Preparation, or lack thereof

What do you do when you have 62 hours before an 8-hour mountain bike endurance event - i.e. you go around a loop of 8-12 miles as many times as you can in 8 hours - and you haven't been on your bike more than 1x a week for the past few months? Or in some cases, at all this year?

1. You buy new running shoes. (See last post).
2. You plan a killer outfit to save some face with style points. (See future post).
3. You start talking about all the great stories that will come of it. (See hopeful future post).

(Dana, Samantha, Jessica post Tamarancho ride, 2009.)

Runs With Mascara is not afraid to jump into an adventure, albeit we prefer to show up with some level of mastery, some basic training beneath our fuel belts to at least give it a go. But travel, other commitments, other interests have all conspired against RWM this time. At least one of us thinks she can still pull something decent out of the day based on willpower, massive running and Crossfit workouts. The other hopes to find that her competitive spirit is right there with her, just as ready to transition from running to biking - if not with equal passion or skill - and propel her to do better than she expects.

RWM endeavors to give our all to whatever we commit to but we can't always represent 100%. Races, training, nutrition, time with friends and lovers (time looking for lovers), work, travel, sleep, reading, blogging, and the small choices we make each day, choosing one thing over another intervene. So we learn to accept. To juggle our expectations for the day. Half of us is choosing to have another glass of wine right now when we should be going to bed meaning we'll get up a little later, making our run a little later, making our work day start a little later making us a little more frenzied... But we digress.

Come Saturday we'll be out there with our bikes tuned, helmets strapped on, high-fiving with friends; no doubt a little anxious about the unknown suffering that lies ahead and how long it takes 8 hours to pass on a mountain bike. We'll be awkwardly unprepared - not an ideal state when you tend to think of yourself as a semi-serious, competitive athlete - but with good spirits intact and a give-it-our-best-shot mentality. That's sort of what RWM is all about. One: Train hard, two: race hard, three: find a way to have fun. If one and two fail, hold on to three.

You can read more about Samantha clinging desperately to three as she reached her lowest goal in an outrigger race here.

Wish us luck this weekend!