Current Song: American Pie, Don Mclean
What I did Today: Unpacked
Energy: Exhausted
Well, Sunday was the last race for me at the 2010 National Championships. The Short track. I came into the race with a lot of confidence and was really excited to race. For those who don't know, a short track is a spectator friendly event. Basically, the field will complete as many laps as they can do in twenty minutes then do three more. The person to do the most in the least amount of time wins. Whats intersting is because the course is only two minutes people can get lapped and then pulled. Short track is a very intense workout as it really only lasts 25 minutes. Its known to be a suffer-fest, as the best short track racers are constantly pushing themselves into an inhuman zone.
So my account of the race. Well my warm-up went good. It was nice and long and I was able to keep the last bit pretty intense. So I got on the start, first I did the course a few times for practice. From the start it went up a gravel road to a turn in the grass. We went up the last few four-cross jumps then up a grass hill over a flat to a descent with some berms on to a gravel corner and to the finish. So here I am. I got into the second row and had a fair start. We were in a big pack so it was pretty scary. Around the first turn a guy went down and I was able to capitalize as it didn't slow me down and slowed others down. So the first few laps I fought my way to the front and actually settled in third. As I passed through the finish I realized I had ten minutes left. So I toned it down to ramp up the intensity later. I dropped to seventh but kept the guys in close. Two laps later I got the rest I needed and turned it on again. I went up to fifth, a podium spot and I was still passing people. Reeling the guy who ended up fourth in, I realized my seat sank like 4 inches. Well, it would be difficult. I would either have to stand the rest of the race or lose a lot of efficiency sitting down. Well no matter, I thought. I chased the guy down the descent and coming around to the finish I found myself on the ground sliding. I figured out later I hit at about twenty MPH. Enough to tear up my shorts and my chances at a podium spot. I got up as quickly as I could. At this point I could not sit and recover and the few guys that I was holding off all got by me. Despite the massive cheering from the crowd, my race was done. I spun waiting for the leaders to lap me so I could get pulled. They lapped me I didn't get pulled. I kept at it and was eventually pulled. As I went out, the announcer called me the "man of the match" like soccer just for getting back up. I talked to my coaches, who were super supportive which was so awesome. Then I knew I had to do it. I checked out the elbow. I knew my body took most of the blow, so I wasn't too worried about the bike. Well it was deep, real deep. I looked at my coach and he told me to go find someone to clean it. As I headed over to the medics, the adrenaline left and I was left with the pain. With the pain combined with disappointment I headed over to the medics extremely shakey. After they told me how awesome it was that I finished, I pointed to the elbow and asked for some help. As I went to the medical room I was told to wash it out. Well its one thing to crash, quite another to have to scrub out your own wound. I could not keep it together and cleaned it as well as I could. Afterwards the medic cleaned it a little more. It could not be stitched up because it was just a hole so they dressed it up nicely and got me on my way. What a world of pain. It was a bummer but oh well. Thats mountain biking.
There were a few points. One idea that I can't really get out of my head, is how I can get up to the top step. Maybe with a little better luck I would have gotten to where I wanted. But rather than being disappointed I find myself begging for a chance to race these guys again. I am really psyched that rather than regretting what happened (I do a little bit), I am actually thinking about how I could prevent what happened next time and hoping for some better luck. It shows me that I will only be happy if there is a next time. Speaking of a next time. After my race I chatted with Jeremiah Bishop a little bit. Talked about his race and my short track and when I told him that my race was pretty much over the second I crashed he told me, "Lewis, remember this, You should race every race like its your last race. You never know how many races you have ahead of you, but that shouldn't matter. You need to give every race you race, every ounce of energy you have got." I thought this was so cool. I had never really thought of that. Even now I regret not giving it a little more after I crashed because I believe there was a little more. I will always remember Jeremiah.
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