Tour DaVita Day 2 and 3

Delay in posting because my time was so limited on these days.

Day 2 was a 102-mile ride and I thought "102 miles, 4100 ft of gain. That's not too bad."
Nope. I felt pretty rough all day. We started around 7:40 and I started feeling it after the first rest stop. At least it only rained a little bit this day.
I was doing this ride with Scott and Jeremy - two great riders who I knew would be pushing me. However, given my performance while doing a century in Boulder two weeks ago, I thought for sure we could get this done in under 6 hours of ride time. But we didn't - we took our time and it was truly painful at parts. I was so done with climbing, realizing I'd probably pushed the hills they day before a little too hard.
I was a little bummed to find that my Garmin file from Sunday did indeed manage to delete itself. Especially after 85 miles with some really good climbing on my part, I think I may have lost some sweet Strava trophies which I'll never have the chance to snag again. Oh well - it's just Strava.
At mile 69 of the century, I needed the rest stop badly. I laid on the ground and stretched my hips and back. Yikes. At mile 86 it started pouring rain and we hid under the tent at the rest stop thinking "well, only 16 left and we have to get it done." The rain passed and we made it happen - still coming back to camp soaking wet.

Day 3 I had about nothing left to ride. I lost all my ride buddies and spent the first 11 miles just looking for someone to ride with. This gave me the opportunity to ride through almost the entire group and chat with some people. I talked to one of my Falcon teammates and another woman who just came off chemo. I am consistently impressed with people on this ride - so many people ride every mile with hardly any training or conquering huge hurdles, like illness. I definitely cannot complain about any pain I feel on these days.
At about mile 30 I found my feet were starting to fall asleep and it was cutting circulation off to my calves. I pulled over and yanked off my socks and felt much better. I'm thinking my cycling shoes are just too small, especially given that I'm fairly sure my feet were swollen at this point in the week. After lunch we pushed through to the end as best we could. in true fashion, I found myself energized towards the very end and put in a solid 3-mile pull after our 58-mile stop.
Prior to the start of this year's tour, I thought for sure that I would be turning around and ushering people in at the end of this day - but I had nothing left. I just wanted to get off my bike. But, as I did every other day, I did spend as much time as possible standing at the finish line cheering people in. I cannot imagine the number of hours they put in on the bike. In fact, I was talking to one of my ride buddies, Jeremy, about how long most riders spend in the saddle and for us, it would be equivalent to spending 3 days riding about 400 miles! I cannot even imagine.

Was excited to get this picture snapped this weekend. I never fail to make ridiculous faces.

Tour DaVita - Day 1

I'm bummed to say I think my Garmin didn't save today's ride which is a real bummer, but I'm trying to figure it out.

This year has been really challenging for me and my bike. I've gone through a lot of incredibly hard rides and getting pretty toasted on rides with really good riders. In racing, I saw myself progress and get stronger but I felt increasingly discouraged.

Today I remembered, however, that Tour DaVita is not about that. I started at the back of the group - letting almost everyone go ahead of me. Today, though I had planned on this day being about others accidentally ended up being a day that helped me.

Though I rode through almost all the riders, reminding them to move over right and use their shifting up the hills - something else happened - all the hard hours I'd spent trashing myself, in over my head, made me an even stronger rider. I kept up with people on hills who used to drop me. In fact, I was half way decent at climbing. A friend of mine whom I'd ridden with a lot last year (not just at Tour, but also in Denver) said to me "when did you learn how to climb?!" It was great to hear and reminder that all my work this year didn't leave me empty handed.

So while I had planned to spend this day riding and helping others - I ended up having a day of Tour DaVita that ended up helping me look at my difficult training year with a lot of perspective.

That said, I also got to teach people how to do a rotating paceline and push people up hills. Then I turned around once during the ride and once after I finished my ride to sweep people in - so it wasn't entirely selfish.

Day 1
80 miles + ~5.5
5h 15 min + change

[race report] Steamboat Springs Stage Race: Stage 3 criterium

Coming to stage 3, I felt a little optimistic about the criterium because that is what I'd been racing all year and definitely where I felt pretty strong. Plus, having taken the RR a little easier than some of the others, I felt like I might have a little more left in my legs.

Waking up on Monday morning, however,  I was not feeling great. I felt groggy and tired. It was storming outside. The storm died down but riding down to the race start was cold and wet. My legs felt dead as hell and as we rode the course and then some warm-up hills, I felt confident that I was getting dropped pretty quick. 

Denise and I lined up on the line after our warm-up laps and since the start was uphill I paid attention to be in a good gearing. I ushered Emily to start on the line and Denise and I scooted over to get her in between us. 

As the gun went off - I jumped and, much to my own shock, was on the race! We took the power climb hill the first time and it strung us out but I wasn't dropped! Our initial laps weren't all that fast - around 20-21 mph because we were all tired. Laps came and went and I shocked myself that, not only was I still on the race, I was one of three thumpers the most forward in the pack - with Sue and Emily being the only two in sight. Amy and Denise had been dropped. 

I told myself to not give up. I kept repeating in my head "don't you dare give up, you are in this race." I hung in until the mid-race prime lap, when the sprint split us apart and I started falling off the back. I kept pushing myself to hold on to whatever wheel I could until about 25 min in, I felt the wall hit. The hill that previously had been a fun challenge, was now a damn disaster. I was so tired. 

