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July 18, 2006
Oops I Did It Again
Well the short story about the crit tonight is this. I lead half of the last lap and got outsprinted like nobody's business. I know, I know. It's like I have some sick inner-need to lead that last dang lap! And trust me - it gives me grief like you wouldn't believe! The guys on the team are now all mercilessly making fun of me for my tactics, or lack thereof. And they can be brutal too. :)
The long version of the story though is that I did a little better tonight. For one, I broke away from the pack for a good 6 or 7 laps and rode HARD. I was working. My heart rate monitor was going crazy. Another girl went with me and we actually worked together to keep our breakaway, but it didn't last. The pack caught us and we faded back in. I broke away one other time (short-lived) and I covered some moves by others. It was good. I also spent my fair share of laps sitting in the pack and not pedaling but overall I worked a lot harder in this race and that makes me feel at least a tiny bit better that I still ended up 9th (or some other dismal placing like that). I'm getting there. I'm just not strong enough yet.
The guys race was a display of what Coach J likes to call "bringin' it". E, one of the other triathletes for Trizilla was riding tonight. He's very, very close to getting his pro card (triathletes have this odd system wherein you have to earn so many points to get your pro card at which point you can start to earn money and begin races seeded with pros, etc...). E is awesome. He was a collegiate swimmer but seriously crushes people on the bike and in the run too (in his race last weekend his 10K split was around 34 minutes AFTER swimming 1500 meters and biking 40K). Anyway, he broke away from the pack in tonight's crit around lap 10 and just kept it up lap after lap after lap ALL BY HIMSELF! I was so impressed. The pack caught him eventually but with 3 laps to go he took off again and just demolished everyone. It was crazy. A very nice display for sure and something to aspire to.
And so that was my night. Tomorrow we move on to a run and a ride. Oh - and did I mention that I have the day off work tomorrow?!?! I'm SOOO very excited. I have it off because I worked Sunday. Very sweet. And then I'll work Thursday and Friday and have two more days off! Life is too good...
Posted by beth at July 18, 2006 9:14 PM
Comments
your still new to the crit game... but it looks like you are learning... and maybe one day you can give the guys grief that are giving it to you today... they may have the power, but are lighter than them... enjoy your day off...
Posted by: Kranky C Dale at July 19, 2006 1:07 PM