Week #2

Okay, you're going to have to indulge me.  I've decided that a weekly check-in with the boring details of my boring 10-week preparation period before the 2013 racing season begins will actually help me keep my motivation up.  I suppose this was originally intended to be training blog, anyway, until I realized that was lame. (The name would imply such, although it was secretly supposed to chronicle my rise to fame and glory, which never really happened.)  So I don't suppose it will hurt if it reverts to such for a few weeks.

Yes, I am still having to employ tricks to keep my motivation up, although it is working, as I finished another week with all rides and weight sessions completed as planned.  The problem was that I really wanted to start doing Death March recognizance this weekend, but I didn't want to go alone. The forecast had Saturday with mid-60 degree temperatures, but Sunday as rapidly dropping temperatures and pouring rain.  There a few Wheel-people doing a gravel ride from Story on Saturday, but it started too early for me to do my important farmers' market business dealings and still get there on time.  Otherwise, I was pretty much like Bob Roll in a Road ID commercial trying to find company for a Saturday recon ride, and it kind of bummed me out.  However, I told myself to HTFU, and scouted out all of the new checkpoints west of 446 on my own.  That makes a few less things to worry about for race day.

Cemetery self-portraits are a critical part of training. See, I still have to figure out how to get one without foggy glasses.

I guess I should mention that this year I will be entering the co-ed division with my teammate Erik as my partner.  He proved his mettle as my long-suffering travel companion (okay, I hope it was more fun than suffering) for the ICX series this season, so I figured if I were going to once again "drag another person into my mess", he would be my first choice.  Additionally, last year I noticed that the Death March had one of the highest percentages of female participants of any competitive cycling event that I knew of.  A lot of that came from the co-ed division, which seemed a little weird to me, as if women were only willing to enter a cycling competition with a male escort, or perhaps dudes were dragging unwilling wives or girlfriends into the fray.  I wanted to be all girl-power and enter the women's division, although I've since seen the error in my ways.  I'm not sure how I expected how to handle the possibility of wet bridges and loose skewers all on my own (or, as it turned out, a partner's snapped derailleur), but this year I will no longer be traveling as an accompanied female.  I'm sure that will guarantee smooth sailing to the finish line, and hopefully a podium spot behind Scott and Janelle.