The How To Suck At National Championships Guide........

I could say that the title of my post just about sums things up but heck I'm going to go one step further and blog about it!  So they say "every dog has its day", well this "biatch" hasn't really had her day for about 2 weeks.  Rewind, to a week ago..... I raced Brighton XC (promoted by Tailwind).  I won but felt like sh*t (for the lack of a better word).  I had no spark, no focus, no zip.... I continued with my training through the week (broke my rule; listen to your body).  This was the week leading into the Canadian National Championships.

(Brighton fun times with the boys..... swimming, biking, fishing.....)

(The start of Brighton XC)

The final day to sign up for the National Championships was Thurs. July 18th.  Up until that morning I had yet to make a final decision, was I going to race or not?  The idea and the magnitude of the race and the fact that it was being held in Barrie, ON (only 4 hours from home), was pretty persuading.  So next thing I knew I was filling out my registration form by noon (Thurs.).  With the click of submit I dropped $75 to race.  Now committed to race, I scrambled to find a campground to pitch our tent.  Found one and booked it!  I expected myself to get in race mode mind and body within the next 24 hrs.

(Loaded up and resting on the way to Nationals!!)

Fridays drive up was smooth.  We set up the tent, made lunch, then headed over to Hardwood Ski and Bike to pre-ride the course.  I was happy to see a fellow elite racer, friend and all around awesome girl, Mandy Dreyer before heading out.  She gave me a quick breakdown of the course and it went something like this: "500' of climbing per lap, 5 laps, 6 km course, new Joy Ride section has a smooth transition rock drop, followed by a double and a wall ride.  The new added rock before the Boneshaker throws a pitch and the logs after need to be bunny hopped, but there is a sandy bypass that you can take." Alright, sounds good, lets do this!  I signed in quickly, I won a draw prize (saddle bag) and then rolled out to examine the course.

It started with an open long gradual climb that eventually got a bit steeper and was followed up by a short pitchy switchback climb at the top.  This little climb had 2 lines to take, the shorter line was on the inside, so I tried it but got hooked up on the roots at the top.  I went back down and tried the wider line and had no problem.  I thought I should give the inside line one more shot, so I turned around to ride down the uphill and I'm not sure exactly what happened.  My front wheel came to a dead stop and I was flying over my handlebars, head first, full endo!  My head, chest and hands all hit the ground at the same time and I whacked my knee off of something.  From what was described, my legs and feet went over my head backwards, and I folded in half.  I guess it looked pretty violent.  Luckily I was ok.  I was a bit achy with bumps, bruises and covered in dirt.  The rest of my pre-ride was pretty choppy.  I cleared all the rock gardens, descents and climbs.  I loved the addition of "Joy Ride", super fun!  As we finished the lap, they were announcing over the speaker for everyone to come off the trails and go inside.  A severe storm was about to hit within 15 minutes with tornado strength winds.  GREAT!  Jay and I hustled back to camp.  The winds picked up.  The storm moved in.  Thunder, lightening and heavy rain.

(Post pre-ride lap crash..... can't stress the importance of wearing a helmet!!  That stone was lodged in there pretty good!)

We spent time in the van at the campground listening to the radio for weather updates.  We were under a tornado warning!  Perfect time to be in a campground, I'd say! NOT!  Eventually the storm moved on through.  I made an early supper, then laid down for a 2 hour nap.  I woke back up around 7:30 pm and then retired for the night around 10:15 pm.  It stormed off and on all night.

Woke up to a beautiful morning!  My neck, chest, head, and shoulders were stiff and sore from my pre-ride crash and I wasn't exactly excited to race.  It was a mental struggle.  BUT I was there, I spent the money, I've trained for this.  Why was "not racing" crossing my mind?  I kitted up and we drove to the venue.  

My warm up was nothing spectacular, my legs were dead, my focus was brutal.  I battled with the thought of not even starting, but I pedaled to the start line.  It was a big field, best of Canada, and there I was not thrilled at all.  2 min, 1 min, 30 sec, 15 sec, then the whistle blew.

(The final words at the start line!)

I stayed mid-pack amongst the group up the opening climb.  We got to that little pitchy quick switchback climb and a couple girls bobbled and we put a foot down.  I lost touch with the main group.  My first lap was a struggle on all the punchy climbs.  No power and no recovery.  I cleared the technical stuff but overall felt flat and slow.  DNF (Did Not Finish) was non stop in the back of my mind and I was barely 20 minutes into the race.  About 3 kms into my 2nd lap, I did it..... I called it quits!  I DNF'd.  No getting around the fact that I simply sucked out there yesterday at National Championships. (Period!) 

So what happened?  Why did I feel this way? Why didn't I care if I started the race or not?  I DNF'd yesterday before I tried, before I even got started.

Sometimes even our trained minds crack. Oh! my mind cracked, and it cracked at the wrong time and my body followed suit.

Time to re-evaluate and get back on track!

Cheers,

Sue