Storytelling

Yes, I did it. I clicked the big mouse, sent the big bucks to RAAM.

So. I'm in. Really...in. I show up on the website and everything, so it must be real, right? I remember the very first qualifier I did - Furnace Creek - I started telling people in, like, November that I was going to do it. It's in October. That's a lot of time spent explaining..."it's a five hundred mile bike race. In Death Valley. Without stopping. Except I'll get off the bike to pee..." - but every time I did, I got a positive vibe, even if it was a "gosh, you're some kind of nuts!" positive vibe.

It's a good reminder. We all have stories to tell. Tell the people around you, tell the people you WISH were around you (like my folks, who are finally too far away now that I'm grown up enough to figure that out). Tell your story. Here's mine:

In June of 2010, I'm going to race RAAM. It's a 3000 mile bicycle race. It starts in Oceanside, California. It ends in Annapolis, Maryland. I'll race around the clock, without stopping. Except to pee. And to sleep, a little (but not very much). I'm going to ride a recumbent bike. No woman has finished on a recumbent before. I'll be almost 47 years old.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

It feels like its a million miles away, but it's really just 10 short months.

I'm...blogging.

I'm...committed. I'm racing in the solo division of the Race Across AMerica (RAAM) next year. The process I went through just in qualifying at Race Across Oregon cemented it.

I'm excited, nervous, excited. Happy.

I've got unfinished business - I DNF'd RAAM in 2002 and I owe it to myself to go back, find the edge, stare it down, and...finish.

I feel like I'm mentally ready - that's 90% of the battle. Maintaining and extending my fitness - that's other 10%. Oh - then there's organization...the other, OTHER 10%. Crew - the another 50%. Equipment - 20%. Luck - maybe 20%? - but I'm already the luckiest person in the world, so I've got that nailed.

So - to get my 100% readiness up to the 200% that appears to be necessary...

I'll need sponsors.
I'll need more crew.
I'll need bikes, supplies, and your good thoughts.

I'll be training - hard sometimes, less hard others, and doing a lot of cross-training to build strength and flexibility. Trying to train for RAAM while exercising "moderation" seems a little dissonant to the folks racking up mega-miles, but I'm convinced that it's the best way to do it.

More later. I've got stuff to do.