JR and I had an early trip down to Skull Valley (2.5 hr drive) on Sunday morning for the Skull Valley RR. It would not have been that bad, but we stayed up late after work and packing everything, so we only got around 4 hrs of sleep.
We got to the race at around 6:30 am. My start wasn't until 8:10, so I took a nap. I WAS OUT!!! It was crazy, but I am glad I set an alarm or I would have slept through the race.
The 90 km course is an out and back. The first 30 km are rolling hills and thanks to the TRIBE Team, the racepace was between 45 and 49 kmh on the way out. After a steep decent, we saw the cone for the turnaround. I went to the front, turning first, when I realized this guy from one of the catgories starting in front of us cut right in front of me. I had to unclip in order to avoid a collision and came to a complete stop. No worries, I thought as the rest of the field went around us. "Riders are not supposed to advance at the turn around or in the feed zone", which came up right after the turn. Yeah right, I just wish people would follow rules. About 4 girls attacked in the feed zone and I was stuck behind the rest. They got around 500 m ahead of me and I had to dig very deep on the now steep uphill to catch up. There was no neutral water in the feed and JR and I had no feeder. I caught the girls (good to know that I climb good at the moment), but realized at the top that we still had an hour to go and I was out of water. I tried to make the best out of it, but the 95 degree temps and no wind didn't help. I tried to prepare my body for 30 km back to Skull Valley with no water in 95 degrees. With 20 k to go, I was not able to pull through anymore :-( I had to let the small group go and TT back to town, but still finished in 6th place in the Pro, 1, 2 field.
Dehydration during a race is no fun (but I learned my lesson), as you get a headache first and then you just feel like throwing up. I tried to go a little harder on the hills, but every time I tried to put out a big effort I could feel the acidity in my body building.
I finished the race, got a great day of training in. Realized I climbed so hard that my trizeps were the most painful muscle in my body:-)
JR won the race for the 4th time, but this time was very special as he has had not a lot of time for training this week and he won in a solo breakaway!!!
Too bad I didn't have enough water, we had a great group going. But as I said it was GREAT TRAINING.
Back home I napped and still managed to sleep for about 9 hrs at night- I was pooped.
This morning I enjoyed the nice and cool Flagstaff weather during my long run. The pool opens up again today and I am really looking forward to a nice swim this evening.
In about 2 weeks I will be joining the Flagstaff swim team, so that I can built speed over the fall and winter for my 2010 season.
3 comments:
UGH... dehydration sucks! I know that feeling. You are going to be such a fast little swimmer!!! I am hoping to take my swim to the next level this winter as well. Gotta get in the pool ALL the time :-) Some day I will get to see you again... do you know your race schedule for next year? I am thinking about california 70.3, but haven't signed up yet and won't until post IMC.
Happy training!!!
Okay - even I (with absolutely NO road racing under my belt) know that you DON'T ATTACK IN A FEED ZONE! Or the yellow jersey when he/she is stopped for a "nature" break :) Or else you incurr the wrath of the peleton.
Great job though - and to push through with no water! That's tough and you did very very well! Hooray for Flagstaff and the pool opening! I KNOW that you're loving that!! YEA!
awesome news about the swim team! you are going to be awesome at your ITU races next year. oh and i will be at longhorn too, we have to hang out.
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