[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.