Ohio Cycling Disorder (OCD)

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Post race treat from Angie!! It has been about two and a half years since I broke my body. More than just stress fractures. I had so much stuff going on that running trail races was a thing of the past. 2.5 years of working with a sports psychologist. 2.5 years of working with a Dietitian that specializes in REDS. 2.5 years of working with numerous physical therapists, doctors, that included several MRIs, dexa scans, and bone density scans. 2.5 years of countless niggles that would just not go away, get worse, and take weeks to recover from. 2.5 years of missing my trail running friends, missing out on the incredible fall weather running, the summer weather running, the spring weather running, and yes even missing the cold Ohio tundra weather running.  Out of the many, many lessons I have learned through this arduous and mentally difficult process, the ones that resonate the most with me are having patience with myself, patience with the process, and giving my self some grace. I am...

Let me repeat the same sentiments I had after doing my first Virtual Everesting on Zwift in 2021, Holy Hell! I should have spoken to my therapist before doing this again.  Mid summer I had the idea that I wanted to do another virtual Everesting on Zwift, but on a different climb. Having already vEverested Alpe Du'Zwift at the end of 2021, I decided that I wanted to give the biggest climb Zwift has to offer, Ventoux in France. Ventoux is an 11.8 mile climb with an 8% average grade. The grades are unrelenting with long sustained sections of 10-13%. I started testing out the climb to get a feel for it a couple months before I wanted to make my attempt on December 19th. The first thing I noticed was just how choppy the pedal stroke got after the grade hits and surpasses 9% and the difficulty setting set to Max which is the only proper way to vEverest in Zwift if you want it to be approved for the Everesting Hall of Fame . After doing an entire climb with the choppy pedaling I knew some...

As crazy hard of a race that the Marji Gesick 100 is, the race directors and the community have a way of pulling you deeper into it's clutches. Yes, it is a race but more so it is a way for the every day person to set personal goals, do things they never thought possible, and to find their limits and destroy them. This is a VERY hard course and everyone that toes the line, whether they finish or not, is to be commended and feel proud of what they accomplished. I was set to race the Duathlon in 2020, but COVID had other plans. I was trying to get into a healthy state in 2021, but my body and mind were not having it and I bailed on the race. I worked my ass off to get into a healthy state and even though I continue to have issues with my running form it has taken me nearly 2-years of hard work, dedication, discipline, and the grace of God to feel like I was as ready as I could be for another shot at a buckle.  This would be my fourth attempt at buckling the 100 mile race with the pri...