When you forget how much it can hurt...

It has been exactly a week since Drew and I were driving back from Cumberland and I started thinking about whether or not to write a race report.  I'm opting to, now that I've had a week to think about it, because we just had a wet, sloppy, muddy ride up at Mount Tzouhalem in Duncan and I remembered how much fun it can be to just ride.

Going from a non-athlete to training is sometimes a challenge.  The old-self sometimes wants to bubble up, go out to a huge dinner and sit on a couch for the day, week, month.  Sometimes 2-day old legs in a rest week feel so stale that I feel like I could just let them turn into croutons.

Last week I rested all week, doing a bit of riding here or there, leading up to the Cumberland Island Cup XC.  This course is my favourite nemisis.  Every year it kicks my ass, but every year I finish it feeling exhausted, sore, but accomplished.  This year at the start line I was looking forward to that feeling.  I felt not-great, but relatively speedy throughout the first lap until I dropped my chain on the fire road descent, stopped, tensed up, and continued on.  Heading up the fire road climb into the first section of singletrack on the second lap the steady whisper of an ache in my lower back intensified into a vibrating bass, and by the entrance to Short and Curly had become deafening, distracting, and was sucking any power to get up the tight, technical, rooty trails that make Cumberland such a painstakingly amazing area to ride.  By then I was done, pulled the plug and headed out to watch the end of the race.  No beautiful sense of sore accomplishment--only soreness as we headed home.

Last year I quit one race, the Port Alberni Island Cup.  After that race Drew told me to never quit a race.  To push through.  I thought about that a lot.  I now hate quitting a race, hate the hollow feeling where relief, excitement, and accomplishment should fill at the end of a race day.

All week I've been fighting sore and tired legs and back--but with some great rides out to east Sooke, around the waterfront, and finally, today, up to Mt. Tzouhalem.  Riding with good people and friends I remembered how much I love to ride, to challenge myself, and how much I can't wait to get back on the bike at the next race.  Tomorrow is a day of intervals....but how sweet the suffering will be!