Dino Win, Coffee, and finally 'cross!

I finally added a Dino race win to my tally this year. I had mixed feelings on this since I was super happy for a win, but bagged it with a smaller field to compete against.  Regardless, I am taking it with a smile since it was the venue I felt I had a chance to really do well at this year. France park is on my favorite list for racing in Indiana. It wouldn't be a place I would go visit to get some epic riding in, but the venue for racing is super fun. It is great for taking the RV and it has a rock quarry to laze around in all weekend. That last part is super important since the race is usually very hot and this year was no exception. My sister and I had a great weekend camping and swimming before the race even started. I had a "fair" racing day and drilled it the first lap. After getting my lead time from Beth after that, I decided to back down off the pace. The worse part about France is the "must run" section and by the 2nd lap this was a "must walk" section for me. My gimpy foot was not so happy with me and this race reminded me that I still need surgery on my foot again. Aside from that, I pedaled on and finished over 9 minutes ahead of 2nd place. I felt like my helmet was melting by the end, it was a really caliente! It didn't take me long to find the bathing suit and head to the quarry! Kudos to all the other gals racing that day, it was a tough race with the heat. It was a nice weekend and I was once again thankful to be close to home. 

In other racing news since my last post, I did the local Downtown crit. This was also a super hot day and since road crits are used as training aids for me for cross, I decided to do 2 races. It was fun to have family and friends around and I accomplished what I wanted for the weekend: ride as hard as I could, basically doing a personal TT and race in a pack (men 3/4) at higher speed to get used to riding bar to bar. I finished 5th or 6th in the open women class and was pleased with that. It is hard to explain racing to some people, that some races are not meant to be won, some are just stepping stones. This was a very small stepping stone for me to climb some mountains (and hopefully podiums) later in the year. It is great to do well at local races, but these are hardly my goal events for the year as I race on a national level. 

 

In other Indiana racing news, there was a huge road event in Marion last weekend, as a NRC event came to town. It killed me to not race this, but I was in the middle of a taper for cross season, and technically, I really don't even race road. However, I did go for crowd support and enjoyed watching the event. I was a little floored that their wasn't more representation from local road teams for such a well put on race. However, my riding partner, Anne Young (Hammer Head) had a great placing with 4th in the 3/4 race and local Matt Light (Alderfer Bergan) showed some of his hidden talents by nabbing the win in the 2/3 race. 

Congrats to both! 

(<- Anne and I watching Robbie V  "announce" at the NRC)

In other big news: for the last 2 years I have been off caffeine. I know that sounds crazy to some, but caffeine is a drug regardless of what people say. Since I don't do anything half-ass, I decided that it would be best to eliminate all things bad from my diet. So, for 2 years I have only drank coffee on a race day, but I am back on the wagon! I really like coffee and am trying to talk myself back into it being okay. For now, I'm all jacked up on coffee splurging, but only using it when the time is right, not just because I need to "wake up" or if it is there. I drink it for the tradition. Kinda like Catholics with wine, and cycling and coffee is tradition.

Finally, cyclocross is here! I have two weeks in of cx training. Week 1 was a huge reminder of how hard it was to ride around in the grass and then run up hills! This was complicated by the fact that my equipment was not right and my fit on the bike was way off. I can't ever stress enough how important it is to not only have the right size bike, but also have it professionally fitted. 2 great places to do this is at Revolution Bike and Bean in Bloomington or Summit City Bicycles in Fort Wayne. It is the best money you will ever spend. Trust me. Anyway, week 2 was much better. My legs were starting to come out of the funk they were in and dismounts were much smoother! I finally found my groove and didn't want to stop practicing at all. I just don't know how anyone couldn't love cross, obviously I'm a little crazy about it. 

This weekend I am heading on a great outing with my anesthesia group to Chicago before the weekend racing schedule picks up again. It has been nice to have a couple weekends at home, but I can't wait to see what cross season has in store, it is just around the corner!

