Perfect day to make a season (and RF) debut.   I thought it was cold the morning of the Sportinglife 10k, so needless to say I was in for one chilly racing experience.  It was windy, and it was rainy, at least during warm up, and definitely cold.  And all I had to race in was my RF shorts and tri top, but managed to score some arm warmers from a friend the morning of the race.

The training leading into the race was pretty heavy.  I had surgery late Jan, so I missed all of Feb and half of March, and it wasn’t until April that I was biking much.  Must of my aerobic fitness is due to a high swim volume at the moment, and some running.  So the past 3-4wks was alot of cycling.  Unfortunately, instead of giving me more confidence, it concerned me at how weak my cycling has gotten.  Now I can relate to those pro cyclists who take so much time off in the off-season and have to spend all their base period the next year just getting back to the previous years’ fitness.  The weak cycling(or hopefully it’s just fatigue) certainly factored into this race.

RACE:

Run1- I don’t know how accurate those k markers were, but I basically tucked myself behind some of the major players, like Sharratt, Van Beurden, and RF’s Carlos Robles, just comfortably staying close and being sheltered from the wind. My splits were 3:03, 6:20, 9:55, and 13:24… first k had to have been short, that 3:03 with an uphill was much too comfortable to be that fast.  Unless the mere fact that this is a race makes it feel easier.

T1- this being my first race and 2nd brick workout of the yr, it certainly showed in my transition abilities.  Normally I am pretty quick, but everything just felt slow and uncoordinated.

Bike- mentally draining to see so many people pass me, and making it look easy.  It seemed like I could only spin on the smaller gears.  Any attempt at shifting to my 53ring resulted in a substantially reduced cadence.  For me the bike ride was uneventful, although not as cold as I thought it would be during WU.  Basically I struggled and alot of people passed me.

T2-I entered T2 with 2 other cyclists in front by about 5-10sec.  This time, with numb hands, I had trouble undoing my helmet strap, and then putting on the racing flats.  The one competitor I was focussing on catching put 11sec on me in this transition, that’s how slow I was.

Run2-I tried to redeem myself with the slow transition by catching a few people.  I passed 2guys quick within the first k, 3:17, and then closed the gap of the competitor I was trying to catch to about 5sec at the 2k TA (6:40).  Unfortunately, since I couldn’t close the gap, I ran unsheltered into the wind with a brutal 3rd k (10:38) and pretty much jogged it home(14:29).  I believe I was 14th overall.

 It’s good to get these types of races out of the way early.  There’s still plenty of rust to scrap off, but at least the process has begun.  I can’t believe I only have 3wks til Vancouver Worlds.  I’m totally banking on a 1.5-2wk taper to reduce my fatigue and have me ready for Jun7.  I’ll probably try doing the Caledon DU next wk, and pray for warm, wind-less conditions.

PB