Racing in July is unusual for me because I've been forced to end my season after the Burlingame Criterium for two years in a row! That probably contributes to a whole bunch of reasons why I can't seem to get out of the Elite 4's.
Regardless of that, this was my first time racing this fun course. Overall, I had a great race with a not-so-great result. At least to me. Last two weeks I increased my volume significantly (by about 44%) to work on aerobic endurance for the late season road races. Well that tired me out by Tuesday when I worked on some threshold intervals. I realized I was on the verge of overtraining and took the next 3 days off (also because I was busy) and then on Saturday, when opening my legs with a few sprint efforts, I knew I had bad form. The 4-5 hours of sleep the night before this race didn't help either.
Our race started late so I warmed up for about 12 minutes. Oxygen debt and labored breathing came on quick but my legs weren't too bad. The race with 59 other guys started easy. I started in the back but at the hill I knew using my momentum would help conserve energy. Well, people really took it easy on the hill and I found that I passed over 50 guys and I was still under threshold. For the next two laps I stayed off the front but nobody worked and I might have lost some energy during the false flat.
My focus during the race was also out of whack. I knew that I needed to stay hydrated but I'd forget and just delay until the next lap or so which may have contributed to my poor performance. The race overall wasn't hard for me, I was just in bad positions throughout the race. I thought I could move up efficiently up the hill--although I WAS able to pass plenty of people on the hill, I'd always be out in the wind. I'd pass on the left side, but most guys were on the right side.
With 2 to go I moved up to the front and again was out in the wind, and I guess as a response, I allowed people to pass me so I could get a wheel. But it wasn't just one person who'd pass, it would be 3 or 4 guys. So on bell lap I knew I had to hold my position because I knew I could make something happen in the uphill finish. Getting around people and then having no wheel to protect me from the wind was what ultimately exhausted me. Again, most of the action was happening in the right side where the surge was smooth and efficient. I was on the left side where people were passing me.
On the finish I couldn't get around the people in front of me and played it safe. I was pretty disappointed because I knew this was my kind of course, but I was plagued with bad form, lack of sleep, and that ultimately led to poor concentration.
I don't know my exact result because the registration was so far from the parking lot that I didn't bother to check, but I'm expecting somewhere around the top 1/3 of the field.
