It's just another Manic Monday.
Every Monday I think of that song from the 80's, and I sing it in my head. It never seems to fail to get me through my day.
Six o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream
But I can't be late
'Cause then I guess I just won't get paid
These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made
It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my funday
My I don't have to runday
It's just another manic Monday
Is this just not the truth? Sunday is our Funday, and Monday's are manic. Here is what I am getting at: I had an awesome weekend. Don't get me wrong, all last week I was so upset that I didn't get to go race the first collegiate cycling racing weekend (I am not longer a college student..more to that later). I was/am bummed, I love collegiate racing, I love that every weekend is so HARD, that by the time Sunday afternoon around 3pm hits, my legs are dying and my stomach is growling. Who doesn't like it when all you do is eat and ride bikes for 2 full days? So needless to say I was a little let down after only 1 race on Saturday, and in all honestly it didn't even feel like a race, at least to my body it didn't, the tension around the pack made it feel like a race though, that's for sure.
Saturday morning Chris and I headed down to Edmonds to catch the ferry to Kingston to race in Sequim #1! Well Chris didn't race, he is fighting something terrible. We met my teammate Lisa (who raced for UW and now we race together) and made it onto the 10:30 ferry out of Edmonds. I am glad we made it to Sequim with so much time because I was really nervous for this race. The women 1/2/3's were all racing together and I just had this big fear that I was going to get dropped so fast, my goal was to hang on for as long as possible before I would get popped. Once we arrived I did my thing, registered, got dressed, prepared the bike, the water bottles, and my race food. My nervousness was subsiding a little bit when I noticed how may ladies we were going to have in the pack, there were 8 1/2/3's jsut from Cucina Fresca! I was going to have teammates, but my biggest worry and focus was to not get dropped. I started in the back of the pack and figured I could try and work my way to the middle after we got started.
When the good man yelled "GO" the ladies rolled out, and then before I realized it the speed was blazing fast, I was worried for many reasons at the start of the race. This was my new bike's racing debut, and I was worried about racing on a fast, twitchy, responsive bike, with brand new handlebars put on Friday evening. I was worried I was going to flat, I was cold, and I was worried I was going to get dropped. After the first lap I realied I loved how my bike was handling, I loved the fit of the new handlebars, I wasn't cold anymore, and my anxiety was gone. At the start of the race Jess has mentioned something about chasing down any break aways, and make sure if there was a break that we had a teammate in it. After I was getting comfortable in the pack and realized how great my legs felt I decided to chase down a couple of girls who took off, I caught them, but knew the pack was going to get us, but none the less I had fun feeling the burn in my legs.
Towards the end of the 2nd lap (of 4) there was a break away, that stuck. Since every team in the field (except Group Health) had someone in the break, no one really wanted to work, except for Group Health, so the pace slowed down, and I got bored. Sitting in the pack without any attacks happening, and just riding in circles really made me antsy, I felt like I wanted to do something, but wasn't sure what I could do. I wanted to move up in the pack, but wasn't exactly sure how to or where I would go once I moved up. It was around lap 3 that I realized I didn't know what I was doing and I really don't know how it race road, and I was getting anxious, this race felt TOO easy (clearly I need a race with some hills).
By the last lap I realized I wasn't going to get dropped and the end would come down to the final sprint. Since I don't think I am the best sprinter I began some self talk, letting myself know that I should be very proud of the accomplishment for the day, I stayed with the pack, who cares what place I get! By the last turn onto the final stretch of road I could tell everyone was getting anxious because they all started passing me to move up to closer to the front, next thing I knew I was in the back of the pack. That's when I realized I needed to pick which side of the road I was going to sprint on, should I go left? Should I go right? Where are most of the people going to go? I chose right, and I am so glad, lots of people moved left, the women in front of me could sprint so I was able to move pretty quickly forward, and finished 5th in the Cat 3's.
Not too bad for the first race of the season.
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