June 2015 · Holly Mackin

Sticking with a "what did I learn" theme, I think the last month has been more of a "what not to do" than "what should be done." I did a race last year on a whim in the heat and humidity in SC. It was a 40k. It was hot as Hades, and I wasn't mentally, physically (or emotionally) ready for it. I vowed that I was going to show that race another side of me this year. Fast forward to Tuesday. I went down there early. I rode the course, HARD. I acclimated. I ate a pristine race prep diet. I cleaned my bike. I hydrated like a just ran a marathon all week. I tapered. Thursday, I started getting a really nasty cough and runny nose. I shrugged it off and stayed to my plan. By Friday night, I was running a fever, and alternating between coldsweats and actual sweats. I couldn't blow my nose fast enough. I literally got not sleep. I may or may not have had a mild to moderate hissy fit in the middle of the night at the sheer irony and reprehensible timing of this thing. You see, I have been healthy as an ox all year. I rolled out of the bed on race morning on sheer stubbornness with a generous dose of stupidity. Ian loaded the car and I gulped coffee and water and gatorade. Once at the race site, I got out of the car and felt nothing of the newfound comfort with the heat that I had enjoyed only 48 hours prior. I felt like it was hotter than I had ever experienced. The fever made it feel like I was in a sauna. I couldn't stop sweating. I did a brief warmup and got to the start line literally 30 seconds til my start time. Once on course, I started having abdominal cramps. I threw up. Three times. I swallowed it back down. I started playing mental games with myself to pass the time. I looked at my Garmin and realized that was not one that I wanted to observe. The numbers were much less than my moderate tempo a few days before! At the turnaround, I started trying to cheer myself on. I lost the ability to control my bike and kept running over the rumble strips. I blew a snot rocket very unskillfully onto my foot. I almost threw up again. At this point, I began to just count. I tried to focus on anything but how hot I was, how slow I was going and how frustrating this all was. I tried to pick up my pace. That wasn't happening. So I just kept going. On. And on. And on...As I saw the 1k marker, I started getting delirious, mostly because my HR was in the mid to high 180's, my eyes were full of sweat, and the sheer joy of knowing the end of the race was near. I crossed the finish line, noting my cousin and Misty there cheering me on, Ian taking a photo of the finish (I haven't and probably won't look at it). I hit my brakes, sketchily turned around and wobbled to the side road. Ian, Erica and Misty were trying to be helpful but my mind wasn't really cooperating with me at this point. I tried to verbalize my need for water and/or vodka, but I was mumbling and I couldn't focus my eyes. I laid down on the aerobars willing my heartbeat to slow the eff down. After about 15 minutes, I felt like I could move again. I wobbled to the car, and plopped down in the seat. I was sweating profusely and couldn't get enough to drink. They called my name for the podium (WHAT?!!) but I didn't feel that I could or should get up. I felt woozy and not at all ok. I finally did wobble over to get a medal (2nd place, are you kidding me?!) amid stares and concerned looks. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to stop, find someone and just end the pain of this race. I think winning for me was finishing and despite the fact that it wasn't graceful, and it wasn't what I was capable of without a sinus infection, I am glad that I still don't have a DNF or DNS on my race sheet. Until we meet again, SC/NC TT Championships...

July 2015 · Holly Mackin

This month has been witness to a definitive shift in my racing experiences. What did I change? My attitude. I've learned to find the joy in racing that has nothing to do with results, having a perfectly executed race, or the stars aligning and getting that all-elusive PR. At the beginning of the month, I did a few local races and my times are improving relative to last month's times. This weekend, I completed my 4th race that is in the 37-40k distance range. This area is essentially what i would consider paradise: Blue Ridge mountains on all fronts, slightly less hot/humid temperatures, and a challenging course in every aspect. Everything you can think of that would test human resolve could be found here: Steep hills, relentless false flats, screeching descents with blind corners, humidity/heat, technical turns and lots of gravel on the road and rough road surfaces/bridges. On race morning, I stayed on task, managed my pre-race anxiety and chose not to chide myself or get derailed because I forgot my race clothing. I was able to pre-ride most of the course before dusk, with the exception of the technical portions and hills. When I started my race, I decided to be cautious yet take risks where it made sense to do so. I felt good, and despite doing a few hills that were in the double digits on a TT bike (!), I finished strong and paced myself very well. I managed a 3rd place in my age group, and 9th overall. The competition was very strong and I was so proud to see so many athletic, dedicated women out there kicking that course's butt. So what did I learn this month in my racing endeavors? You cannot control what the universe gives you, but you can make the most of what you do with what you are given. On some level, I have known this but I didn't live it. I am happy because I was able to do that this month, and enjoy myself in the process. Side note: One of the Veterans forgot his prosthetic hand, and taped his hand to the handlebars. To say that this course is extremely technical, would be an understatement and I am inspired and in awe at this brave man who not only served our country, but rocked that course without his prosthetic!!

