Ocup 3 – Canada Cup
Hardwood Hills
June 5, 2005
Another learning race. Remember the lesson from
Mansfield last year? Well the race was a refresh course on that lesson. I like to call it "How to blow yourself up 101".
Leading up to this race my prep was good.
3wks before
Tues May 23– Ellis loops 1hr40m
Fri May 20– ride to work and back (2x25m)
Sat May 21– LSD 3hr
Sun May 22– mtb fun 2hr
Mon May 23 2hrs 1 warm up + w 75% with rest (Hardwood pre-ride)
Tues May 24– Ellis loops 1hr20m
Thurs May 26– Ellis loops 1hr40m
Sat LSD 3hr LSD, with some sustaining over 150
Tues June 1-1hr30 easy with sprints
Thurs June 2- into work, 45min easy + one sprint
Sat June 4 - 1hr easy with 2 short sprints
Sun May 5 - race day
Note: I need to record all my workouts so I can analyze how I prepare for a race.
PrepAnyways, leading up I was feeling good. I drank plenty of water, ate a good mix of carbs and protein. Although on Friday night I went to a stag and had 5 drinks (again the same as
Mansfielfd last year - 5 drinks two nights before). That could have had an effect + on Sat I only got 6.5hrs of sleep.
Todd and Greg were in this race too, starting in Master Sport 30-39 at 9:30am. It got really hot 32degrees and very dusty. I was at the feed zone when the 9:30 group came by and it was like you were in a sand storm. Todd came by in a pretty good position, looking strong Greg followed him up by about 30secs or so. I headed back to the truck to relax (forgot chairs and umbrella). Not too far into the lap and both Todd and Greg were back at the cars. Todd had exploded at the top of the long climb and Greg had a flat and didn’t have the right tube on him. What a way to start the day!
Note: have to get more comfortable for the feeding, I need to rest.
Warm-upI got ready and went through my warm up which was feeling good. Again I didn’t have the right shade, quite hot getting ready. I did about 25mins, ramping into the 160 zone for 30 intervals.
The raceMy plan for this race was to try and get a better position, and then see if I could hold a 170+ hr for the race. Considering the last race I held 166 for 2hr30 it seemed achievable. So at the start I got there somewhat early and got a good position in the 2nd row (first row is for series leaders), off the start and through all of the first sets of climbs I felt good. My hr seemed to be around 174/176 – I knew I could sustain this and was slowly backing it down, as I came around a corner I could feel my wheel slide out – looked down – slow leak – my tire is flatting. I step off and feel it, seems ok, get back on ride a little – nope it’s gone. Jump off and with my heart flying go about changing the tube. About 5 to 7 mins later I’ve got everything together.
During this time the entire world is going by you, zoom, zoom, zoom…then because of the start delays of 2mins per age group, the next group starts going by, and one more zoom, zoom and then I get back on.
When I started up again I tried to ease my way back up to 170 target I was shooting for. Well, that came pretty much instantaneously…at this point I was still feeling good. Finished the first lap and the 2nd feeling good. Then into the 3rd lap after the majority of climbing at about 1hr20m my back started to really hurt – and I mean
really hurt – I was moaning in the trail. I quickly realized that I hadn’t taken any Advil prior to the race (I usually do) -nor did I take eload caps which are crucial for hot days - once I got this into my head that I didn’t have the drugs in me my mental game started to slip, my hr crashed down to 135, 140 and I was officially bonked – at 1hr35m I threw the towel in.
After the race and even up to writing this post right now, I’ve been depressed, disappointed, feeling like I let myself down. So easy to look back and say I should have kept going, but I just didn’t have it in me.
The LessonThis was a repeat of Mansfield. Looking for a breakthrough race. Go out harder than I should, have a problem early on, get back on, push too hard and blow up.
I was thinking about the best expert race that I’ve had and it was provincials last year. Yes, I had end of season fitness but I looked to keep my heart at 168 to 170, at this hr I could sustain. This is what I need to be focused on, I don’t have the capacity to hold 172 for 2hrs, if I didn’t last year – I sure don’t now. I need to relax and focus on my own race.
90% is
always faster than 110%
Race StatsTotal time: 1hr35m
Max hr: 181 (too high for me - red zone)
Lap times: n/a
Ave hr: n/a
What did I learn from this race:- Just because I write something in my blog doesn't mean I've learned the lesson (see mansfield post)
- For longer races focus on 168-170
- Focus on the basics you learned last year. Put together a check list with all the lessons learned and read it before every race
