Saturday, Rick and I made our first venture out to Sattley for the NorCal/Nevada district championship time trial. I have been looking forward to this race for a while, since I haven't ever done an "official" 40k race (did a couple back in triathlon days, but that is totally different). We over-nighted in Truckee, but headed out Saturday afternoon to the course to check it out. There were thunderheads looming and a brisk wind. We saw most of the course, but turned around about 3 miles from the end after having a lightening strike less than 2 miles away (we were catching up with the biggest thunderhead). The headwind on the way back was brutal and the expansion cracks in the pavement demoralizing, which left me set to really hold back on the outbound leg for Sunday. By the way, the scenery out at the course is stunningly beautiful. I'm glad we pre-rode so I could appreciate it without the tunnel vision of racing.
I had my own storm brewing in my throat/sinuses. I had the horrible allergy thing coming on Friday afternoon that I had experienced in April. But, my best attempts to get it under control before the race failed. I think as a result, I had an over consumption of spicy salsa on Saturday night at dinner (ahhhhh), which left my stomach unhappy and my sleep restless. Needless to say, I was not feeling top of my game when we rolled up on Sunday for the race. But, we had traveled so far, and I had trained so much for this race, so there was no going back. I performed my listless one hour warmup and hoped for the best. I knew most of my competition in the W4, and knew they were fast. I was just hoping to lay down a decent benchmark for the 40k and start planning for next year.
I think I did pretty well overall, and proved to myself my ability to focus and turn myself inside out - even when I did feel not well. I held back on the way out - not sure what the winds would do. They were changing quite a bit during the morning. I ended up with a slight reverse split - even with a slight headwind on the return leg, so I guess I paced pretty well. My ending time was 1:10 and change - last place in my group (barely), but just over 21 mph average. My fastest average so far this year was around 20, so it seems I am getting stronger, and perhaps better over a longer distance.
On the way home, my throaty allergies moved on fully to my sinuses. And, by yesterday, I was feeling achy and listless. So, it seems my allergies had morphed into something else (perhaps the major teardown of my body was not helpful ;) ). Anyway, I'm looking forward to feeling better soon and getting ready for next year's race. I think with a little work, I should be able to go under 1:05, which would put me right in the mix.
A huge congrats goes out to my teammates Marsha, Liz, and Soni. Liz went just under one hour, and won her division. Marsha did very well for herself and ended up 3rd in her division. They are both an inspiration for me (and very generous with their knowledge of TT and the course). Soni and her hubby Jeff defended their tandem championship with the fastest tandem time of the day! Woo hoo!
8 comments:
That's great! One thing I've noticed (as a consistent last-placer in TTs) is that there's a whole lot of specialization in every category at TTs, and a whole lot of people don't show up if they're not feeling 100%.
Good job pushing through, and congrats on the pacing -- that's such a hard thing to conquer!
We could always try doing it as a tandem team ... oh, wait, not a good idea because we would be in the same category as Jeff and Soni.
OK, lessons for next time: keep you away from festering sick folks for the prior month, deprive you of Mexican food for the 48 hours before, and start you on preventatives at least 72 hours in advance :-)
Good job out there! Now, rid of that evil bug.
great job!!!! TT's hurt no matter how the legs are feeling, and it is always a race against the mind. Sounds like you conquered that, even though your body was not 100%. I think the 40K TT is just hell on earth! I have never hurt so bad in any race as I have in the ITT 40K. Ouch.
Way to rock.
A new PB - Well done! 21mph (hold on - that's 33.8kmh) - that's very fast. Getting the pacing right is one of the hardest parts and it looks like you've got that one mastered.
Hope you are feeling better soon.
panda - thanks for the encouragement!
rick - yes, illness/allergies for a big race are a no-no.
kim - yes 40k is painful. I actually felt OK through my cooldown. Then, my muscles went on a revolt.
groover - thanks! Yes, pacing is more than half the battle, I think.
definitely try it on a tandem--the reason i do it is that we finish about 15 minutes faster than we would if i did it alone--that's 15 minutes less suffering!!
xbunny - good point on cutting down the suffering!
Good job for getting out there inspite of how your allergies. Next year you will really know that course and fly even faster. Marsha
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