ABD Indoor TT#1
January 6, 2008 – Winfield, IL
Cat 4 – DNF
302 watts for 5K of race
That pretty much sums up my first race of the year. Even though it’s only January, the cycling season is underway–indoors at least (although it was 54 degrees F at race time). As usual, I was nervous for the first race of year and didn’t sleep well. I think it’s just a milestone thing. I’ve done these races before and know exactly what to expect, but sometimes it stilll feels like the night before Christmas.
The race was held at the same location as last year–Winfield Middle School. For more details, check out my race report from last year. Having an early start time gave me plenty of room to warm-up. I nearly fell of my bike on the trainer during the warm-up, because my sinsuses were so congested. My sweat towel became more of a snot towel.
I was happy to be in a faster heat with a bunch of guys pushing for 15 minutes on the flat 10K course. Based on my intervals thus far, I figured 15 flat was a good goal. I started at a good pace with just the right watts (~315 watts average on Computrainer, ~300 on my PowerTap) and was on hitting my goal pace at the halfway point.
Despite using my inhaler before the race, I was having difficulty breathing about halfway. I had raced with sinus infections many times before during indoor track. My energy levels were fine, but breathing was a crapshoot. I usually ended up dry heaving outdoors in the cold after the race. At least when I was running, I had aid moving into my lungs. Biking in hot, humid conditions without moving was a little harder. Rather than risk an exercise-induced asthma attack, I decided to drop out when things got a little freaky with my bronchial tubes.
Yeah, it sucks, but I’m much happier knowing I was on my way to a good performance and choosing a DNF, rather than backing off and just easing into a lousy finish time. It’s so early in the season and my 5K performance shows my workouts are helping. Plus, it was nice seeing other racers and catching up on offseason moves and gossip.
Now, there’s only 3 more indoor TTs to go! If you’ve never done one, get out and try one. At $25, they’re not cheap for the time you’ll be racing (at least by cycling standards) but they are a lot of fun. ABD does a really nice job putting them on and it gets you motivated to bike during a crappy time of the year. Registration info can be found here.
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I hope the second one went better! Didn’t see you at the event, but saw your name in the results so word up to suffering the whole way through!
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Thanks, Seth. I actually felt great today. I’ve always taken the Computrainer thing a bit like tables in Vegas. Sometimes you get a hot one, other times it’s stone cold. Based on my wattage output on my PT, I was way above where I was last year (30 watts) on the same rolling course yet I ended up with the same time (same PT, same weight). Go figure. It makes you appreciate when you get outdoors and the playing field is leveled. Good luck and see you at the rest of the series!