I’m sitting on a plane, bound for Miami, shooting off e-mails to my sponsors letting them know that “Yes! I am racing this weekend”!! I’m also seriously contemplating what is ahead for me this weekend. The term that keeps coming to mind is “Yikes!”.
It’s been almost 6 months since I last raced. I know of MANY other athletes who have been out for longer, but 6 months, nevertheless, seems like a long time. It feels like ages ago when I toed the line a healthy athlete, as almost every race I did this year was executed in pain and with a progressing injury. This will be my first race of 2014 where I will be healthy.
I’m thrilled and excited and really quite joyous about competing this weekend. It is a celebration of a lot of hard work and patience over the last many months. A lot of time spent resting. A lot of time spent rebuilding. A lot of time spent on strength, mobility, technique. A lot of time spent in rehab. It’s a great feeling to be returning to the thing I love most about this sport – the racing.
But I am also admittedly nervous.
On one hand I know the pressure is off. It is my comeback race. I only started running 4 weeks ago and I know I am not in peak racing fitness. This race is meant to dust off the cobwebs and get my body ready for the coming months of racing.
On the other hand, I feel pressure. All self-inflicted, of course. I don’t like using excuses as a pre-cursor to performance – I feel like when you line up to race, you race to win. No excuses. And where I have no gauge as to where I am at – the unknown is a scary feeling.
I’m also putting pressure on myself because I want to do my sponsors proud. I want to validate to them that I not only will be back, but that I WILL be back better and stronger and faster than when I left. Performance is only one part of how we contribute as sponsored athletes, but it still plays a role, and putting up wonderful races is a way to inspire, motivate and capture the attention of consumers. So yeh – I want to perform.
One this is for sure, this weekend will be an exciting and special weekend for me, and I truly cannot wait to get out there and at least get a benchmark of where I am and where I need to go.
Miami 70.3. The start of a new season. 2015. Here. We. Go.
There are SO many people to thank, but a few special shout outs go to Matt Dixon (my amazing coach), Foundry Performance (strength and rehab), Stacy Sims (nutrition), Kevin Burns (massage), Anthony & Robin DuComb (fake SF parents), My real Mom, Dad, brothers and their families, the Shift SF Cycling and training studio & community, and my dear friends and training partners – you all have been so instrumental and played a significant role in my rehab process – Thank you, and I hope you all will be celebrating with me this weekend when I cross the line!
Until next time (and post-race)!
Don’t Dream it. Be it.
Little Red
