Sunday, April 8, 2012

Counting Coup - April 7 - Finished -

1 - Goal? Finish:  Check
2 - Have fun:  Check
3 - No blood: Check
4 - Thank my coach, Lou Kobin, training partner Douglas Kubler - family and friends!! Marwan, Derek - Amy!
CHECK - family - you know who you are ;-)
I am pretty tired today and legs are not cooperating with much but resting!  My family left today back to their homes and I have no words to thank them all.  I will be posting a lot of photos, so have fun.
My family showed up to LA and surprised me with team T-shirts - birthday surprises everywhere. The shirts, as you see in these photos are so cool.  They had "Ride for Life" on the front and the back you can read in a minute!When I found my coach Lou Kobin while searching on the Internet about my Jones Fracture and breaking my foot, I found her because she had had the same break!  Then I saw she is a world famous mountain biker, trainer, coach, physical therapist, etc -  She pretty much, I assumed, would only coach pros, but when she said she would coach me through Counting Coup, I had a new dream and my little world of thinking I cannot climb steep mountains changed fairly fast and my life took on a whole new meaning, thanks to Coach Lou!
I remember right off asking her what to eat because I wanted to lose weight, and she said, just eat healthy and the pounds will fall off, and they did! I have lost 13lbs without dieting.

We began our journey last October and the goal was to finish Counting Coup 2012 on April 7th, my birthday. AND WE DID IT! Yesterday I got my first Counting Coup feather!  Yes, I was hoping for better time, but a goal is a goal, right?  The ride was much more technical than I expected after a lot of climbing, or maybe I was just too tired once I did over 8000 feet of climbing?  I don't know.  This was my first mountain bike endurance race and I think being sick off and on with the cold since end of January took a toll on me.  I was at the doctor many times and went through four rounds of antibiotics.  Next year I am getting the flu shot.  But a the three weeks before the race, I was REALLY sick with fever and flu and thought about backing out.

 Also, I really wish I had gotten out there  to pre-ride upper holy Jim.  It was pretty torn up by the time I got there.  I made the four corners cutoff and was very relieved, but only by 15 minutes.  Phew!
I had no idea the rest of the ride would take me so long, after getting to Santiago Peak ---I learned a lot of lessons for next year.   My Garmin started off with the heart monitor strap not working and so I had to put the Garmin away or it would drive me crazy trying to fix it!  It was cold in the morning, but not for long.  The moon was out and full when we started. My good friend, Derek, stayed the night out in the parking lot so he could take some photos in the morning at the starting gate.  THANK YOU, DEREK!

 I noticed once it was daylight that the HR was not registering.  Not a good time for my reliable $700.00 Garmin to not work, but Lou had me train a few times without the heart monitor to learn to trust my body - good thing!  Climbing over 8000 feet in 44 miles on steep mountain roads and descending some scary single track is not something I thought I would be doing in 2012 after breaking my left FEMUR in 2009, my left FOOT and getting a Jones Fracture in June of 2010 - not to mention bone marrow cancer and breast cancer!  Of course, we all know that my friends of Bill W play the biggest part in my life!  Starting a mountain bike ride off in the dark was new too - yes, I had a light, and it was pretty cold in the bottom of the canyon!

The winds were strong for a while and then got better.  I got my feather and I think I am too tired to write the details and make much sense right now.  I did my best, and I cannot ask for more than that.  I am grateful to my family and friends - and mostly my COACH LOU KOBIN AND TRAINING PARTNER DOUG KUBLER -  My friends and family were getting worried that I was out there so many hours. 
As I came across the finish line with three sweepers behind me, everybody was singing happy birthday to me! Cow bells were ringing and people were really rooting for me!  How nice that was.  It is a good feeling to be loved by so many people.  Thank you all!

Lou and Doug, please know that without you both, this Ride-for-Life dream of mine would not have been possible. How cool is it when a dream comes true!
Thank you both for loving me, supporting me, driving me, pushing me, giving me hope and helping me reach a goal I would have thought was not possible!!!

Next race is Sea Otter in Monterey April 19.  Next year I will back to beat that time at Counting Coup, or maybe go for Vision Quest - but I plan on making my coach a permanent part of my budget because it's awesome to be working towards a goal with someone with so much experience to share with me.  Let's go, Lou - I have racing dreams in front of me. ;-)  Possibly the Traverse?  May 12th!

Getting older does mean we have to stop living very physical lives, as far as I am concerned.  Doug always reminds me, "it's just a number" - I am fairly certain I will be editing this post later and/or adding details.  I am tired and need to sleep, but also excited to share with my friends who read this blog how it went.
Love and night

                                                Cheryl and doug getting ready
                                                  Last few feet of Santiago Peak
                                                  Pain Divide early morning
                                                       Maple Springs
                                                  Patient family and friends wondering where I am
                                             Cheryl FINALLY CROSSES THE FINISH LINE
                                                     Cheryl gets her Counting Coup feather
                                             Sister Stephanie and daughter Dani !
                                          Sister Debbie and granddaughter river in team Cheryl shirts
                                             Morning start (out of order)
                                           Morning ride taking off! (out of order)

3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Happy birthday! I was one of the hundreds in the race... My first feather as well.. Good Job!

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  3. Thank you! Congrats to you too!
    I am still recovering lol
    how are you doing?

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