Fort Custer Stampede this weekend

Last post this week, I promise!

Everyone is talking about Mud Sweat and Beers happening this weekend. Chad and I drove up for the race last year in 2011. It was a fun and fast course . . . that is until a guy bobbled his front wheel and fell on top of me with 1 mile to go! The crash tore the stem off my tire, instantly flattening it. I was frustrated because I had been playing cat and mouse for first/second place with Marnie (I was doing most of the chasing). I ended up walk/jogging the last mile for fifth place. I can't look back and be disappointed though, I had a great race that day.

Although we have good memories, we decided to do the other race this weekend: Fort Custer Stampede, race #2 in the MMBA's Championship Point Series.

Last summer we spent a weekend camping at the Fort. The kids had a lot of fun mountain biking and exploring the trails at the camp ground. The Stampede gives us a good reason to pull out the trailer and kick-off the camping season at one of our favorite (and close-to-home) mountain biking destinations.

Sage riding over her first log pile, I get misty-eyed just thinking about it.

It will be fun to race sections of trail and have these happy memories of the kids riding here bubble up into the forefront of my mind for inspiration.

And it looks like I'll have a chance to chase after Marnie again according to the Start List. She blew past me at Barry-Roubaix, so I'll be happy if I'm anywhere near the last mile when she finishes. The women's Elite/Expert field is going to be strong and fast this year. I'm looking forward to the chance to chase after some of the fastest women in West Michigan. I just hope my hand is healed enough so I can hang on for what is sure to be a wild ride!

With the race just a few days away, I'm getting my typical pre-race blues. I always feel undertrained and underprepared. This time is no exception, especially after all my rides fell through the last two weeks (my hand is too weak to brake and shift). 

Whenever I'm in need of a lift, I like to pull out a little book of verses for athletes. I'm signing this post off with a few words encouragement:

"He gives power to the faint; and to those who have no might, He increases their strength. Even the youths can become faint and weary, and the young men can utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings as eagles. They will run and not be wear; they will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

Barry-Roubaix 2012

I had a great day yesterday at Barry-Roubaix. The weather turned out to be great for racing, not too hot and not too cold. And there was just enough rain to make the course a lot of fun. Let's all be honest here, riding through giant puddles is super fun. And the best part was seeing all of my mountain biking friends! I have really missed them over the winter. I saw many of them on the course--most of them as they passed me by . . . Alright, getting passed didn't feel so awesome. Nonetheless, its a good thing to see friendly faces even in the midst of suffering.

I'll work on a detailed race report and post it later this week. For now, I'll just say it was a good day, a lot of fun. The only real low point for me was riding about 12 miles all on my own--not a good idea for this race. In my solitude I became so focused on hammering the cranks that I did not pay any attention to the course. I ended up riding myself right off the road into a deep, rutted-out trench filled with rain water. Ugh. Being an awesome mountain biker with superb bike handling skills (yeah, right) I was able to save myself from further embarassment and avoid what was sure to be a very sloppy and muddy fall.

Today is recovery day. I am looking forward to spending some QT with the family, working in the yard, going on a Treasure Hunt with the kids and maybe, just maybe, I'll squeeze in a short run around the 'hood. The neighborhood that is.

Hope everyone else out there had a great experience at Barry-Roubaix. Oh, and I can't forget to thank Ken and Bill at Breakaway Bicycles for fixing my flat just minutes before the start of the race. You guys saved me!

Cramming

The last two weeks have reminded me of the only time in college when I pulled an all-nighter. I was a Biblical Lit major and while the class in itself was not remarkable, the final was exhaustive. If I remember correctly, there were 30 essay questions and 50 Bible verses that we were supposed to memorize. Fifty. And, in true 'Heather' fashion, I didn't read the study guide until the night before the exam. Ooops. I had not memorized one single verse. I remember wandering the halls of the dorm at 4 AM, mumbling "stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord . . ."

It was not a good day.

And now the mountain biking season has snuck up on me. Barry-Roubaix is just two days away and I feel ill-prepared. I've tried cramming 3 months of training into 10 days. 

I'm finding myself facing the hard fact that there is no over-night substitute for months of hard work. And as I recall, I didn't do so hot on that final exam either. 

