Nrrrrrvous

I should be eating lunch right now. Should. Should, but I didn't pack anything and don't want to buy anything from the cafeteria at work, but more so because I don't think I can keep anything down.

Sunday, it's supposed to rain, rain and be cold. I have my first race Sunday and I'm the biggest bundle of nerves I've ever been. You could tell me I had to have myself and my horse ready to enter amateur showmanship in the quarter horse world show Sunday and I'd feel better than this. I want to puke.

I doubt I'm ready, maybe I am, who knows. I haven't been training as long as I'd like, but it's been a weird year thus far and life drama took too much time and energy. I guess you'll never know unless you try, right?

I'm just terified, this is what I want to do, and I want to be good at it, but it's scary! Horse shows didn't phase me, I knew what to expect, I'd been around horses for ages. I've sat around the ring and watched countless western pleasure classes and tried to match my placings with the judge. I can handle pretty ponies and political crapola. I'm scared of bike races! I've been to them, but I took a nap through one.

I'm gonna get on Pony after work, haven't decided where I'm riding her yet. Thinking Grey Butte will be a good long climb to remind myself that I can, but the BLM roads in Terrebone are good endurance and confidence. Doesn't really matter, it's too late to improve on anything, but confidence is good.
Either way, I'm getting on her one last time, and Saturday I'm going to try and relax. Ride my baby horse (don't get bucked off), puke, play with my dogs, toss my cookies, finish my garden, up chuck.....

This is good though, I'm gonna have fun. It's in my home town, and if they're setting up for next year when I get done, maybe I won't have to pay next year's entry fee!

love and cookies
-HillBill
spazzed out a bit

You can do it :) !

It's just a race, and there will be more :) !

Go out, ride hard, do your best and don't get too attached to outcome. Have fun, meet some new people :D !

You can do it :) !

You'll ge grrrrrrrrrrrrreat!

Saddle up Smurf! You'll be fine.

This race is no different than a show class.

It's got a rythym...

It has form...

It takes the same focus...

It requires your seat be fluid... be one with your pony.

Head up, eyes forward, light hands. Firm legs.

You've done it a hundred times. The only difference is these ponies don't poop on the road.

spazz

how do you KNOW smurfs pony doesn't poop on the road?......there ya go Smurf-upchuck during the race and WINNNNNNNNNNNN!!!! ;) Just keep telling yourself "it's just a ride, it's just a ride" and forget about what everyone else is doing! You'll be finished before you know it and won't be able to WAIT for your next one!.......but please eat, bonking your first race would be a bad idea!
and be sure and let us know how it was!!

{{{{smuf}}}}

GOOOOOOOO SMURF!!

my grand-pappy used to say something like "if you're not nervous you're not prepared to do your best"

the competition is just as skeered of you, go out there and ride their legs off. A ride after work sounds like a good idea to take the shakes off.

Go - Smurf - go! :) :) :) . Have a great race and make sure you report back to us.

What kind of race is it and how far? Is it a on a closed circuit or is it a street crit? Have you got anyone going with you for support? It's funny how even the most simple jobs like filling water bottles seem to be a big deal pre race so it's nice to have someone around. And of course, I hope you've coached them so they can get the best photo shot in the world as you sail over the finish line.

Have an excellent time. :) :)

It's neck and neck and.....it's Smurfalicious by a head!!! :D
You can do it! We're all pulling for you. Report back after Sunday, OK?

as my dear friend said to me before my first race last year

"go kick some butt, girlie!"

you can do it! do something relaxing Friday and Saturday, then race like a demon child on Sunday and have a blast!! :D I suppose we can wait for Monday for your report... :rolleyes:

namaste,
~T~

Thanks gals for all your support. I've moved from 90% nerves 10% excited to a nice 50/50 balance of the two. I'm off to pick up my packet today at the shop that's sponsoring the event. Might get a new jersey, after all the race is mother's day and I do have lots of kids, just none of them walk on two legs. Scratch that, the chickens do :p

I figure this one is just like a schooling show. Then we'll do the next race two weeks from now which is also local and take what we (me and Pony) learned from this race and apply it to the next one. I'm actually pretty stoked because the beginner women's field should mostly be the chicks from this local bike club. If that's the case, yeah they may climb better than me, but they are slooooow downhill. What reward is there for a good climb if you ride back down on your brakes? I'm a nut job downhill, so all I gotta do is stay close up the hills! :D

It's hard not getting on my bike, I know there's nothing more I can do other than enjoy my day off. I always get mad at people who stress their horses out by trying to fix a problem they have at home once they bring the horse to the show. If I ride today, I'm no better. I can do what I can do, ride how I can ride, and clean what I clean. *sigh*

Think I'll rent a yoga video and chill. :cool:

love and cookies
-HillBill

A quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson...

