This will be a very short entry because I am not real happy about my performance. In a nutshell, I had the most miserable race ever-and I knew it right from the start. No power and lower back spasms near the end of the race; not a good sign. I struggled through the entire race and worse yet, there was nothing I could do about it. How I managed to nab the 5th spot is a miracle. Either everyone else felt as bad as I did, or they all had pity on my 45 year old haggard body. I finished six minutes slower than last year, which in all honesty really surprised me; I thought it was slower than that. Strangely enough, everybody's times were way off from last year as well; I guess everyone was feeling blah.
So, I am glad that this one is in the books and I am going to get in the tub and sulk a bit.
Fifth is nothing to sulk about! Especially on a day when you didn't feel good. I had lower back pain on a training ride with a few geared friends a couple of weeks ago. I have a theory about that -- I think it's just the whole "early-season effort" thing, and it only happens when you put the gas on. Through the off-season, no matter how hard you train, you always go a little harder than that in the early races, and that means you have to draw on more muscle than you really have available at the moment, so your efforts exaggerate, and you end up using your lower back in addition to your legs. When I was riding with my friends, we were in Wharton, which has no elevation at all, but they were both big ringing the whole way and I had to motor to stay with them on 32:18. When my legs started to tire out about 20 miles in, I started putting my back more into it because they still weren't slowing down. I ended up with a really tight back for two days afterward.
ReplyDeleteBut to have that kind of feeling and still run top five? I wouldn't sulk at all -- that bodes REALLY well for later in the season! Nice job!
Thanks for the encouraging words... I think your right. I mean I had nothing, I was going on pride from the start. That is the first time I have ever felt that bad. I have only been on the mtb 6 times this year and all the hill work on the road certainly did not transfer to my mtb efforts at all.
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