What about "some must watch..."

I have been asked a couple times what my blog title has to do with cycling. The answer is: it does and it doesn't have anything to do with it. It really is a reference to my career as a nurse anesthetist. The next question I get is: "what is that, you mean you assist the anesthesiologist?" No. Not even close. I practice independently from any supervision and I do the exact same thing a MD does everyday. Simply, Md's trained in medical school before their residency and nurses trained in nursing school before our residency in anesthesia. People think we are nurse practitioner type practitioner's and that is not even close either. I like to tell people that 72% of anesthesia in this country is done by crna's (certified registered nurse anesthetists) and anesthesia was started by crna's long before Md's did it. Those are the facts, but people assume we are doctors and get a little confused. I don't "pretend" to be a doctor, I am upfront with my title and very proud that I have a nurse's holistic upbringing. Frankly, it would take pages of this blog to explain what it is I do, so I won't. Matter of fact, most medical professionals don't know what we do with the exception of operating room staff, surgeons, and ob staff. Yep, everybody else really doesn't know, including the patient. And that is okay with me, I always chuckle to myself when the patient tells the surgeon to "not let them die" during surgery. The fact is, when the pt IS dying in surgery the surgeon looks up to anesthesia to not let the pt die. I'm not looking for glory here, just trying to explain. If I wanted glory I would have chosen another profession, I like to help behind the scenes. Just like glory isn't found in cycling. I seldom talk about my job here, but truthfully, it is a huge part of who I am, and I love it even when I hate it. 

That said, what does this have to do with anything? Well, I was reading a article in a cycling magazine the other day while I was sitting around in my call room at work, about how cycling can improve your job performance. I think this is true for many reasons, but then I thought about how my life in anesthesia makes me a better cyclist. There are many downfalls to it not helping. Long hours, high stress, standing, out of work responsibilities, being call in the middle of the night, and did I mention getting up in the middle of the night? It can make squeezing in training, travel and racing very hard. But it also can help my cycling in many ways. 

(A long day doing anesthesia for brain surgery awaits in training at Northwestern '05, its 545 am, do I look awake? --photo)

Let me regress:

When I first decided to go into anesthesia I was an RN working in the ER. I remember that when I told my good friend (the ER M

D) what I was going to do, he shook his head with a grim look. He looked at me and said, "Are you sure you want to do that? Why don't you just become an ER doctor? The problem with anesthesia is that your mistakes go to the grave." I thought he was joking, an ER doctor surly has more risk than anesthesia. I know now, that he was right. I haven't made any mistakes that cost a person their life, but I know now that not being on top of my game during every moment could. Even if I have been working 20 hours straight. I have seen many people die for many different reasons and I NEVER 

want to be that reason. In anesthesia, when things go bad, it goes very bad and very quickly. I think about that during every case, every day. I go over every situation that could happen for every type of surgery and person, again and again and how I will handle it. Bad things have happened and I handle it coolly and calmly because I'm ready, I have trained for it. Let me also say that for the vast majority of daily surgery we make it very safe (don't want to scare anyone).

Once again, how does this matter to cycling? First off, nothing could happen in cycling that is the end of the world. If I have a bad race or get a mechanical, the world won't end. Trust me, their is a feeling much worse than losing a race. Racing is a game in life, not life itself.

Secondly, all that practice of visualization at work goes directly to cycling. I visualize every thing before I race. Everything, and how I will handle it if it goes good or bad. I know this helps me personally attain what I am shooting for. If I know the coarse, I sear the images in my mind and go over and over how I will take a section or line. I even imagine what it will feel like to stand on top of the podium.

(Party time in Chi town: getting my Master's with fellow residents ->)

Also, I learn to keep my cool. When the entire OR is looking at me when shit hits the fan, it's not the time to start freaking out. Plus, there is no time to freak out, things need done. In cycling, things will almost always not go as planned. It won't do any good to freak out when you are heading cliff side out of control. You need to stay calm and get it back on the trail. When you get passed, you have to focus on how to get the position back. Cycling and anesthesia is the time to focus and be calm in a chaotic atmosphere.

