Don't fight with yourself when failure, the teacher pays an unexpected visit. Open up to learning from it." - Jerry Lynch, Author of Running Within
About three years ago I bought a racing mountain bike. My intention was to do an off road triathlon.
There used to be several of these races in Wisconsin, but before I could do them, the races were no longer offered.
I've been mountain biking on vacation and really like it. I've noticed that at the National and World Championships there were hardly any athletes in my age group. The off road cycling is also good practice for the fat tire biking I have to do for Winter Triathlon.
I prepard by taking a mountain bike clinic both this year and last with Wisconsin Women's Cycling. I did not get much chance to practice my skills becasue the spring and early summer were so cold and rainy here in Wisconsin. The trails were not really ridable.
I found a race in Elkart Indian on July 13th. It would be an 800 meter swim, 16 mile mountain bike and a 5K trail run. It was supposed to be a beginner course. This was a USAT sanctioned race and if I did two this season I would be elibible for the World Championship in Hawaii. The race I picked was the DINO XTERRA. I decided to see how this race went before I signed up for race #2.
Things did not start out well on the night before the race. The race was in Potato Creek State Park. I camped the night before. I didn't have room for cooking equpment so I packed a couple of PBJ's for dinner and breakfast. Unfortunately the plastic bag they were in was packed in a cooler full of ice. The bag leaked, soaking my dinner and breakfast. So I had only some fruit and a energy bar for dinner and the same for breakfast.
The camp was great and wonderfully quiet after dark. As I tried and failed to sleep, I worried about the swim. It would not be wet suit legal.
Swim
I was the first one to set up in transition. I was a small race, maybe a couple of hundred. There would be two waves. I lined up in the second wave that was deemed a survivor wave. It was meant to be smaller for the slower swimmers. The water was weedy and 85 F. I really should not have worried.
The swim was uneventful.
Bike
This would be the real challenge. The course would be two loops of 8 miles. The first quarter mile was on grass and really easy. Then it got tougher. First up was a rock garden. I got off my bike and ran around it. There was lots of ups and downs. The trial was single track. That means just wide enough for one bike. Many racers especially men were flying past me and I constantly had to pull over. That made it hard to keep up momentum. There were lots of tight corners and roots and rocks. Going up a small high I lost momentum and fell to my left. It was not far and I reached out with my hand to stop the fall. My elbow popped out and then back in. I fell to the ground in pain. I was not sure for a minute if I could keep going. I think the only way out was to bike out. So with a painful elbow I continued. Athletes continued to pass. Many called out encouragement. I felt like the course was beyond my skills. I did get better as I biked, but people continued to pass me and I had to keep moving over. Once when I moved over, my pedal caught on a rock and I stopped. The athlete plowed right into me. Neither of us was hurt. I saw other athletes fall going up hill and heard about other crashed. It seemed like it was taking forever to finish the first lap. I was feeling a bit shaky. I was debating whether to do the second lap. I finally decided to drop out.
Another fall on the elbow could have caused a break. I was lucky it popped back in as painful as it was. It just killed me to drop out. There was a volunteer at the end of the first loop tracking numbers. I told him I was dropping out. I went to the finish line to hand in my timing chip and to ice my elbow.
It is the first time Ive ever dropped out of a race and I did not even feel that bad about it. I have many races to do yet this season including my A race in Miami in November. I couldn't risk an injury that would keep me from training. I won't be doing another race this season and may not have allot of time for mountain biking as I concentrate on preparing for my fall races.
It was tough to find time and place to mountain bike and I went into the race a bit under prepared. Still I am glad I did it. I know I have some work to do before I try another off road race. The elbow is sore, but no break and the injury won't keep me from training. Let's hope things go a bit better next time.
***************
Chris
Wodke
Founder
& Manager Team CMT
www.run4cmt.com
Chris is
a triathlete and long distance runner. She is a three time participant of the
Boston Marathon. In 2012 she finished
2nd at Boston
She has
appeared three times at the Paratriathlon National Triathlon Sprint
Championship. She was the 2012 and 2014 National Champion Paratriathlon Open
Division Champion.
In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship and at the Aqua bike National Championship in 2016. She represented TeamUSA at the Aquathon ITU World Championship in Chicago in 2015i, Cozumel
in 2016 and Denmark in 2018. In 2018 finishing 5th in the 60 to 64
age group.
In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship and at the Aqua bike National Championship in 2016. She represented Team
In 2014 she represented the U.S. as a paratriathlete at the Pan-American
Triathlon Championship in Dallas ,
Texas USA
She
travels around the country raising awareness of CMT.
She is
the author of the book, “Running for My Life” that details her experience as a
CMT affected athlete and the book “Soup Sundays, A Journey Toward Healthy
Eating”.
You may
visit her author page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Wodke/e/B00IJ02HX6
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Wodke/e/B00IJ02HX6
Team CMT
is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and to find a
cure for CMTWe currently have 225 athletes in 41 states. We also have
members in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Vietnam, Iran, Scotland,
France, Turkey, Poland, Norway, Mexico and Sweden!.
If you wish to join us visit our web site; www.run4cmt.com
or www.hnf-cure.org
CMT or
Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It
affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS). It is a disease of the
nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of
normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.
Symptoms
include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor
balance and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual
dexterity.
Structural
foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.
Poor
tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold
hands and feet.
Additional
symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties and hearing
loss.
Additional Link
Follow CMT affected Paratriathlete Timmy Dixon
http://cmtamputee.wordpress.com/
Follow CMT Author Chris Steinke
https://cmtandmesite.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/what-is-charcot-marie-tooth-disease/
http://cmtamputee.wordpress.com/
Follow CMT Author Chris Steinke
https://cmtandmesite.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/what-is-charcot-marie-tooth-disease/
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