September 2015 · Holly Mackin

Last year a group of TT friends and I decided that we were going to carpool to Nationals in Utah in 2015. As the winter and spring training passed, a lot of things changed for my friends but I had already sank my teeth into the idea of Nationals and an epic road trip. So I planned, trained hard and decided that I was going (so long as I wasn't sick, lol!) We rented a monster of a minivan, which we affably called Mama Moo, loaded up the bikes, planned out some road trip stops, and made no concrete plans except for a place to stay in Utah and the race. We took a collective deep breath and hit the road. Days 1-3: The first day we got all the way to Kansas City. We stopped just long enough to take care of business and pick up food to eat en route. I had never been in most of the states we drove through, so I started taking pics through the window of the van. Then I started imagining things that would be fun to try to find, like cows in water, or a bird playing on the wind. It passed the time and we made it to our destination pretty late. We got up early and hit the road again. I found a TT route in Colorado to do as a training ride, since it was at elevation and it's almost impossible to find a route that is both flattish and at elevation. We got there with just enough daylight for me to ride. As I hit the turnaround point, a huge storm started blowing in and I got back to the Moo just as the rain started. It was a nice course but elevation is no joke! My legs felt great but my lungs were not too excited about the lack of oxygen. The next morning, we leisurely took the rest of the very scenic ride into Utah for our final destination. The mountains of Colorado are so beautiful and a part of me felt like I was coming home. Days 4-7: We checked into our basement apartment and scouted out places to eat in Ogden. We rested and went to preview the TT course when we got up the next morning. Antelope Island, which Ian dubbed Aardvark island, is about as desolate a place as I have ever been on a bicycle. There is absolutely no shade, very little vegetation, a much receded Great Salt Lake, and lots of (understandably) confused Bison. There were so many cyclists previewing the course, it was very neat to see. The course has a lot of roller coaster hills and when I rode it, a nasty crosswind. It was all I could do not to go hard, I was so excited to be there and felt so recovered from my training. We mainly rested and made sure to stretch and roll my legs and back until race day. We also found a Bakery and bought some treats for after the race. I never sleep well on race day, but I did the night before this race. I got up rested and got there almost 3 hours early for my noon sharp race start. I did my best to stay on routine, eat/drink as I need to, remember all of my equipment add ons, focus on the warmup, and before I knew it, my race time was very close. I rode over to the start line and tried to find some shade. As I climbed the steps to the start ramp, I took a deep breath, visualized my race strategy and took off. I've never actually started on a ramp before, but the start was smooth. I took it easy the first half, and didn't let it get to me that some of the other girls didn't. As I was nearing the turnaround, I saw 3 girls pretty close together. I didn't let that get to me either. On the way back, I picked up the pace quite a bit and as I crested the final hill, I gave it all I had. When I reached the finish, line, I felt good with my effort. I didn't win, but my expectations were to show up, race hard, get experience and get out of my comfort zone. I am confident and happy with my results, knowing that I earned every second myself. I felt like the journey to the race was such an adventure, and I know that I have so much room to grow in this sport. I also know that many of the girls competing have been racing for a long time (the girl who won has been racing 11 years!) I finish this season recharged mentally and excited for what 2016 will bring. Thank you for my sponsors, David Demperio, Todd Malloy, Abubika Gaming: https://www.facebook.com/groups/144634798994851/, Weldon Weaver and Evelyn's Beauty Shop. Thank you also to my friends and family who have supported me when I doubted myself, kept me motivated through really hard training periods and a very hot summer, and joined me in races and rides. We finished the road trip by hiking in Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon, seeing some beautiful Waterfalls (and a random dinosaur exhibit) in Texas, and spending a few days in New Orleans.

