Todd and I headed down to Hot Springs, Arkansas for the 1st of the 4 races in the Arkansas Marathon Series. I placed 4th overall in the series in my age group last year and hoping to place top 3 this year. I plan on racing my singlespeed for all 4 races even though only 2 of the 4 have a singlespeed category for women.I picked Matt Keeven's brain a little before the race. He got me fired up about how awesome this course was especially, for the singlespeed. 24 women registered solo for the 6 hour race to include pro women such as Pua and Andrea Wilson. This wasn't an "A" race for me but, I have been training hard all winter and was ready to see what I had.
No matter how many races I've done, I still stand at the start with nervous butterflies in my tummy and try to scope out my competition among the mass of racers. The start took off with a short run to staged bikes. Once on the bikes, they attempted to 
break us up even more with a short road ride before we hit the trail. The paved road was a bit of a disadvantage to me as I attempted to spin my buns off to keep up with the geared bikes. I just kept telling myself "it's a long race and it will pay off later." I spent my 1st 2 laps learning the trail and trying to figure out a good pace and lap time that I would be able to maintain for 6 hours. I was feeling a little down during these 1st laps since I knew there were quite a few women ahead of me and I wasn't making any progress. But, I just kept focusing on being steady and not blowing up my legs on the climbs since on the singlespeed. Lap 3-There goes Pua! Just got lapped by the 24hour Solo National MTN bike champion. That's the only time I have ever been happy to have someone lap 
me! I knew Andrea Wilson and Loreen Coffelt were probably right behind her. That's ok because I was starting to feel pretty good on laps 3 and 4. I found myself passing more and more women. I knew the 5th lap would be my final lap since you have to continue racing for a minimum of 5 hrs to not
DNF but, finish before 6hrs 30min or that lap won't count. I decided to drop the hammer for the last lap. I managed to pull off a 2nd place finish (Top 3 Pros were separated into a different group) in my age group. Overall, I felt really good during the race and got to meet some of my MTN biking idols!
Up Next...Ouachita Challenge-Race #2 Arkansas Marathon Series
me! I knew Andrea Wilson and Loreen Coffelt were probably right behind her. That's ok because I was starting to feel pretty good on laps 3 and 4. I found myself passing more and more women. I knew the 5th lap would be my final lap since you have to continue racing for a minimum of 5 hrs to not
DNF but, finish before 6hrs 30min or that lap won't count. I decided to drop the hammer for the last lap. I managed to pull off a 2nd place finish (Top 3 Pros were separated into a different group) in my age group. Overall, I felt really good during the race and got to meet some of my MTN biking idols!Up Next...Ouachita Challenge-Race #2 Arkansas Marathon Series
