Seven Springs, PA Road Race Nationals

I have never raced or even been to a national championship, so I was pretty nervous what my first experience would be like. It was first so incredibly difficult to get to the race (see below) and plan for it without any sort of support, that I was just mentally exhausted before I even got to Seven Springs. However, I have such a great support system (my family, Azeen, Monica, Jannelle, Carrie, Anthony, Kele, my coach) that I went to the start line with a positive attitude.

However, Thursday (my travel day) ended up being such a disaster that some would say it was a sign that I shouldn't have even been here. First, my shuttle that was to pick me up at 4:00 a.m. bailed on me. I had no other way to get to the airport and I just started to panic. At 4:45, I drove like a mad woman over to a friend's house and pounded on his door with tears rolling down. Thankfully he is such a great person and agreed to take me to San Jose. (I totally owe him big time!) I just barely made it to my flight and once I was situated and calmed down, we sat on the runway for 1.5 hours because of mechanical problems. So, when I flew into Minneapolis, I booked it running as fast as I could to the next terminal for my flight to Pittsburgh. As they were closing the doors, I yelled "WAIT!!!" and I just made it. Needless to say, my luggage had not been able to make that mad dash. In Pittsburgh, I went to the luggage counter to see when my bike and bag would arrive. Well, my bag was to arrive a couple hours later, but my bike was lost. It had never been scanned anywhere so, they didn't know where it was. Oh my gosh!!!! Both my bag and bike ended up arriving at the host house in Pittsburgh at 2 am. Yeah!

As for the race, it was super tough! It started out hard right away. Once we started, my legs just went numb. (They have done this before and if anyone knows what causes this or how it can be prevented, advice would be appreciated.) I knew it was going to be a struggle to keep my legs moving from the start. The course was pretty, but with lots of undulating hills that were steep. On the second lap, I started feeling the cramping twitches in my legs. "Uh oh," I thought. I refused to give in, especially with all of the drama that went on to get to Seven Springs. So, I just kept concentrating on moving my legs. On the third and final lap is when I finally bonked. It was the last major climb with maybe about 6 or 8 miles left to go and everything in me just died. I kept peddling, though. When I went through the finish, all I could think about was getting a Coke, because my body was crashing quick and hard. (I was seeing the infamous black dots before you pass out.) I saw this woman with one in her hand and I asked her if she had another one. I must have looked really haggard because she gave me what she had left. Then, she commented on how much I was shaking, so she walked away and came back with another Coke. Right there, I just set my Kona bike down (she was tired as well and needed to rest) and sat on the gravel right next to her and chugged that Coke. I really wish I knew what I looked like because so many people were coming up to me asking me if I needed medical help. Even the announcer guy got off the stage and walked over to me to see how I was doing. After I finished the Coke and had some Cytomax Muscle Milk, I just felt sooo much better! Overall, I am really glad that I came here for the race. It was a great experience!
p.s. Thanks to Lydia and Gregg Davis for opening their house to a complete stranger for the weekend!