I'm in the midst of packing for the Cape Epic MTB Stage race in South Africa and getting really excited along the way. Sue Haywood www.susanhaywood.blogspot.com and I are racing as the Trek/VW WSD team along with Chris Eatough and Jeremiah www.jeremaihbishop.com as the Men's contingent. Its a huge undertaking and I think an amazing opportunity. Laura Downey and Steve Borkowski are our Mechanic and Sognier. Both are amazing at their jobs so we are going to be dialed. Along the way we will be writing a daily journal for www.cyclingnews.com and it will be posted also on www.trekmountaintypepad.com Wish us luck and think fast smooth riding on our behalf.
Yesterday I rode with Brian and Jeff rolling on the MTB while they rode smooth tires. I kept up pretty well, and felt really good after 5 days of an EZ hill repeat week. So I'm as ready as I'm gonna get.... and very excited to be leaving the snow behind again. Fingers crossed Gunni rock gets Spring fever soon!
Where are all the good riding pictures? I was kept busy keeping on rolling. However do check out www.susanhaywood.blogspot.com , and www.ridewithnickmartin.blogspot.com for some good photos.
We really had a blast joining in with the training camp in Moab over the past few days. It was fantastic to see everyone again and to welcome some new faces. Joining the Rocky mtn team this year are deserved racers Josh Bezechney, Kelly Magley and Charlie Hayes. Watch the endurance scene for Charlie on his 69er single this year. Josh is a mainstay on the Colorado circuit and its great to have him on board. Kelly adds diversity w/ his 24 hour and endurance prowess and his dual life w/ filament productions making film and video. Yesterday the White rim w/Josh, tomorrow LA shooting a sunglasses commercial in Hollywood. Pretty neat life eh.
Higlights from camp for me included: 'Brian's excitement over dirt' (a buried commodity in Gunnison right now), the La Sal loop road ride... we usually ride dirt in Moab, and the La Sal loop was an awesome change of pace with amazing scenery. Seeing how strong everyone is looking for this year, and trying out some new equipment. I'm excited to have an 08 hard tail bike for the Cape Epic MTB race and am in the process of getting it set up and ready. My sponsor plug goes out to Shimano for great shoes. I rate Shimano shoes very highly especially the Shimano MTB 225's for price point, durability, stiff to ride in, comfortable to walk in ( it is a bonus to be able to walk in Carbon shoes w/out risking your life and limb).
As you may know Jamie Whitmore is battling a tumor on her left pelvis. Here is an update on what has been going on for her:
SETTING UP TRANSITION
I am finally home after 10 days in the hospital. I wish I could say that everything is ok but the truth is, we still don’t know what we are dealing with. After 3 different biopsies we know that the tumor originated in the glut and grew into my pelvic area. It is the size of a baseball and is pushing up against my organs and the nerves in my left leg.
The doctors aren’t really sure if the tumor is pushing or growing out of my nerves. Either way I am in a lot of pain. More pain then the bike course of Utah, Tahoe and Maui put together. On a scale of 1-10, (1 being no pain and 10 being a lot), my pain ranges from 5 on a good day and 11 on a bad day. None of the pain meds or “nerve blockers” work well.
The sad part is that it is affecting my ability to walk properly. I can walk on my own but I use a walker for stability and so that I can walk longer. While in the hospital I was up to one lap around the oncology ward in the morning and one lap in the evening. I remember one time as I hobbled along in the morning I was passed by an older woman pushing along her IV drip system. I couldn’t believe I was walking so slowly. I jumped into my competitive mode and tried to hobble faster. At that moment it really hit me, I could have cancer. Three months ago I was racing in Maui living life and today I was trying to walk.
Right now the doctors are figuring out when their schedules are free so they can operate on me. The plan is to just go in and remove the tumor and figure out what it is while I am still open. There are several things they will be looking for. The first is testing the tumor to see if it is benign or malignant. If it is malignant then they need to find out if it is fast or slow growing. The last thing is if it is affecting any of my nerves. Removing the tumor may cause a lot of damage to the nerves. This means my ability to walk properly for one example. Any way you look at this, it will be a challenge.
I won’t go into all of the different scenarios that can happen. I just pray that whatever the outcome I will have God’s strength to get through it. I was reminded by a friend to remember my own mantra “With God’s strength, For God’s glory.” I say this every time while I race to remind myself why I race. It helps me to keep my mind right. I know I will get through this with God’s strength and in the end it will all be for God’s glory!
I am completely speechless over all of the emails I have been receiving on a daily basis. For those of you that know me, I am never without something to say! But I would like to say that I am truly blessed to have so many people help me through this difficult time. I will win this race with the help and encouragement of so many . . . And I’m lucky because I can receive aid from other racers!
Stay tuned because we will keep you updated to what is going on. When I go in for surgery and how my recovery is going. Please keep the emails coming because they definitely keep me smiling!
I hope to see you out on the trails soon.
Powered By God, Jamie
You can leave a message, offer your support or assistance at her website www.jamiewhitmore.com.
