The Dirt Field

Last weekend was the Shenandoah Mountain 100 and, despite plans to bail after Checkpoint 4 in hopes of preserving my legs for cross season, I finished the race in 9 hours and 54 minutes. I did not keep up with Sue Haywood, much to nobody’s surprise, and based on her Facebook post in the days following the race [“Legs so sore…next year I’m going to train“], I don’t foresee pacing her anytime in the next, well, ever. She’s still my local hero, in a totally non-creeper way.

I have another hero from that event, though, one who deserves a shout out for her efforts and accomplishments. That would be my friend Nicky, Log Posse member and fellow SM 100 racer. Nicky decided in 2009 that she was going to train throughout 2010 for the SM 100 and do everything she could to finish. She followed through, buying and sticking to coaching plans, logging a lot of miles on the bike, and being the first member of the Posse to join me in knowing just how fun it is to ride the trainer for many hours at a time. In the days leading up to the race, her life off the bike became rather stressful and tumultuous, but she still suited up on race day filled with optimism and ready to ride.

After I finished my race, I joined the non-racing Posse members to wait for Nicky and our other friends to come in. We cheered for each racer as they finished, but when Nicky came walking over to us from across the field, we could see the disappointment and exhaustion written all over her face. After Arne folded her into a bear hug that still makes me teary-eyed to think of its sweetness, she explained that she made it to Checkpoint 5 but just could not go on, especially because she’d had stomach problems all day.

In true Nicky spirit, she took a little bit of time, cleaned up, and spent the rest of the night being pretty cheerful, despite what I know had to be a lot of disappointment. If roles were reversed, I don’t think I would have been nearly as classy about it; after going out to Nationals last year and not doing as well as I’d hoped, I was grumpy for almost a month. She moved on and was enthusiastic about everyone else’s results that night and all through the following morning.

So Nicky, know this: I think you are awesome. Yes, I know your goal was to go out and finish the SM 100 and that didn’t happen this year. But you made it through the absolute hardest part – the miserable 18 miles of soul-crushing climb from CP 4 to CP 5 – and that is a huge accomplishment. On another day after a week with less stress or where your body was cooperating more, the final section of the race would probably have been a piece of cake. Unfortunately, some days things just don’t come together; star racer Georgia Gould, who normally kicks ass any day of the week, came in 20 minutes behind the leader at the World Championships last weekend because she had a stomach virus. It’s hard to realize you can put your heart and soul into preparing for one day and then have that day not go as planned, but it’s part of the sport. If you tried again today, I feel pretty damn sure you’d finish.

What impresses me most, though, is not how you performed on one single day, but rather the amount of effort you put into preparing. I know what it is like to train – to ride when you want to do anything but get near a bike, to deal with soreness and exhaustion and chafing and boredom, to stick with a training calendar often at the expense of more fun opportunities. Sure, other people went out last Sunday and rode 100 miles. But you found the strength and dedication to ride hundreds of miles all year long, day after day. To me, that is an incredible accomplishment and one that I will not forget. You may not have gotten a chance to finish the SM 100 yet, but you have certainly earned the respect and admiration of this racer.

Here’s to next year!