Training the Week of 10/31/11

Due to my leg injury, lack of running and increase in biking, I committed to riding on a 4 person team at the 18 hours of Scouts Honor.  That is coming up on 11/5/11.  I've never participated in a team race like this one.  I've been on a Duo team at a 6 hour race the last 3 years but nothing longer than that.  I'm nervous and excited about it.  The team consists of 3 strong riders and me.  I fear that I may be the anchor that holds everyone down.
11/1/11 - 7.5 miles of running.  Ran the 6 mile loop in 40:04.
11/2/11 - 8.5 miles of mtn biking at the cove to dial in my bike light for the race on Sat. 
10/4/11 - 6 miles mtn biking in Fishburn to dial in the bike and a few part upgrades.
10/5 and 10/6 - 25.5 miles mtn biking at the race. 
     The race had a 4pm start time on Saturday.  This is the weekend of the time change but the race organizers made it clear that, to keep people from being confused, that as far as they were concerned the time change wouldn't  occur until the race was over.
     Our team decided to start off with a 1,2,3,4 rotation.  I didn't feel like I had the legs to put in 2 laps in a row and thought I needed the rest between laps to make the most of my legs.  So we decided to start out this way and re-assess once we got into the race. 
The laps ended up being 8 miles and 45-55 minutes long. 
We were in first from the start and through the first 3 laps.
     I was the 4th person to ride and the first on the team to ride a lap in the dark.  It was hard to get the race jitters out on a first lap in the dark.  I rode sloppy but ended with a decent time. 
     Each lap felt better and better.  I finally got my light dialed on the 3rd lap to where I felt like I could see the best for this twisty and fast course. 
     The 4th lap was a mess.  I started to get tired and began to "see" things.  The harded place to find on the course was the center of the trail.  I was everywhere but where I should have been. 
     At this point we were all doing the race math.  We were in first by almost 2 laps.  The race was to end at 10am.  If you didn't get in by 10am that lap wouldn't count. 
    We all got in 5 laps.  The 5th lap for me was my first in the light of day and it went great.  It is amazing how it feels to finally ride in the daylight after working so hard to see in the dark on the previous 4 laps.  This was one of the best feeling laps I rode all race. 
    Our team decided not to ride a 21st lap.  So we ended up winning by 1 lap and a few hours on our competition.  Our team won first place overall and $50 a piece.  Not a bad time.  We plan to get the team back together for a few "training camps" and races in 2012.
7.5 miles running and 57 miles of mtn biking.