Crit Racing...A Whole New Adventure

I recently decided that I wanted to get into crit racing.  Basically, a crit (short for criterium) is a fast bike race race on a short course.  You go round and round for a specified amount of time.  This type of racing is completely different from the racing I do in triathlon. The point is to stay with the pack and NOT fall behind. It's hard racing from the start.

Last night I showed up for my first crit race at Fair Park.  I was there last week as a spectator, and I was super excited to be there this week participating.  I showed up in my official Dallas Racing/Park Place race kit.  I'm so excited to be a part of their team...they have certainly rolled out the welcome wagon. My road bike was finally getting some much deserved love after nearly two years of watching my tri bike have all the fun.  To make her feel (and look) better, I even treated her to some new race wheels so she would feel a little more legit. I'm not sure who was more excited to be racing, me or my bike. It really was good to be racing with her again.  I rode her in my first few triathlons.

I knew I was out of my league before the race started. I was one of a handful of women racing with a lot of men.  I was even lined up next to professional triathlete D'Ann Arthur.  Umm...really! At least I knew who would be kicking my butt and that I was in good company. I felt better knowing that my partner in crime, Casey, was right there with me as well.  It was her first crit too.

As soon as the race started I was in trouble.  I couldn't get my foot clipped into my pedal and I was dropped from the group shortly after the second turn.  Yes, it was that fast.  I tried to catch the pack, but just couldn't.  As I finished the first lap...way behind the pack, I was feeling a little deflated.  I really thought I would have been able to hold on for a little while.  There was even a point when I thought about quitting because I knew the pack would eventually lap me.  That's when I had one of my little "come to Jesus" meeting with myself.  I told myself that I would stop when the race was over or when the officials pulled me.  Quitting wouldn't make the next race any easier. They don't actually pull people from this race for getting lapped, so an early exit wasn't a possibility.  I was just going to have to keep riding hard.  And did I ever ride hard.  My heart rate was so high that I actually felt sick after a while. My lungs and legs were on fire!

At one point, one of the other girls in the race who had gotten dropped from pack, slowed down to give me some tips on cornering.  SERIOUSLY, this girl was nice enough to take time in a race to give a rookie some pointers!  Talk about making the new girl feel welcome. I cannot say enough about all the nice people out there.

The pack actually lapped me twice.  Each time I tried to tuck back in with them, but failed.  I couldn't even stay close enough to watch them to see how they handled things.  I am proud of the fact that I did stay vertical and I didn't cry.  It was nice to go home with all of my skin still attached to my body.

If I had know the outcome of last night's race, I probably would have waited a little longer before doing my first one, but I'm really glad that I did it.  The truth is, if I waited until I felt "ready", I would never make it to the starting line.  The whole experience was amazing.  Despite the suffering, which is more than I've suffered in ANY triathlon, I did have fun.  After the race I got to hang out and have a couple of cold beers with some great people. Like triathlon, I felt very welcomed in this new community.

I have a lot to learn and a lot of work ahead of me.  I need to get stronger, and I mean A LOT stronger if I want to be able to hang with the pack.  Since I have a little over two months before I go back to work, I have plenty of time work on my skills.  There are a ton of people from my team, Dallas Racing, as well as some great friends who have offered to help me out and give me advice.  This new adventure is just what I needed.  I love a challenge and can't wait to race again next week. 

As far as triathlon goes, I certainly am not throwing in the towel. I'm still running and swimming and getting ready for the X50 next month. I think the crit racing will be a fun way to improve my strength for triathlon.

I've been able to use my experience of triathlon to try to teach my students  lessons in goal setting and perseverance.  My experience in cycling will hopefully help me to teach them even more lessons.  Failures are only failures if you allow them to be.  They are opportunities to pick yourself up, take what you learned, and get back on the horse.  I will probably never be an elite level cyclist, but I'm determined to have fun and see just where this sport will take me.

A big thanks goes out to all my friends and family who are supporting me in this new venture. Congratulation to Casey Poe for being brave enough to start this adventure with me.

                                           Here is my picture right after the race. Thank you to
                                           teammate and friend Lisa Stone for letting me borrow
                                           her jersey since mine hasn't come in yet.


"Beyond pain there is a whole new universe of more pain." ~~ Jens Voigt

Lessons

The medal is more than a token that is placed around an athlete's neck at the finish line.  I can't really say I value the hardware that hangs on a little ribbon.  The value is in the lessons learned, discovering truths about myself, and the sacrifices made.  It's the hours, weeks, months, blood, sweat, and tears that it took to take on 140.6 miles.

