I added Double Dare to the race calendar. Also, I'm racing the Burn 24 hour solo instead of as the slower half of a duo. While I've allowed 2 months to recover after the Burn, it still is placing a lot of confidence in this workout/training thing.
My friend Jeff told me that he isn't going to be recovered from shoulder surgery fast enough to race duo with me at the Burn, so I responded "But you still will have plenty of time to train for DD" which he took seriously. So Jeff and I are doing Double Dare, which really isn't that intimidating to me, considering by then I will have completed one 24-hour race and two hundred-milers. It is unfortunate that Jeff crashed and needed the surgery, especially from the purely self-centered reason that I was looking forward to doing a lot of long training rides with him during the off-season.
The morning workouts are tough to maintain. I'm getting most of them in, but it is tough to roll out of bed at 5am and go lift a kettlebell over my head. It would actually be easier to drive to a gym and then workout, assuming that I'd be fairly coherent by the time I arrived. Instead I stumble up the stairs, do about 10 minutes of warm-up and stretching before lying down on the floor and holding 35 lbs over my face. To make matters worse, I started a class at Wake Tech on Wednesday nights. I don't even get home until 10:30. Even more worse, I found out that James is showing up at PMBAR. James is alright, but I really want to beat him and not as a result of some kind of injury DNF.
The kettlebell workouts are actually going pretty good. I'm not losing weight because of them, but it is all core. My climbing is better and the descents, especially through technical areas, are easier. It feels like I'm both strong and fluid at the same time. Looking forward to how this all pans out in a couple months, that is assuming that the other things in life don't knock me off course.
Why is it "even more worse" that I am showing up at PMBAR? And why do so many want to beat me? First it was Rich A., then Mert, then Mark F...there are others I am sure. And now you. I think I have it figured out. The problem is that I seem beatable. I mean look at me. Kinda pudgy (definitely overweight), low-tone (genetics), completely non-intimidating looking. I have dealt with surprising people from the first time I stepped up to a starting line. I was undefeated in the 800m in Junior High and even qualified for a regional Junior Olympics meet. I recall running a 4:44 mile as a freshman, the first time I had ever ran a mile at a meet. I ran Varsity XC as a freshman and lettered, helping our team win the NCS Championship and go on to the state meet. I ran my first official half-marathon in 1:29 (that is flying). My first marathon was 3:45. I have done triathlons, and several marathon adventure races. Even though I did not start riding a mtb until 2008, I have a long history of athletic endurance achievements. People also seem to dismiss that I won my first ever mtb race and went on to become the TORC XC Series Beginner(35+) Champion (2009). I came in 2nd in the 6 hour Series later that year (2009/2010) on my 26" SS and went on to come in 2nd in the 40+ at the Burn 24 in 2011 (again on the 26" SS) and then 2nd as a duo in 2012 (with the aforementioned Jeff D.). With Jay, I have finished PMBAR 2 of 3 times, and the one injury DNF we were nearing the 3rd checkpoint with our fastest time yet. Forget that I completed the Shenandoah 100...the last 20 miles with two broken bones that left me with a finger ~5mm shorter and a missing knuckle.
ReplyDeletePeople seem to just go by appearances, and I never look to be as good as my results would indicate. My PMBAR partner Jay 'looks' like a strong rider. I do not. When we line up others certainly see him as a threat (lean & muscular). They see me as that pudgy guy that the crowd will probably clap for at the end of the race as he struggles to a finish. So if Jay beats them they are like, "Well, yeah, I lost to that guy", but when I beat them they are like, "What? That Fat, Short, Old, Bald guy beat me?!?" It is bad for their self-esteem. Still, there are many guys that have really wanted to beat me, and have. Jay L. had never beat me in any race, then on 'my' last lap of the 2011 6BC, he passed me and went on to do one more lap. I remember when Jeremy M. had never beaten me in any XC or 6hr race for years, and we did them all together since 2009. Then last year he stepped up his training and smoked me (and took 1st SS) at the Crab. Could you be next? Doubt it. But hey, it is a team event, so your 'team' need only be faster...or in the case of Mert's team, slower, but much better navigators. Good Luck!
You can run more than a mile without stopping?
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