Week nine ended without the long ride (180 km) I had in my training plan. Work just kept getting on the way... That's not an excuse by any means, it is just a fact and I do know that some people have even worse working hours and other commitments which make their training even more difficult. I just don't know how they do it sometimes...
After the week of training, the late shift on Friday didn't allow me enough sleep before the anticipated Nundah race on Saturday morning. Getting up was very hard, having something to eat even harder so I had to do it with a cup of coffee and the banana with Nutella trick...
Lucky, we are not far from the track. I left home at 7:42 and was crossing the start line at 8:11.
Nundah Criterium
A field of fifty plus guys lined up for B grade, the ladies had their own race earlier. The presence of two or three teams with their heavy weight sprinters was an indication of a possible sprint finish. As I am still using these races as training sessions for endurance events, and fun, I couldn't just sit in the bunch for 52 min and then try to win the race in the last 200 m so attacks and a break away was in my mind.
Five of us did get away early in the race, too early in fact, and stayed away for about 20 min with a gap as great as 25 sec. Strong group, good move, wrong time. It looked like we got caught by some extraordinary effort by a couple of sprinters themselves. Great work!
After getting caught, I went into energy saving mode for a while then attacked a couple of more times hoping to start another break. Useless moves. Near the end, I felt that the legs had lots left for a strong finish but mentally I didn't have the energy to fight for a position with 40 guys who were there to race for 1.2 km.
The training got done.
Time: 53min 50sec Zupps Ride
Normally, I leave home 15 min before the roll out time. This Sunday, I had 5 min to get there - 5.5 km away. So, sorry to the cycling community but I only stopped at the red lights when I had to. I went past with 9'35" in my clock and heard the friendly shout from the easy going second group: You better hurry, they are gone!
- Shit! I told myself.
It took me another 11' of hurt to catch the bunch. Not the prescribed way to start the morning but I really wanted to get more intensity on the weekend and this ride is good for that.
Sandra was on her way to the State titles, so were some of the Elite riders who regularly do the Zupps but there was still a strong bunch and a dozen or so hot U19 guys who were really keen to hurt everyone else...
The average speed was around 38 km/h which is fairly high for the Zupps, I think. And I felt it, later at work!
Time: 1h 45minWeek 9: 415 km/15 h
Today, I am off the bike and planning for a recovery week. Having a couple of days off work, I wonder if I should throw in a long, long easy ride... It can't hurt.
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