Apr 2016 · Holly Mackin

A much belated race report for the Florida State TT earlier this month... After being blindsided by heat and humidity at a last minute decision 40k TT in FL last year, I decided to try again this year. I opted for a planned approach and got there early to acclimate a few days prior to the race. I pre-rode the course around 3:30pm, my scheduled start time, to gauge the heat/humidty on the course. The crosswinds were incredibly powerful, and were forecast to be approximately the same speed/different direction, on race day. The course was mostly false flats, with a maximum gradient of maybe 2%. With a 14-18mph crosswind. We rested up and explored a little for the next few days leading up to the race. The weather was rather warm and muggy for early April by NC standards, and I tried to be outside/moving but not doing anything strenuous during that time. On race morning, I got up and went through a routine that I set up last year that works well for me. After registration and warm-up, I headed to the start line. I was started mid-pack, one of the few women to do the 30k option. Since I upgraded to Cat 3 this year, I raced that category instead of my age group since my age group (and all other women's categories except Cat 1,2 and 3) only did the 20k. I paced myself well and the wind was exactly as expected, blustery and mostly a sidewind. The temperature wasn’t as hot/humid as the last few days, and I felt really good during the race. After the turnaround, I passed a girl that started before me. A bit later, I had a girl pass me and I dropped to the side so I wouldn’t draft. I noticed I had to slow much more than I would have liked in order to stay far enough away from her, so I decided to pass her so I could go my pace again. This sequence repeated a few times, and she finally decided to go hard near the finish and I didn’t pass her again. As I saw the 1k mark, I gave it everything I had left. As I crossed the finish line, I felt good about my fitness and execution of pace. After the race we waited for results. And waited. And waited. And found out they only used video instead of timing chips and the results were taking a while. After what seemed like a really long time, we found out I got 4th, missed 3rd by a hundredth of a second! Overall, I really liked this course much better than last year’s, as well as the date (almost a month earlier). I didn’t care for the timing method or the lack of oversight (checking equipment: several serious infractions that were blatantly obvious, and making sure people weren’t drafting, etc.) Overall a good experience and will likely do this one again next year. Since the race was a day before my birthday, and the race was so late, we stayed in FL an extra day. On my birthday, we got to go to Siesta Key for a nice walk, visit the Dali museum, do a whirlwind tour of Cody's store and visit with them for a much too short period of time, and have dinner in Savannah at a nice Farm to Table restaurant.

May 2016 · Holly Mackin

May has been a busy month for Team PsychloTherapy. First, I’d like to mention that a few of our teammates are recovering from some curveballs that life has thrown at them. We’re looking forward to riding and racing more with Karen and Joel as they return to health and wish them all the best in their recovery. On the racing end of things, Sam has been tearing it up at the Lowe’s and Rockhill Time Trials and got out of his comfort zone by racing the Winston Salem amateur crit late last month. Sam learned a lot and is planning on racing more crits this month. Erick Rose delved into road riding and his first century by tackling none other than the Assault on Mt Mitchell! Erick finished in 9:16 after switching from mountain biking to road cycling only a few months ago. Way to go Erick! Heidi and Chad are in full-on triathlon training mode and Chad will be competing in Ironman Kona in 2017! Daniel Competed in a metric mountain bike race in Wilkesboro in Apr and finished carrying the bike over the finish line due to a late race flat! He plans to get a road bike and try some road races this year also. I’ve raced at Lowe’s and Rockhill this month and competed in the Master’s Nationals Time Trial in Winston Salem. Congratulations to everyone on a great start to the season and keep pushing yourselves, learning and of course, having fun! <