Amy came around me on the descent and I said "oh Amy, thank God!" and jumped on her wheel. I held on as long as I could but she was able to bridge up to the pack and I had nothing left. I pedaled around, giving as much as I could but there were a number of other girls already popped off the back and I wasn't going to win - and I was totally spent. Denise caught up to me and we acknowledged each other but were at 1 lap to go so on the descent we pushed through to the line to find out that Emily had won the crit too! Insane, man. Insane. I'm incredibly proud of and impressed by her and it was awesome to have a teammate take two races and the GC. 

I had my best standing of the weekend in the crit - not that it made a big difference. I felt happy because, compared to the beginning of the year, I performed pretty well in this one. Especially given that a number of these women have enough points or will have enough points to start racing a category up next season. Moreover I surprised myself. I'm looking forward to training hard and coming back ready for some better standings next season. 

[race report] Steamboat Spring Stage Race: Stage 2 road race

I was incredibly nervous about this day because the course was pretty hilly and I truly did not expect any great results, but I did NOT want to do this race alone.

The night before I'd talked to some friends and teammates just making plans to try to hang out together if all else failed.

As we started, the whole group was scared and not taking anything very hard.  We knew a lot was ahead and we really didn't want to trash ourselves. Then came the first real climb. I held the pack for a little but soon was kicked off the back. My teammate Denise was up about 100 meters ahead but my friend Trisha was just next to me and having a hard time so I backed off a little and told her to just breathe as easy as she could. I had committed to Trisha and I knew I should wait with her.

As we descended  and climbed again, I caught up with another Primal girl named Dawn. Trisha was a little back so I fell back to grab her and bridged her up to work with us. We hung out for about 10 more miles. Dawn was really hell bent on catching Denise and another woman from the masters group. We started organizing a paceline to speed up to grab them. 

Coming in to rollers, I made a pretty big effort to jump up and catch them. We climbed all together to the turn around and Dawn took off. Personally, not what I would have done. I'd much rather go a little slower and have people to work with than time trial for 24 miles, but ok. Denise and I descended from the turn around next and probably could have caught up with Dawn but Trisha had a mechanical issue and the other woman was still back a bit. We both agreed it was better to wait for a friend who we knew would work with us and was having a rough time, than push to catch Dawn, whom we didn't know and had run away without us. Plus, we weren't going to win and really didn't want to leave Trisha by herself.

Once we all got together we worked on a rotating paceline. It was nice because I got a lot of time to recover. I also had a lot of fun riding with my friends - which made me feel good about working with them. As we came up the climb everyone calls the corkscrew, I was feeling beat. I'd  felt pretty good up until this point but I kept letting myself hold back because I knew I had some climbs coming to kill me. Glad I did that. After the corkscrew we had another (and our final) sizable climb. I was spent and the others were totally dropping me. But, in our understanding, they chilled out at the top and waited and we worked together on rollers and descents for the rest of the ride. 

Towards the end it definitely began to feel unending. As we came in the last stretch we talked about whether we would sprint for it or cross together. Ultimately, Denise decided she wanted to practice sprinting tired and I just used her wheel as a lead out and held on until the line. Trisha and the other masters woman came in right behind us. 

We all agreed the RR felt a little more like a hard group ride than a race but we had each other and had fun and did something challenging - and that was exactly what we all wanted to accomplish. 

I was excited as we finished to find out my new teammate Emily had won the RR! She is a bad ass and a very strong rider (and climber) so it was awesome to see her do well. This also made her second overall in the GC by 1 second! 

We went home that night to talk strategy about how we could potentially get that second back and have her place well in the crit the next day to take the overall win. Definitely an exciting day ahead.

[race report] Steamboat Springs Stage Race: Stage 1 TT

I had been feeling nervous all week about the Steamboat Springs Stage Race. I'd heard it was brutal and I didn't know what I was in for.

TTs are my game (obviously) and I was feeling a little nervous about this one because I'd heard it was climby.

After we arrived on Friday, Eric and I slowly spun through the course and at an easy pace, averaged 17.5 mph so I was feeling pretty confident and excited, which was a good feeling given all the anxiety I'd had over the week. 

When I started on Saturday, I was feeling a little tight in my hips and quads - which really impacts a TT position. We started with about 5 miles into the wind and my friend Erin, who started 30 sec behind me, caught me in 2 miles which made me feel pretty shitty - 30 seconds over two miles is a LOT. Shortly after that, my friend Laura passed me but I know she is an amazing time trialer so I didn't feel terrible on that one as I assumed she would win (and she did) and I didn't think I'd have a hope of contesting her. 

My teammate Denise told me the day before that she and some teammates had done the TT course in 39 minutes so I assumed I could get it done in about 35. And prior to actually racing, I thought the course was only 13 miles. So as I came up on 13 at 37 I was pretty excited ....until I saw the 1k to go sign. Oops. I finished in just under 39 minutes at 21mph which I was actually pretty proud of until I saw the results and saw how fast everyone else went. 😕

I had to ultimately just tell myself that I was proud of how I performed and remember that I could not have performed this way last year. But I was pretty bummed that I got slaughtered at my own game and began to feel pretty nervous about how destroyed I would get at the road race, which certainly was not my game. 

[race report] Boulder Sunset Sprint tri

My apologies in advance for delay (not that anyone noticed, I'm sure). My excuse is that the past two taper weeks have been insane at work and mentally taxing, but now that my race season is officially over and I have a 3+ hr drive home in a passenger seat, got some reflection time. 

For the boulder sunset triathlon I had signed up for the Olympic distance. Despite trying to keep my running and swimming game up, I found no time to brick (run off the bike) in the past month. Plus, in spite of the name of my blog being "swim, bike, run, rinse, repeat" I'm a little burnt out on the tri grind. So I decided the week before that I would downgrade to the sprint. I just really wasn't feeling a 10k off a 26-mile bike and especially not that "trail run" 10k. 

