I’m not afraid of lining up against anyone at a WORS race, not afraid of big climbs, or pushing the pedals till I puke, or getting all muddy.  What I haven’t been able to do for 41 years is… a simple Farmer Blow: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=farmer’s+blow

Call it irrational, call it lame, call it whatever you want.  For as long as I can remember I’ve been afraid to commit to one of the essential skills of all endurance athletes.  Instead, I’ve suffered through constant nose to glove wiping.  Well, no longer.  The proudest accomplishment I had yesterday was not my 3rd place finish, although that was a great feeling, it was the fact that halfway through the first lap, I blasted my first snot rocket all over my right arm.  The highly inaccurate aim of a  first-timer.  I was able to follow that up with a clean left side blow that cleared everything out.  It was kind of hard to finish the race with the tears of joy streaming down my muddy face for the next 18 miles, but somehow I managed.

All kidding aside, the race was long, hot and very fast.  A pretty good showing, and some tough competition made it that much harder.  No real “recovery” spots, unless you wanted to get passed, and it seemed like there was always someone right on my wheel.  I ran a huge gear (for me) 36:15.  It was pretty good for most of the race, but when I gave up 2nd place with only a couple of miles to go, I didn’t have the legs to turn it fast enough to catch up.  A 34:15 probably would have been perfect.  It was great to see 4 of my team-mates racing, 2 of them also getting 3rd place podiums.

Looking forward to Crystal Ridge this Sunday, I hope the dry weather holds out.