Jamie is the winningest Xterra athlete of all time. Her biggest competitor over the past 6 years Mel Mcquaid posted this photo montage of her and Jamie's competitive battle and highlights Jamie's successes.
Jamie is a phenonomal athlete and we are wishing her all the success at being healthy again soon.
3/8/08- Eighty some competitors lined up for the inaugural winter world championship Saturday morning in Snowbasin, UT. The event consists of snow biking 10K, snowshoeing 5K, snow running 5K and randonee skiing 8K. A one of a kind event that showcases many talents and tests the skills of all athletes including the pros. The start line in the men's race included the likes of: Nicholas LeBrun of France, a two-time ITU Winter Triathlon World Champion, XTERRA Summer World Champion and two-time World Duathlon Champion Josiah Middaugh, now 3-time National Snowshoe Champion, 5 time Winter Quadrathlon Champion, 4th place finisher at 2006 XTERRA Summer World Championships 48 year-old Mike Kloser, 2-time USAT Winter Triathlon National Champion and national team member at numerous ITU World Championships not to mention all the world-wide success with team Nike/ACG in adventure Greg Krause, 2008 North American Snowshoe Champion and top XTERRA Pro. Talk about some serious talent. Mike Kloser and I took out the bike but all the heavy hitters maintained contact. Greg and Josiah used their strong snowshoeing and running skills and put the hurt on everybody. Even with a strong chase and running fast Nico and I weren't able to reel back the two during the snow run, prior to the rando ski. Once on skis Greg was showing signs of his efforts and was only a minute up the first climb lugging his heavier at equipment at half the tempo Nico and I were putting out. Josiah was well up the first climb already. Nico and I closed the gap to Josiah to about a minute. At about the halfway point on the skis I overshot a re-skin flag and was called back to the line before I could begin the ascent. I lost about 20 seconds and Nico went by. I closed the gap to about 5 seconds before the top. Nico left to ski a series of panel gates but crashed right after passing Josiah who had also fallen on the same corner. Upon seeing Nico with his skis off and skins out I thought we had one more skin-up and stopped to ask the official who just waved me on. There was final short climb of about 50 feet to the last series of 10 gates. We all opted to herring bone up the last climb to save time. Once I started pushing with my poles I found I was not getting any plant with the right pole. I had lost my basket on a gate on the last descent. Josiah was 5 seconds in front of me and Nico was 5 seconds in the rears. While running the last series of gates Josiah needed to stay upright to take the title. He unfortunately crashed at the fourth to last gate and while snow plowing around the second to last gate I came on the inside to take the race by 1.2 seconds. That was undoubtedly the most exciting race of my life.
On the week of my birthday and a hard week of training ... my husband gave to me.... A Snot-ty nose and head cold. Damn it! and I thought I was getting through winter Scott free. So I've been dosing up on all kinds of Zinc, vitC, echanacia, immunity pills, ( which have mainly managed to upset my stomach) and taken up headstands and the netti pot. I took today off too, so fingers crossed that with a good nights sleep. Meanwhile Brian is at the Xterra Winter Championship event http://www.xterraplanet.com/ in Ogden, Utah with Eric 'Sully'. Boys weekend OH BOY... Brian ran on the treadmill at the Holiday inn express last night and broke it ( apparantly not to many people crank it up to 12 miles an hour). Oops, he had to sheepishly report it to the front desk. Does this mean he's in good shape for tomorrows event? Xterra phenom and all around great person Jamie Whitmorehttp://www.jamiewhitmore.com/ is having a rough time right now with a found tumor on her left pelvis. Click on the above link to send her your wishes for a smooth recovery. cheers Jen
1st stop from the plane. Sat afternoon and the produce goes on Sale as the produce market is closed on Sunday. Victoria markets in Melbourne. Pretty stimulating stuff after weeks of hibernation in Gunnison. Raymond Island w/ the Koalas. Missy loves Rachael.
Well - a valve in the gas line under the house was leaking and is now replaced. Good thing. And the heater this time was a burned out ignition switch apparently fairly common. So we are all systems go again which is good as Brian has a rotton cold from his travels to Germany. Our furnace is actually only 2 years old, super efficent, rather loud and very finicky. Its hard to say if the problems we have faced with it this year are due to abnormal conditions ( cold and snow) or the original installation. It's frustrating as it is much less than reliable.
I came home to an invite to Saipan for an Xterra next weekend. Julie Dibens couldn't go and would I like her place. So tempting but I had to say no. Am I crazy? Saipan is a tropical paradise in the Pacific ocean and would be amazing. Next weekend is my birthday and it would be a neat place to spend it. Its a long flight away though and I have 'other fish to fry' so...
With thoughts of tropical paradise's I better warm up the car (its 0 degrees F) here right now and get myself to the pool. Western State's pool is Saline .... I'll pretend its the ocean.
I'm Jenny. Professional cyclist, Xterra triathlete, and owner of Jenny Smith Coaching. www.jennysmithcoaching.com specializes in personalized coaching for cycling, triathlon and running. A West Coaster from New Zealand I now call Gunnison, Colorado home. My husband Brian and I live with our dog Max.
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