John, Klish, Taylor Seavey, Me and Matt Signoretty at Nationals |
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 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 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.
Good luck at XTerra! That looks awesome.
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