brick94513-GoGoGo Mentor Group - Closed For Now! (Page 69)

Well, I'm sorry to say, my race was less than stellar yesterday.  I don't have all of the splits yet or offical standings, but here a little synopsis.

I just blew up on the swim.  The only thing I can think of is the altitude.  I just couldn't get my breath during the swim.  I started with my normal bilateral breathing form, but that only lasted for about 500 yards.  I had to resort to breathing every other stroke to be able to catch my breath.  I became a head case pretty soon after this and actually had to stop for a second, gather my thoughts, and force myself through the remainder of the swim.  Since I was slower, I came around the buoy for lap two just as they were starting the short course racers.  So, I got to fight through the mass all over again.  Unfortunately, I think my swim split was near, or just under, 2 minutes per 100.

The bike course played longer than I thought.  Course was 22.55 miles with a mixture of singletrack and fireroad.  Trails were in great conditions.  Fireroads were the typical heavy rock conditions found in the Tahoe basin.  Total elevation for the course was 2,177 feet.  After the swim, I figured my only chance was to go all out on the bike.  No issues passing on the singletrack; everyone was pretty curteous about letting people pass.   I had a good ride and passed alot of people, so I was shocked to see my time was 1:49 on my GPS.  I thought I would of been faster, but this still averages out to 12.36 MPH. 

Oh boy, the run.  As I said before, the run course at this race is an absolute killer.  You come out of transition and head straight uphill for a little over two miles.  Well, with my philosophy of leaving nothing on the bike course, my gluts and lower back were already a little tight when coming in on the bike.  As I started the run, it took sheer determination to keep my legs moving.  All I could focus on was mile 2.25 were I knew the course would flatten out.  I made it to the first tree across the trail (about 0.75 mile)  which requires a hurdle.  From this point, I had to alternate between a 10 count walk and then run as long as I could.  To my surprise, I was actually passed some people using this technique and the steep uphill walk helped stretch out my gluts.  My mileage splits from my GPS were 11:24, 12:17, 8:30, 6:53, 6:52, 5:43 (0.85 mile = 6:44 pace).  I don't have the elevation for those first two miles right now, but I would guess it is near 1,000 ft.

Total time was around 3:15.  My wife said I finished 24/150ish overall and 8/??? in AG, which only gets me 39/75 points for nationals.   To give you a little perspective, I believe the overall winner, pro racer, was at 2:48.

Oh well, what can you do?  We all have these days where things just don't come together.  Today was my day.  Back to the drawing board and revise the game plan for when I have to come back to Tahoe for the Incline Village race in August.  I need to work out this altitude issue with the swim!

Well, I'm sorry to say, my race was less than stellar yesterday.  I don't have all of the splits yet or offical standings, but here a little synopsis.

I just blew up on the swim.  The only thing I can think of is the altitude.  I just couldn't get my breath during the swim.  I started with my normal bilateral breathing form, but that only lasted for about 500 yards.  I had to resort to breathing every other stroke to be able to catch my breath.  I became a head case pretty soon after this and actually had to stop for a second, gather my thoughts, and force myself through the remainder of the swim.  Since I was slower, I came around the buoy for lap two just as they were starting the short course racers.  So, I got to fight through the mass all over again.  Unfortunately, I think my swim split was near, or just under, 2 minutes per 100.

The bike course played longer than I thought.  Course was 22.55 miles with a mixture of singletrack and fireroad.  Trails were in great conditions.  Fireroads were the typical heavy rock conditions found in the Tahoe basin.  Total elevation for the course was 2,177 feet.  After the swim, I figured my only chance was to go all out on the bike.  No issues passing on the singletrack; everyone was pretty curteous about letting people pass.   I had a good ride and passed alot of people, so I was shocked to see my time was 1:49 on my GPS.  I thought I would of been faster, but this still averages out to 12.36 MPH. 

Oh boy, the run.  As I said before, the run course at this race is an absolute killer.  You come out of transition and head straight uphill for a little over two miles.  Well, with my philosophy of leaving nothing on the bike course, my gluts and lower back were already a little tight when coming in on the bike.  As I started the run, it took sheer determination to keep my legs moving.  All I could focus on was mile 2.25 were I knew the course would flatten out.  I made it to the first tree across the trail (about 0.75 mile)  which requires a hurdle.  From this point, I had to alternate between a 10 count walk and then run as long as I could.  To my surprise, I was actually passed some people using this technique and the steep uphill walk helped stretch out my gluts.  My mileage splits from my GPS were 11:24, 12:17, 8:30, 6:53, 6:52, 5:43 (0.85 mile = 6:44 pace).  I don't have the elevation for those first two miles right now, but I would guess it is near 1,000 ft.

Total time was around 3:15.  My wife said I finished 24/150ish overall and 8/??? in AG, which only gets me 39/75 points for nationals.   To give you a little perspective, I believe the overall winner, pro racer, was at 2:48.

Oh well, what can you do?  We all have these days where things just don't come together.  Today was my day.  Back to the drawing board and revise the game plan for when I have to come back to Tahoe for the Incline Village race in August.  I need to work out this altitude issue with the swim!

Well, I'm sorry to say, my race was less than stellar yesterday.  I don't have all of the splits yet or offical standings, but here a little synopsis.

I just blew up on the swim.  The only thing I can think of is the altitude.  I just couldn't get my breath during the swim.  I started with my normal bilateral breathing form, but that only lasted for about 500 yards.  I had to resort to breathing every other stroke to be able to catch my breath.  I became a head case pretty soon after this and actually had to stop for a second, gather my thoughts, and force myself through the remainder of the swim.  Since I was slower, I came around the buoy for lap two just as they were starting the short course racers.  So, I got to fight through the mass all over again.  Unfortunately, I think my swim split was near, or just under, 2 minutes per 100.

The bike course played longer than I thought.  Course was 22.55 miles with a mixture of singletrack and fireroad.  Trails were in great conditions.  Fireroads were the typical heavy rock conditions found in the Tahoe basin.  Total elevation for the course was 2,177 feet.  After the swim, I figured my only chance was to go all out on the bike.  No issues passing on the singletrack; everyone was pretty curteous about letting people pass.   I had a good ride and passed alot of people, so I was shocked to see my time was 1:49 on my GPS.  I thought I would of been faster, but this still averages out to 12.36 MPH. 

Oh boy, the run.  As I said before, the run course at this race is an absolute killer.  You come out of transition and head straight uphill for a little over two miles.  Well, with my philosophy of leaving nothing on the bike course, my gluts and lower back were already a little tight when coming in on the bike.  As I started the run, it took sheer determination to keep my legs moving.  All I could focus on was mile 2.25 were I knew the course would flatten out.  I made it to the first tree across the trail (about 0.75 mile)  which requires a hurdle.  From this point, I had to alternate between a 10 count walk and then run as long as I could.  To my surprise, I was actually passed some people using this technique and the steep uphill walk helped stretch out my gluts.  My mileage splits from my GPS were 11:24, 12:17, 8:30, 6:53, 6:52, 5:43 (0.85 mile = 6:44 pace).  I don't have the elevation for those first two miles right now, but I would guess it is near 1,000 ft.

Total time was around 3:15.  My wife said I finished 24/150ish overall and 8/??? in AG, which only gets me 39/75 points for nationals.   To give you a little perspective, I believe the overall winner, pro racer, was at 2:48.

Oh well, what can you do?  We all have these days where things just don't come together.  Today was my day.  Back to the drawing board and revise the game plan for when I have to come back to Tahoe for the Incline Village race in August.  I need to work out this altitude issue with the swim!