After last week, almost anything is an improvement... but today was still not quite what I wanted.
Last year I obsessed over this course to the point that it's still seared into my memory. I knew where and how long the climbs were, how to take the turns, and when I had to anticipate major shifts. I drove the course last night just to make sure that I wasn't missing anything. The only new thing was a short area of really messed up pavement. The rough winter strikes again.
I was confident in my strategy going in, but I knew the results would depend on my lungs more than anything.
Last week I had a terrible day on the bike. After coughing up a lung that whole day and a lot this week, I went to the doctor and found that my seasonal allergies were much worse this year. He put me on a new medication, which is slowly helping but I still can't breathe quite normally.
On Sunday I still felt awful and couldn't even finish my planned workout. I took this as an easy week so my body could start to piece itself back together. That helped a lot, but I still didn't feel 100% this morning and it showed in my performance today.
I think the race went reasonably well, with no major mistakes and no real issues. My start was strong. I held my position pretty well. I kept the power on the downhills and paced the climbs the way I wanted. I just missed all my power and time targets by a little bit.
In comparison to last year, I averaged 20 watts less (15 watts less normalized). Even though my position was much better and I have better equipment than last year, I was still 11 seconds slower. The download showed that I was pretty consistently putting out less power over the whole course. I didn't lose it in any one stretch of road.
That's even more frustrating since Anthony beat me by 4 seconds. Even more surprising, someone else finished in between us, 2 seconds behind him. I finished in 3rd place.
That puts me second in the series by 6 points. It will take some work if I want to win. Even though I'm not in the lead anymore, I'm having a lot of fun and I'm not giving up!
I guess it's finally time to come clean. I've mentioned it a few times but it's time to say it plainly: my performance numbers have not been what they were last year. In general, I'm running 10 to 15 watts lower in almost every race and workout. I was running behind at the start of racing season and I've been just barely hanging on to the fitness I had then.
I realized a few mistakes that I'd made in planning my training right before the start of the season. I think now I'm paying the price for not riding outside as much, especially not doing any climbing. Last year I was doing a lot of aggressive climbing and this year I'm not climbing at all.
I'm still having a great year and cannot complain too much. I've already had 4 podium finishes, including 2 wins, out of 6 races. It's a year to be proud of, even if it's not quite the performance that I wanted.
Six weeks of racing in a row was a big mental and physical strain. The
next three races are every other week and I'm looking forward to having a
little more breathing room between races.
What I did right:
Called the doctor when I didn't feel right (like most people, I can be stubborn about that)
Planned out the course and my pacing
Rested up this week
What could have been better:
Nothing that I could fix today
The Numbers:
Distance: 9.7 miles
Time: 23:43 (last year was 23:32)
Speed: 24.5 mph
Avg Power: 260 watts (290 normalized) (last year was 280 avg and 305 NP)
Avg Heart Rate: 164 bpm
