Sunday, March 30, 2014

Cedar Hill Crit 2014


Sunday we raced our favorite local, kind-of-a-big-deal circuit race. It's local, which means we can pre-ride it (and we did a couple times). Getting on a course prior to race day is always good for me. For our Women 1/2/3 race, we had 22 strong ladies on the line--multiple ladies on 6 different teams (Team Belladium, 5; Clarksville Schwinn, 3; Scarlet Fire, 2; Tennessee Women's Cycling Project, 4; Team WE, 3; and Marx and Bedsdorf, 2) and unattached or solo (the remaining 3).

Start line

Team Bd representing at the front of the line

It felt like everything went right during our race. Team Belladium lined up early and in good position, and I maintained my good position throughout (good for me is at the front, I decided). I think I turned around maybe twice or three times (once for sure when the entire Clarksville team came up to the front; I was looking for my teammates to be coming up with them). The rest of the time I was only looking forward--that's the only way to race!

Although there weren't a lot of attacks, there was a lot of action. We had four primes in 11 total laps, and a few different people went for the primes to shake things up a bit. I went with two of the first three but did not make an effort to actually get the prime. I decided to go for the fourth prime and won it; this was about 3 laps from the end. At that point, I had already attacked once (created a small gap but was brought back), so I knew how my legs felt. While I was going for the prime, Jess C and Stephanie C came with me, and we had a small gap that maybe could have stayed away had we committed to it. But I knew what my team's plan was, and I wasn't going to do much work. Jess stayed at the front for too long (because I wouldn't come around and Stephanie didn't), and we got caught after about half a lap (one lap is 1.2 miles). Then it was time for me to sit in.

Stats from Strava


I wanted to get my teammates into the best position possible for the sprint, but with less than half a lap to go, I found myself at the back of the group (my own doing). We'd started to get a lead-out train going, but it was just too early. I did what I could and then backed off and planned my next escape. This was the only time all race I found myself behind the field, and I used that time for a quick recovery before I shot up the hill and around the group on the right. It was too early to start the sprint, but it was the right time to go, so I went. AJ saw me and came along, shouting at me (this was great--I knew she'd seen me and would have a strong sprint to the finish). A few of the other ladies who were on the left side with her picked up the pace then too, and we all sprinted it out for the finish. AJ finished 2nd behind a Cat 1 (so AJ was the first Cat 2!), and I finished 5th. It was about an ideal of a finish as I could have hoped, given how much I felt like I'd done during the race. Kat, Cali, and Shelly were racing with us also, but honestly, because I was toward the front so much, I saw Kat only a couple times (she also did some work and was at the front when I attacked) and Cali (who was next to me in a few places). I knew they were planning their finish (the most important part of the race) and after the race was proud of how well each of them raced and finished.

Cat 1/2/3 podium. AJ finished 2nd, I was 5th.
Mary won, Shera was 3rd, and Sierra was 4th.


2014 Cedar Hill Strava stats: 5/22 Cat 1/2/3, 50:31, 17.6 miles, 20.9 mph, avg 259W, avg 177 HR
2013 Cedar Hill stats: 14/20 Cat 1/2/3/4, 44:09, 15.57 miles, 21.2 mph, avg 182 HR
TBRA Results

The Cat 4s (Kim, Emily, and Alicia) raced today as well. Alicia won off the front (like half a lap off the front!), Emily finished 6th in the field, and Kim finished 15th of 20 (her first race!). I am super proud of these ladies too!

Cat 4 podium: Alicia 1st, Jennifer M. 2nd,
Steph H. 3rd, Megan A. 4th, Emily S. 5th

Emily's finish

Kim's group

Friday, March 28, 2014

Walking Path Woes

This is my walking trail from work. Unfortunately, there
is now a pond right in the middle of the trail, so I can't walk
in a loop -- I have to do a lot of turning around.

