You know shouldn't race, but...
You have a nasty cold and your sinuses the feel like they're going to explode, but then you remember that's why they make psuedoephedrine.
Your throat is so dry and scratchy that it's hard to eat dry food, but then you praise the folks at Clif Bar for developing Shot Bloks.
Your Hed H3C gets a flat on the way to the start line, but then you're happy you have a Hed Stinger 9 as a backup in the car.
Your achilles tendonitis is still bothering you, but that's because you've slacked off doing the effective exercises you learned at Athletico.
You had been anticipating overcast skies, but switching lenses on your Rudy Project Horus are snap (literally) for the changing conditions.
Your Cycleops PowerTap shows that your race wattage was worse than during a recent commute, but then again it's amazing how much wattage you can generate when you're running late for a meeting.
Your Pactimo skinsuit normally keeps you plenty cool, but then you were dumb enough to wear a Camelbak under it which acted like a hot water bottle (especially with heat indexes in the mid-90s).
You're cranky after spending 5+ hours in the car driving to your race AND then your wife's race, but are then overjoyed at dinner when you find out that they've got Goose Island IPA on tap.
You know you shouldn't have raced, but what else would you have done...organize your sock drawer (actually, I need to do that)?
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I decided to have a different take on race reports after today's Apache 40K TT. Given everything that happened today, it was probably the forces at be telling me that it would have been smarter to stay home and take the day off. Some folks had it, others didn't (including me). If you race enough, you know that you will have great races, bad races, and many in between. Besides, racing is the reason why we train, plus it motivates us to keep training. We spend so much time and money on our sport that it seems like a waste not to "utilize" our "investment". I remember one of my teammates reminding me, "If you don't, the other guy will be." Hope to see you at the next race!