I finished my first mountain bike race this past weekend! YES. The weekend where we had record cold! When I arrived at the race sight the temps where getting close to 20 degrees. Due to the "extreme" cold I opted for the 4hr race instead of the 6hr. I was racing a single speed mountain bike instead of a geared bike so I was also in a different category.
What can I say? I have a new found respect for mountain bikers! I ended up doing 4 laps with a total of about 44-45 miles in 4:39:xx, and first overall in the 4hr single speed division. I had an absolute blast. My arms hurt, my legs hurt, my everything hurt. It definitely doesn't get much better than that.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to cram another mtn bike race in but the schedule is starting to look pretty full for 2010. I'm pretty focused right now on my upcoming road race, and the Rocky Raccoon 50 mile run.
I started running again on Friday! I can't even put into words how good it felt to get back on my feet, and off that saddle. I did an easy road run on Friday, took Saturday off for the mtn bike race, then got a nice trail run in on Monday. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting in a nice 7-8 mile trail run in this afternoon if the work schedule allows. My goal for Rocky Raccoon is a sub 8hr 50 mile run (which is REALLY ambitious) but I feel confident that if I train smart I can pull it off with my fitness being where it is.
Like I mentioned earlier I'm also getting ready for my first actual road race in the 23rd of January in Copperas Cove, Texas. I'm racing the Cat4/5 group race which is 54 miles. Being the triathlete that I am, I'm sure that I'm going to go off the front hard, end up pulling 4-5 fast guys, then get dropped around mile 50, but you know what they say... "if you're not first you're last!" Haha. But seriously, it should be a blast, and I'm looking forward to leaving it all out on the road. I hope everyone else is bringing their "A" game, cause I don't want to ride 50 miles by myself :)
Alrighty, I've gotta get back to work, but wanted to give everyone a quick update on that mountain bike race. Below is a picture or two of the race. Hopefully I'll get a race report done within the next week or so....
Stay safe, stay warm, and train hard!
_Jacob_
Cool pics!!!
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