Today's crit in Bensenville was the last of four Superweek Masters 30+ 4/5 races that I had registered for. This morning I had to make the difficult decision to eat the entry fee and sit this one out.
As you know from my last post, I went down pretty hard yesterday at Arlington Heights. I sustained no major injuries, but am sporting a fair amount of road rash along the left side of my body. Last night I was full of "sure, I can still race tomorrow" bravado. But then a restless night of uncomfortable sleep dawned on a morning of bone-deep achiness. Despite some early-morning Advil, just hauling the garbage out to the curb was a very painful experience for my left shoulder. A few trips up and down the stairs of my house made it clear that the ache in my left hip would make it extremely hard to generate the sort of power needed to accelerate my body up to race speed for 45 minutes. I know that the pros race through this sort of pain (and worse) all the time...but, unlike them, I don't get paid to do it.
So, despite having already paid the entrance fee, I have determined that attempting to race today would just be a waste of time and energy. Further, the fields in the past three races have been a lot more squirrely than I had hoped they would be by this point in the racing season...the thought of crashing on pre-existing wounds is a risk I'm just not willing to take. Still, this was a very hard decision to make. Aside from the "I feel like a sissy" factor, I also hate to not be there for my teammates. I wish them the best of luck (and safety!) today.
I should be in good enough shape to get my race legs underneath me again at the Matteson Tuesday night crits next week, and then it is the Chicago Criterium on July 26. But for now, as the Dead once sang, it is just time to "sit down and patch my bones."
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