This particular sprint I was excited about because it was a long bike course - at 17 miles and the 5k cuts out the worst part of the 10k course so I actually began to get pretty excited!

Getting ready, much like last year, felt weird because it was such a late start. However, this race was super cool because Brett and Cassie (and of course Eric) came to support me, my friends Elena and Kristina were racing, and I ran into Liz from Tribella, another RMTC athlete Jeanette, and I was surprised to see TWO of my Northwestern teammates there - Kelly volunteering, and Will cheering on his CSU teammates.

The swim felt really cold - colder than last month in the Boulder Reservoir. Once again I hang with my group and other swimmers the entire way. This race was actually particularly bad (probably because sprinters tend to not be as good swimmers so there were more slow, panicky people), wrought with swimmers stopping, backstroking, zig-zagging, etc. coming around the turn buoy a girl immediately flipped on her back and started swimming all over the course - it was super annoying to have to figure out how to get around her.

I had left my swim watch in the car and didn't care a ton to go get it - so I had no idea how my swim went. I ran out with a fellow bike racer, Elena, and I respect her as an insanely strong athlete - so I figured it couldn't have been so bad. I quickly got out of transition and off I went (and never saw Elena again haha because she is one fierce time trialer). I did get passed by one other sprinter in my age group up the first hill and basically spent my bike race looking for her. Coming through I passed tons of girls in my age group - typical. Going up the first hill I had an older guy constantly sitting about a bike length off me. It got super annoying so after a few minutes I turned around and said "you've gotta stop drafting me, man!" and was incredibly relieved and happy to drop him when we hit 36. He was really pissing me off - I hate cheaters. Along 36 I could tell how much better my climbing game has gotten over the past few months. Finally I found the girl who passed me with another  girl in my age group on a fierce descent. I tucked in and at that point, the bike traffic got pretty sparse and I began to wonder if I was in first place in my AG. With my brain in this mode, I immediately felt chased so I threw down the hammer - knowing I was almost done. This girl and I began going back and forth for the last 4 miles because she was a better climber. I came into transition with her and said "good ride! I was totally chasing you!" 

My transitions were way better than hers so I beat her out on to the run by a bit but about a quarter-mile in, she and another woman in my age group came up and passed me. At this point I was convinced they had just run me into third - but in reality they had just run me off the podium. I later came to figure out I was 3rd at that point and they threw me in 5th with that pass.

I then spent the entire run getting passed, which was disappointing but further solidified that I made the right decision in switching to the sprint. I was honestly laughing at myself because a 5k was feeling hard and mentally I wanted to walk. I told myself - despite placement - to just keep running because I'd be so mad at myself if I didn't and it was just a 5k and walking was pathetic.

I finished and felt pretty happy. I got my results and placed 9th in my AG which I'm fairly happy with. Came to find out the other girl I'd been chasing for most of the bike beat my bike split by 10 seconds and another girl I never even saw did the bike course 2 min faster! Strong girl! So I ended up having the 3rd fastest bike split - which I was pretty happy about. 

Overall, I had fun and could see myself sprinting again next year - but definitely didn't leave this tri itching to sign up for the next one, which I think is a sign that it is time to take some time off multisport.

[Race Report] Lucky Pie Criterium

Another day to wake up at the crack of dawn for a bike race. (Literally, 4:45 AM. Dawn hadn't even cracked. Dawn was still sleeping.)

I was feeling pretty nervous about this race after the disaster that was Bannock St last weekend. I definitely was being jittery, anxious, and difficult this morning.

We got there about an hour before the race and I was able to warm-up on the course with friends and teammates which was really helpful. I got in a few pops at effort and a hot lap or two.

We started with a neutral start which basically means you start rolling and then the official blows a whistle and it was time to start actually racing. I actually really liked this because it didn't really let anyone clip in and hammer - which I have struggled with in the past. In fact, it felt like we started out pretty slowly.

There were a lot of women in this race who hadn't been around much this season and didn't have the greatest technical skills so I was a little freaked out by their wheels in the corners. I was talking to my friend Vicki afterwards who said sometimes she feels like sketchy wheels around her make her wheel sketchy too. I know the feeling - it's like you're freaked out by the people around you so you are holding a little too close to your brakes and sliding out to avoid them. It was a bit of a mess. One girl kept taking all the corners really slow and super tight and I turned to her and as nicely as possible in one of the most dangerous corners said "Hey girl, you really want to be taking these corners wide-tight-wide, ok?" Who knows what happened but I know she freaked me out and I was thankful we dropped her.

Coming into a prime lap, I started to get gapped a little and spent about 3/4 of a lap about 4-5 bike lengths off the back. Instead of letting myself get into a defeatist attitude, I just repeated in my head "get back on, get back on..." and I put my head down and hammered. I noticed I started to get a little wavery, not riding in a straight line (b/c I was so focused on laying down power) so I looked up and focused a little harder, and sure enough, I slipped right back in the back. That was a really good feeling - to come around the officials tent (where all the spectators were as well) and have been gapping in the last lap with people yelling "Andrea, get back on!" and then coming through the next time dead in the center of the group.

The next lap they called 5 laps to go and I joked to a friend "I wondered when they were going to say that" and we jumped into the next corner.  Sure enough we counted down - 4 laps, 3 laps and I was feeling good! Two to go and I was in an ok position towards the middle-back of the back. At some point, a few girls we had lapped jumped back on, including my friend Nicole, whom I often find myself off the back with. I had cheered for her earlier when I could tell she was losing heart with me at the back of the group. Ultimately she did lose the wheel in front of her (but we all have those days - clearly because I did that just last week!), but jumping back on she sat just behind us - not interfering with the peloton (which is good etiquette, so yay Nicole!) and quietly reminding me every time I had to lay down a little more effort that I had this and I was doing great. I love this about the women's field - no matter what team you're on, we make friends and we can cheer each other on.

