"Don't give up, don't ever give up" - Basketball Coach, Jim Valvano
So last weekend, May 16-18, I decided to pack up and head north, to Gaylord, MI, to experience back to back days of racing in a beautiful backdrop of Northern Michigan. And I do mean North. A good percentage of the field racing had come down from Canada, less than 2 hours from the race site. And I was not disappointed.
Friday night started out with a cold, windy and hilly 5K open run. The cold actually felt good, and as finished my warm up, I had that sensation it could be a good day. A time trial start added to the excitement, always having someone to chase. I went out hard, not too hard, not wanting to burn matches, with 2 more days of racing ahead. But as I hit the turnaround, I saw a time on my watch that I hadn't seen in while - 7:30. So I did something that just felt right, I accelerated. And as I crossed, I saw the time - 15:32. The run was confirmed with the overall win, and it felt damn good.
Saturday was the very hilly, very windy and very cool evening 40K TT, with a rather impolite 600 meter climb to the finish labeled by the RD as "little alp de huez" a mean 18-25 percent climb that had all of us twisting and turning our bodies to the finish. As I hit the halfway point, I felt good, and was happy to have great road surface for the unforgiving climbs. They came fast and thick, and hurt. But it was a good hurt, the kind you wait to feel, the kind that you learn you can endure with training hard, learning that your comfort zone needs to be pushed out always, constantly improving your fitness, and helping you realize you are stronger than you are. Winning that was special, and I knew that Sunday was going to be tough, with the ride on the same course, and the run even harder.
Sunday came with warmer temps, less wind and a twist on the two 5K runs - soft sand, on the hills. Actually, soft sand on 2/3's of the run course. As we took off and hit the first hill, getting a decent grip on the surface was tough, and patience was necessary to not blow up. Once the lead group of us crested the hill, we were faced with an uneven trail of sand and grass. Coming back to T1 wasn't much more forgiving. But I hit T1 in 3rd, 20 seconds off of first and felt good. Until 10K on the bike. I tried to get away from a chasing group, and redlined. It allowed the group to get past, and again I was relegated to chasing on an unrelenting course. I hit T2 calm, and determined to make up ground. Which is exactly what I did. I felt the burn in my quads as I climbed the sand hill again, this time made worse with everyone having tread through it once. Again I was patient, and reeled in 3 guys, but it wasn't enough. I crossed 5th, but took consolation in being the first American.
In the week following the events I realized that I my comfort zone hadn't been pushed out far enough. I wasn't pushing myself enough in workouts when it called for it. But quitting at getting a win became out of the question - b/c once you give up on improving yourself, once you stop believing you can get better, you have given up on yourself. And if I have learned anything with my training and racing this season - I refuse to quit. I refuse to give up. I realized that its time to make peace with getting "uncomfortable" again, that to get to the top, you have to fight, everyday, and never lose that burning desire to not simply win, but to become fitter, healthier in every area of life.
Stay strong,
Guy
