Regardless of what happened in Canada, I didn’t scratch my original plan to fly to Missoula, Montana for another junior UCI race. I woke up at 5am eastern time and waited for my flight to Minneapolis. Right after my mom left me at the gate, I was told my flight was delayed. Bummer, but not the end of the world... unless, of course, it makes it nearly impossible to catch my connecting flight. This was my chance to practice for The Amazing Race! However, a second delay made even that impossible. So, when I touched down in Minneapolis with TEN HOURS to spare, I got comfy and started writing. Between long periods of writer’s block, I watched episodes of The Amazing Race (seemed fitting), ate beef jerky, and stayed hydrated. Unfortunately, I did not pack 10 hours of food and I was desperate. So don’t judge me… I decided to hunt down some french fries. I’ll spare you the boring play-by-play and just say that I can’t read maps. I must have walked for 30 minutes or more before I found the flippin’ Arby’s. Fries never tasted so good. Having been awake for almost 24 hours, I touched down in Missoula and met my hosts, Bryson and Steve. I FINALLY made it. On Sunday at 2:30, the gun went off. Starting at 4,000 feet with 2,100 feet of total climbing, I knew that I needed to be steady and consistent. I purposefully held back at the start to avoid blowing up on the first long climb. The hardest part was knowing where I was in the race and not having the physical capacity to change it. But I stayed positive and focused on having consistent lap times. On the second lap, the blazing sun disappeared and hail the size of large blueberries began pelting me (mid-race ice bath!) It was the weirdest thing! The course went from dry to muddy in a matter of minutes. The third lap was so grueling, but I was determined to finish strong. I popped out of the last descent and sprinted as hard as I could up the gravel road and through the final grass stretch. This is incredibly hard to say, but I got last. And you know what? I’m (almost) okay with it. Why? I did everything I could to perform at MY best. If I controlled the known variables, why should I beat myself up about the unknown ones that are out of my control? I acknowledge that I’ve come a long way, but I also realize that there’s a long road ahead to get where I want to be. I might need to take a mental break during my journey, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Hitting the reset button is hard because it feels like wasting time, but in some cases, it yields the results you’ve been looking for all along. After Missoula, I hitched a ride back to Draper, Utah where Bryson took me to see Dr. Massimo Testa (BMC pro team doctor) to discuss the physical limitations I’m experiencing. I was touched when he introduced me as a “past and future champion.” It made me think, “I’m cool with that temporary title. Even if I never bring “present champion” into fruition, that’s still something to be proud of.” To sum up my analysis: I have low iron and I've moved out of the acute phase of the mono and into the chronic phase. I might have bad days here and there, but it's not affecting me every day. And chances are, I'm on the tail-end of it because it's been a year. There’s no way to predict how long it will be until I get my race engine back, but when I do, I’m NOT going to waste it. "I CAN and WILL be one of the best."
1 Comment
3/5/2017 05:30:20 am
Hi Veda,
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
March 2017
|