Busy!! Busy!! Fun!! Fun!!

This summer is certainly shaping  up to be a an exciting one.  I recently began working on a few projects with my friend Shawn who is an avid cyclist and professional photographer. For a long time he has talked about starting a cycling team, and I'm excited to announce that Bad Kitty Meow Phat Kat Racing is officially up and running.  It's pretty excited to be a part of something new.  Earlier this week we got the first shipment of team kits.  They look amazing...lots of fun details!  It felt like Christmas when the FedEx truck pulled up with the goods. 

Last night was our first night to race under the new team name.  We headed out to the Thursday night crits at Fair Park.  The new kits did get some attention.  Lots of people commented on how good they looked, and we even got a few "Meows" as we rolled by.  

Just before the race started, big dark clouds began moving in and the temperatures dropped a bit.  It was nice to get a break from the blazing 100+ degree temperatures.  I felt better in last night's race than I have at any other crit.  I was able to stay with the pack a little longer than I have in the past. I was one of only 3 women in my race, so I don't feel so bad that most of the other cyclist were riding circles around me.  My friend and teammate, Lisa, was one of the other women, and she kicked butt! Go Lisa!! I'm getting more comfortable riding in the pack.  The turns still make me a little nervous, but I have to admit that I feel little bit like a bad ass when I'm able to take corners with riders only inches away from from me. 

I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm excited about this new adventure.  In August I'm racing...yes RACING... the 100 K at Hotter n' Hell.  I did the 100 mile rally there a few years ago, but this will be different.  I won't get to cruise into the rest stops to eat snow cones and take pictures. 

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in being a part of Bad Kitty Meow Phat Kat Racing.  We welcome men and women at all levels of cycling.  All you need to do to be part of club right  now is purchase a kit.  We have several options to choose from. Visit www.badkittymeow.com to order yours. 





If constellations had been named in the 20th century, I suppose we would see bicycles. ~ Professor Carl Sagan 

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