Easter gifts for my sister's family

We tested at Todd's (Endeavor Performance) this week. It went better for me on Thursday than it had gone in January, so I'll take it! Workouts this week: Monday rest, Tuesday long run (stats), Wednesday fun ride, Thursday test and then dinner with a couple coworkers, Friday walk, Saturday/Sunday races. Hooray for the first bike races of the year!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

TTT in March

We tested again today at Todd's, and today's test went much better for me than January's. The results are right around my median for time and watts, plus it was 5-10% better than in January, so I'll take it happily. My main goal for today was to keep it steady -- I wanted to finish as strong as I started and maintain that effort level throughout. I know I dipped below it for a minute or two, but I always got back to where I wanted to me. Maybe if I had pushed it one gear harder I'd have been closer to the 23x I've done in previous years, but then again maybe I would have faltered completely in the middle and fallen way below that mark.


Date Test Number Completion Time Average Watts
March 27, 2014
TT #13
13:39
229 watts
January 17, 2014
TT #12b
(tempo)
14:13
(tempo)
207 watts
(tempo)
January 14, 2014
TT #12a
14:03
215 watts
May 16, 2013
TT #11
13:21
244 watts
March 5, 2013
TT #11a
TT #11b
13:44
13:19
227 watts
246 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 is never a long workout, but it's always a challenge and it was perfect for the races this weekend!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Links for the Week

I'm especially excited about the first link. These are my favorites for the week.
Sunday: Easy run and weights
Monday: Rest!
Tuesday: Long, long run. Strava stats.
Wednesday: Morning swim, evening long walk and isos interspersed. I love living on the greenway!
Thursday: Morning weights, afternoon ride at Endeavor Performance. This was a great workout.
Friday: Run at PW with Kat. Strava stat.
Saturday: AM ride with the Ride615 guys, lunch ride with Kim, PM walk. Today was a BEAUTIFUL day.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Link Review, 3-14-14

Here are the links I think are worthy of a click-through this week.


Saturday's team ride from MFY to Waddell Hollow and back
with Shannon, Wendy, Kat, Emily, Anna, and Parri. Strava stats.

Sunday's ride with Cali, Wendy, Shannon, Alicia, and Shelly
through Shelby Park and to Cedar Hill Park. Strava stats.

Sunday's run off the bike with Alicia and Wendy. Not fast,
but definitely not easy either. Strava stats.

Monday's run: 1-mile warmup, 6.4 miles at 8:20 (should
have been 8:00, but that hill, oh, that hill!), 2.1-mile
cooldown, 9.5 miles total. Strava stats.

Tuesday's ride at Todd's was rough. Thursday's ride was much better, after a rest day on Wednesday. Friday I swam, and now the weekend is for riding!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Produce at Publix

I needed to stock up on good stuff. I'm hoping this will last me at least a week :-)




Publix Trip (3-11)

Item (Quantity)  
Regular Price 
(multiplied)
Sale Price  
Coupons
Final Price  
Fresh Express
Spinach (2)
2.69
(5.38)
2.00
(4.00)
--$2.00
Strawberries (3)4.99
(14.97)
3/$5.00
(5.00)
--$5.00
Bananas (2.37 lb)0.59/lb
(1.40)
1.40--$1.40
Broccoli2.99----$2.99
Cauliflower2.99----$2.99
Kraft dressing (2)2.99
(5.98)
BOGO
($2.99)
--$2.99
Kraft Dressing3.99--$2/1 digital MQ$1.99
Raisins3.85----$3.85
Cantaloupe3.492.50--$2.50
Rotisserie chicken7.39----$7.39
Celery1.99----$1.99
Carrots1.89----$1.89
Sargento cheese3.993.00--$3.00
Totals: 17 items$60.30$43.98$2.00 in MQs$41.98
+2.65 tax
$44.63 total
(saved 15.67,
or 26%)

This wasn't the best savings, nor did I get everything at the best price (I've seen celery go BOGO, and broccoli is often $2.50), but it was what I needed and not full price, so I'm happy.

Friday, March 7, 2014

This Week's Links

I think I'll make this a weekly tradition! There are only a few this week, but they're still good ones.

This week at Endeavor Performance, we started a new session: Force and Power Development. Ouch! Last month was long tempo workouts; this month is short power bursts--basically we are climbing hills and then sprinting at the end.