With two laps to go, I began to really think about my position and moving up in the field. I was sort of boxed in however. In the second to last corner on the last lap, I was able to jump around a few people by taking the inside line of the corner and coming out around 7-10th wheel. As the end was a fairly sizable straight-away, sprinting started early so we basically came out of that corner and immediately started redlining - which is a long way for that kind of effort.

In the end, I came in 17th, which actually might be my best place percentile wise, this year. That said, I think I could've done better if I got up out of my saddle more. I was just very worried about burning out since my sprinting game isn't strong. Still, I'm incredibly proud of my effort to get back on and the fact that I stayed with the pack the whole race - which I've struggled with a lot this year. Coming from a triathlon background, I'm used to long, sustained effort and I have really found it hard to back off and then lay down a ton of power, and then back off again. I spent a lot of time doing that this race with success. Lots of breakthroughs - in my opinion and finally a hint that maybe some of the work I've been doing is finally paying off.

I also really loved this race for the great attitude of the other racers I was around - so massive kudos to everyone around me. It was so great to hear women communicating (at least in the back anyway) and having positive attitudes.

Now to work on my positioning and sprinting.

[Race Report] Bannock St Crit aka swallow your pride and frustration

I woke up on Sunday at the crack of dawn (5 AM) to race the Mike Nields Memorial Bannock St Crit. I was feeling optimistic on this one because I'd been having good mock races and performing well on group rides. Plus, they paid out awards 5-deep which is generous and awesome for a women's 4 race. That said, I was a little tired and as some girls who win a lot start to show up, I felt discouraged.

I got in a sufficient warm-up but apparently started in a little too hard of a gear and never really got on the race. I was immediately in a mode of chasing the group. This is mentally rough especially when I was feeling stronger recently. Dropped with no hope by the second or third lap, I decided to just ease off and let the group catch me. By the time they did, they had really broken up the field and probably only about half of the girls who started were in the main group. I jumped on but they were moving fast and very strong and I was getting gapped. I was probably 3 bike lengths off the back, trying to hang in the best I could when we took a left turn into a chicane. Coming up on the right hand immediately following, a racer kitted out for a later race started to cross the street of the course as I lined up the corner. I took it but swung out left and grabbed my brakes and yelled "whoa!" He apologized and everything was fine (no crashes or injury) but at that point...my race was done. It was already hard enough to give up and let the group lap me so I could get back on and hang out. Once that plan was beat, I was both mentally and physically frustrated. It felt like this race was the biggest waste of money and time. I sat up and drank water and just pedaled easy for the last two laps - basically getting in my cool down. This is the first time all year I've finished dead last.

I pulled off the course immediately once the sweeper moto came through saying the course was clear. I exited the course and walked over to Eric, almost in tears - frustrated, upset, and angry. We rode home in silence. He knew where I was and that there wasn't much to say.

That afternoon we volunteered at Ironman Boulder and it was a great way to get my mind off it - got an opportunity to help out cyclists with lots of mechanical issues and I can say it really exhausted me. Great day of giving back to the endurance community!

[Race Report] TriBoulder

I approached this triathlon somewhat differently that others as my training this year has been incredibly bike heavy and I wasn't really looking for a strong tri performance. After coming back from vacation, I actually was in pretty tuned in race shape for swimming and biking. I hadn't tested out my running but had been running a bit while on vacation - not well.

Race morning, preparing for my 18th triathlon, I felt dialed in to everything I needed to do. I definitely felt like I was returning to something I knew inside out and backwards. I felt quite calm and calculated.

Getting in the water, I felt a little anxious as always but I found I was always with other woman in the same color cap as me. It was really nice to be with people. My sighting was great actually, until the very last buoy on the way out - I accidentally started sighting the buoy on the opposite side of the course instead of the one right in front of me. From what I can tell, that had little impact on my course though. I seem to have kept a decently straight line. The swim felt like I was going fast until the end -- then it started to feel like I'd been in the water for a very long time. Pushing out of the water, I was satisfied to see I was at 35 min - not my best but decent for minimal swim training. The wetsuit did bother me so I think I'll have to rethink that. Around my neck it often felt like I was being choked and I did get some chafing.

Transition was smooth though I definitely felt panicked after running up the sandy hill. I took a second to take a deep breath and situate myself. I'd left my bike in the perfect gear and was in my shoes before the first hill. I made a point to immediately take a gel and it tasted a little...gritty. Obviously, I used the same gel as I trained with so that was sort of a red flag. I still choked it down but I think it made my stomach feel weird. I got down a lot of water and maybe it's too much information - but kept burping. Just weird but that at least made me feel better. I had estimated/set a goal of about 20-20.5 mph for this leg, but upon starting the climbing and remembering there was quite a bit, I knew I wanted to be over 18.5 and that was probably a more realistic goal. I was happy in the end with a 19 mph average. Again my transition was solid and I was off on the run.

During the run, I fell apart. I ran one mile to the first water stop, then another mile to the second water stop...and that was about where the running stopped. When I was running, I was keeping a decent pace but the heat and my lack of run training and my least favorite course in the whole world got the best of me.

