Motivation

Just got back to Tallahassee from a 2 week trip around the southeast. Started out in Atlanta for a few days. I was able to watch the men on the team compete in the Tour de GA. It was surreal to see all the big teams and riders competing, I was in awe every time we would go to the stages to watch! I was so happy for the guys, they rode incredibly and really proved that the first year team is super strong.

After the few days in ATL where I did a bit of training and hit up a bunch ride, I headed to Athens Twilight with Joe, Tim, and Monique. Boy was that race a learning experience. Basically the 24 hrs before the start of the race, my stomach was in knots and I was psyching myself out. I had never done such a large race and was nervous about having people from the team there watching. When ever I get nervous, my blood sugars like to run high. So a few hours before the race I was hanging around 250 all afternoon. 45 minutes before the start check and I am around 230, looks like my bs is finally heading down! Set a temp basal of -50% and Monique and I go ride around to get the blood moving. Check about 20 minutes later, I am 280. GREAT! Check about 10 minutes later I am around 300, even better! (total sarcasm..!) Decide I am going to give myself 1 unit and run a temp basal of -25%. Basically, I have done this whole scenario a few times before and why I still have not learnt from it is beyond me..maybe i'll have learnt my lesson now that I have documented it on my blog... Back to Twilight, as you may have guessed by 30 minutes into the crit I have totally bonked and just have no power in my legs. As soon as I started to feel my bs dropping I tried to down a GU and glucose tabs, but it just did not work out. I dropped out and rolled over to the team van to check, I was at 80. It was a terrible feeling knowing that I had ridden so poorly especially in front of a lot of people from the team. All because I pulled a total amateur diabetic move..LAME!

Then on to some Speed Week crits. I definetly wanted to redeem myself after Twilight, although Twilight was the biggest race I had ever done, I was upset that I had dropped out and didn't finish all because of poor management. The 2nd race went a bit better, finished 20th, Monique was 23rd, and we both won primes. 3rd race was poor for me, I ended up just sitting in the whole time and not doing anything. I just was not feeling too spunky and being lazy. Finished around 25th (?) Monique was a few places behind but won a few primes. 4th races was an utter blast! Monique and I were both on and racing aggressively. Sadly I don't have much to show from that race since I didn't get us any primes and I completely lost it on the bell lap. It was still a great experience because I was committing and racing strong. After the 3rd race, I was a bit upset that I just sat in the whole time and really wanted to show that I am not one of those types of racers that just sits in and doesn't take risks. I definetly took some risks in the 4th race (NRC-Sunny King Crit in Anniston, AL), but should have backed off just a bit. In the few final laps the field had been split up into a few smaller groups because the pace was super high, I was in the front group of about 20 until we turned the 2nd corner of the 4 corner course on the final lap, and lost all momentum when a chick rode the corner funny, causing a gap and everyone jumping, I however did not have any legs at that moment to jump with everyone else :/ eh oh well... another lesson learned... Ended up rolling in, completely trashed, suffering and losing about 25 places..haha. The final race of the week was the NRC race in Roswell, GA. The 3 previous crits I had managed my diabetes really well and was feeling really happy about it until this race. Basically my bs ended up hitting 480 about 20 min before the start. I should have been checking more up until the race to realize that I was trending upward quickly. I felt like death right before the race. This time it was because my site went bad, not because I let my nerves get the best of me. Ended up doing 1 unit and setting a temp basal of -45%. About 15 min into the race I start feeling a bit better and and ended up winning a prime. 35 min into the race, with the fear of bonking again, I ate a GU. Felt alright the rest of the race and ended up 11th. Got back to the van after the race and I am 280. Not what I would like to be at, but much rather prefer that number over 80!

The week was great fun, and I feel like I learned a lot. It was really motivating and I can not wait until my next big race. It's always rewarding when you have been training and working hard and you get to pull some decent results for your first big race series. It was also really nice getting to hang out with my team mates and getting to know everyone a bit better.

Glad to be home for a bit, this week I'll take it a bit easy and am really excited to get to hang out with some friends that are home from school for a few months. Let the summer festivities commence!

On a side note, my new obsessions are Nuun, daft punk, and traveling around to find where I want to move next year.

Lata cuz!