Race day is now just 5 days away. No longer can I say the race is in “a few weeks” or “later this month”. When people ask me when the race is, my response is simply “Sunday”. While training until this point has been a very real (and surprisingly enjoyable) experience, being less than a week away brings a certain level of excitement and anticipation that wasn’t there before.
At this point I find myself cautiously optimistic about how well I will do. Two weeks ago I biked 73.04 miles (at 15.6 avg mph pace) which got me over a huge mental hurdle. The race itself is 70 miles.
Then this past weekend, Mike and I went out for our final long training ride before ramping down this week for rest. We tackled the many hills nears Purcellville, VA and completed a 50 mile ride in just about 3 and 1/2 hours. The total elevation gain during the ride was 2,602 ft. The elevation gain for LIVESTRONG in Philly over the course of 70 miles? 2,652 ft.
Am I crazy to think that I am actually ready for this race? I don’t know but I do know that I won’t be scared Sunday morning. I’ll be ready to take on the challenge. And at the risk of sounding supremely cheesy or clichéd, I guess that’s part of what LIVESTRONG is all about.
Depending on how things go Sunday, I will be Tweeting updates during the race. You can follow me here: http://twitter.com/dascentral. Wish me luck.
I think you’re going to have a fantastic race! It’s a funny thing, as you get older you realize how true it is that the biggest thing holding us back is almost always ourselves, even physically, and then your body starts to give way. ;) Anyhow I wish I had your commitment to training and preparation, the race sounds like a lot of fun! Rock on!
we’ll kick it and our teammates are gonna kick it… It does not matter what the results are, as long as we all do it as a team and remember to ride for a cause… I too had fun this year and I’m also looking forward into riding this challenge with you and our team. We are doing this for Gerald and for other people who have been affected by Cancer. Our training does come to a close but at the same time, another challenge will open up for us to overcome. Going through this whole process did open up my eyes on how many people around me has been struck by cancer indirectly or directly. Their generosity and unity to combat this disease will help us through the grinders we will face but eventually overcome… I can only hope our cause does not stop here but mark as a start of something that will find the cure.
Well Done Douglas! Well Done…