Plus, anesthesia helps me be aware of everything around me. I may look like I sit in a black chair all day, but my senses are in overdrive. I hear everything and smell everything and see everything. I could tell you everything about the pt (heart rate, rhythm, how fast I have the ventilator going, oxygen level, etc) just by hearing alone. Sometimes, I could tell you what is going on "in the surgical field" just by smell. Cycling is like a cocaine addict on a high. Every sense is on edge, just like anesthesia. I can tell you when someone is gonna try and make a jump on me by hearing them downshift, or I can smell changes in my sweat that is more acidic than usual letting me know to back off a minute (gross I know). Not to mention the fact that I have a complete understanding of the body, how it responds to stress (cycling), how it handles byproducts of physical damage, and how this relates to how I feel at that moment.

Lastly, both are about control. I can control every aspect of a person under anesthesia (I'm talking as a professional, so no smart ideas here). If I want the heart rate high, I can do that. If I want to render the muscles unable to move, I can do that. I am in control and the same goes for cycling. We train and eat and sleep to see direct results in our bodies and bicycling skills. Having control of what our body is doing is very empowering.

( Below: Racing Brown County DRT to a 1st place this year, doin what I know and love!)

So many things that anesthesia does, I have to wander, which passion helps the other the most. I guess they both are a great compliment, and I love both of them equally. I get a rush every time I step on the bike, even after all these years. Sticking a needle in someones back, or having a smooth intubation, or easing a persons anesthesia fear does it for me too. Both take many hours of dedication, but the payoff is so sweet, and that is my life as I know it. On the eve of my 33rd birthday I realize I know 2 things very well: cycling and anesthesia. That's why my blog title considers both.

However, I have to say though, as much as I love cycling, the payoff of a person's life will always be sweeter! I'm truly blessed to be the person that watches, while others sleep!

On a Roll

While I don't feel like I have broken any major records this year personally,  I do have to reflect a little at my season thus far and find some pleasure in what I have accomplished. In the last few weeks I have won 4 of the last 4 races I have entered and placed 2nd in the state crit 3/4 champs before that. Honestly, I was bummed to not place better in the crit race because I felt great that day and made some stupid road mistakes. In my thirst to always have to win, I sometimes lose sight of what I have done. In a season that started off with major surgery, not knowing if I would even be competitive on the bike, I have to look back now and find a huge sense of accomplishment at overcoming that injury and the complications from it. Sometimes I think we forget about what all we all have to overcome and take some things for granted or get a little down on ourselves when we aren't winning. I'm not saying I won't continue to work to get better than where I am now, but I've come a long way in the matter of 7 months and I am proud of that personally. Its great to be able to make a long list on paper of wins and race results, but the real point is to be able to grow personally as  a rider and enjoy your own results and accomplishments within yourself. At the end of the season, there are few people who view that paper list, and it basically comes down to you who cares about what you have done.  If that growth leads to the paper list that is even more icing on the cake! This season I started my winter base training at 50 watts of power. I can now hold 250 watts pretty easily. It doesn't take being a drt super coach to figure out that that is a huge change. That alone for me makes me pleased with where I am right now and helps put things in perspective about the struggles I have come through. I know cyclist get so critical of themselves so often and sometimes it bums me out to see people do that. Its hard to compare yourself to the people you race, but not so hard to compare yourself to you! Don't forget that. If you don't like how you are riding, then change it, because you can control that.

