Race Report: Breck 100

It was a chilly and moist morning in Breck.  I started the first loop of three with arm warmers.  It took me a couple pedal strokes up the first climb to analysis it was going to be a long, long day.  My legs were already sore after racing the last two weekends.  They felt like they were already going to cramp.  I don't train for 100 milers so all I was really looking for was to finish.  I wasn't too bummed when I realized there was no way I was going to push the pace.  The race was full of fantastic singletrack showcasing what Breck has to offer.  Absolutely amazing downhill sections, flowly singletrack, and enough techy to keep you on your toes.  Not to mention all the amazing views.  I thought for sure that by the end I was going to be cramping and I would be deep my pain cave.  Surprisingly, there wasn't a moment in the race that I felt too terribly bad.  I was able to go out there and really enjoy myself.  I had a lot of fun.  Even when it started running during the last big climb up boreas pass I was in good spirits.  Sure, I didn't place that high with only getting 6th in my age group and 26th overall, but it was nice to go into a race without the pressure of ripping my legs off.  I finished with a respectable 10:07:41.8 and didn't feel like dying trying to do it.  I'm confident that if I hadn't done the Firecracker 50 I could have been standing on the podium, but I just couldn't resist doing such a fun race.  Last year I did the Breck 68 and felt like my legs were going to fall off.  This year I did the whole 100 and felt solid all day.  I have made some amazing gains in this last year.  Hopefully that trend will continue for 2014.  One more thing.  I did do well enough in the race to gain enough points to place 3rd for the RME series even after skipping two races.  Wasn't my intentions to go for podium status in the series, but it was a pleasant surprise to end a great day of racing.