Are You Living It?

As mentioned before, it is HOT here in San Jose. Record temps have hit the area for several days in a row now - with no sign of it cooling down while we’re here. To be honest though I’m LOVING it!

It’s HOT down here. And about 85 in the room I’m surfing the Internet on. Guy deemed it Bikram Web surfing.

Relaxing before my face off against Jen Featheringill tonight in our sprint finals. Should be good! Best two out of three. Wish me speedy legs!

Before the memory fades into oblivion - I thought I’d recapture the days events. It’s not every day you win a National title - let a lone your first USA Cycling Masters title as a first year master - so here goes.

My track hack has finally calmed down after a big power output from this afternoon. I’m proud to say I just earned my first Master Nationals title in the 2k pursuit with a time of 2:37.00. Yahoo!

It’s HOT here - with really low humidity (14%!). But I managed to dig deep and lay down a stellar time. Thanks to all the friends and family who have supported me in my endeavors and allowed me to live my passion! Today I got to demonstrate what happens when you lay it down on the line and go for it!

Here we are once again in Greenville readying for one of the last races of the season.  The racing season has flown by again.  It feels like we were just here racing our brains out to get Neil on the podium.  Just a few more weeks of racing left in the road season before making the transition to Cyclocross for some of us and the rest will do their off season thing.

On Saturday Ryan, Seth and I headed out for a ride up Starvation Mountain off Highway 20 in the Methow. For those not familiar with the area it is home to some of the most amazing cross-country riding and the valley is a thing to behold on its own.

We were camping on our property near Winthrop and Saturday morning we loaded up in the Red TDI and headed up to the trail just outside of Twisp.  Ryan was driving and keeping us entertained.  As has been mentioned before Ryan keeps himself fit (that is an understatement).  So Seth and I were a bit nervous as to what might be in store for us….

This photo was taken by Diane Boursaw for Wheels in Focus. It really captures my season - leading the charge and always looking ahead into the next corner for what may come.

And always study your enemy. Look at their weak spots - figure out the way they move and then ATTACK! (Ok - maybe I’ve been reading a little too much into “Book of Five Rings…”)

Lord help me.

On tap for today - 30 minutes in tempo. Immediately followed by 2 sets of Breaker intervals in my mass start bars, any gear of my choosing.

Then 1 effort in my pursuit bars. First 10 laps at 25 mph, then every two laps increase the pace by 3 mph for two laps and go until failure.

If you hear on the evening news, “Woman in Redmond passes out from exercise exhaustion…” you’ll know who it is.

This past weekend I was off the bike for two days for the first time in months. It’s my last breather before buckling down and dialing in my speed and agility before nationals. Not only did it allow me to rest my body, but it also allowed me to rest my mind and regroup.

For those who don’t know - I began track racing in 2005. I started it the same year I started road racing and had immediate success. I remember the first time I lifted my leg over the rental bike and did my first revolution at Marymoor, I knew there was something special.