Right now I am transitioning into the mack daddy of all of cycling: cyclocross. I have recently done some crit races to get into the short, intense mode of cross, by hitting the Pancake crit, state champs, and am set to do the Downtown Warsaw crit this weekend. I will continue the mtb riding and racing for skills and endurance, winning the last 2 drt races and hope to add to that by winning France Dino. This coarse suits my flat, power style so I will give it all I can. Looks like Coach Don G has me getting a little "rest" in the schedule for this month by increasing my time on the bike with "easier" rides and has me laying off the intensity a little. The super sweet part is 'cross practice starts Aug 19th! I will be semi-leading a group at the Bike Depot in Fort Wayne on Wed evenings. Tim Hall has a dedicated  cx coarse with sand pit and all just waiting to  be used by us cx crazies. It's a great opportunity.  Everyone is welcome and should join us experienced or beginner. 

That's where the season is and will roll on until the end of cyclocross racing on Bend, OR in December. I have done many races and am blessed to get to do many more. I just hope my roll of winning continues. Regardless, I am happy where I am right now, but working everyday to add to my personal sense of accomplishment. Ride on and roll on!

The beat goes on.

So the summer continues and I'm feeling back on track for the most part with my racing. It is kinda weird this time of the season as I am feeling like I could ride a thousand miles a week, but Coach Don has me tapered and more intense in my training. Sometimes the hardest part of being a racing cyclist is holding back and being smart when you need to. 

I have had some more fun with racing as I have decided to go out and give it all I have at each race. I know that sounds like that is would should be done all the time, but early in the season I was racing but didn't feel I was mentally eating up the coarse as much as I should.  I am heading to the end of the summer season and plan on doing just that. 

Since the last post I have had a few more races. One of which was the Indiana State Crit Championships in Bloomington. This was a great place to host a event and it was put on wonderfully, and had a fairly good spectator turnout. I had a poor start, and by poor I mean all the way at the back of a 19 women field. I had a piece of plastic get caught in my cleat and took  a long time to clip in. This was bad since the ABC train starts off quick from the get go, so I was forced to expend a ton of energy for 4 laps just to get back to the front of the pack. However, by that time Bri K. was off the front and my good form of the day was wasted for the win. When I say win, I really mean that I believe I would have contested Kovac for the win with the way I was feeling. Otherwise, I got in a chase group and got some help from a Get a Grip rider to chase the top 3 gals and found myself disappointed in what I feel was a desperate attempt to block our chase from the Alderfer Bergan rider. I understand blocking in road racing, but I feel the rider went a little too far today by riding dangerously in the corners. Blocking for an Indiana state race is not worth wrecking people in my book. Regardless, I was able to pull back third place singlehandedly which was fun. My goal was to maybe beat 3rd or at least give us the opportunity to contest it. Since this was a Alderfer teammate of the now lapping Bri in my group, she chose to inform me that, "there is no sense chasing her down, because we are just gonna beat you anyway." Maybe so, but I came to race. I thought that was what we were doing? And race I did, it was a sprint for 3rd and I end 5th, but at least I was racing. I ended 2nd in the 3/4 cat. Not the results for my potential that day, but I rode super strong, and think I had a good showing for DRT in what is now the home town with Revolution Bike and Bean. 

This was also the first trip for the new RV. I decided to trade in the new camper for a used motor home after almost forming an ulcer over the stress of hitching and hauling the camper. Let me say, the RV is the way to go! It was great and Anne an I loved it! So much less stress. 

The next day I had the DRT Bloomington xc race. It was super fun to ride this venue again. It has a great roller coaster front half, and a punchy climbing second. In years past I used to hike a bike a couple hills, but now I had no problem with them. It was fun to see my personal improvement on a coarse after a few years break from it. I had a good race and set some great personal lap times that had me beating several of the guys times. I had a win on the day and can't complain about that. I just hope to add a few more W's to my book really soon!

Full Swing!

Well,  its been almost a month since my last post, even though it seems like a ton has happened since then. Things have been super busy for me with the racing, camping, and personal life. I have been having a great time so far this summer, and look forward to the next 6 weeks that have a race in every one of those. So here is the run down of where and what I have been getting into to. 

