So Sunday the 9th was the first Psycowpath race of the 2017 season. I do the Marathon class which is "suffer as much and as efficiently as you can for 4 hours", or something like that. Besides the sun not showing itself for most of the race, it was perfect weather. The trail was in "hero dirt" condition, and the competitors were in good spirits. The foolproof recipe for a great race!
I have been training very consistently this year using TrainerRoad. I have gone through 12 weeks of sweet spot base, and 4 weeks of General build. I went from a 217 FTP in December to a 295 FTP 4 weeks ago. I have done more training this year by this time then any other year prior by about 2X. I'm a little heavier than I want to be right now, but in short I was feeling well prepared and excited from a power standpoint.
Ever heard the word "Hubris"? :)
TrainerRoad has an excellent Podcast if you are into such things. A couple of weeks ago I was listening to the episode after they get done with their first cross race. Well the two coaches were telling Nate (co-founder and CEO of TrainerRoad) that the best strategy at a cross or MTB race is to go hard at the beginning to ensure you get good positioning. I'm sure they mentioned something about pacing yourself after that effort, but I focused on the "go hard" part as it sounded fun (thats what she said).
With that Podcast Episode in mind I made sure to line up at the front of the Marathon race and prepare myself for a hard effort. There was some pre-race announcements from Promoter Ryan Faegan, and then USA Cycling Referee Darrell Webb gave us the 30 second warning.
- Fork locked out --> CHECK
- Garmin on and ready --> CHECK
The whistle blows and I am off using my fat man sprint and excellent placing to stay in front of the majority of the group of 36 marathon racers! I end up 4th into the singletrack, and a few moments in and I ask to pass the racer in front of me which puts me into 3rd on the course feeling strong. One of my favorite portions of Swanson comes a short time later - a little down then up jump into a right-hand berm - and the racer in front of me wipes out with me almost running him over! The SLX brakes do their job and I am able to get around him while losing very little time to the man in first on the course - Rafal Doloto.
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| Working to catch up to Rafal |
Over the span of another few miles I start to reel in Rafal, and end up catching him while he is getting back on the bike. A few miles later he is off the bike again - with what I later find out is a slipping seatpost - so I make a pass and suddenly find myself at the pointy end of the race.
What in the shiny hell?! I am at the pointy end of the marathon race? Was there a stampede of demon-sent purple unicorns that took out the rest of the field that I missed? Was there a BOGO sale of Orbitz soda in the middle of the singletrack?! Whatever the glorious gift I was given, I wasn't about to let that go to waste so I pushed on with more power and the hopes of creating a comfortable lead.
I crossed the start/finish line in first place with a healthy lead and a tenuous grasp on the glorious hope of a strong podium finish. Surely this lead was just because of my dedication to training, and not some huge pacing mistake right?
The unique thing about the Swanson course this early in the year, is that you have great opportunity to see your competitors at different areas of the course. So a few minutes in to the 2nd lap I catch a glimpse of Patrick Lynch making up ground on me, and get really nervous. I don't know Patrick all that well personally, but I do know that he is not only a powerful rider but also a technically savvy rider. A few miles later and he is on my wheel.
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| Patrick on my wheel gaining ground |
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| Photo Credit: Emily Hoesly |
So the next few laps I end up grinding to a slow crawl as my body tries to recover from my way too frisky attack early on in the race. Thoughts of what the hell I am doing with my life become front and center while I pedal around the course. As more marathon racers pass me I get more and more dejected. I keep asking folks in different respectful ways how old they were "You sure look young for a 39+ year old person!", in hopes that my fellow 0-39 year old racers were still suffering out way behind me.
I ride alone for some time with only my negative thoughts:
This is what you get for all that training time?
You are doing this bike injustice being this slow!
Carbon wheels were for sure needed at this speed [/sarcasm]
In short, I was going through the mental state of a hard race that I wasn't fully prepared for. I keep eating (Clif Bar Organic Energy Food) and drinking (Tailwind), and my stomach is just peachy. I just do not have any power in my legs.
I end my 8th lap and see I have a good 12 minutes before 4 hours is up, and better yet see that two of my fellow marathon racers are just starting their 9th lap. That turns out to be exactly the carrot my body needs, and like some Eclipse in Fast and the Furious my power comes magically back! I pass those two racers and find Mike Miles a good 30 seconds ahead of me (remember we can see for a ways at Swanson this time of year).
Now at this point I have lost count of how many marathon racers have passed me, so I am just looking for what I can get. After seeing Mike up the course I fully engage and the chase is on! I am pretty sure Mike sees this as he appears to put the welly on and we get after it! Man-o-man if I would have had this motivation throughout the race, I cold have suffered so much more and done so much better! More mental game work is needed.
I end up bringing Mike back a bit, but he pulls away as much as I put into him. He finishes ahead of me and takes the last podium spot for our class in Marathon.
Honestly at this point I am in a bit of a malaise. Why did I put all of those hours into the indoor trainer and suffering just to blow up 1.5 hours into a 4 hour race?! All that work for nothing! It was even worse seeing the results posted and finding out for sure I was only one spot off the podium. Its the same sort of feeling you get when you get a C- in an Accounting class in college and have to take it over. Sure you didn't 100% blow, but you blew enough to not pass.
Well after I got over my general malaise, and started reflecting on the race, I could only giggle. What an amazing learning experience! I tried something I never had before (going balls to the wall at the start), and learned a bunch! Sure I need to learn how to pace better, and sure my endurance needs work, but I guarantee I surprised the hell out of some people in those first few laps! Maybe this season has some promise after all!
My bike was fantastic BTW. This is a 2017 Giant XTC Advanced 2 with Light Bike Carbon wheels and a Specialized 35mm dropper post. The whole thing with pedals and Garmin mount was a bit under 25 lbs.
I was really surprised how much that small of a drop on the dropper post made a difference! You can really get your center of gravity nice and low and rail corners! The SLX 1X11 shifting worked great, and the brakes were flawless.
The next race is Platte where I have a two year history of sucking big-time! Sustained hard climbs just are not my wheelhouse yet, so that means 4 hours of suffering for what is 100% not a podium spot. You know what? That is OK. It will be excellent experience/training for Dakota 5-O which I got into this year! Until next time, PROST!
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