If I were to get grades for training, here is what my report card would look like:

Pre-riding the BRX course — F

Spinerval Interval workouts — Incomplete

Cross-Training (running) — B-

Hilly Training Ride — Incomplete

Steady State Intervals — A

Strength Training — C+

Extra miles riding with the family — A++++

Shall we call this an 'E' for Effort???? 

My big plan was to do a 3 hour gravel, hilly ride on Saturday last weekend. However, my husband ended up having to work and I was unable to get out for a ride. I spent the day playing with the kids and had a nice cookout at my parents house.

Sunday, to make up for my missed ride, I was going to ride the BRX course one final time with Matt, Jim, and Jim. But that was going to be 3 hours of driving plus 2.5-3 hours of riding. I didn't want to be gone all day.

I compromised, doing a 38 mile ride along the Lakeshore Trail from North Muskegon to Hoffmaster State Park and back. It's not gravely, nor hilly. I didn't get much of an interval workout, but I did try to keep my intensity level up. Then, that evening, we took the kids on a 15-mile bike-ride to the Muskegon Channel. 50 miles in one day is near record for me, especially when considering I was towing an extra 60 pounds for the last fifteen miles.

By the way, the Weehoo is a HUGE hit. And the extra weight is an "equalizer." I don't completely disappear behind Chad now on family rides. 

My legs were trashed by the end of the weekend. 

Wednesday I have a standing lunch road-ride scheduled with a friend. Typically its a recovery ride for me, an easy pace for 24 miles. Being the genius that I am, I thought I would up the intensity and ride my mountain bike this week instead. 

What I learned is that riding a road bike at 17 mph is a nice recovery ride, but riding a mountain bike at 17+ mph for 24 miles is a freaking challenging workout.

After thoroughly destroying my legs, I am taking two days of complete rest—for better or for worse.

Barry-Roubaix Strategy

I'll admit I don't have a race strategy. I still consider myself new to xc racing even though this will be my third year competing, this is my first time racing BRX. Every race is different and full of their own unique challenges. One thing is for certain, this will be a race for the teams and the cross bikes. Even though I may not be competing for a place on the podium, this race will be an accurate gauge of my fitness going into the three months preceding the Lumberjack 100. In that respect, I do have a goal in mind . . . but that is only for me to know. I like to face my demons internally, alone, mano-y-mano and suffer in silence.

Read more BRX preview reports and interviews:

Cycling Dirt: Kim Thomas Interview

Cycling Dirt: Adam York Interview

kolo t.c. 2012 Course Preview

Daily Scale

I must get on the scale every day.

I know, some of you may think that is obsessive. But I have a problem--and its not the scale. My problem is I don't know when to stop eating. If it weren't for the scale, I would eat constantly. Which is what I did when I stopped getting on the scale back in October of 2011.

By mid-January, I knew things were not good. The jeans were not fitting. But even worse, my dress pants that were a generous size that always fit me no matter what--were now dangerously snug.

Somehow I worked up the courage to take that scary, confrontational, no-denying-it-now step onto the scale. And it was worse than I thought. Way worse. I was not up 6-7 pounds like I suspected, like the year before when I went on a similar bender over the holidays. Nope. I was up 15--fifteen-freaking pounds.

Ugh.

Fortunately my husband was facing some reality when it comes to his diet as well. For the first time we started eating healthy together. With some diligence and self-control, I managed to get down 11 pounds over the next few weeks. Progress. Some relief. I let my guard down . . . . .

And I stopped getting on the scale again for four days in a row.

Once again, I took that step. And, ugh! Again, way worse than I thought. I was thinking maybe 3 pound gain or, at worse, 4. Nope, not me! My body just loves to hold onto waste, fat and toxins. I'm up 7 pounds over a 4 day bender.

And only 5 weeks to the first race of the season.

Stay tuned, because tomorrow I will write about my past struggles, self-sabotage and the goals I have for this upcoming season. I'm going to need to face and conquer my fears if I ever want to see my full potential . . .

Do you struggle with a healthy weight? What helpful hints keeps you on track? And have you ever been within reach of your goal but then you unconsciously sabotaged yourself from reaching that goal?