I know I said I was going to write a good Menlo Park report, but I think that ship has sailed. I raced the UCSC collegiate race this weekend, and rather than write a clever and interesting report I'm just going to copy and paste the one I sent to my coach. Here's ya go.
Ouch, this race was hard! The RR was the same course as the University road race they do down there, brutal! There weren't too may of us (10 I think) and rode together at a decent pace for the first couple of laps. Then there was a KOM sprint at the top of the hill - one girl took off and I was able to follow as the others responded and I didn't feel like I was too totally pinned. Then followed the descent, but as we started climbing again I was in trouble. My HR wasn't too high, but I just couldn't put out any power at all. I struggled and was dropped. I was kinda bummed for a lap, then started thinking about it and realized I was just tired from a hard week - hard hard day last Sunday, kinda sick, then hard hard intervals on Wednesday. I think I probably didn't recover very well from Wednesday since I was a touch under the weather. So I stopped feeling bummed and just figured I'd get a good training ride out of it. I ended up getting lapped so I only did 14 laps (5600 feet of climbing!) and finished happy and with a good attitude. Did everything I could to help my recovery - lots of good food and a great nights sleep. Next day was the hill climb TT - up Bonny Doon! So that was exciting. It was even raining like it was for the TOC guys. So - 4.7 mile climb, I think 1600 feet of elevation gain. I rode what I felt was a good race and finished in a little over 31 mins. Didn't stick around to see the results since it was raining and cold, but they were emailed out this morning. I ended up 6th - beating the 2 girls who beat me on Saturday who I know I should be stronger than, and only a little ways from 5th place. So I feel that if I had tapered for this weekend I would have been really happy with my fitness, and as I it is I know a couple of these weekends like this will pay off in the end. I'm feeling right now like I do very well with the sustained harder efforts (like in the TT) but I struggle to respond to surges, like in the crit last weekend. I guess that's something that will improve as the racing continues and the season wears on. So I'm happy, and looking forward to some warmer temps in the coming week and some races a little closer to home. :)
Cody's brother, and two of their friends (also brothers) are visiting for the next few days. We're heading down to Auburn for some mountain biking and camping, then I'm racing Land Park and Zamora (Bariani? whatever) this weekend. I had the gnarliest day of hill intervals of my life today, and I know I'll be spending long days in the saddle the next two. Not what is on my training schedule, but I can't say no to some singletrack. I'll probably be totally thrashed for my races, but next week is a rest week, so lots of time to recover. Hope everyone is enjoying the wonderful sunshine as much as I am!!!
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