And cyclocross season is over. It went by so fast! We had a
few sweet races in the local series, one super muddy and snowy up in Delores,
and some unseasonably warm ones up on campus. I performed well in some, and made
the national team for The Fort, which I viewed as a major step in my recovery!
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| One of the warm races! Photo thanks to coach Chad Cheeny |
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| This is how bikes are meant to look :) |
I spent all winter break Nordic skiing in Gunnison/Crested
Butte with the family. The skate skiing was good prep for my legs, and the
below 0 temps everyday was good prep for Wisconsin!
I got back to Durango and went to my fist day of classes
(last semester of undergrad!) before jetting of the Madison, WI with the rest
of the team. We spent the first few days pre-riding the course, which was a
long loop with lots of tricky corners, a couple steep climbs, a looong stair
run-up, fast slippery descents, and a few sprint sections on the road to
provide some much needed relief from the mud. The first day we rode the course
was mainly ice with some thin wet mud on the surface, making balance and
traction key. Everyone went down multiple times as we figured out the balance
between caution and aggression to make the fastest lap. But that night it
rained quite a bit, so by the time we arrived for our race the next morning the
course was all deep peanut butter mud. It made everything much tackier so
cornering was faster, but the straight sections were much slower and you really
had to ride up on the tape to find clear lines.
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| Ou team had a sweet warm set up, going oldschool with 2 wood burning stoves Photo thanks to Dan Walker |
After a not so hot start, I powered though the mud and by
half a lap in found my rhythm. It felt like we were all moving so slow! My bike
was so heavy that my carrying technique up the stairs and over the barriers was
less then stellar. Meaning at one point by the end I was lugging it behind me
;)
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| A quick peek at the course conditions Photo thanks to Dan Walker |
I was pitting every half lap for a new bike (thank goodness
for our awesome support staff!), and our race ended up being only 3 laps
because the course was so sluggish! For laps 2 and 3 I picked up the pace,
using my confidence in the mud to pass as many girls as I could. I actually
ended up 15th in our field of 40, which included many top-level
racers, and I felt it was a great result for my first nationals event in 2
years! My teammates also killed it, we had 2 on the podium and were the only
team who didn’t have any girls pulled!
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| Photo thanks to Dan Walker |
The boys raced the next day in the bitter cold, but the
course had frozen over making it slick, but much faster. We also got 2 riders
on the podium here, and all the guys did well. Unfortunately, we barely lost
the omnium title to Marian, but hey we are still second in the nation!
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| The warmest outfits are also the most stylish :) |
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| Cheering on the collegiate men and elite racers! Photo thanks to Dan Walker |
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| D1 team podium Photo thanks to Dan Walker |
Now I’m back in Durango. Still recovering from traveling,
and getting into the flow of school again. I was so happy with how I was able
to perform in Madison considering the last 2 years. I went back to Texas
doctors over break, and they love how I’m such an easy patient since I’m all
into exercising ;) I really feel thought that my training has helped me gain
control of my symptoms and greatly improved the quality of day to day life. I
am also starting to wean off my first heart medication (exciting!) since we
think training is making my body strong enough to control its issue on its own.
Of course really training and racing at a competitive level causes some
problems of it’s own for my body, but I am hoping that this year as I approach
what is hopefully a successful season, I can find the balance between sickness
and health, overtraining and undertraining. I have some high goals still, and I
feel that the EDS won’t hold me back from achieving them; I just will have to
go about them differently from most.
Off the bike life is going well too! But I can’t believe I
am graduating in April! I have a lot going on, including my senior research,
which I am excited about since I am studying the effect of kinesiology tape on
muscle recruitment patterns in cyclists’ quadriceps. Who knows, maybe I’ll
uncover the next secret to being a successful cyclist ;) I also have a couple
of physical therapy school interviews coming up. I am thankful to even get
interviews since it is insanely competitive (one school mentioned they received
about 1,000 applications this year, and they take 30. 30!) but I really really
hope I get in somewhere!
Yup so this year has had a great start, here’s to a
fantastic 2013 for everyone!
