NMBS Deer Valley XC Report #1

by Shannon

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything was falling apart and you weren't sure you should even hop on the plane to go race for fear it may not make it? This was my week prior to Deer Valley. A couple of weeks ago I re-injured my knee which was just mentally hard for me to take and I couldn't put in the training I needed. I knew I would race anyways because I had already purchased plane tickets and registered. So then last friday night Noah woke up in the middle of the night with the stomach flew. Kris came down with it Saturday and me Sunday.

So by Tuesday night I had lost 10 lbs. Lucky for me I recovered fairly fast, Kris was unlucky and was still fighting it Thursday when we left. Thursday morning (the day we were to leave) I woke up with a head cold and a hamstring that was as solid as concrete. I was really feeling that the forces that be were not with me, I was a train wreck. We got on the plane anyways and made it to Salt Lake. I chose to not race the Super D to conserve my energy. I must say my attitude wasn't the greatest. I was excited to be around all the Bellas because they all have such a great presence/attitude and I was hoping it would be infectious (since I seem to catch everything). Our tires finally came from Schwalbe so I had Tim put on the Racing Ralphs and then pre rode with Jen and Kristin which was fun and the new tires were awsome and my bike felt great.

We got done pre-riding and Jen gave me some words of encouragement , she said I had nothing to worry about for the race on Saturday (thanks Jen). It really made me feel better because at that point I wasn't sure why I was entered in a Pro XC race with the year I have had. So Saturday morning I woke up and decided I was going to make the best of it. I took off for my pre race warm up and oddly enough I felt awsome. Not really sure how but I felt great. I got to the start line. I was going to try someting new and try and start more conservatively. I was towards the end of the pack by the halfway point. I think someone said 45th. I didn't really care because I wasn't last and the course is so much fun. So I just kept on riding and passing people.

In the second and third lap I probably should have been more aggresive at passing people becuase I kept getting stuck behind girls on the singletrack. So the entire race I just kept moving up. My knee was great ( I had a shot of Kenalog on Wednesday) and my attitude was the best it has been in years. The third lap I realized I was doing alright and really wanted to beat last years time. About 1/2 way through the lap I was getting ready to pass 2 more girls and a bee decided to take residence in my jersey and kept stinging me.

I finally had to stop to find it and get it out, I lost the girls unfortunatley. So I worked hard and pushed to the finish for 35th place and 9 minutes faster that last year. My best placing at an NMBS race ever. So....not too shabby. My confidence restored and attitude renewed. So I guess I learned that attitude really is everything. I know from here my season will be better and hopefully I will see that top 25 placing I have been training hard for.

Happy Trails