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.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
[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!
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| Colorado State TT Championship 2015 Photo cred spotifimages.com |
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
[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.
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.
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| 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.
Monday, May 11, 2015
[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!
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!
Friday, April 24, 2015
[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.
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.
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.
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