Funny - this was actually a normal swim and decent bike time but an atrocious run time and one of my worst race times, as a result. Though, given the length and difficulty of the course, I have mixed feelings about it - not entirely negative. I also placed 6th in my age group which I believe was really a testament to how difficult this course was - everyone suffered. Also looking at my splits on this course last June (which was a decent race) my swim and my bike were better - my run, of course, took the biggest blow.

[Race Report] Colorado State TT Championship 2015 SW4

I had a rough night of sleep before the Colorado State TT Championship in Keenesburg, but I woke up and went through my usual strides. I was feeling a little like I had to have forgotten something but I think I’m at this point where I’ve raced so much, I have a routine.

I started my warm-up pretty early because my legs were feeling tight and I felt like I needed to just spin out. It was hot and I really didn’t want to dehydrate or tax myself too much in the warm-up. I can’t decide if this was a good or bad idea – yet to be determined.

Starting the race I felt a little nervous and I had a goal of finishing in about 70 min. I think my fastest 40k was during a tri around 73 min and change. Last year I did this race in 74:28 but I feel a lot stronger and more dialed in. I guess a 4:28 PR is a lot to expect of myself.

The race itself was good. Last year I approached it thinking I needed to not go too hard from the start, but this time I just embraced downhills, speed and adrenaline. I did feel the race start to get hard but I was able to push myself and I think this was a better approach. 

I ended up PR'ing my best 40k time trial time by about 1 min and beating last year's time by 1:52 so I was pretty happy. Also got this SWEET picture!

Colorado State TT Championship 2015 Photo cred spotifimages.com

[Race Report] KHMTT final recap, Bolder Boulder, and City Park Criterium

I guess I've been slacking a little on this - pretty caught up in training and trying to organize my life - which can get surprisingly unorganized.

KHMTT race 7/final recap
KHMTT is over and it felt like one big defeat. I never actually did the course any faster that my first go at it which really bummed me out - I was supposed  to get better. My last week even was about 10-15 seconds slower than my best time in week 1. I walked away saying to Eric, "Yeah, I'm totally only signing up for 4 of these next year. This was torture."
But the next week I was really glad that I persevered and got my butt out there (rain, shine, or hail - but mostly rain) because I ended up placing 3rd overall in the series because I placed okay and got enough points by having been there! So, yeah, it's a little like a participation and perseverance award but I get a medal for it - so that's pretty cool.

Bolder Boulder
I went into Bolder Boulder completely unprepared for a 10k. Well, maybe not completely but I really hadn't run more than 4.5 miles at a time in weeks. I also really hadn't planned on "racing" it so I mentally prepared myself to goof off, which is really hard for me because whenever there is a time tied to my name, I have a really hard time intentionally under-performing. That said, I knew I wouldn't be proud of my race time so I decided to take it easy. I started two waves back with some friends, high-fived Elvis, waited for them to catch up after traffic-filled water stops, chatted and even danced a little to some of the bands along the way. In the end, I finished in an hour and some seconds, which I was surprised by considering I was going "easy" and keeping sub-10 min miles on a hilly course, but this goes to show the power of a positive attitude and excitement. While that pace is in no way shape or form a "race pace" it still wasn't too shabby and I had fun in a race, instead of taking it 100% seriously which is an accomplishment for me because that is so difficult for me. My friend Brett and my boyfriend Eric came to watch and they knew I was getting kind of psyched-out about doing this - both seemed surprised when they met me at about 5.5 and I was all smiles.

Me (center, hands up), Alan (back left, orange) and Kris (left, light blue l/s)

City Park Criterium

I was really excited about City Park because it is a pretty non-technical and flat course. Plus, it was my team race so I was excited to have people cheering. I also had some friends come watch which was a motivator to do well. I had a really positive attitude on the start line, lining up right on the line, next to my teammate Lyndsey. Then everything went downhill (and not in the good way). First I couldn't get my foot in my clip and rocketed to the back of the pack. Then I could not get good positioning in the group and soon enough I was chasing off the back. Everything felt really hard, the corners felt terrifying, even though they were really tame corners. I found myself again working with Ariane from the Ten20 team - we seem to always end up working in a chase group together. Soon enough we realized the girls we just behind us so we slowed down massively to just let them catch up and jump back on. 

When I was off on my own I was so bummed - my team cheering for me actually back fired. I felt like I was letting them down at our race and I was mad at myself because I told myself there was no reason for me to get dropped in this one. I was so angry.

Afterwards, I thought about it long and hard. I had crashed on Thursday sliding out in a wet corner on my ride home from work. I think this left me a little shaken, because once I got back on the group I had no problem jumping in the corners with them. I probably was also a little tired from the week before - I guess I'd done a lot even though I took Thursday easy and Friday off. 

Today I looked at the Strava file and saw that the group came out the gate averaging over 28 mph - which is just, insane fast. Once we got back on they were keeping around 25.5 which is so much more manageable. It was just that I didn't have the fitness to hang on at that pace for that long. It was a hard race. No excuses - just data. It was not as easy as I anticipated but...that's racing.

[Race Report] KHMTT week 5 & 6, Wheels of Thunder 2015

Sorry for the delay!

KMHTT #5
This week was kind of a bummer for me. Coming off sickness from the Monday before, I don't think I was really recovered. The weather conditions were perfect and I felt like a PR was imminent. I had a pretty good beginning to the race, the weather was sunny and mid-70s, but my quads felt shot during the whole thing. I pushed very hard, but in the end, finished 1-second over my fastest finish - just felt very sore and like I didn't have a lot of power to transfer from my legs. Hopefully KHMTT 6 will be better.

