race

Well, this is a first for me, slacking so much that I have to combine two race reports. First Donner, in a nutshell, I was disappointed. Coming off the Death Ride, I had high hopes for this race. I expected to ride and run faster since I had so much fitness on the bike. In the end, I was about one and two minute slower than what I had hoped to do on the bike and run respectively. And the swim, well, it was bloody horrible. Having done this race before, I knew to build the swim since I was up in altitude or I would be hypoxic. But every time I tried to build my effort for the swim, I was in total oxygen debt. In fact, I felt like I could not swim above 70% effort. I did the Donner Lake swim last year and felt like I could reach 100% effort but this time, once again, it was the damn Zoot wetsuit. Not only does it have no flotation, it's so freakin' restrictive and combined with thin air, disaster. I put the suit on Craigslist for $150 and it has yet to be sold. So what am I happy about then? I PR'ed the bike, I salvaged a potentially horrible run and ran a back half that I'm actually really happy about, and well, it was a smashingly fun-filled weekend. Thanks to Facebook I connected with my friend Tiffany from high school whom I hadn't seen in over 19 years. She had a souz chef come over and prepare a pre-race meal for us and she taught me a thing or two about web design. It's a pleasant surprise learning that both she and I can still relate after all these years. And now onto Folsom.
Race prep for Folsom wasn't too ideal considering I did very minimal training in the three weeks leading up to the race. I got sick and then I went on vacation. Thus in the the three days prior to the race, I tried to cram in 3 swims, 2 runs including a track workout, and two bikes. The track did me in and I was so sore that I took the day before the race completely off. And you know what, all was fine. Come race morning, the soreness left me for the most part and I felt good. I biked one minute slower and ran 26 seconds slower than my time from last year and I considered last year's race to be by best race of the season. The swim was longer this year so I really can't compare but I'm thinking I was about 30 seconds off what I could do. Our team won the club championships and we placed 6 guys in the top 10 overall, not too shabby. It was so cool racing and seeing so many of my teammates out there. I love this course as it really suits me. The bike is rolling with some good risers that slow the speedsters down. Still, I need to get better at carrying my speed through the flats. Give me an incline and I have so much confidence but mentally, I check out on the flats. The run is rolling as well so it suits my short legs and fast turnover. And the weather is always perfect, somewhere in the low to mid 80's. The organizers do a great job of making this race about the age-groupers so I hope they see continued success. And now, it's time for a week break and then another build-up for my end-of-season races. Happy training and living!