What a great event! Now if only I remembered to to come back from recess! For whatever reason, on Saturday morning my head was in the clouds. I almost forgot that I was racing. I quickly assembled my get-up for the race (I believe that in Portland, a lot of people race in funny costumes, and not just on Halloween). Why not have extra fun?
I found a small yellow cape and some red candy striped socks. The spectators during the race deemed me Super Sonya. I like it
For the first time in SEVEN years of racing, I missed the start of the race. I have no idea what I was thinking, or wasn’t thinking. I didnt pay attention to the time. I started heading to a part of the course where I left a water bottle because I was parched from my short warm up. Then I saw it – the group raging forward. “Ah shit!” By the time I got on the course, the group was already in front of me. My throat was stuck together from dehydration before even starting. Apparently the front row took a wrong turn on the start loop as well, so that helped me a little bit. Five seconds in, my back brake came unhooked and I had to stop and get off my bike to put it back in! I had to chase to the back of the group and move up, but the leaders were out of sight. I thought to myself, “Oh well, I’m here for the workout, so I’m going to get it!” My friends watching the race were teasing me for missing the start. When it started hurting, I started making excuses in my head and quickly cut myself off. “You have no one to blame but yourself. No excuses, keep going.”
The cape was barely noticeable and fun. I didn’t realize it was flying through the air until I saw the photos. Perfect! It wasn’t until I heard Dave Towle say that I was in 4th place that I realized I had bridged my way up through the field through pure stubbornness. I rarely give up. I had maybe 2 laps left and made some time gains by cleaning all the sand sections. NO walking! I was still making headway, but the 45 minutes was up leaving me in 3rd for the day. I was super psyched with the performance. That’s a good indicator of how I’m doing with my power and fitness going into Brazil. I just hope I still have the multi-day endurance. I haven’t done an endurance race since the Breck Epic in August.
I only managed to grab 3 cards in sumo poker… 2 Aces and a King. Not enough, but it was funny!
Great group of gals yesterday. I was so glad that Amanda was racing!
1. Amy Dombrowski
2. Amanda Miller
3. Sonya Looney
4. Julie Boylan
5. Melanie Long
Thanks to Jim and Jen for the photos. I’m sure more fun ones will surface later today. On deck for the rest of my weekend is breaking in the tuned up mountain bike, and study study studying.
Thanks to Boups and volunteers for a great event yesterday!