KHMTT #6
It was gloomy and stormy-looking all day. Mentally I did not want to do this race at all but the sky opened up and I forced myself out of the house. This was probably silly because I just was completely not in the mindset. I hadn't even hydrated enough during the day so my abs started cramping on the ride over. I got that to subside and got ready to start my race. I was doing ok for the first half until coming up the first hill I dropped my chain - I knew it wasn't my day. I hopped off and put it back on but still had a pretty slow race. By the end it was pretty cold and I didn't want to run so I just met Eric and had him drive me home. Really an anti-climactic and not very fun race.

Wheels of Thunder
I was excited for this race since I did ok in it last year. When I arrived it was raining a lot, but thankfully it stopped during my warm-up with my friend Lauren. I got in a solid 20-min but didn't feel too great. I drank some water and made some last minute prep, before getting to the line. I was able to start right up on the line so I was happy with that. Hanging on on the hill was hard, but generally ok. We dropped a number of women right off the bat. I was hanging in pretty well until the end of the prime lap, when a few people picked up the pace and I fell out of the draft, getting pushed back and totally dropped. It kind of sucked - but I found my friend Lauren, who was lapped, and told her to get on my wheel. Overall, ended up 13th which I think is still, place wise, one of my better finishes this year but I really need to stop getting dropped.
Eric did his first road race as a cat 5. His experience was much like mine - he was doing a great job hanging in until the end. Still, he finished mid-pack and did great for his first race!

[Race Report] KHMTT #4 and the week of sickness

Sometimes, you think "yes, finally I'll have two solid weeks of training!" but then your maybe somewhat stupid decision to race in sub-par conditions comes back to bite you in the ass.

Welp, that's about where I'm at. I woke up on Monday morning feeling respiratory misery, went to work late and probably should've just not gone at all. Spent Tuesday similarly dragging. Wednesday felt almost woozy, but raced KHMTT anyway.

It was supposed to be a really nice day, but as is almost always the case, once race time rolled around, the gods fired upon us. Seriously though, rain mania. Happy Earth Day, Earth. Enjoy the replenishment.

KHMTT #4
I decided not to ride to the reservoir today and man was that a good decision - down pour of rain minutes after getting in my car. Made it in time and sat in my car until 20 minutes before my start time. The rain was pounding and the temperature had dropped from a lovely 63 to maybe 50. Still it didn't feel too windy. I took off on the slight uphill with rain pelting me. It was actually pretty bad. I turned and was booking it on my way out but ooph the turn around was some bad wind. Today I hit 6.4 miles in 20 min which was .1 miles behind my best time. I worked hard up the hill, tried to use the advantage of the wind and the downhill to my best ability, but again, another turn around cost me time. Not my best race, but not my worst. Coming back into the final uphill, the wind was fierce and did not make my climbing effort any easier. However, I think it says something that I was one of 5 in my category to actually get her butt out there. I placed 3rd.

Eric and I shared sushi and chicken afterwards for dinner - trying to refuel intelligently. We ate all the same things except I woke up with the worst stomach pain. Day two, and I'm still fighting it off. So much for my awesome training week. :/ Oh well, hopefully it passes tomorrow.

[Race Report] KHMTT #3 and Denver Federal Center

KHMTT Week #3
I felt optimistic going into this week because despite all the crappy weather predictions, it was pretty okay outside.
WRONG.
As I set off for my 10-mile warm-up ride from home at 5:30 the wind felt icy. Though the weather said 62, the wind brought the cold front in at what felt like 32. I contemplated going back for my arm warmers, glad I had gloves.
At the start of the race, it was very chilly and windy. I thought maybe not as bad as the previous week, but boy was I wrong. My start time went with a huge gust. The official said "10 seconds" and the gust went off and I sarcastically said "just in time." Another official said "it's a tail wind" to which I laughed (it wasn't). I found myself on a slight uphill mashing to keep 15 mph. At least it was short. As I made a right turn out of the wind, I was even faster than the week before, looking at speeds north of 31 mph. I told myself to just spin my legs and find that sweet spot of laying down power but not mashing. I actually did fairly well for the first few miles, posting up some really fast mile splits...and then the turn around came and so did the ice wind. I continued to focus on a good cadence and not mashing but it was...slow going. What a buzz kill to have such great splits turn into murderous icy wind miles. I came up the first big hill thinking I wasn't too far behind my best time, only to come down knowing it was going to be a rough finish. This week was very slow and I was very disappointed. I felt a little better, however, when I saw standings this week to see I had placed 5/10. Probably pretty similar to last week (6/11) but still that is a consistent improvement in the standings when you consider percentile. Most importantly, I just want to make progress and get stronger and I think pushing myself week over week can help me do that.


I had planned to race both days this weekend. When I signed up for these, given the fact that it was snowing and slushy outside, I thought I might be clinically insane. The jury is still out on that one, but it definitely was a risky move. Even riskier when on Friday I slid on the slick granite floor in the train station and fell on my knee and twisted my ankle. But later that day, I received notification that my Saturday race had been cancelled which was very fortunate for me because I woke up the next day with a very stiff and sore ankle so having another day to take it easy was good. I was bummed that I ended up not being able to workout/train for 2 days but these things happen. Moreover, it allowed me to be pretty rested for Sunday.

