Thru Endurance We Conquer!

Growler is one of my favorite races - hard and technical. I always mark it on the calendar and have the best intentions with the training leading into to the race. Yet over the last few years, things seem to always derail the training. I find myself halfway through May, wondering yet again if I will be ready for the technical trails and intensity of the race. Last year it was my eye, forcing me off the bike for two weeks and then into the basement for all of April. This year? Never ending health issues again - starting with a nasty virus at the beginning of the year that cascaded into a light bout of pneumonia. I would get sick, start feeling better, start ramping up the training again and then wham. Sick again. Finally in the end of March, I was healthy and really able to start riding and running hard. All was good. I'd be able to bounce back and have plenty of time to get ready for Growler. Or so we thought. Sometimes, the health of one person overwhelms all other concerns...

I was apprehensive before the start of the Women's Distance Festival this year. Two weeks of stress, two weeks of craziness and a still very tender ankle do not lend confidence to a race. While I'd survived the Neilson challenge the weekend before with a decent time, something about trying to run another mile at that same pace seemed beyond challenging. But that didn't mean I wouldn't try! I'm not sure I know how to really moderate the effort when it comes to the shorter races. It's always all out from the gun, even when that's not the smartest way to race. As usual the shorter distances, I made sure I got a good warm up before going to socialize with the rest of my Fieldhouse Brewers Cup teammates. We were a small group, but made sure that the neon green was in as many photos as possible. I was feeling slightly overwhelmed with the number of people at the race, so it was nice to have a small group to be with. The start terrified me this year. Sprinting ...