Martin Criminale | one aspiring endurance athlete: ride

My legs? Why yes, they are still sore from my massage yesterday, thanks for asking…

I met pretty much everyone that shows up for the early morning hot lap today, we were about 10 total! Gentry M was there letting everyone know how tired he was from his triathlon on Sunday and so of course he went hard as hell and about broke my legs.

ASIDE - it's pretty much guaranteed that if ANY athlete tells you they are sore/tired/injured it's gonna be one f'ing intense day and you better beware. Hilarious actually.

Since my legs were not feeling tip top I got on the front for the first hill and rode next to Gentry and started chatting to 1) make him talk in order to deprive him of oxygen and 2) take his mind off of riding hard. It worked until we got to the top and I pulled off.
As soon as I pulled off Gentry ramped it up and I had to get out of the saddle just to get on the wheel of the last guy! Then as I was rotating up toward the front Gentry (who had rested for a bit by now) decided that the pace was way too slow and passed us on the left and floored the accelerator. Damn.

But my legs were coming around so the next time I got to the front I was able to put in a relatively good pull and as we approached the hill at the south end of the island I got on the front and pulled into the hill, over the top and kept on going until the next corner. I got two separate compliments for that effort so it must have been fast?

I've probably said it a few times but I love Mercer Island on a dry day. The corners are SO much fun. We zipped around them with pretty good form and I rarely had to coast and our speed rarely slowed.
Near the end I told Jim K to grab my wheel so I could lead him out for the tennis court crosswalk sprint but two turns from the end he lost me. Then Gentry jumped hard on my left and I was the only person to go with him. Maybe he really was tired because I came around in the saddle. :)

A bunch of us flipped and rode back the way we had just come but it was totally social this time which was nice. We talked about all kinds of things that racers usually don't talk about - like all these things that don't involve the bike!

At work I totally pigged out… Not sure what happened to me but I simply could not stop eating. One of those days.
At Pacific Raceways attendance was lower than usual with some of the heavies doing other things. Still, Erik O (Cucina Fresca) and Jeff R (Starbucks) were there along with Tom H (Old Town Bicycle) and others. We had Dave H and Steve O.
For a change the first THREE laps were quite sedate and I for one sure needed that. My legs were feeling quite leaden; worse than this morning in fact.
As we crested the hill for the fourth time I was just about to attack when Steve beat me to it. Nice. We caught him pronto so next lap I gave it a go and Mike B (Garage Racing) came with me which seemed like a super combo but we still had 45 minutes to race and he was having as much trouble as me warming up. I ended up pulling the entire lap and we got caught pretty much right where I attacked initially. That's when I switched to plan B which was help Dave get some points in lieu of the leaders not being here tonight.
Rory rang the bell and Steve and I went to the front. I pulled around the right hand corner and down the hill and Steve passed me as the road tipped up. Dave took it from there and got the prime.
Prime number two was the same except this time Steve started the leadout - a little too early but oh well - and I took over at the top of the descent. This sprint looked a little close from my vantage point but Dave won so mission accomplished.
I turned to Steve and we discussed the last lap tactic as we had room to improve for sure and everything was set. Until someone attacked and the pack let them roll away.
I let the gap grow hoping someone/anyone else would take the initiative but it didn't happen so I pulled half a lap and then Steve finished it off and we caught the break. Which was countered by another. Nice.
Mike B got up there and when Dave saw him go he joined up as well along with a couple of other riders. I was right behind Tom H and just knew that if I made a move it would doom the break so yelled at Tom to GO. He did not react at first so I had to tell him this was THE move and that I would not chase. He finally went, made the bridge and they were gone. It is not always fun to sit up but sometimes it's what you gotta do.
We had about three laps left so I just checked in with Steve and made sure we were both on the same page.
At the end Dave won the race and I won the pack sprint! No pints for me since I was 6th or 7th or something but it felt really good to battle someone all the way up the hill and come out on top. Whew. Tonight was great teamwork, I love it when that happens. Congratulations to Dave for being able to bring home the goods, Steve for being such a willing helper, Tom for making the move again and to Jeff for working his butt off all night. He certainly got in a super workout.
Oh yeah, I forgot my cyclometer at home when I left for the race so tonight was old school (read: I wore a watch).

Sleep	6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	4:30 Am - cereal, banana 8:00 AM - large bottle w/way too much (5 scoops) recovery drink powder… 9:30 AM - almonds 10:00 AM - 2 Pop Tarts
Lunch	11:00 AM - 4 little oranges, lots of cherries, hand full of toasted soy nuts 1:00 PM - 4 pieces string cheese, package of fake turkey meat, yogurt, tea
Dinner
Workout Food	ride - large bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 2 scoops HEED race - gel at start, half a small bottle w/1 scoop HEED
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	ride - 6:30 AM race - 7:00 PM
Workout Type	ride - 10 miles of intervals race - domestique
Weather	ride - upper 50s, dry, partly cloudy, fairly calm race - mid 60s, dry, partly cloudy, really windy
Course	race - clockwise up the escape road 1:05
Results	Masters 7th
Equipment	Road Bike 39/53, 12-25 ride - Neuvation wheels race - Mad Fiber wheels
Clothing	race - bib shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, cap