-PhotoCred: Weldon Weaver

June, 2016 · Holly Mackin

I was so excited to hear that the USA Cycling Master’s races would be in Winston-Salem in 2016 and 2017 (especially after the drive to Utah last year). On paper, the course was very similar to the race in Utah, albeit slightly hillier and shorter, much less altitude and much earlier in the race season. My training was going pretty well until the middle of April. I won’t go into too much detail, but suffice to say that I was not able to train very hard for almost 2 weeks. I ramped back up pretty quickly (probably too quickly) trying to get back on track for this race. We hit a ton of traffic on the way to the race that morning. I cranked up the tunes and made sure to hydrate as much as I could on the trip and kept my thoughts positive. We didn’t have a whole lot of time, once we arrived, but fortunately the race staging area was well-marked, well-manned, and had sufficient porta-potties. It was impossible to find a shady area to park or warm up so we decided that along the road, where everyone else was, would have to suffice. Ian sat the trainer up and I got a brief warmup in before the start. My legs felt good and I did my best to warm up without overheating. This did not prove to be possible, I had rivulets of sweat dripping off of me and put some ice in my skinsuit to try to get my core temperature down. My race start was at 1:10 and by this time, the ambient temperature combined with the heat from the road was well into the 90’s and very humid. I got to the starting area a few minutes before my race time and got a nice chuckle out of a spectator dressed as Elvis. I still don’t know how he didn’t die from a heatstroke wearing full velvet suit and a hat., but his commitment was admirable. I tried to think arctic thoughts and before I knew it, I got my final countdown from the official. As I started, I tried to get into a groove and not start out too fast. I never felt comfortable while I was on the course. By the time I got to the third hill, I couldn’t regulate my breathing at all. At the turnaround, I was seeing fuzzy. I was in a world of pain on the return leg. The wind was getting pretty insistent and my legs weren’t. I kept as steady of a pace as I could and managed to hold it to the line. I gave everything I had to get to the finish line. I literally had nothing left to give. National caliber races are tricky in terms of assessing how you did versus how everyone else did. Most of the women in my age group were in a higher category than I am, so when I calculated how I did in respect to the other girls in my category, I got 11th place. I don’t feel that this was the best I could do in this race, but I do think it is the best I could do given the circumstances on the day. I’ve done a lot of work on myself in terms of positive thinking, acceptance of personal and external limitations, and putting in the efforts in training to get myself to where I would like to be. Regardless of the outcome, I feel like this is a nice capstone to the season and I have learned a lot. I’m looking forward to returning to this venue next year and I’m hoping the stars will align a little better the next go ‘round.

July, 2016 · Holly Mackin

I have been waiting for this race since last year. Finally, the day had arrived and Ian and I headed out to Virginia late morning the day before the VA State TT. I did this race last year and forgot my skinsuit, but still managed to have a decent time/finish. As we drove through the valley, I felt my soul getting lighter-the mountains have an effect on me that is difficult to explain. Once we got to our hotel, a storm settled in. An apocalyptic storm. We had a nice vantage point and just watched the storm run its course before seeing one of the prettiest sunsets I’ve ever witnessed. I slept very well that night, which is rare for me the night before a race. I woke up plenty early, got everything together and we headed to the race site. I warmed up on the trainer in the shade. At around 9:30am, it was plenty muggy but a nice respite from the temperatures back home. My legs felt pretty good and I got to the starting line a little early. I did a few spins to keep my legs ready to go. As I lined up for the start, I felt ready. Once I was on the course, I warmed into the effort as much as I could. The course is very technical and there were some wet parts in the shade on the course. There were a few raindrops that fell on the first half, but nothing substantial. I couldn’t believe how good I felt and before I knew it, I was at the halfway point. Coming back in, I was passing a lot of people. I also unfortunately I also passed a turn (there are 3 courses that use many of the same roads, and they don’t differentiate in the course markings). The volunteer didn’t answer me when I was trying to determine which way to go. I saw the people I passed turn, so I turned around. I didn’t let the mishap get to me and continued on the pace and effort that I had before the missed turn. I repassed the people in front if me and began emptying all of my reserves as I hit the finish line. I definitely had something left! There are a few miles distance from the finish to the staging area so I headed back to the car on the bike. I still felt spry and had to hold myself back and just try to spin to cool down. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this good in a race before! I took a shower and headed to the podium area to see what our times were. I finished 2nd in my Age Group and 9th overall in the women’s category, shaving almost 90 seconds from my time from last year. After podium pics, we went to find a Mexican restaurant for a post-race meal, which is apparently becoming tradition. We also stopped by a local winery after I discovered they make Pinot Noir in the region, and it did not disappoint. Overall, I had a very positive race and experience. With nearly double the elevation gain, 15ish turns and 4k longer distance than Nationals, this course is much harder and I felt lightyears ahead of my form back in May. Despite the storms, the race directors got the roads back in race condition, turns were marked well (with one notable exception) and the volunteers were very helpful and knowledgeable. Definitely planning on doing this one again next year!