Spring Break of an athlete

Being an elite athlete, school breaks aren’t really breaks at all, they’re just opportunities for more training. As a teenage girl I still want to enjoy my breaks a little.  This year I went to Florida to visit some family, friends and of course for some time in the sun. Florida weather may have been a little better than Oklahoma’s, but in no way did I escape the wind.  So with all my kits, swim suits and tanning oil, we loaded up my bike and drove down to FL for the week.  We stayed on the shores of Daytona Beach; it was beautiful waking up to the sunset on the waves.  The riding weather was close to perfect everyday; I only got sprinkled on once during a training ride and got poured on during my first race Saturday morning.  I had some amazing friends that I got to get closer with and ride with, which is always my favorite part. Some of the bonds you make in this sport are close to unbreakable. One of my favorite days was Wednesday; I got to race in a practice circuit race in Clermont, Fl.  It was a smooth course with a bunch of good competition; one thing I loved seeing is the amount of junior racers that were out there! I love seeing this sport grow in a good way; they were also pretty fast too. Of course most of my trip was spent riding, but I did have some time for a little fun!  My free time was spent at the beach, watching movies, eating ice cream and mini golfing with my favorite people.  To round off the amazing break I raced Saturday in the Delray Twilight festival criterium.  I race the W123 in the morning and got 5^th racing in the pouring rain! Later that day I did the WP123 and got my butt kicked, it was a great experience to be racing with such talented and knowledgeable women.  I also loved watching some of my closest friends race the mens pro race, 2 hours of crit racing is rough! I was so lucky to get the opportunity to go to Florida and make some new friends and get some more miles in! I definitely want to come back next year and get under the lights at Delray again!

Pictures

Confidence

So the last few weekends I have been away stage racing in Texas, Arizona and California! Stage racing is nothing like you would expect it to be, three races in 2-3 days no big deal right? Well after back to back races it starts to pile up.  My first race didn't go as well as I had expected it to, but it was one of my first times out on the road since the fall! After a few races getting dropped pretty hard by the pros, this last weekend at the Tour of Murrieta I finally started preforming like I should! The 2nd day was a 50 minute crit and I was extremely nervous, I kept reminding myself to trust in my training, and after every attack the pace would slow back down.  5 laps or so into the race I noticed we were dropping girls, fast.  Half way through the race pretty much half of the field was gone, and only 3 of my teammates were left in the race with me. I felt amazing, my legs felt great and I wasn't dying… yet.  I ended up finishing on the back of the lead pack, but next race it will be in the front of the lead pack. It was so awesome to be able to hang in the pro123 criterium as a cat 3.  I finally got my confidence back which is what I was waiting for! Now my racing season can officially start! Confidence is a big part of this sport.  If you tell yourself you can do it, you will. If you talk to yourself in a negative way you're going to preform in a negative way.  It may sound crazy but when your only 25 minutes into a 50 minute p123 crit averaging about 25mph nothing is crazy, I totally talk to myself. Not out loud but in my head, I tell myself I can do anything for 25 minutes, how strong I'm feeling, and to trust my training, I practice chasing attacks all the time.  I was so proud of myself for not just hanging in with the big girls, but for hydrating right, believing in myself and not stressing out! I expect to see myself on the podium very soon.