1. Had a super fun trip to North Caroline for the Kenda East Cup Cowbell Challenge. Mom made the trip with me and we had a great time. This was my biggest level race so far this year and the competition was tough along with the technical, hilly coarse. Not to mention it was extremely hot! Being smart on hydration and nutrition proved to be key in this race and I stayed on top of the fluids for about a week before the race. Thanks to Gu for keeping me going during the race.

Photo above:

Coming into the finish in 2nd place! I managed to post lap times the same as some of the pros.

I had a good race and I was really pleased with how my technical skills held up on the east coast roots and red clay. It was also nice to have a team member in Emily Benson there also so far from home. Em pulled off a 3nd in her age expert and DRT had two podiums on the day!

Photo above:  Podium from the Kenda Cup.

2. The next weekend was a nice weekend off from racing and gave me a chance to do "normal" summer activities at home. I managed to find some extreme things to do by hanging out at a work picnic. I had a rope swinging good time, pond jumping, but managed to find myself with a few stitches, a head injury and neck trauma. Its all under the bridge now, but it was a little rough for about a week.

3. A few days after that I was off to Master's National Crit Championships in L'ville. I thought I would go play roadie for the day since it fell into the schedule. Plus, it was at Church Hill downs. How cool is that? I love the places that cycling can take a person.  

I ran a fair race here for being an impatient mountain biker. I won't lie and say I'm a smart rider on the road and I get a little bored doing the road tactics at times. But, it is great training and a sprint finish is always rush!

Photo above: Leading a chase group at the home of the KY Derby! Master's Nationals 30-34.

So I settled in a chase group of women and we found ourselves off the 2 leaders about 40 minutes into the race. I didn't want to do all the work and since it was a long crit (over 60 minutes) and I ended up in a sprint group for 3,4, and 5th and got beat at the line out of the 3rd place position. I still was proud of my 4th place podium for a National Championship race! 

Photo: My drive during the race landed me a TV interview after the race!

After that Dad and I hit the Louisville slugger factory and then watched a night race at the Down's. We then headed back to into Indiana to camp the next couple days unit the next race.

4. While camping I started a massive poison ivy outbreak and I pulled and "cut" out my stitches from the previous days. Its a little hard to remove stitches when you are used to having the right tools for the job. Anyway, by the end of the weekend I would be in a full rash from the ivy and would spend the next few days with my eye swollen shut. What luck!

5. The next race on the weekend was the DINO AMBC challenge and first up Saturday was the short track event. I had an okay race and gave it my all, but was beat out by AnnaJean yet again. She's super strong and it will take a big effort on my part to overcome her, but I still have the faith I can do that.

6. Next was the XC race on Sunday, it rained for like 12 hours straight before the race, and I was not looking forward to running this venue in the mud. It is so slick and scary at North Vernon on the mud that I defeated myself before I even got started. To do well at a mud race, you have to have your head in the game and I simply didn't. My recent head injury caught me playing it safe to avoid another black out moment. I coasted to a 5th place finish and gladly headed home to recover and rethink my plan of attack.

Photo above: North Vernon Dino AMBC. Starting a muddy, long, ride to 5th place.

7. Next up was another road crit close to home in Fort Wayne. The guys at Men of Steel racing put on a first year race and ran it like it had been going on for years! What a great venue at the new Parkview stadium in downtown. This was a great coarse and I will be sure and run it again if it fits next year.  The women's race was an open field, which means we all pretend to be cat1's since we are held to the same standards as the other racers, even though I'm a cat 3 on the road. This was also my friends first race back since she broke her wrist and I was happy to have her back on the road with me. She toughed it out and had a great time racing again. This is a relief since her crash was pretty scary and my have turned her into a ball of nerves, but she was rock solid. 

