Big Bear 2 X 12 - June 15

Michaux pretty much destroyed my foot. I went back to another doctor for a second opinion.  This one thought I had either neuromas (pinched nerves) or a torn plantar plate and gave me a cortisone shot. Apparently 3% of the population experience “cortisone flare” after a shot, where they develop symptoms worse than the original pain. Lucky me!  My foot felt broken for almost 7 days. I hobbled around on crutches and couldn’t wear any enclosed shoes. This isn’t good.  For three weeks I did absolutely no exercise whatsoever. I could feel myself losing fitness every day. After three weeks, I started to introduce cross/road riding back into my training plan. During this time I also had an MRI that confirmed that I did not have any broken bones or tears, so neuromas were “probably” the culprit of my foot pain. I made some adjustments to my footwear (went up a full shoe size) and started using insoles. I’m hoping this is going to be manageable and I won’t need surgery.

My friend Sara Chua had asked me to do the 2 x 12 a few weeks ago. I was really nervous about this race because I hadn’t ridden much and I knew she had been kicking some major a$$ in other races. It’s one thing to suck at your own race, but I didn’t want to be a crappy partner. She assured me that we would be fine and convinced me to register as team Amish Fingertrap. My first duo. Exciting!

If you have ever been to the 2 x 12, you know that there is this bridge that you have to cross at the end. I am terrified of heights and was so scared of this bridge. It sounds ridiculous, but it took me like 30 minutes to pre-ride over the darn thing. I was actually quite pleased at this, however, because I imagined myself walking it during the race.

Race day is here. Although the strongest rider typically starts a relay race, I decided to start because I wanted to finish before the kids race started. I then learned that the starter has to climb a gravel road for about 5 minutes before dipping into the singletrack. All I thought was --great, my heart is probably going to explode before I even hit the dirt. I don’t think I have climbed anything in 5 weeks.

 

The 2 x 12 course is sooo fun. There are a few climbs which were surprisingly doable for me. But there was a long rocky downhill that really gave me some issues with handpump. I had to stop midway through the hill and clap my hands and try to loosen my fingers because they were totally numb and I lost control of my braking and gearing (not good). My first lap was like 1:44. I certainly didn’t feel fast, but I was very happy I didn’t have any major issues. After the lap, I bombed down the scarey bridge and passed the baton to my teammate Sara. She sped off and did an amazing lap of 1:25. Whew…I had some work to do to catch back up to her! My next lap went a little better as the trail dried up a bit. I clocked in at 1:40- not great, but a little better. Sara pulled out the last lap at 1:26 for an amazing race day for Team Amish Fingertrap. We took first, next to our good friends Aimee and Teresa. And we got 2 big mugs. I’m going to have to buy some more spatulas.

Lesson # 6 – Duos are FUN!

http://www.iplayoutside.com/iplay/Events/?eid=2013/06/14441r2.html