Denver Federal Center Circuit
I had bad feelings going into this race. I thought I'd registered and I hadn't so I had to register day of and for whatever reason, this just got into my head. I had trouble sleeping and my stomach hurt all night into the morning - lots of anxiety. It was incredibly cold when I arrive at the race site and I found one of my teammates had crashed pretty badly in the men's 5 race earlier that morning. I got on my trainer and warmed up, then kept forgetting things - first my sunglasses, then my water bottle, but ultimately I grabbed everything and did a warm-up lap with a mixed group of women from all different categories. It was very cold and I wasn't going to do this warm-up but I was really glad I did.
The night before, Eric talked to me about how I needed to start on the line and he was right but lately I'd just been getting there late because I've been doing warm-up laps of the course, so the line was often already crowded. However, today we were starting categories about 30 seconds apart so I was able to sneak to the front of the 4s to hang out with my teammate Sarah.
I started the race hanging at the front, but probably a little exposed given that I'm racing with a lot of girls who will be moving up a category soon within the year. I started falling slightly back, especially around corners, which was a bummer. However, I did do all the corners (save a few of the corners that went into uphills) in my drops and sat in my drops for all flats/downhills. It was an awakening, though, that I'm not as good at cornering as I thought because I'm losing placement, and thus speed, in them. I though I had pretty good placement sitting about 10-12th wheel only to find myself at the back of the group! That was my own fault because I hadn't realized the field was so small.
Soon enough, we actually caught up to the masters 40+ and the SW3 groups that started ahead of us (which speaks to how well the 4s are performing in general) and the chaos split us in half. The front attacked to get around the masters 40+ and then they started to attack and yell "that's the 4s!" And in the chaos we split into two groups - which looking at results, was a group of 9 in front and a group of 8 in back but I believe we pretty quickly dropped a few. I hung out the rest of the race with 4 other girls and we hung out with three masters woman who apparently we weren't supposed to be working with and we realized this after a lap with them and backed off (or, well, tried to work by ourselves). By the end, I had made an effort to speed up the group and one of the other girls asked someone to pull. Since we were all kind of toast, I suggested we do a paceline, at which point that girl attacked and another followed her. Being that I just had made a hard effort, I was toast and that kind of ticked me off but that is life. I chased them for two miles, totally out of energy for the little hills that were getting so old. But as the course evened out, I caught back up with the pack and finished with them.
In the end, I finished 13th which was my best finish this year (percentile wise) in a road event (non-tt) so that was good. Now I have a few weeks off for training focus that I'm really looking forward to. Eric's phone was dying so no pictures yet, but maybe something to come.

[Race reports and Athlete Thoughts] KHMTT Week #2

This week has been an informative one for my training and health as an athlete:

On Monday, Eric and I did a criterium clinic with a really phenomenal coach and athlete on the Thump/RMRC team. We did some handling for corners work where I forced myself to work in my drops and it was just what I needed to amp up my skills. Eric needed a little practice before jumping into the crit scene and I think that helped him feel much more confident about racing. Trust me, road racing can be terrifying, but it is largely about being informed, smart, and stacking the deck in your favor. After that we did sprinting work which I found incredibly fun and now all I want to do is sprint a ton so I can get better at it but also because I kind of love it.

On Wednesday at work, I had a conversation about nutrition for athletes with one of my co-workers who used to play basketball professionally and is still extremely fit. She had some interesting advice on cutting back on sugar and just upping the protein to almost extreme levels. I thought a lot of it made sense, especially given the struggles I've had in the past. This had me looking at my diet through a lens with renewed vigor and motivation.

That evening - I raced. Well, I also bricked. It depends how you look at it.

KHMTT - Week #2
By Wednesday morning I had 4-days and about 80 miles of riding in my legs. I'd decided to ride my TT bike to work to try to cut down on the toll my heavy single-speed takes on my quads. Low cadence and high gear work can be good, when used mindfully and given that I'd been commuting every other day on that bike, I felt I needed more of an ability to spin out than 20-min of low cadence mashing. In the end, I think this was a good plan.
I got to Cherry Creek reservoir for the race much closer to my race time this week so I wasn't standing around in the cold. At this point, I already had about 20-more miles logged for the day but I'd made sure to not push them (unless it was a big hill and I didn't have much of a choice). My goal for this week was to get under 29 min which I believed I could do just knowing the course and being a little more prepared. However, it was windy, cold, and gray and I was worried.
On the first leg out to the first turn around, I was booking it. I remembered at a specific point going about 28 mph where I had gone 24 the previous week. Not sure how much was wind and how much was a little power burst, I hoped it wasn't all wind but knew that if it was, I needed to suck as much advantage as I could out of it because that could mean it would be that much worse coming back.
I hit the turn-around and immediately felt the wind - slight headwind but also a little across. My speed started dropping from what seemed like a steady 21-22 to 18. I tried to find a good gear to keep my cadence high and also my power consistent. Then I hit the first hill and whereas I was looking at more like 14-15mph up it last week, I was struggling to maintain 10-11. I looked at my watch and by a quick calculation figured I was behind my time last week. From here, you crest a hill and I could feel the wind working against me solely because I was pushing to maintain about 28-30 down this hill. Then the second turn around happened and after fighting through a little uphill and crosswind, there was a slight curve and I found myself fighting up the last hill with the wind directly at my back. I heard another cyclist yelling out to cheer us on about how we were almost done and I kicked into high gear, standing and just laying down everything else I had. I was seconds away from my goal and eating up that hill like it was nothing - I think that was probably the fastest I've ever ascended anything. I don't even think my pace dropped below 20 mph which is insane for that gradient (thank you, wind!). Still, I was disappointed to cross the line 26 seconds slower than last week.

Afterwards, I stopped to talk to some teammates and Sue had had a great day! Gosh, she is just so strong. She encouraged me that given the windy, swirly conditions that a bit off my time from the previous week was pretty good. Later that night, results were posted and I was 6/11 which is actually, percentile wise, a little better than the previous week! So, I guess my sub-29 min goal will just have to wait until next Wednesday. Hopefully the conditions will be a little more ideal.

