Well Hello There Blogosphere!

My poor little blog has been lacking in posts lately, but that's because I've been running around like crazy. My dad has been out of town for work all week,  and my mom is still in a cast. This week has seemed like that movie "Groundhog Day," because I've been doing the exact same thing every day. 

I finally registered for Mas O Menos (ouch) and bought my U$A Cycling Licen$e (double ouch). It looks like my Racer-X and I are going to have one last hurrah together because my new bike is far from being race ready. That's ok though. I never expected to have all of my parts by now anyways because it's really, really, really early in the season. 

Our team jerseys won't be ready until March, so Kenda sent me a few basic jerseys to wear in the meantime. Yeah! It's always nice to have "fresh" smelling jerseys to race in :-) Oh, and I think Voler is going to try and get me some new shorts to wear as well. I just hope that my team director was joking when he said "now you can race in those white shorts that you always wanted!" 

I also got the official OK from my coach regarding my nutrition plan for the race. I have to admit that I was shocked to get it right on the first try because it took me 5 tries to get it right for 24 hour Natz last year. I must be learning! Before Lynda I never really came up with nutrition plans and it's made a world of a difference. At previous 24 hour races I would just buy a lot of basic food and tell my pit crew to hand me "something" as I came through. It always ended up in some sort of disaster where I would come through the middle of the night demanding something that we didn't have (like a cheeseburger with a side of fries), or I would bonk because I wasn't getting enough calories. This past year it was WAY less stressful and I felt great (or as great as you can feel during a 24) for the entire race. My plan for Mas O Menos is pretty simple, since it's a way shorter race. Basically it's just my hydration drink of choice, with enough gels so that I get the proper calories, sodium etc. per hour! 

The one thing that I really need to pay attention to in this race is drinking from the beginning. In faster races I always make the mistake of not drinking enough for the first hour. Especially since it will be cooler in the morning. Must remember...staying hydrated is a good thing, especially when racing in the desert!!!