I hung in there pretty good and stayed up with the group for a while before a couple of P.R.O's went off the front. I held out with my sole team member Diana S. for a bit until she turned up the gas and went out on her own (she ended the day in 5th). I fought hard in a high attacking group the rest of the race and held my own despite being in a group of Alderfer team members that worked together the whole time. Its almost impossible in road racing to attack when you are solo against numbers. However, I proved to be a bit too strong for some of the Alderfer riders and dropped a few of the girls that were cat 2's and won a sprint finish against Erin Hetlzel despite her having a teammate lead her out. That was fun!

8. Lastly, the day after the crit was the DRT Winona XC. The trails were in great shape thanks to the KCV members and the day was perfect for riding. Despite sore legs from the day before I had something to prove to myself that I could still ride a mountain bike. My plan was to attack the coarse and not look back. That's what I did and ended up with 3 good laps that lead me to a WIN on the day. The most important thing was that I felt I rode good and felt strong and I hope I can carry that into the next several weeks to finish out the mtb season. DRT put on another great event!

I'll keep you posted, because as always, I have big plans and high expectations! Plus, 'cross is on the way and its gonna be "go" time soon. HUP! HUP!

Summer time and the living is...biking!

So things continue the rollar-coaster of riding, training, working and recovering. I have had some great mountain bike rides since the last post as the weather and trails have had some spectacular moments in the last few weeks. Its hard to beat perfectly packed singletrack with 65 degree temps as you blaze by a huge patch of sweet William. Sometimes the air is filled with so much sweetness it is almost unbearable. Those days are moving on to warmer temps and 3Ibs of weight loss after sweaty rides, as summer starts to set in. That also means the heart of the mtb racing season for me and my team. Starting this weekend, its full-on for several weeks as I will be traveling to many places to see how all my hard work has prepped me against other girls in the nation. This weekend I head to North Carolina for the Cowbell Challenge Kenda Cup and am hoping to showcase the DRT training plan and come away with a high placing. I would be lying if I said I just wanted to do good. I have all intentions of doing my best to win this race.

  I am gradually getting stronger, both with my power and with knowing what to do with it.  This just shows that my Coach Don G. has developed a great training plan to bring me back from a major injury. I also attribute a lot of my gain in technical sections to the work I have been doing with Darrell Carr at the balanced body. My core is super strong and being able to "pull through" the rocks and roots is so integral to the core being in top shape. Now if I only had a six pack to prove it!

 Aside from the NC trip I will be doing the remainder of the DINO races and may even throw in a few road crits for good measure.  Once again, I will get to know my good state of Indiana very well in the upcoming weeks as I look forward to a strong mtb season. 

Last weekend was the DINO Frankie race. I was happy to have another race close to home where things are familiar. It was nice to see all the DRT team there and also the guys at Summit City Bicycles doing support and grilling dogs for the racers. I was fortunate to get a good start (which I usually do thanks to the BMX days) and dip into the woods in the lead. I was able to lead for the good majority of the first lap until the race became more vertical. My legs were heavy upon getting out of bed that morning and I debated to even race, so that first incline was a challenge to take at any reputable pace. Oh well, I needed to work with what I had. I held 2nd until about the same spot on the second lap then was passed again by Erin. I hung with her as long as I could, then fell off her pace and settled into third. Erin usually kills me,  so I was pleased to lead her, then stay with her for as long as I did, especially with my subpar feelings that day.  I finished in 3rd not to far off the leaders. It was a draining race since the ground was so soft and the lack of lead up to get the momentum going. By the last lap it was getting better and cornering become more enjoyable instead of terrifyingly slick. I spent a good portion of this race convincing myself to drop out because my foot was killing me. It was so painful that I started riding one legged on the first lap. I may have looked to be in agony from the tough riding, but it was really my foot that had me yelping out loud at times. I crossed a whole new world of tolerating pain in this race. It wasn't as bad as the pain I had with my double shoulder surgeries (that was a mess), but it was the first time that dropping out even crossed my mind. I simply don't drop out unless someone makes me. So this week I have decided to take it easy for about 4 days and give the foot a rest until I see the ankle surgeon again to review my recent mri. We decided to get this done since that pain is increasing and now is worse than what it was before surgery. I hope he has some answers for me to help me make it through the next 6 months. 