After my race, I rode home, then grabbed my sneakers and did my first brick workout of the season (this means you run off the bike). I was actually pretty pleased to see my running pace in the high-8s, low-9s for most of the run effort. I usually feel good running off the bike - often better than I normally feel while running and the first brick of the season was no exception. Now hopefully I can maintain an interest in multisport training for the rest of the year, without burning out.

[Race Reports] KHMTT Week 1 and Louisville Criterium

This past week was when I actually intended to start my race season with the KHMTT on April 1st.

KHMTT - Week #1
My goal for this 9.5-mile, slightly hilly TT was to finish it in under 30 min. I have to say the weather conditions and my pre-race nutrition were not ideal but I was still able to get it done in 29:30. I jokingly told Eric, who starts 20 seconds ahead of me to not let me pass him...and then he took off and immediately opened up a big gap between us. Still, he told me he felt like he was being chased the whole time, which is a generally good outcome. I ended up 10/15 which is a pretty decent standing, especially since TTs are tricky because people often show for them who don't show for crits/rr so they are just strong time trialists who never do anything else. We'll see what happens next week.

Louisville Criterium SW4
On Saturday, I raced the Louisville criterium SW4. This was a ton of fun - big corners and a sizeable downhill, moderate uphill that, while not terrible, got old real fast. My goal was to hang on to one my teammates' wheel who is likely going to cat up to SW3 in the coming weeks. Within the first 2-3 laps I was excited because I got her wheel and was towards the front of the group...and then someone attacked and she jumped on it and I was toast. It was absolutely the right move by them because they broke the group in half - which was probably partially my fault, given that I was toast from working so hard to move up to the wheel I wanted to be on. Still, I wasn't completely broken down. I was tightly secured in the second group and we were only seconds off the others. In fact, lots of girls who held on to that group ended up dropping like flies off the back and then trying to hang on to our group, so we just kept getting bigger. Ultimately, I stayed in there and actually talked through handling, etc with some of the other girls who weren't as sure. Even though the hill beat me up and I got really tired, I managed to push myself through it. Unfortunately on the very last lap the girls in front took off and lapped us and when we had to swing over to the right, I lost the group because they didn't really pull right like they should and the girls off the front were yelling at them. All in all, I was pretty happy with my performance in this race.

Here are some sweet shots:

Taking a corner, looking fierce

that face - I promise people were around me

see, here are those people!

Back in the Saddle - the race season begins

Annnd we are back.

I find that sports are so mental. I completely burned out by the end of last year's season and I was in a tricky point in life that just left me exhausted.

This year, I've made a change which has led to a decision to cater to my strengths as a cyclist. I'll be racing for Thump Cycling p/b Turin Bicycles on their women's category 4 team.

I hadn't intended to jump in until, well tomorrow, but I found myself in two criteriums in March. Here are abridged race reports:

Oredigger Criterium (Colorado School of Mines) SW PRO-OPEN
This race was a pro-open race which means all categories were in it and it was scored as just one big category. I probably shouldn't have done this race anyway but it was a good way to get the "first race" out of the way. This was tricky with a big old 6.5% grade hill and a tricky corner. I made a mistake on this one from the get go - couldn't get my foot clipped in and scared of the corner, I didn't get up front. Then diving into the first corner (the tricky one) EVERYONE slammed on their brakes. That was a little...daunting. But then I had no one's wheel and no one to help me up the hill (since I'm not a climber). Then they said they weren't going to pull anyone but they pulled 4-5 of us. Yep, including me. Not sure if they meant to do it. In the end, they gave those of us they pulled DNPs instead of DNFs which is sort of nice because it just means they didn't rank us as opposed to we didn't race.

CSU Oval Criterium SW 4
This race actually went pretty well for me. I mean, I finished second to last, but let me explain why I still consider that "going well." I clipped in quick and hung on the pack. The pack was very inconsistent in pacing which immediately is a weakness of mine - which makes sense, coming from a tri background. I just want to go hard the whole time. The back/forth will continue to be a challenge for me. Anyway, I held on to the pack for about 15 min of the 40 min criterium, trying to stay close to the front. My first mistake was being a chicken and not getting closer to the front. I had this "well I'm not going to win" mindset that kept me from getting really close up to the front which was stupid. Anyway, I ended up being towards the back and getting boxed out of a corner by a woman who ultimately DNF'd this race. I was the closest woman chasing the pack for another 3 laps and this effort I was proud of. I basically opened a gap and held that distance by myself for a good 10-or so min. As far as I'm concerned, I showed a little time trialing power on that one. Finally three girls who had dropped behind me, caught up to me which was good because I was burning out. I worked with two of them and the other quickly dropped off us. Being in the chase pack allowed me to learn a little bit about dynamics. I was frustrated because it was mostly me and another woman alternating pulls. When the third woman was told to pull she took really short ones. I gave my all but burnt out with about 2 laps to go. These two pulled away from me and I lost them entirely b/c I'd blown up, having spent too much time working hard for them (for really no reason, other than to pull my weight). In the end, I finished with the one girl we dropped behind me and the girl who DNF'd obviously off the course. While not a great standings result, definitely a good learning experience.

Tomorrow is when I intended to start the season at a Wednesday night time trial series. I just changed my tires on my tt bike to be ready. I'll also be racing a criterium on Saturday, so I'll probably report back on those two in a collective race report similar to above. I'm not optimistic about the crit on Saturday because it has a moderate hill that might chew me up and spit me out, but my goal for this race is to practice sitting in and drafting better and hopefully do a hair better in the standings.