[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.