Sea Otter & More

So, I should start by saying that the entire weekend was a blast. I'm not the type who usually enjoys going away and "working" but I made sure to also relax and have time with Julie and enjoy the weekend so it was a nice experience.

Thursday, April 15th -- Worked at home in the morning, packed for the weekend and then headed into Summit for a couple of hours. Decided to do my ride once I got to Monterey to shake the "car" out of my legs. Made it to Monterey in time to pick up my number for Friday's race, got to the hotel, and then headed out for a short ride with Dawn, Kim W., and Marissa. I knew exactly what I should do for my ride, but once again let the group influence me (ie we climbed too much and went too fast). On a side note, Kim & Dawn agreed the next day that their legs were dead becase of our ride on Thursday (some day they'll believe me). Team dinner that night and finished too late so I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted.

Ride stats -- 35 minutes (too cold, too short, too hilly, too hard). Legs a bit fatigued from my Wente pre-ride yesterday.

Friday, April 16th -- Sea Otter Road Race. I knew this would be hard and questioned my wisdom in doing it, but once I got out there I felt okay. Lost the main pack on the first climb up Barloy (no surprise there). Looked behind and didn't see anyone so I assumed I was at the back. Found out later that there were a bunch of riders behind me who got pulled after three laps. Felt good on the first two laps. Passed a bunch of riders from the masters women's fields so no one I could work with. A glance at my computer showed me that I averaged 17.2mph for the first two lap. Not bad, but with my final average, it's clear that I need to work on my endurance and/or pacing because my average for the last two laps tanked. Chased around two women about 200 meters up the road but couldn't catch them until the beginning of lap three. Asked them to work together but they said they just wanted to ride & finish so we didn't work together (bummer) but we did ride together. Was so happy when I finished lap four, but I guess I forgot about the 2.8 mile climb back to Laguna Seca -- it was damn hard! We were neutralized twice during the final climb when large men's fields were starting their race. When we finished, we didn't get to ride to the finish line because they were already starting the pro circuit race. Results only went 49 deep (I estimated the field to be about 70-80 women), but I wasn't riding for a result anyways.

Positives: My descending is very good. I felt very confident with all my descents and corners except the off-camber left-hand turns (need to practice my left-hand cornering). I was able to do it! 48 hard miles. My nutrition & hydration was very good and helped me ride pretty consistently throughout the race. Climbed Barloy 4 times!!!

Race Stats -- 3:28:36 -- 48.59 miles -- 13.9mph avg -- 40.8mph max -- HR monitor seemed to pick up crazy data so my average and max are way off. Total ride time for the day (including warm-up and cool-down = 4 hours & 43 minutes.

Saturday, April 17th -- Did a nice recovery ride with Shaun and Rob from the hotel to Pacific Grove and back. Legs are fatigued but not painful (except my shins which I actually think is from walking around and running around with Julie at the beach). Probably spent too much time at the expo on my feet to really recover for Sunday's race, but I felt it necessary to chat it up with sponsors and potential sponsors. 30 minute massage focusing on back, piraformis, and legs.

Ride stats -- 1:07:39 -- 16.58 miles -- 14.8mph avg -- 32.0mph max

Sunday, April 18th -- Santa Cruz Criterium -- Tired & achy. Not sure I should do this race. Couldn't get my HR up during warm-up. In retrospect, I probably should've gotten off the trainer and ridden the roads to get my HR to respond. Did a one-lap pre-ride and almost didn't start the race. Kim Perez said "let's just start" so I did (thank you, Kim). Started at the front of the pack but lost ground on the first lap. By the second climb up to the start/finish I was lagging off the back. Didn't have any fight in my (I need to work on the mental aspect of this). Even though I knew I'd probably get dropped, I need to teach myself to fight it. Good goal for next week. Anyways, ended up TTing it, but it's a great course with a very enthusiastic crowd, so it was lots of fun. Kim and Laurie (Velo Bella) were off the back just up the road from me but I couldn't seem to catch them. After the first prime (I was lapped at this point), some Squadra chick fell off the back. Lori Cox (on the sidelines) screamed at me to jump on her wheel. I didn't do it, thinking I couldn't stay (mistake -- will work on this). One lap later, I'd caught her and told her to get on my wheel and I'd give it my all to help her recovery and get back on. She sat on my wheel for two laps and that was it for me.

Positives: I think this course is very well suited for me and if I hadn't raced on Friday I think I could've hung. There's a nice little grade to the start/finish and a technical descent (which I nailed) and a short power climb on the back-side (which I also nailed). Tired legs did me in, but it was good training and lots of fun.

Race Stats: (forgot to check stats after the race so this includes my cool-down ride around Santa Cruz with Denise, Shaun & Kim) -- 0:59:09 -- 14.38 miles -- 14.6mph avg (race average was 16+) -- 30.7mph max -- AVG HR = 146 -- MAX HR = 162

Today is a day off with stretching and core. My body feels good today (legs aren't tired or sore). Back pain is minimal (I'm pretty sure it's been caused by the Pilates). Mood is fantastic. A bit mentally fatigued, but that's okay.

Questions for Giana -- my program calls for 3 hours tomorrow with intervals on Wednesday. Could I switch those since I'm planning another Wente pre-ride on Wednesday?