Way to tough it out Ruby. Nothing feels better than sticking to and accomplishing a goal. Very impressed . . .

I did a gravel road race over the weekend. I was super-duper-quadruple stressed about it because I have been slacking on my training and my diet! I kept thinking I would get motivated and I never really did.

I had pre-ridden the course a few weeks ago and it was awful. My goal for the race was to average around 14.5 MPH (based on some friends finish times from the previous year). During the pre-ride, I could barely manage 11 mph and I was in serious pain and suffering.

Mentally, I was preparing myself for a good dose of humiliation. My DH was very encouraging. I overheard him on the phone with his friend--one of the guys I prerode the course with--and he was saying "one thing about Whump (that's me) is that she always manages to pull it out for race day, don't count her out."

Saturday morning, I found my race legs. I ended up averaging 15.5 mph over the course, beating my goal. Mid-race I decided I really, really wanted to finish in under 2:20. I busted my chops and came in at 2:19:45 and even passed one of my rivals in the final 2 miles. Its the first race that I have ever finished before her.

It felt great For those interested, I'll post a race report on my blog later this week.