A little time in heaven: BCSP

I think its pretty safe to say that Brown County pretty much fits me to a tee. I love to go there whenever I have the chance and it kills me to come back to the Northern part of the state. I come back only because I love my job, the people I work for and the people I work with. Aside from that, I would move in a heartbeat and so would my family. If I play the cards right (which I'm doing) I will have a vacation home there in the next 10 years and look forward to that day. Until then, I visit as much as I can. The last week I took Mom and we headed down for her annual Mother's day trip to a nice cabin in the woods. Its a dual trip for me as I also get my share of bike time in while I'm there. We took Sunday to get settled in and then the rest of the week I was blessed with the bcsp for longer trail rides. It is a great place to ride and I loved every minute of it! 

Mom and I had a great time and we even had a guest cat at our cabin that helped us feel right at home since we always miss our cats when we are gone. 

There is just something about having a little animal around to keep a smile on your face. This big guy was awesome and due to his Kiss like marking we named him Kiss for a few days. 

After about 4 days it was back to work for Mom, so I came home to make a quick drop- off of her and grabbed to camper, did some laundry and headed back to BC.

After cruising around the trails for several days, it was up to higher heart rate times to get in the DINO race #2 of the year. I was feeling a little "okay" with this race because it involves a lot more climbing than my big frame is skilled at. I woke up that morning feeling just okay, but ready to get racing. I saw I had some great competition show up and was really happy about that since I thought a lot of people might opt for the AL US Cup race. We had a great field of almost 20 gals line up! How sweet is that? 

I knew the steep hill at the beginning would kill, but  it really wasn't that bad. I paced up the first part, then picked up the hurt on the second half. Pretty good plan since I started dead last on the first part, but made it up to third by the midway point. I know I had the training to recover from the first section and was counting on some of the girls burning a few of their matches.  I know my weakness and tried to limit my losses as much as I could, but as a result AnnaJean D. was well ahead of me by the time we dropped in the woods. After that I focused on working up to second, which really didn't take me too long once we got to the more technical sections. At that point I was trying to salvage as much time as I could to the leader, but I simply wasn't the best rider on the coarse that day. I knew I would need to feel great in order to do that, but I really did not and just felt okay. Despite that, I felt I recovered well from the climbs and nailed the downhill technical portions as much as I hoped. I feel my cornering is really coming around which will only help me in the near cross future.  I think that mtb is a great place to gain some technical finesse for cross, especially in the women's field where having the ability to handle the bike plays big gains in results. 

I finished second in the race, holding off a late charge by the KY gang of Kiersta Tucker and Terri Meek. I did the best I could, even though I still look forward to a win at all times. The rest of the DRT squad had some great results with Andy Messer at 3rd in expert and Josh Johnson 3rd for sport open. Zach E. also had a strong result. Not to mention showings by Chad Murphy, David Coar, Scott Wagner, Coach Don G., and Dave Strole. Great job everyone! It was good to see everyone out to get their race on!

In foot/ ankle news: the ankle surgery part is getting stronger, I continue my PT at home a few times a week. The dislocations continue, but right now I feel I have more time before that surgery needs done. My lateral foot pain that I had before surgery has returned in a big way and now feels like a ice pick being jammed in my foot every time I go over any type of a bump. After talking with the surgeon, we have decided to get a MRI to see if there is a fracture or more torn ligaments. I'm so frustrated with this injury that it is making me crazy. I am trying to figure out what is going on, but I feel I just keep hitting dead ends. At this rate, I don't think I can walk without a limp for much longer, but am hoping something is just flaired up right now. But for some reason I have reasoned in my mind that I should have no problem with 'cross. Crazy, I know. But it would take a lot to keep me down at this point.