| So I knew the Epic Mountain Challenge wasn't my game. I had done long races recently and had really slacked off on my shorter distance speed work in-between races. But..... |  |
 | The Epic Mountain Challenge consisted of a 1/2 trail marathon and a 20 mile mountain bike on Saturday; and a 10k road run and 1.8 mile uphill mountain bike time trial on Sunday. I could do the events.....And with what I was told were only 6 people in my division, all I had to do was beat one girl in order to win 5th prize - $1000 cash! And each girl I could beat after that would earn me another $1000! I had to try it with those odds! That would help bandage our sorry bank account for those other races I did earlier this year! |
| But then pre-race came and I was told I was one of 11 girls. Still not horrible, I told myself. Maybe most of them are normal town's people who entered this just to have fun.....then one after another amazing specimen of a human-being entered. James agreed with me.....it didn't look like I had much of a chance to win any money back. I was intimidated. What I had expected to be a small-time, mainly local, first time event appeared to be a reunion of Olympians....complete with Kenyan runners! --Rally! Time to get my race face on and do my very best! |  |
 | The half marathon was on some fun single track, newly made just for the event with some steady uphills, fast curves, and flying downhills. It was a great course. I was quickly at the back of the pack. Over the course I passed 3 people, and was passed by none....but at that point there weren't many to pass me. I was proud of my effort and time, but I was dead last in my division. |
| The mountain bike was 2 laps of the rearranged same great trails. It was a fast course and racing on single track that I'd never even seen in parts was a new and exhilarating experience. I was doing well (still at the back of the pack, but passing some folks and feeling pretty good about my effort). I was making gains on my nemesis for the race, passed her, and missed a turn....quickly realized it, but I was never able to catch back up to her. Again, I felt good about my effort....a bit slower than I wanted to be due to run fatigue and asthma which had begun to rear it's head shortly after the run, but the output was my best in my condition. Yet....again....dead last. | |
 Getting a between-race nap while waiting for pasta. I was pooped. | I'll admit it. Unlike the subtitle suggests, I was getting steamrolled and wasn't okay with it. I wanted to be okay with it. I knew I should be for many reasons...."the short game is not my game, these are xterra pros at this length of race, I'm coming off of an expedition race and probably not recoop'ed"..... There are many logical reasons I was getting my tail whipped. I knew I wanted the learning experience. I know that I never want to be an egomaniac who thinks she's a super-athlete and a good humbling is good for me. But.....it was all very hard to take. With the asthma making it difficult to breathe even while resting, and the internal struggle of finding the desire to continue competing the next day knowing it was going to be even shorter distances and even more of a butt whipping, I fell asleep to the motivations of friends who had posted on my FB page (thanks, by the way, for the encouragement). |
| The next morning I warmed up with James who was also racing in this race. I had a hard time running, because the "lung butter" from my asthma was so bad. My goal for this race became finishing. I didn't want to stop with an asthma attack and not be able to finish the mountain bike. I raced, came in last in my division, but still put down surprisingly decent times for an asthmatic who was struggling. I'm not proud of my time, but was relieved it wasn't as slow as it felt. |  |
 | Last race of the day, the uphill mountain bike time trial. With my asthma as noisy as it was, I wondered if I could even get up the mountain without having to walk. The predicted winner time was 8 minutes. My goal was at least under 20! They released us out of a cattle trailer (which was kind of fun) one at a time. I went and pushed. "This is my last chance to beat someone! And I'm a climber, dangit! Push!" I pushed and got 13 seconds and change. I was pretty happy with my effort. Was it enough to beat at least one person?! Nope. Still last. By 3 tenths of a second. |
| Skunked. And it was then that I was suddenly happy with my achievement. I'd been humbled for sure, and I was thankful for it. I'd continued, though I was bummed and having a hard time breathing. I'd competed on an incredibly well-organized race with an immensely talented field. And I'd finished! Definitely not the performance of my life...and I don't think I'll ever be able to win any of the prizes. But now I look forward to coming back next year and testing whether I learned anything from this steamrolling. | |
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