Turn of Events

It's amazing the difference one week can make.

I've been spending lots of time on the Lemmon. It never gets old

At this time last week I was hammering away at a 20-page final paper for my current graduate class, I was exhausted from the previous weekend of racing/team camp/late night bike building and 16 hours of solo driving, mystified about my lack of performance/cramping issues at Bonelli and didn't have a rideable mountain bike. The world's most annoying noise was still coming out of my car. I missed my husband more than ever, especially because he had to cancel his 4-day trip to visit me in Tucson at the last minute. I had just received my recent blood test results that were stacked with abnormal results, yet had to wait a week to meet with my doc. I had to pull the plug on a local race at 10pm the night before because after multiple trips to shops and a late-night conference call with Nate, my mtb still wouldn't shift. I felt pretty crappy.

Fast forward a week. Okay, I still feel pretty crappy, but other than that, things are looking significantly upwards. I've gotten a lot of good, hard and long rides in to get ready for Vision Quest. I turned in my paper (spring break, woo-hoo!), got my car fixed, have enjoyed many nights of good sleep, and finally picked up my mountain bike today after having all new XX installed. Granted, another trip to the doctor yesterday yielded lots of hypotheses but no definitive answers and has me headed in for more tests. But, my world is feeling remarkably more positive than it was just one week ago!

With this nice turn of events and a good chat with my coach, I have decided to go to the Fontana Pro XCT after all. I never in a million years thought I would be going with Vision Quest next week, but when I saw the weeks' training plan, saw that Saturday was calling for short intensity and Friday was a rest day, and most importantly, knowing that Nate would be in Fontana for the weekend (and I haven't seen him for a month), suddenly 16 hours in the car doesn't seem so bad at all.

Why is Nate going to Fontana? The big news in the Carey household is that Nate got a new job! He's working for Team Giant this year and will mainly be doing Adam Craig's domestic support along with some other team events. I couldn't be any happier for him. He's such a great mechanic and has worked really hard to get to where he's landed. I can't help but think that Giant has scored big by hiring him because beyond being a very good mechanic, he is the most patient and helpful person I have ever met. Giant's racers are going to be stoked.

Although this means a lot more time apart for us, there's no conflict of interest. I race the NUE Series (where no outside support is allowed) and he still gets to come with me for the race I need his help at the most (Transylvania Epic). Well, okay, maybe it'll be weird riding past him at Leadville when he is supporting my competition. But hey, at least I can take a little pride in that I am handing him over to Giant with 3 years of rigorous training in navigating the absolute chaos involved in supporting the fast people at Leadville.

One more 4 hr ride tomorrow and off to So Cal. Friday am. Nice.