Bike Sebring Race report!

I have to start by immediately making it completely and totally clear that I could NOT have done this race without the support of so many people. Grinding out most of the early miles with my teamates pulling most of the way is the only way I had anything left to give during the night, and without support of another friend, transitioning would have been a nightmare. I owe so much to the Sorella team for their help. Everyone who hung out on my training rides, and put up with my wacky schedule also helped tremendously. I can't say enough about Coach Lynda Wallenfels's training plans (www.lwcoaching.com) -- having a specific workout plan made training more fun, and apparently, so much more efficient than just riding.

Short version:
It was a blast! SO much better weather than last year -- practically hot during the day, comfortably cool at the start and at night. I need to write a gushing letter of praise to Dinotte lights. They were amazing! Batteries lasted significantly longer than advertised -- when does that ever happen?

What did I eat? Not enough, but drank enough calories to survive. Over the 24 hours, I had one banana, two pbj's, cheesy crackers, about 5 Gu gels, three or four packs of Shot Bloks, three or four Luna chews (yum!) and half a subway sub. All my plans for soup, hot foods, and granola bars went out the window. I did have 6 bottles with 3 scoops of Sustained plus 4 scoops of Gu2O, and about two bottles of just the Gu2O. I'll have to add up the calories, but I was probably a little light.

I broke the record I was going for, and won my age category and overall too in my division, with 329.8 miles in 24 hours. Couldn't have done it without my incredible team, Sorella Cycling, and my most amazing boyfriend.


There were many times that I didn't think I could do it. A bad cold a few weeks ago, a minor surgical procedure last week, and a headache the night before the race that made me dizzy, queasy, and almost blacking out at dinner (skipping dinner wasn't a big loss...) just hours before the start were all concerns, but knowing so many people were cheering for me was my inspiration. I had torn out an Armstrong Foundation ad that was my motivation. It says, "Whatever your 100% looks like, give it." I gave it everything I had.

There's a much longer race report, but it's quite boring, considering it covers a 24-hour race!