THREE-PEAT!
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| Photo credit: Mike Albright |
The race itself is not the hard part- the difficulty is figuring out all the logistics and dealing with the stress leading up to the race. This year was particularly difficult since I wasn't in Bend to line up gear to borrow or to train for obscure sports (like sprinting up an alpine hill in rear-entry alpine boots with nordic boots inside). There were some nice things about being in Corvallis before the race, such as avoiding all the crazies and dealing with everyone and their brother asking if I'm racing and if I'm going to win (no pressure). These are just some of the challenges of racing the PPP.
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| Photo credit: Otmar Borchard |
My preparation leading up to the race was not ideal. I was not thinking about gear or racing while I was at school- my brain was consumed with other things occupying space. In fact it wasn't until 2 days before the race that I got a tt bike to use! I have to thank Mary Ramos for letting me borrow her bike despite not have met me until after the race!
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| Awesomsely fast wheels |
I didn't actually try the bike until late Thursday night, and it was terrifying. I didn't feel comfortable at all and was not able to get in the aerobars and pedal hard downhill. Not good for less than 48 hours before race time. I think a lot of it had to do with my lack of time in the saddle this spring and not feeling comfortable on a bike in general. Still, not a good feeling. On Friday, the day before the race, I took the bike out again and just made myself just do it. If anyone was driving up Century on Friday, they probably saw me pedaling as hard as I could with a look of terror on my face. But, turns out by the time I got back into town I was fine and felt good about the bike. Sigh of relief.
I also did a bit of panic training on Friday, consisting of alpine skiing, nordic skiing, paddling, running, and cycling down Century Dr. twice. Not my best move- my legs were pretty fried afterwards. Awesome.
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| Finishing up the run leg Photo credit: Otmar Borchard |
Once I got into 'race mode' things went pretty smoothly. Well, most things anyway. I did have a pretty great crash on the nordic leg about 2k into the race. I was going down a steep hill that still had some pretty icy corduroy. My skis got stuck in the grooves and started widening. It's pretty common knowledge that I can't touch my toes, let alone do the middle splits….so I face planted and power slid on the ice about 20 feet down the hill. It was actually pretty awesome and I don't think I lost much time. I was kind of laughing because I'm sure it was hilarious. There was a guy behind me that probably had a great view of the whole thing.
Besides eating shit on the nordic leg the only other issues I had were in the transitions. I just wasn't thinking very well. At the ski to bike I forgot to take my ski boots off and put on my bike shoes. At the bike to run I switched into my running shoes pretty quick, but forgot to take off my tights so I had to take off my shoes, take off my tights, and put my shoes back on again. Minor details.
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| Take two! |
Really though, I couldn't have asked for a better day. I lead from start to finish and never looked back. I was pretty happy to cross the finish line in 1st again, adding a little flair (see KTVZ video below) And to make it even better Zach also had an awesome race, finishing on the podium as well :)
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| Finishing stretch |
Great job Stephanie! Talking to you a week before the race I knew you had a really good chance, mostly because of your strong skiing base and all the running you have been doing this past year. After the transrockies last year you, and Zach, have been training really hard and it definitely showed! It has been amazing knowing the both of you and seeing your awesome results, it is really inspiring.
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