Know When to Fold 'Em

Sometimes they are just not aligned for you. I had a great training week, but on Friday I was dog tired. No real reason, just tired. I was so fired up after that last weekend of racing, not to mention RACE swam great and Breeze Bars debuted at Whole Foods. All that was left for a perfect week was to crush it at Interlocken.

The weekend started out at Anderson arms with friends at the corn maze. Allen Krughoff is not just a great training partner and coach, that man can corn maze it up. We didn't run, but that hour plus was hardly our best race prep, but it was all fun so very worth it. I woke up Saturday a little sluggish, but a great RACE workout by the kids in the am lifted my spirits. After 2 hours on deck I headed home, prepped the bikes and rolled out to Interlocken to help Breeze with the expo and race.

I was telling someone as we warmed up, this is either really bad or really good, I felt bad. My stomach was doing flips and my legs were dead. I have to honest though, I have had as many good days feeling like that as bad, so I did what I could to prepare well. It was one of those days though. Breeze Bars were going like hotcakes and I took multiple trips to the car for more bars. As the start approached, I was struggling more and more. We hit the line and it was a bizarre start. We were told of the overall champion trophy for the series by the wife of Matthieu Chesaux for whom it is named. It was a sobering moment, but no more than 10 seconds after she finished speaking, the whistle blew. No warning, just ...go! I was lucky and the seas parted and I was in a great spot. That's about where my luck ended. After the sand there is a downhill with a stump in the middle of it. i hit the stump hard. i heard Colby behind me let out a big whoa as I held on for dear life. I saved it only to lose it off the course on the next turn. I was all over the place and redlined, honestly where I wouldn't normally be. A couple more spills and by the end of the first lap I was really in trouble. I had no go and I felt God awful. Then I started to feel ill. I pulled over on the backside of the course and dropped to my knees. Kiel went by me asking if I was alright only to bite it in the next corner looking back, that is a friend. Breeze came over and convinced me to stop and I walked back to the expo and right into the bathroom where the mornings food reappeared. Not good.

I hate DNF'ing and frankly I have been angry about it since, but it was the right thing to do. Even today after 10 hours of sleep I don't feel right. Breeze and I were in the kitchen all morning and I am off to an expo tonight, no real rest. But, I will sleep again tonight and be back at it.

Boulder Cup and Colorado Cross Classic this weekend. I'll be an elite Cyclocross racer for Halloween this year. We'll see how good the costume is. haha