ego: in check

Just in case I felt really good about my performance on Tuesday, I went ahead and killed my confidence and got my ass kicked in a mountain bike race on Sunday.

It should have been a great course for me - not a win, but I had been climbing the ranks the last few races, inching closer to the podium. The course was relatively open, plenty of smooth (and twisty) singletrack, and few technical features. It was also short & fast. I missed 7th place by about 6 seconds, and I am blaming the stupidest mis-shift ever. The other problem was that those few technical features got in my head, and I couldn't seem to get through them confidently. Front wheel lifts continue to be the bane of my existence. I spent half of the race thinking about how badly I need a good, long break, and most of my post-race wondering who I thought I was kidding - I am no bike racer.

A bit more rest & a clearer mind have helped me to put the experience in perspective. I was racing on a pretty hard training week - more hard efforts during the week, from CHIN on Tuesday, running stair repeats, and hill repeats on Friday. Um, no wonder my legs felt like junk! Not getting big results in mountain biking is fine - it's all training, fitness & skill-building right now. It's my first season, and I needn't take it so seriously. This was not an A race, so it is ok that I went into it tired, and perfectly fine to just use it as a hard training ride.

Some positives: I was able to climb some pretty steep & technical parts I definitely couldn't earlier in the season. I am getting better at looking ahead, giving me more confidence in the single track and on the descents. And there were still some relatively technical features that definitely would have given me pause (and probably forced a dismount) at the first couple of races.

Finally, yes, I do need a break - and I'll get one just as soon as I get through the next 3 week block. There's only one more race before then, and for the big picture (ie. Project CX), it's a bit too early for that break. The temptation to slack off with no major races looming is great, but I am hoping that putting in some hard efforts now will pay off later.