Bad Day.. Good Day

The Great Race is an Auburn, NY regional team triathlon that draws thousands of competitors to run, cycle and paddle along and in Lake Owasco. Several days ago, I checked online for cycling routes in the region and discovered that this classic event was being held this weekend, the day after we were arriving for our summer vacation just six kilometers down the lake from the start. Further clicking on the event's webpage and I found a team looking for a last-minute cyclist.

So, early Sunday morning I rode over, picked up my race number from my teammates and readied to take the wristband from our runner, pedal for 30.26 km and pass off to our kayaker, who would run down to the lake and head out around the buoys.

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I just had a crappy day, starting out too fast and I blew up on the big hill that kept going up and up and up. Then, after a fast descent the course went up again, dropped down a hill, up a hill, down again and up again. I just felt heavy, slow and without any power in my legs or recovery after the short climbs. It wasn't until the last five kilometers when I started to feel better, but probably only because I knew that the day would be over soon.

The best part of the day may have been the sandwich after the race.. and then the bottle of Finger Lakes (King's Ferry Treeleaven) Merlot later in the afternoon.

So, yesterday with 426 meters of climbing, I averaged 28 kmph with a heart rate of 156 for the 64:42. Then, today, with no pressure and just having fun, I rode down to Barb's Diner for lunch. Just having fun for 24.22 km and 300 meters of climbing and a heartrate of just 127 bpm, I averaged 29.5 kmph. The difference? No pressure, started slow and built speed over time rather than starting fast. But then again, it could have been the Merlot.

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