Saturday, August 6, 2011

Schaeffer Farms and landing in the 3rd spot...AGAIN!

Ok, I know I should be like, "Whoa, alright, this is great!" In a way I am, but this is the 5th race this year that I have managed to own the 3rd spot. Don't get me wrong, I am very pleased, but still a little bummed. Especially since I have been really puttin' down the training routine this year. I just have to remind myself that the competition is too.

Last year at Schaeffer I rode my old Paragon, which is geared of course. Why, cause it was there I suppose. I turned in a 49:48 and 49:15 which landed me in the 4th spot. Last lap was faster than my first, but I struggled for the last 2 miles, got passed by Ben and that was that. This year's goal was, obviously to do better than last year in the SS class. I have to admit that I am a stats nut. So I look over past times of others as well as my own to see where improvements can be made to my training plan. There are a few guys that are just FAST as something you would not want to normally step in. Ethan Lindbloom, Shane Karr, Blake Bricker and my newfound friend Jonathan Houghton. So when I see these guys registered, I know I had better be on my game. I wish it were more like a game, say...hmmm...Trouble; that way if I land on them, they get sent back to start.

As usual, Ethan took off, never to be seen again until the end. That left everyone else racing for 2nd and whatever leftovers we could muster. Jonathan and I started off smokin' the first 5miles. I mean we averaged 16.1 mph...crazy. Jonathan is the reason I have finished 3rd 3 of the 5 times. He is a stronger 2nd half rider than myself. Schaeffer Farms is a fast, dusty, technical course, with a few steep climbs. I ran the Ferrous at 32/18, which proved to be great choice on my part-I don't have to many times that I can say that. Today would be a different story, though. I was determined to stay on his wheel the entire time; which meant riding a little out of my element, but that's what training is for, eh? First lap was a 46:08, which was almost 4 minutes faster than last years time, Jonathan had a 46:07-all good. Shane passed us a little ways up, and I was going to make a move, but my lower back was starting to tighten up, so I just stayed on course. I could tell Jon was getting tired, and I knew I had to make a move, but was a little slow to do so. So after the last steep climb at mile 8, he said he couldnt hold the pace anymore, so I took off. I wasnt sure if he was going to attack and pass, so I put out as much as I could get and finished at 1:32:56; 6 minutes faster than last years time, which was pretty close to my goal of 1:31ish. I ended up only 17 seconds from Shane and 2:30 from Evan, who beat me by 10 minutes last year.

My average HR for the race was 181, which is awesome. I was able to sustain the 190's quite a bit and still feel pretty strong. I guess all that road riding of late is paying off.

So another spot on the podium for the Crew and I am now leading in points with 75, so things are looking pretty good right now and the last race is Fountainhead...aaarrrggh!

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