by Jess Evans
March 4, 2019
I always go into races feeling like I did not train enough and did not train the right way. I always say to myself, “I could have trained more”, but I do not know how realistic that is. With working and regular life stuff, the amount I get to train and enjoy the outdoors is probably at its max. None-the-less, I fret several weeks before the race, in near panic, that I am going to be too slow and bring the rest of the team down. With these Co-Ed teams I race on, I am the only female and I definitely feel I am the slowest racer on the team. Hopefully I will not be so slow that I make everyone else miserable… that is always my fear.
This time I am racing with Shawn in the Stagecoach 400, as you probably know if you have been reading these posts religiously. Our goal is to crank this baby out in 4 days or less. But I have those fears gnawing at the back of my brain. Did I train enough for this? Is Shawn going to leave me behind in the dust because I am too slow? Or, worse, is he going to be miserable because I am making him ride at a snail’s pace? Luckily for me, Shawn is an awesome teammate. So even if I am dreadfully slow, he will be in fairly good spirits – right?
Needless to say, I have never been so horrible that my teammates have decided to never race with me again. Therefore, my worrying is just that… worrying. I do not know if it makes me do more training or if I would train that much anyway, and the worrying is just giving me unnecessary anxiety. Either way, I am excited for the race and look forward to spending some hard core time in southern California with Shawn cranking out the miles as quickly as my legs can muster.
