. 2 short weeks and then I'll be down on the shore!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment