Jul 10, 2008

don't forget to have fun

things were starting to get out of hand. in my head. i was dreaming every night about crits and turning. in one dream, i was going through a turn over & over again. and each time the dream loop started again i heard herb brooks of usa hockey dream team fame & the movie that went along with it shouting again! again! again! i was really missing the random dreams of marathon training - at least i got to eat frosting with p. diddy and play soccer with my new best friend david beckham. herb brooks was no fun.

i was watching the registration numbers for tomorrows' race slowly go up and up and up. this was quickly becoming the biggest field i will have raced in to date. right now it stands at 21 racers, by start time tomorrow we could be up to the potential for some serious carnage 40. i was getting all jacked up. my husband, a.k.a. the voice of reason; reminded me that this was supposed to be fun. he reminded me that i am a novice racer - every race is just training and experience. i just hope it doesn't train me to stop signing up for crits and i hope the experience isn't one of road rash.

after i got thwapped upside the head with the "this is supposed to be fun" reminder, i went out and pre-rode the course and went out again today to do it again with teammates. the crazy herb brooks' dreams have ceased, and while i don't know if my stuart smalley cornering affirmations have totally sunk in (as much as i want it to be, i don't think its going to be an overnight cornering transformation kind of thing); i am going into the race realizing that my husband, dammit, is right. i am going to have fun. i am not going to worry about final outcome, although pleaseifthereisagodinheavenpleasedontletmebedeadlastagain - i am just going to go with it. be in the racy criterium moment.

just going with it doesn't mean that i don't have a plan though. every race has a plan. in cycling, you have a team with whom to plan and work with. and the lovely girls of team louisville have a plan. and then, like all good plans, should our good plan fall to shit and it very well may the moment i eat gravel; we (i) have some backups - i am sure that my lovely teammates have their own backups as well, but here are mine:

  • plan a: i hang up front with the cool girls long enough to help a teammate podium.
  • plan b: i hang up front with the cool girls long enough that i am mistaken for one of them.
  • plan survival mode: i take a swig of bourbon before the race and hope for the best.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

think i'd have to go wth the bourbon : )

just have fun...you'll be great!

Groover said...

I so know what you are talking about ... let me know if the cornering mantra works ... I can't corner to save my life ... nice blog by the way :-)

Anonymous said...

Woohoo! Can't wait to hear all about it! I'm just totally bummed we aren't there to ring the cowbell.

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Fun Fun Fun... yes keep it that way, it will last longer.

Like ur play list, going to add a few of them to my mp3 :-)

Anonymous said...

hey cool girl...how did it go?

Stuart said...

That's the spirit...the bourbon that it!

OH yes and I just saw your comment on Robin's blog, c'mon let's see the new tat!

bsegal said...

I think the bourbon was more helpful afterwards. Brown water and hugs as Mr Skiles said. The perfect cure all.
Steven's right about every race being experience and fun, but wouldn't I know I wish I was getting less experience and finishing more in the.....well just finishing!
It was a great race, just think about how much ass you're going to kick in the fall!

zanne said...

i never did have any bourbon, but did get a nice big hug after LMPD -skiles is onto something ...

man, just think about all the 'training & experience' we are getting! - next year is going to be the year ... i need to get a good bike base under me instead of jumping in the middle of a season!

Anonymous said...

Getting caught up on a month of Zanne race craziness, here. :)

Fun!!! That's right. I've been feeling stressed and defeated about my training for the past couple of weeks and just this morning I realized that one BIG reason is that I've started worrying about what my time will be at the event I'm training for and what fellow club members will think of me when they learn Just. How. Slow. I. Am.

But you know what? Who cares. This IS supposed to be fun! I'm going to have to adopt my own Stuart Smalley mantra: "I'm good enough, I fast enough and doggone it, I'm having fun!"