Rest..sort of

I haven’t blogged in a while and skipped a race report...
It has been a hectic, physically draining run through March, April, and early May. I was happy with my fitness level through the 6+ races I have done so far and also have seen good improvements in CrossFit. However, after RATL #4 (brief race report a bit later in this post), I felt drained. I had a decent ride Sunday after the race and also had a very good CrossFit squat workout. When Tuesday’s team ride rolled around, I was OK at the start, but then with only 4 of us doing paceline work, I felt tapped out when it was my turn to pull. I ended up having to sit on the back and skip turns, even though our pace wasn’t extremely fast. The legs came to grinding halt up the final climb on Dueber. Since then, I have modified the CrossFit workouts by scaling down weight and skipping any leg involvement. I did a 35 mile ride Thursday and made sure to only put enough power out to keep pedals turning over. It would have been an enjoyable ride, except the new Specialized Toupe saddle was a tad bit uncomfortable. I’ll give it a few more rides before going back to the Alias. Today was a makeup WOD focused on core (150 GHD situps / 125 back extensions). That is one killer workout!

This 1st valley in fitness comes at a good time because the next races that I’m focused on are Mill Creek (June 6th) and Grandview (June 28th). Plenty of time to ease back into good form.

RATL #4: I raced the masters 35+ again. This time we had 4 Stark guys, but other teams were very well represented. I believe Lake Effect had 8 or so. Most of the guys that I kept my eye on last time were there so I kept with the same plan; keep near the front, don’t try and go with anything for the first several laps, look for attacks just after primes, and make sure to be in any break with strong guys from well represented teams. There was a strong headwind in the parking lot, so I made sure to minimize my exposure through that section if possible, find a big body and tuck in behind it.Due to the wind and the number of attacks that fit my above description, I ended up chasing too many break attempts and even though I felt good at the beginning, I was worn down for the final sprint. There was no successful break this time so the bunch sprint was for the win. I didn’t get good position through the parking lot and could move up far enough by the time the sprint kicked in. I ended up 9th overall.

All in all, it was a fun race, I got my workout in, and I’m pretty sure the whole group avoided crashing…always a good thing.