Utah Tour de Donut 2011 has come and gone. And I must admit I was a tad bit nervous. The last race I was in I was.....well, a little traumatized. Remember? I was definitely nervous for this race. To deal with my nerves in the days leading up to the race, I just didn't think about it. This was a surprisingly helpful way to handle my crazy. I even continued on not thinking about it too much until well after we got to the race's starting location. I was able to register and apply my sunscreen while giving little thought to my increasing nervousness.
But then you reach a point when you can no longer ignore the obvious. For me, it happened as all the cyclists were lining up at the starting line and the count down clock was very quickly counting down to the start time. I was surrounded by people confident in their biking skills. These people were excited and happy to be participating in such a fun event. And I was terrified. Crazy, much?
As soon as the race began, the sound of all the cyclists clicking into their peddles was all around and hundreds of bikers were taking off! The butterflies in my stomach were raging against me and I was so nervous I was shaking. It is safe to say that I was FREAK. ING. OUT.
So I did the only logical thing to do in that situation. Once the herd of bikers had thinned out, I hopped on the bike, went to my happy place and started the race. And just kept going. And going. I finished the 21 miles in 110 minutes. The race ended at 100 minutes, but at least I finished.
The course was flat which helped immensely. Plus, my friend very generously let me borrow her road bike for the event (thank you! thank you!) and I think that made a huge difference. HUGE!
My personal goal for this race was to have a better experience than I did in the last race. I can happily report that my goal was accomplished. Not only did I finish the race, but I didn't cry a single time and was still in my happy place at the finish line. And, really, what more can you ask for?
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
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3 comments:
You are awesome! What a tremendous achievement.
I am SO proud of you!!!
If you ever need a racing buddy, you can always call!
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