TTT

Friday night I raced track, as usual. The chariot race was a joke - I don't know why I couldn't pull it together for a standing start one lap effort. Instead, I pedaled in behind the guys, shaking my head at how silly that was. No final for me - and I was happy to sit that one out.

Next on the agenda - a 10 lap snowball. These races really make your lungs bleed. Especially if you have poor positioning and have to chase chase chase back on to the right wheels. No points for old Juicey but I did get my lungs to feel like they would collapse.

But the beauty of track racing - 15 minutes later you'll have another chance to redeem your self. Our finale was a 5x5 Progressive race. This is similar to a points race, except the points are handed out slower. The first sprint is for one point, second for 2 to the first person, one to the second, third sprint - 3, 2, 1; fourth - 5, 3, 2, 1 and fifth 7, 5, 3, 2, 1. Brian Duvall from Recycled joined us and a few other fast roadies thrown in the mix, along with the usual suspects, meant fast and action packed racing. I was able to hang on no problem, but had lame positioning for any of the sprints, getting pipped each time. Had I had a little more patience and craftiness, then perhaps I would have placed better. Regardless though, it was an awesome workout. Fred from Wines told me he couldn't let me beat him - and I thanked him for that. Next time I will try harder and I appreciate people pushing me to the limit. It's all part of the process. ;)

Saturday morning I woke up and didn't feel too bad. We were scheduled for a track workout in the mid morning and Kenny said to bag it since I raced like garbage the night before. He's the coach - so I listened and didn't touch my bike at all on Saturday. Instead, I went blackberry picking with my neighbor (the same one who helped pick 53 pounds of blueberries a couple weeks ago) and my friend Theresa from Ti. Poor Theresa's legs were torn up from wadding through bushels of prickles - but it was so worth it! We ended up with 3 cases of jam. Yum!

But that also meant I was on my feet and not resting enough for the following day at the State TTT.

We woke up to rain at 5:45am and I headed down to Liz's house in Seward park to carpool. Once we got to Elma, the rain had stopped but the roads were super slick. We were only racing against Wines - they had a team of three with Suz, Trish and Gina. Initially we thought sweet! We have a team of four and should be able to give them a run for the money! About 1/2 way through the course, Liz dropped because she couldn't feel her leg anymore and knew she had injured her hammy more. Annette wasn't feeling well either due to working long weeks at her job without adequate rest. So the remainder of the work fell on Michelle and I. Michele rocked it - she would do monster 2 minute pulls, then Annette would pull through for 5-10 seconds and then I would pull for about a minute. All I remember is counting and setting mini goals to get there. At one point Annette had to tell me to slow down when I pulled through or we would lose her. I have never been so happy to be a mile from the finish - and we drilled it in the rest of the way. As soon as we crossed the line, I felt like I was going to fall off my bike. My inner quads and groin were screaming at me. They're still screaming at me, as a matter of fact.

Wines rolled a 1:15:20 and we rolled a 1:15:55. Not bad considering our four woman team whittled down to two and one hanging on for dear life! I felt super happy about my performance and know my body did as much as it could judging by how sore it is today.

Later that night we headed up to Stanwood for Jimmy and Alynda's wedding. The ceremony was special - and the reception afterwards back down in Burien. It was fun seeing them so happy and all of their families come together to celebrate their love. I even got some dancing in! Congrats to the two newlyweds.