First Race: Indoor TT

Saturday race crew: me, Chrysa, Rachel, other
people I don't know, Ashly, more strangers

Tuesday I was scheduled to ride at T's in the morning, so I went, set up my bike, and filled up my water bottles. The class was full, and four of my teammates were there, so all was good. Then I got on the bike. I did not make it past the warm up, which was approximately 22 minutes. I could not continue, and I didn't know why. So I got off, showered, and got to work an hour earlier than I'd expected. In the afternoon, I did a good workout at the CSY and then headed home to ride. I had to prove to myself that I could ride my bike, so I started a 69-minute CD and changed up the work load at the beginning of every song. It wasn't the same workout I was supposed to have, but it was better than no workout at all!

Wednesday I did a couple workouts and then went to Jason's deli for dinner. That is definitely one of my favorite restaurants. All you can eat veggies and salad plus free ice cream? Yum!

After a Thursday morning workout it was back to Todd's for this week's take 2. I honestly did not know how it was going to go, but I did know Will was praying, so that definitely helped me focus. Just making it through and past the warmup was a success. At one point during the first tempo effort (around minute 20 in/ minute 46 total), I hit a wall and Todd lowered my watts a little. I didn't look at what he changed it to, just kept riding and determined to finish that interval. During the 4 minutes of rest, I saw he'd lowered it 20 watts, or ~10%. I asked just before the start of the next interval whether I should keep it there where I knew I could finish or raise it up until I hit a wall. He said go up, so I did. This time is was around minute 19 in when I lowered the watts, but then for the final 5 minutes I went back up to where I had been. And let me tell you, those last 5 minutes hurt! I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it through had it not been for Kiki and Catherine's encouragement -- love those girls! My sprint at the end was 726 W, tied for my best yet. Kiki also had her best, as did a couple other people in the class. It's amazing how a hard workout can bring out more than you knew you had!

After class, Kiki, Cath, and I met Kiki's dad and his friend for dinner at P.F. Cheng's. I had never been there before and got what was recommended -- Mongolian Chicken with brown rice. And tons of water. It was very good, and I'd definitely order it again if I went back.

Friday I met Anna for a beautiful walk in Edwin Warmer Park after a good hard workout.

Saturday morning was the first in a Time Trial Series at Endeavor Performance, and I raced with a bunch of other people (pic at the top). Here's my competition, and there were some strong ladies!

The ladies: Rachel, Kailin, Kristie, Jess,
Emma, Chrysa, and Paige

Then I stuck around for the next race:

Michael, Shannon, Catherine, and Josiah

For below, #10a = 5mi stats and #10b = full 10K stats; these were not two different races.

Date	Test Number	Completion Time	Average Watts
February 23, 2013	TT #10a TT #10b	13:30 (6 mi: 16:45)	238 watts 239 watts
January 10, 2013	TT #9b	13:50	223 watts
January 8, 2013	TT #9a	14:04	213 watts
March 29, 2012	TT #8b (tempo)	13:50 (tempo)	220 watts (tempo)
March 27, 2012	TT #8a (tempo)	14:01 (tempo)	212 watts (tempo)
January 26, 2012	TT #7	13:46	226 watts
January 24, 2012	TT #6	13:43	228 watts
May 4, 2011	TT #5	13:37	237 watts
March 3, 2011	TT #4b (tempo)	14:26 (tempo)	202 watts (tempo)
March 1, 2011	TT #4a	13:38	229 watts
January 6, 2011	TT #3b (tempo)	14:58 (tempo)	185 watts (tempo)
January 4, 2011	TT #3a	14:06	217 watts
March 25, 2010	TT #2	13:56	223 watts
January 28, 2010	TT #1	14:22	208 watts

This was my best TT yet (I looked at the screen at 5 miles and remembered those stats), and I held it for the next 1.2 miles as well. Score! My w/kg for the fill 10K was 3.4; that's better than I thought but not where it needs to be yet. And now I just have to remember what I did for this TT that was more successful than the others. Basically I did the warm up easy without looking at the screen. When we started, I went all out for 4 minutes, geared down for 4, and then went on 2-minute intervals for hard, not-so-hard, hard, etc., until the end. It kept me engaged and focused, and it forced me to work hard. I also helped that Emma caught me at one point and Jess was within reach (her time was 16:20, so that is the time to beat for next time.

And now I'm pretty exhausted!

Sunday we had a team ride that only Todd, Cath, Val, Shelly, Kiki, Jeremy, and I were able to make it to. But it was a great ride. Here is our out-and-back route:

Big East Fork Road is a GREAT road to ride on!

We climbed a little, sprinted a little, attacked a little, and learned a lot. It is always a treat when Todd rides with us, and today was no different.