"Athlete" is the last word that would be used to describe me when I was in high school.  I wasn't busting my butt at practice before and after school.  I wasn't on the playing field.  I was behind the camera filming basketball games.  I even spent a couple of years in the dugout keeping a pitching chart.  I was the girl bitching and complaining in PE as I walked most of the mile we had to complete each year.  Man, I wish I could go back and do it differently, but then again, maybe that's part of what made my journey so special.

Triathlon is grueling sport, but it can also be spiritual.  During my first year of racing I would write the same initials on my ankle to honor little boy who never experienced life. Even though we never met, racing makes me feel close to him.  I remember struggling though my first Olympic distance race.  I knew that if I couldn't finish it for myself, that I could finish it for him...and I did. While I don't race with his initials on my ankle anymore, I still think of him every time I toe the starting line. I find myself not only think of him, but of others loved ones who are no longer with me.  In particular, I think about my dad's dad...Paw Paw Manuel.  I know when I race that he is looking down from heaven watching with pride.  My aunt, his daughter, said she wished he could see me.  I told her that he does.  I feel him most when I'm running.  I see him in his John Deere work shirt clapping and smiling.  He never misses a race.  He has been with me every single time.

This whole experience has taught me more than I ever would have dreamed.  The path that eventually led me  to Ironman isn't the path I expected my life to take. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to change my path.  When I began this sport it was a fun way to work off stress.  It was an escape from the things that were weighing on me. As I got further into my Ironman training I realized that I can't hide from my problems.  The long rides and long runs forced me to think about a lot of things in my life.  Often those long training sessions gave me clarity and helped me to discover a lot about myself.  It helped me to figure out the things I needed to keep doing as well as the changes that I needed to make.  Of course, Jeneen and I often solved many of the world's problems on our long rides that we did together.  Sometimes to answers to life's problems seemed so easy for us to figure out.  We even found ways to solve everyone else's problems.  Perhaps we should have shared our insight with those people! Through it all I learned to love this path that I'm on.  I'm  exactly in the place in my life that I'm supposed to be right now. The people and events that led me here were for a reason, as were the lessons the Ironman taught me.  I've learned that I'm stronger, both  mentally and physically, than I thought.   Looking forward I know there will still be challenges to face, but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to tackle them with a more positive mind set because I know that there is nothing I can't overcome.  I'm not saying that it will be easy, but perhaps things won't seem so impossible.  It's okay to be uncomfortable. It's okay if it hurts. I know that if I dig my heels in and keep moving  forward I will get through it. I don't think this sport is done with me.  There are still limits to test, more goals to achieve, and lessons  to learn.



"I thought of that while riding my bike." ~~ Albert Einstein on the Theory of Relativity 

The Final 140.6 Miles

I've been writing and rewriting this post for several days, but I just can't seem to capture this whole experience with words.  For the past year my focus has been this Ironman.  I gave this race everything I possibly could, and now that it is all said and done, I can honestly say that I do not have one single regret.

It wasn't always an easy journey.  Yes, most days were fun, and I loved seeing myself grow stronger both mentally and physically.  Of course, there were days when I just wanted it all to be over.  It took a while, but several weeks before the race, the Ironman truly broke me. The joy was gone.  The fun was gone.  It just sucked!  I was told that the challenges I was facing had purpose, and that it was part of the process.  I knew the people who were telling me this were right, so I had no choice but to suck it up and let it happen.  Once I overcame this hurdle, I felt stronger and more confident than ever.  I truly felt ready for Arizona.  I knew the hard work was done and November 18 would be my victory lap.

I woke up on race morning ready to tackle the Ironman.  I was excited and full of energy, but when it came time to leave the hotel, the nervousness crept in.  When we arrived at the race my eyes were filling up with tears.  The tears were part nerves, part fear, but mostly the emotion that came knowing that this was the final 140.6 miles of one of  the most amazing years of my life.  Once I got into transition to make last minute checks on my bike and gear bags, I began to feel relaxed.  This is not at all what I was expecting  to feel.  I savored the moment and said a prayer for the nearly 3000 athletes who were getting ready to take on this course.  We all had different reason for being there.  We all had challenges to overcome, and we had all changed in some way preparing for this day.

As I toed the starting line waiting for the cannon to signal the start of the race, I thought about all the people who had helped me get to this point.  My coach, the community of triathletes, my friends, my family, my students, my chiropractor....they were my inspiration.  Their support and prayers would carry me every stoke, ever crank of the pedal, every step of the marathon. 

At 7:00 AM the cannon fired and I began swimming in the crazy mass of people.  I had positioned myself near the front, and I was feeling pretty good.  It wasn't the miserable experience I had been anticipating.  Shockingly, I kinda of enjoyed it.  My goal was to finish the swim in 1:25-1:30, and I actually finished in 1:19!  I was pleased.

