As I prepare for another year somewhere near the mid- to back-of-field listening to one-time bucketlisters moan about the "attrocious" weather and "infuriatingly difficult hills", I ponder that if I was a betting woman and there weren't a massive conflict of interest, I'd put money on myself this weekend... on me finally going sub-5 hours at the 3 Peaks again... after 20 years.
It's a distant wouldn't-it-be-nice which didn't really hold much muster. More of a pipe dream than a possibility until last year when I got 5h19m after hanging around with my dad for the first road ride out to Ingleborough. Nothing else went particularly badly to make me believe that it would have been easier to make 5hrs stick but despite finishing with the usual cramp in the last mile - I felt like the day was over too soon last year and I could have done more.
There are a few reasons I shouldn't get a sub-5-hour time. I haven't run in 3 weeks...
until this evening when a jog across the valley to retrieve a key went surprisingly easy as I bounced up the 20%hill across the road from us. I've not done much running but 14 days ago I was probably pushing a (heavily loaded mountain-)bike over the Col de Peas at 2600m. At that point I swore that it'd be all taper until today... and it pretty much was.
My race bike is filthy. The last thing I did with it was rode it 564 miles across British Columbia to race it. Now that we've done two cyclo-cross seasons and bonded over 7 days on the road together she is sufficiently worn in to justify her 3 Peaks Cyclo-cross debut so for the first time ever I will be riding this race on a bike that fits me. When I was growing up they didn't make race bikes for girls and big bikes then just became what I was used to. 30 years on and my musculoskeletal system can't cope with excessive stretching so all of my limbs will be doing this year's race in the correct position.
I tentatively tugged at my new tubular wheels which might also help me towards sub-5-hour glory. I thought the glue might, just might, have lasted long enough for this weekend but sadly it was not to be. I was almost glad they were obviously no good, rather than being maybe good enough to risk. SO I'm on 3-4 seasons-old tyres, hoping they won't pinch puncture and relying on my old steel steed as backup (yes the big one).
That's two bikes I have to service tomorrow morning.
On the plus side, in the last 7 weeks I have worked 10 days and spent most of the rest either on my feet, on my bike or recovering from racing/training. As I have said many times in the last few years, I'll either be exhausted or kick ass. I can never tell anymore. After hauling EmVee around the Alps, stepping onto Simon Fell with my cyclo-cross bike is going to be like splashing in the shallows after wrestling with the Kraken.
Whilst the body is heavily protesting with a stiff hip and plenty of impromptu cramps, the mind is at least willing. And, wouldn't it be lovely to repeat a sub-5-hour finish 20 years since I last did it?
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