12 hrs fuel by Matisse and Jack's

Man, I don't even know where to start with this one....
The 12 hr mountain bike race was BRUTAL! James and I raced as Team Skinfit/Matisse and Jack's and it was awesome to have him as my teammate! While I couldn't have asked for a better partner I am not sure either one of us was prepared mentally (or physically) for what this effort required. It was HOT, dusty, hilly, technical, super WINDY, HARD, did I say HOT?!! Seriously, as if riding 12 hrs straight as a two-man team isn't hard enough, mother nature decided to punish us =)
Overall, I had a good time, met a lot of people, got in some good training, learned a lot about myself, and thought a lot. What was amazing was the performance of all the solo riders....truly incredible how some of these athletes can push themselves for 12 straight hours under very tough conditions. Luke, you are the man and I have so much respect for you!! You killed it...I am in awe! Also, big props go out to Allison and Jens that also rode solo and crushed it!
I kind of feel like a sissy sitting here typing about how hard a two-man 12 hrs was because a lot of people did the whole 12 hrs solo =) In my defense, I will say that doing this type of race as a two-man team is very hard because you never really get to rest but you ride each lap pretty hard. Each lap was 50 minutes long so that wasn't much time to eat, fill bottles, hydrate, etc. Before I knew it I was back on the course climbing those damn hills again. One of the toughest parts was that James and I never really got to communicate throughout the race because as he came in from his lap I went out for mine. We did make it through it and, when I think back on the day, I am happy with our performance and I am glad that I experienced it. To say I was beat down after the race is probably an understatement. I literally walked in the door at 10, took a shower and then collapsed half on the bed and half off. I slept for 11 hours and when I woke up the next morning I was completely wrecked. I felt like I got hit by a truck! I was seriously a mess. Poor Jess was a little worried I think...I could barely function. Ha, ha, how crazy us athletes are. I will probably end up doing another one of these crazy things and knowing me I will probably even do one solo because I am that stupid =)
The funny things was that through all the pain I was just stoked on the day because, really, this is my life now, racing, training, and meeting people to grow the network for my coaching biz and Skinfit. If I get to call these trails my "office" I am just fine with that, even if it is a BRUTAL day of racing =)

Huge thanks goes out to Matisse and Jack's for supporting me and James! We made a ton of Matisse and Jack's bake-at-home goodies and they fueled us throughout the race. This company makes such great products and they have been so good to me for the last 3 years. They believed in me from the beginning and have stood by me even when I was not racing. Give their stuff a try and you will be addicted (I promise)...checkout their website and make a purchase!

Also, I have to thank James and Beth for letting me stay with them for a whole week! Awesome hosts and I had a great time! We are going to have some good times once we get down here.

Now, it is back up north until Thanksgiving and then Jess and I will be packing up the uhaul for the big move down here...can't wait!