A Reflection

John, Klish, Taylor Seavey, Me and Matt Signoretty at Nationals

As I prepare to head to Maui next week, I can't help but reflect upon my year, as this is the final step in this incredible journey. It was two years ago, while running with my friend Karen DeWolf, that I decided to set the Xterra World Championship race as a goal. It didn't quite work out for me that year, as I broke my clavicle in the middle of the mtn bike season, and was not able to race the Xterra series. This year however, has gone so well.

I raced 9 of the Oregon Mountain Bike series races this year, injury free, and have improved my bike handling skills tremendously. I think this has been probably the most critical piece of my Xterra race success this year. Getting injured last year really helped me to focus on the mental aspects of racing, like staying focused and positive. I feel much more confident in my "racing" skills and feel like through experience I have learned where I can push my limits, and where to be conservative.

This year I began attending track workouts with the HOTV runners here in Corvallis to work on my speed. I have always been a comfortable runner, but not a very fast one. "Endurance" is my comfort zone, but the distances in the Xterra races are not that long. In order for me to be a competitive Xterra athlete, I've had to improve my 10k speed. My times have been improving at each race, and I feel like there is more improvement to be made. The speed workouts are invigorating, and have become an enjoyable part of my training week.

The swim at Lake Sawyer, Xterra Black Diamond

I did make an attempt at improving my swimming this year, but have a LONG way to go. I am consistently coming out of the water at the back of the field, and am having to bite and claw my way towards the front the entire rest of the race. I have begun swimming with the OSU triathlon club, where an on-deck coach actively watches the swimmers and offers feedback and suggestions. This, is helping tremendously and it gets me out of bed at 5:30am!! Although the rate at which I am improving my swim is at a snails pace, I will take any improvement as success. My swim plan for the Maui race is to keep my head down, and NOT resort to side stroke!! I want to see if I can swim consistently the entire time, no, I WILL swim consistently the entire time.

I have competed in 4 Northwest Xterra Series races this year which then qualified me for the Xterra Nationals race in Ogden, Utah. I had been feeling pretty confident in the Northwest races, finishing strong, but I really had no idea how I would stand up next to the women from other regions. I had heard a lot about the Colorado girls being hard core, but other than that, I was going into it blind. I was happy to finish 3rd out of 14 in my age group.

Xterra USA Championship race Ogden, Ut

I think about that day that Karen and I were running; we were making plans, setting goals. Although Karen was not able to join me in this adventure, as she has since had her 3rd baby, I stuck with it. Here I am now, heading to Maui. I have thought about my life these last few months and all the times I stopped just short of reaching my goals. Its the support of my family and friends, and the utter joy that comes from racing my bike and Xterra that has kept me going.

I can quite honestly say that this has been the best year of my 37. I feel more connected to my husband, my children and myself and have found my passion. I think I'll stick with it.