He once heard a High Counsel telling a younger person, "Always do what you are afraid to do".

smurfalicious "Think I'll rent a yoga video and chill. :cool:"

good idea! just breath, smurf.

we can't wait to hear about your race.
:)

Hey Smur- Good thinking! Treat your race as a learning experience. Go for it, and learn at the same time! You'll be the wiser in the end! :p :p

We're all behind you as you scamper up those hills! :D :D

Now for the race report! You could do a little visualization of what the end will be like for you. That often works for me. Good luck and happy racing! :D

Hi Smurf

Well, it's 11.30 pm right now in the UK and I'm waiting for your race report.

How was it?
Are you still in one piece?
Did you get you arse kicked or did they all step aside and let the expert Smurf show them how it's done? :cool:

Tell us, tell us, tell us...

Liz - Mighty Impatient.

Well gals, I did it. Oh sure, there were times when I really wanted to die, wanted to load my bike in the next pickup I saw and quit. Heck, load it into *my* pickup when I came by it once. I was so super nervous that I couldn't really eat much before hand and I paid the price. I really should have brought a shot along because I was dying.

I made a big mistake and took all my excitement into trying to ride everyone else's race, and I would have won, if the race was about 3 miles. Anyway, I toughed out the whole 14 miles but I did a lot of hike-a-bike. It really wasn't more climbing than I could handle, but I was feeling half dead.

I'm not too stressed though, I finished despite having to clear out a million times for the upper level riders who lapped my sorry butt. Oh well, they were for the most part super cool and understanding. One of them passed me, and I grinned and told him I'd let him by this year, but give me a couple years I'll kick his butt. Guys were impressed I was riding a hardtail, they loved my streamers, and when I took this big old drop and sailed down a big old hill I never would have done at home, this super hot guy behind me was so nice! He totally congratulated me! Like, genuinely stoked I did it, not just glad I didn't crash in front of him!

So I know I have a lot of work to do, and that's cool. That's all this was about, having fun, which I did, and didn't. I know that I need to get comfortable with people passing me. I got so nervous that I'd nearly wreck rather than focusing on the task at hand. I'm gonna spend the rest of my training rides on Grey Butte, I can do the length, but I just haven't gotten my climbing strength yet.

Anyway, I was pretty stoked. Everyone was very friendly, supportive, and hello today! Hot guys everywhere....

[edit] I almost forgot, it rained like a cow peeing on a flat rock all morning long! The trail was slicker than snot, which freaked me out because I've only ridden hard pack, and sand. I know how sand handles, and damp hard pack, mud scares me. It finally stopped raining once we started, but that definately put a damper on things. [/edit]

love and cookies
-smurf

way to go, smurf! you made it!! :)
<hugs>

that first race is a doozy, isn't it? hey, all this time I thought it was a road race, but this was mtb? cool. Last year I did 2 races a week apart. I was behind 2nd place by 30 seconds. I never knew. so....I analyzed the race, figured out what to differently, and, luckily with the next race only a week away, I even remembered all that. I won my category that race. *sigh* it's the race I missed this weekend, but that's okay. I must get well before kicking more butt.

so, you need to learn to eat and fuel and take along cliff shots or whatever goo works for you - enough to for one every 20 minutes (just in case), and, I guess, some practice riding in the wet could help, and, well, you know better than I do what you need to do. Not racing everyone who comes along is a good one, too. keep on it! :D

You did awesome to finish, and you're in great spirits despite how hard it seemed at the time. I"m proud of you, girl!! :p

when's that next race? 3 weeks from now? you'll do amazing!! :cool:

Namaste,
~T~

and the She-Ra crown goes to.......................................Smurf!!!!!!!!! wooohooooo......you finished and had a blast doing it!......and good on you about the drop!! They say the first one is the hardest, job well done!!!!!

Good on ya, smurf! You had fun (and didn't), learned where you can improve the experience next time (there WILL be a next time!). Like a distillation of life itself.

And you got to see a bunch of hot guys with nice butts in tight shorts :D :D !!

Wahoooo! Good job! :p :p :p Always finish, I say!!!! :) :)
Now onto the next one, right? Maybe it will dry out a bit by then. We're getting the rain down here in "sunny at this time of the year" California so none of us is too happy with that either!

Let us know when the next race is so we can support you again! :cool: :cool: :cool: