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.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
[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.
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.
Friday, April 10, 2015
[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.
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:
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! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)