Weekend Update

First off, the big guy went 4 for 4 at the plate @ Saturdays game. At least 2 were legit up the middle shots. Good stuff.

Then there was the Dirty DU on Sunday. I had high hopes and left mildly disappointed. I should be pretty happy with my performance, considering I've been running less that once/week, and I turned in a 5 mile trail run @ a ~7:10 pace. My two bike laps were solid, but the effects of the 5 miler were ripping through my legs. Right calf cramped up about 1/2 way through the 1st lap. I downed some Clif Bloks and got through it. It flared up again in the 2nd lap, and I knew I would be in trouble when I got off the bike. And I was. I beat the guy who was on my tail out of the pit, but he caught me and was gone. Then DK came up and passed me. I gave chase, then died. I gave chase again @ the last 100m mark, but again, that lasted all of about 4 seconds before my legs revolted. He beat me by 20 seconds and moved another few points up in the VORS. Darn it.

One thought that keeps haunting me...what if I had done the right thing and popped two endurolytes before the start? Maybe two more @ transition 1? I think that may have been the difference, but I could be wrong. Its done. Time to move on.

Lastly...if you are ever out at Camp Hilbert and see my Garmin Forerunner on the side of the trail, hook me up...I miss my data. Yeah, that's right...I lost another one. Lost the Edge on June 7, 2007. The Forerunner didn't make it a year. So much for the ultra secure quick release retention mechanism. I'm bitter.

This is pretty cool:

http://www.ergon-bike.com/us/about_ergon/news_template.html?id=363

Ergons do rock. I have em on 2 of 3 bikes and need that third pair.

Morning ride

3000+ft of elevation gain and two cups of coffee gets you jacked in the morning! I think this may need to be a regular thing for me. Good data:

Redemption @ Hilbert

What a difference a week makes. I played the game just right on Saturday in the Enduro race at Hilbert #2. I didn't go out too hard, but hard enough to keep the 3rd place guy at bay. When the time came (around the 4 hour mark) I turned it up a bit. I amped up the chase for the VW Jersey (Shawn) and caught him around the last mile of lap 8. We rolled lap 9 together and crossed the line together at just a few seconds past 5 hours. Perfection. 9 laps. 50 miles. About 5000ft of elevation gain. Oh, and I did it on a rigid singlespeed, of course. My first win (co-win) of the season. Feels good. Nay...it feels great.

Some notes, for the record: I ate well on the bike. Killed 6 bottles of Clif Shot, roughly 3 packs of some sort of energy gel, a banana, and pack of Clif Bloks. Stopped for endurolytes once, maybe twice, along with some Advil. Threw down some Fig Newtons after two or three as well. In short, I ingested plenty. Support was key too. Being handed bottles and food is key. Special thanks to Dave, Jason, and Rick. And the Bike Factory Racing cheering section was awesome. Nice little pick-me-up every ~33 minutes. Needed to urinate for the last three hours or so, but I held it off till I was done...no time for that. Only 1 minute, 33 second between my fastest and slowest laps. Lap 8 was the strongest. Perhaps consistency is key:

Lap 1 32:30
Lap 2 32:37
Lap 3 33:27
Lap 4 33:34
Lap 5 34:02
Lap 6 34:03
Lap 7 33:56
Lap 8 32:22
Lap 9 33:34

It felt good to run Shawn down. Maybe one of the few times in my memory where I turned on the chase switch and got a reward for it. Its a good feeling. Putting 14 minutes on 3rd place was pretty awesome too. Lets do it again.

No exciting story here. I went out too hard, and at 8:30AM, I couldn't stomach the thought of another lap. I yielded 2nd to my teammate Ted Gayle and I sat down. And I didn't get back up. 8 laps got me 4th. One more lap may have gotten me 3rd, but I was toast. The tank was empty. Wrists and triceps were gone. And that is the story of Lodi, 2008.

Disappointed? Yes. Gotta heal up and get back in the saddle.