Mary McConneloug

All posts tagged Mary McConneloug

Rough Racing

Posted by sarianderson on July 8, 2009
Posted in: Race Results. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Len Zanni finishing up Lap #1.

Well, the Firecracker 50 didn’t go as planned.  I knew it would be extremely tough for me to defend my national title from last year with the likes of Heather Irminger, Gretchen Reeves, Pua Sawicki and Mary McConneloug racing this year.  However, I had at least hoped to put in a good fight and have a decent race.  Neither of those happened.  I felt like I could barely keep pace in the neutral roll out of the parade and it just got worse from there.

I suffered through the first climb and singletrack and quickly realized I was getting nowhere fast.  Racing lightheaded and feeling generally miserable was not the best thing for me as I was swerving all over the trail and becoming a hazard for other racers.  I also knew I had two more weeks of racing coming up and it was not smart to completely wreck myself in the 50 feeling that bad.  This unfortunately led to me dropping out of te race early on which I’m still bummed about.  I know it was the right decision but I hate dropping and not finishing.  Hopefully more motivation for next year.

Juniper and I are in Rhode Island with my family enjoying the beach and water while I get ready to head up to Vermont for the XTERRA East Cup in Sugarbush on Sunday.  I still feel pretty terrible with a nasty cough and sinus issues but I’ve managed to get in a swim in the harbor, some running and flat riding.  Keeping my fingers crossed for Sunday that I’ll feel much better!

Getting it Done

Posted by sarianderson on June 24, 2009
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Training. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 Comment

This is what I do when I don’t race over the weekend.  A new clothesline!  Something I have been wanting to do for a long time but hadn’t IMG_2485found the time.  There were a few races I would have liked to partake in: XTERRA South Central Cup in Arkansas, MSC in Crested Butte, Team Mindful Sports Tri and the Strawberry Days 10K, but I needed a break.

I have three weeks of racing coming up starting with the Firecracker 50 MTB Marathon National Champs on July 4th, then XTERRA Northeast Cup in Sugarbush, VT on July 12th and finally XTERRA Mountain Cup in Beaver Creek, CO on July 18th.  I have been getting on my bike more as there will be lots of great singletrack in all of these races.

Early Saturday morning I set out on a new loop of road and dirt from Glenwood Springs, over Cottonwood Pass into Gypsum and back through Glenwood Canyon.  Cottonwood Pass has been recently chip sealed with recylcled asphalt from the Eagle County Airport – super cool!  This makes for a quick 60 mile training loop with almost no cars.

Also, I just checked out the registered racers for the Firecracker 50 and some top-end racers will be there vying for the title.  Women such as Mary McConneloug, Heather Irminger and Rebecca Rusch.  Defending my title is going to be super tough!