The bike course was a three loop course.  Each loop was approximately 37 miles.  It was a fairly flat and fast course.  There were times when I really wanted to push myself and go faster, but I knew I had to save my legs for the marathon.  I stuck to my race plan and soaked in the experience.  I kept thinking, "Wow!  I'm really here!"  I had a great time on the bike and finished up way ahead of schedule. 

I went through transition pretty quickly and began my marathon....my very first marthon!  My legs were feeling great.  I followed the 5 minute run/1 minute walk schedule that I had used during training.  I also had my bottle of EFS nutrtion that I had trained with.  The run/walk schedule worked like a charm on race day, but the EFS didn't.  The aide stations were stocked with Perform sports drink, water, sponges, potato chips and pretzles, Gu, and flat Coke.  Because I hadn't trained with most of this, I had no plans on using it, but since I needed a new nutrtion plan ASAP, I decided to throw caution to the wind and try something new.  I started with the potato chips!  After 112 miles of eating and drinking sweet stuff, the salty chips were so awesome.  Then I decided to try the flat Coke.  I swore I would never try this on race day since I've never trained with it, but so many people had told me of it's magical powers.  OMG! It was like crack for runners.  I suddently had a new nutrtion plan....Perform, water, potato chips, and Coke...and it was awesome! Once the sun went down, warm chicken broth was being offered....more magic in a cup.  The new nutrtion plan couldn't have worked better. 

By mile 20 my quads were getting tight and my feet were hurting, but I was still smiling and having fun.  At this point I decided to stop walking, except for at the aide stations.  I needed to slow down enough to grab what I needed.  I knew if I let myself walk, I would never be able to start running again.  I began looking at my watch and realized that a sub 5 hour marathon was very possible, and that I was going to finish this race in under 13 hours. Never in a million years did I think either of these times would be possible.  The adrenaline was serging though my veins.  The last few miles seemed to tick away pretty quickly.  Near the last mile there was a man on the side of the course cheering us on and telling us that if we didn't stop we could finish in the 12:40's!  For a second I thought of walking most of the last mile so I could save the moment a little longer, but decided against it.  I knew my friends were waiting at the finish line.  I knew there people in Louisian and Texas watching the live feed online.  Walking wasn't an option. 

When I saw the turn for the finish I started screaming and pumping my hands into the air.  I had a few hunded yards to go and could hear Mike Reilly announcing each new Ironman.  It was my turn now.  As I made the final left turn and ran the last few yards, my ears were filled the sounds of the crowd. For a moment, those cheers and scream were just for me. For a moment it felt like the whole world was cheering for me! Most of those people didn't know me, but they understood!  Finally....finally....I heard the words I had been waiting to hear, "From Plano, Texas...Amy Manuel YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!"  That moment, those few precious seconds, was everything I thought it would be and more.

There was no magical transformation when I crossed the finish line.  My friend Trent said there wouldn't be.  The transformation happened slowly over the past year.  I was the same person who toed the starting line 12 hours and 43 minutes earlier, but I was not the same person who was sitting at my computer a year earlier registering for this race.   Once again, I was reminded that I'm surrounded by some of the caring, supportive, loving, inspiring, and kind people I will ever meet.  I didn't cross that finish line alone.  The hundreds of people who have supported me through everything were with me.  I couldn't have done it without them.  If you are reading this, you are probably one of these people.

Yes, I did get my sub 13 hour Ironman.  My goal was 14 hours....and I smoked it;-)  I can  honeslty said I had fun from the first stroke to the last step of my 140.6 mile victory lap.  The experience far exceeded my expectation. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity.

What now?  I'm still going to swim, bike, and run through the off season, and I'll be racing agin in the spring.  Next season I plan to give back more to the sport though volunteering than I was able to do this year.  Unfortunatly, an Ironman probably won't happen in 2013, but I'm sure there will be more in my future.  I learned so much about myself over the past year.  I have grown and changed in so many ways.  Hopefully I've inspired someone along the way.  Tomorrow I will go back  to work for the first time since the Ironman.  I can't wait to share my story with my students. They  have been some of my biggest fans, and they have been such a big part of this journey.  I want them to understand that their only limits are the ones they place on themselves. I hope they always remember to dream big!

Thank you for being a part of this journey with me. 

"Win or lose you will never regret working hard, making sacrifices, being disciplined or focusing too much. Success is measured by what we have done to prepare for competition." ~~ John Smith

"If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race. You goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just to finish your race. It's up to you." David Scott