Tuesday, May 05, 2009

(not) winning five points.

so when my coach sent me a text message yesterday: "tuesday night racing instead of wed night?" i hemmed and hawed and then gave him a call.
"so, uh, why do you want me to do tuesday instead of wednesday?"

"i think you will get more pack riding experience...etc, etc.  what races are on wednesday, anyway?"

"chariot, scratch, win n out, miss n out"

"yeah, i think tuesday will be better for you"

"...........uhhhh, o....kay"
normally, i wouldn't really care.  but let's be honest, the real reason i was giving the change in schedule a second thought was because our yearly NACHO POTLUCK was occurring at work on tuesday--and the thought of gorging on nachos and then doing two 40-lap points races didn't sound all that appealing.  

but, i obeyed orders.  

plus, i like a challenge. and nachos for lunch would be a new challenge.  so while i was originally bummed, in fact, i started getting a little bit excited about it-- after i thought about it more.

you see, when i was a track & field runner in college-- one season i decided to do cross country, "for training."  now, why i thought this was a good idea is beyond me, considering i was a 400m runner, cross country only kills your fast twitch... but i thought it'd be fun to be a 3-season athlete, and i always liked the distance runners, and they always seemed to have much more fun going on long runs, compared to doing hell interval repeats in circles every single day.  so i ran my ass off that summer, doing something stupid like 12 miles sunday runs...and then was still the slowest person on the JV team (except during "speed work" day).  

anyway, i was like the amazon woman on the cross country team.  those girls were tiny.  probably because about fifty percent of the team was "vegan with a gluten allergy" -- and, i'm guessing that isn't just cause i went to some hippy school on the east coast....  so when i'd see a few teammates at lunch time, some just ate baby carrots or celery of something like that, cause, ya know, don't want to mess up your stomach for a workout FOUR hours later.  so, before interval day, i used to make a point of eating in the locker room just before we'd go warmup. at first it was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, then i'd up my anti each week-- ice cream bar, pie, it didn't really matter.  i got adventurous!
  
the first few weeks, intervals were a little extra unpleasant.  but i was surprised at how after a few weeks of such diligent training, nothing -- i mean nothing -- phased me.  a couple teammates thought it was disgusting, but mostly it became a joke and a challenge.  still, i am a firm believer that you can train your stomach to digest anything before exercise, it just takes persistence and consistent training, like anything.

but i never tried nachos.

granted, i had many hours of digestion before racing starting.  but the combo of the chips, fake cheese, refried beans, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, and non-alcoholic margaritas seemed intriguing, to say the least.  so i didn't hold back at the nacho potluck.  and you know what?  i didn't even notice during the race.  so i won.

well, actually, i didn't win.  (by winning above, i mean i beat the nachos...not actually, anyone in the race.)   i think i scored a whopping ONE point all evening.  

except for the five points i scored in my own imaginary world.  so when the pace slowed down going into 'bell lap'- i popped it out of turn four, and to my surprise i am sprinting really hard down the back stretch and no one is coming around me.... so i just ramp it up even more around the turn, and i come out of turn four totally gassed--- but i really wanted to win that sprint, so i put in an extra little effort and no one is coming around... but i kinda hear something in my delusional sprinting state-- and i look up at the lap cards and it says "6" -- and yes, indeed, larry was ringing the bell.... 

what a dumb shit -- sprinting a lap early.  well, i was totally gassed at that point, as i poured everything into my sprint... so when the actual sprint started, i could do nothing but get dusted and dropped with 5 laps to go, like a big nitwit. so, all i can say about the whole evening is:
a) i got one point, and
b) the nachos didn't make me puke
so i suppose i can call it a successful evening.

****POST SCRIPT****

oh yeah, i forgot the best part of the night.  simmons comes up to me and asks me if i know when we are getting our new team kits. i say i don't know, but i hope soon, cause i look like a club rider in this jersey.  (i am wearing john's old jersey, which, is a bit baggy on me to the least)  then simmons looks at me and says, yeah that is huge!  you need to get a boob job.  i inquire if this is covered under team sponsorship.

3 comments:

norcalcyclingnews.com said...

yes - haven't you seen matt's?

Jim N said...

The story of eating in the locker room reminds me of this book written by Bernd Heinrich where he talks about training for ultramarathons in the '70s. He didn't know what to eat and drink, and there weren't products or much research on the subject, so he tried different stuff like beer while he was running.

WarrenG said...

There were nachos involved?! That explains the first race.

Your extensive research and experience as a "good digester" must by now have given you great insight into what is the best food(s) for you to eat immediately before your warm-up. Pie? PB&J? Nachos? Humus? Vege-mite?

Sunday is lactate tolerance sprints, so be sure to eat a good breakfast-huevos rancheros? You can do more "research".

"Clean up in Turn 2!"