Tour of Hermann - Stage Race

Welcome to race season, and what a great (ahem, rainy) weekend to get it going! I just finished the Tour of Hermann which included a time trial Sat morning, a crit Sat afternoon and then a road race on Sun at noon. All races only offered me a Women's Open category, which meant I had to race w/ the 'big girls'. I wasn't sure how my leg would do as this was the first race after the injections. Actually it felt really good on Sat but my hip was pretty upset with all that hill climbing on Sunday, however, I survived and actually did better than survive, I managed to place in the GC! How did that happen?? I guess I just embraced the pain!

TT: 10 miles
Well, not much to say here. It was half raining/sprinkling for part of the race. Not bad really. At least it was 55-60F all weeekend and not a cold rain! There was a headwind going out, which meant a nice tailwind on the way back. I used this as a good opportunity to test my lactate threshold as I have not done that in a while. (It really didnt change much.) The small hill up to the bridge on the way back to the finish was a total buzz kill. Manged a 21.8 mph average and finished in 27:31 which was approx 30 sec faster than last year. Though, I think there was more wind last year, but Ill take it. Finished as I always do in TTs, middle of the pack.

Crit: 7 laps (only approx 8 miles)
This course was fun/challenging. was flat out of the start/finish until you rounded to a 12% bumppy downhill, which gradually leveled out before a few quick 90 degree turns. Short flat/false flat for 2 blocks and then 2 more 90's to a 7% grade hill which was probably 400-500 meters long (to the start/finish). Add rain to the mix and you have a strung out field! The downhill could make or break your race. If you got freaked out going 40 mph down a bumpy wet hill, forget it! I just decided that no amount of breaking on that surface was going to do any good and might actually cause me more problems, so I just held on, tucked and flew down that hill. It was actually quite fun! The uphill was more troublsome to me! Ouch! Im not the best hill climber. Not bad, but not great either. If I lost a wheel on the hill, I was able to make it up on the flat or downhill. But I knew It would hurt my finish. I manage to get in a group of about 4-5 women. We were the 2nd group behind the leaders. I managed to stay until the last lap when a couple of them attacked hard on the hill. I was smoked, but still managed to hang on to 8th place! I can live with that! Here is a great pic of me finishing the final hill. I obviouslly cant really breathe!


Road Race: 30 miles, 7 hills of Hermann
Well, from a short 1 mile neutral start, we end up at the bottom of a giant hill and the Mercy team attacks hard. I knew it was coming, but as my HR spiked, all I could do was try to breathe and hold a wheel as best I could. The first hill kind of leveled off a bit and then continued up again, maybe 2-3 times. I think on the 3 time I managed to hold the wheel of a Punk Rock Racing girl and there was a Big Shark girl w/ us too and we stuck and manged to catch another Big Shark racer. The 4 of us had a strong break from the rest of the pack and held them off the whole race. Every hill hurt and it was a struggle for me to hold their wheels all 3 of them were great climbers. After the first hour, I started to get pretty fatigued. I wanted to work more for them, but my pulls got slower and slower. I knew that if I pulled too much, I would eventually not be able to hold on for the last big hill. I somehow managed. The Punk Rock Racer girl attacked very early as we approached the first turn going into the finish. There was still 3 corners and a long sprint, but she stayed out there. I had little to nothing left and had hoped to hold off one Big Shark racer, but she got me close to the line. Oh well. I was very happy to finish with this group and hold off the field. Wow, that was a kicker! We averaged 18.4 mph (in the hills) for 30 miles! I manged to get 9th place!

General Classification (GC):
With my crappy TT finish, I wasn't sure Id get anything for GC. But, not everyone raced all 3 races. So, I manged to get 8th overall! I was very excited and happy about that!

My Velo Force teammates also performed awesome this weekend. Teresa ended up with 10th in the GC and Suzanne kicked butt in the TT and crit, if only she had done the RR too! Great rainy weekend!

PRP Therapy

Yep, Im doing it. Had major pain last November in my right knee while running and found out that its tendonosis - not a good thing. Tried rest - didnt work, physical therapy, yoga, stretching, massage - nope, not those either. Then I found out about platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP) injections from a friend of mine. Went to see his Dr., Dr. Crane (Crane Clinic in Chesterfield, MO) and had my first injections don on May 2nd. Ouch for a few days! Then it felt like it did when I first injured it. Doing the yo-yo thing right now (good day/bad day) but waiting and hoping to see good results! Still training as long as it doesnt hurt any more than it did normally. 2nd set of injections yet to come - June 2nd. See interesting article published in the NY Times!
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A new medical procedure might be the cure for stubborn cycling injuries such as knee and Achilles tendinitis. Called platelet-rich plasma therapy, it's already being used successfully for pro athletes. The New York Times reports, "The method, which is strikingly straightforward and easy to perform, centers on injecting portions of a patient's blood directly into the injured area, which catalyzes the body's instincts to repair muscle, bone and other tissue. Most enticing, many doctors said, is that the technique appears to help regenerate ligament and tendon fibers, which could shorten rehabilitation time and possibly obviate surgery." The procedure costs around $2,000, or about 8 times less than surgery, with virtually no risk of infection. The NYT article concludes that "its largest effects would be on the amateur, weekend-warrior athletes for whom sports is recreation and healthy lifestyle." Read the details at http://tinyurl.com/c2zw57

Married in Costa Rica! Feb 17th

Yep, I tied the knot! My biking friends are amazed that Jason proposed in August (7th), in the middle of racing season! He IS a very amazing and understanding guy! He actually had a hard time finding an opportunity to propose with my crazy schedule.

We decided to run off to Costa Rica with just one other couple and get married on the beach. It was perfect in every way! No stress, just pure bliss and very special! The pictures prove just how amazing it was. The entire trip as also amazing. We spent the first week with our friends and then the 2nd week was just us. We did lots of scuba diving, some hiking, a day of mountain biking, took surfing lessons, and even went white water rafting the morning of our wedding day! It is so awesome that Jason and I enjoying being active together, I feel very lucky. :)
Well, enough gushing, but had to share this very major event in my life. We just had a party back home for the family and friends and it was a blast! That was the way to do it! Loads of fun having all of our favorite people in one place!

Jefferson City State Championship Crit

Shame shame shame on me for not posting about this crit! I just read my last entry again and realized where I left off. The Jeff City crit had a very small turnout, but was a lot of fun. I raced with all of my Team Rev girls and a couple others whom Ive raced with many times before.

The pack held a strong and steady pace the whole race and then with 2 laps to go, I attacked on the small hill leading out of the final corner. (see photo) I made a solo break and stayed away for the last lap and won the race! It was a hard final lap, but Im so glad I really eared the title! check out the cool pics from www.ficksphotos.com!