The first race and instant anerobia

I packed my gear the Friday night after getting a little time to ride on the road for the first time in days. It made since to get myself organized the night before. The drive was going to be at least a hour south of Raleigh and I wanted to leave time to get registered in time to warm up my legs.

Maybe it was excitement or worry over the race, but I didn't sleep well and was up at 5:00. I loaded all of my gear except my bike and clothes in the Jeep the night before. I made a quick breakfast of a couple of eggs and cheese. Next I got dressed, checked the weather one more time, and loaded my bike to head out. The weather looked like it was going to be warmer than anticipated by a few degrees with the rain possibly holding off until after my race.

I got to the race site with an hour to go. There were "kids" every where from colleges all over the southeast for their races in addition to the USACF races. That started to work on my head. I parked and found my way to registration. I had pre-registered so that was easy , but I did notice I had years on everyone in line except a few guys.

Race number in hand, I went back to the Jeep to unload my bike and trainer to warm my legs up. I didn't bring the pad to set up on, so I never really got the trainer settled, but I did warm up on it about 10 minutes before I gave up and decided to ride to finish warming up. It was 42 degrees, but no rain at that point.

I headed over to the start line about 5 minutes before and positioned myself in the middle of the pack. I made small talk with some of the guys enough to find a couple who also had never raced before. The race was late getting started by about 15-20 minutes. I looked down at my Garmin and noticed my heart rate was 150 beats per minute when it should have been closer to 100. Nerves and adreniline no doubt. I tried to calm myself down while the race organizer gave us some final instructions.

"Don't cross the yellow lines or you will be disqualified," she said. "I have no desire for any of you to die today. Also, you will NOT raise your hands in air when you cross the line. You are NOT Lance Armstrong." There was polite chuckles from the crowd. A few more instructions and then we're off. My heart rate was down to 137 bpm as I pushed off, which was calmer but I was still keyed up.

I promised myself that I wouldn't try to chase down the pack if it got away. I was going to ride my race and my race plan. The plan was to not wreck, finish stronger than I started and not finish last. The group took off and I tried to keep up and looked down at my Garmin at the top of the second hill, 180 beats per minute. Ok, I couldn't sustain that pace, so I dialed it back.

I tried to keep the pack in sight for as long as I could. I lost sight of them about the 10 mile mark. I settled down to ride "my race". An interesting thing happened at that point. I felt better and my heart rate slowed. I was last at that point, but I could see other riders up the road. So I picked up my pace and passed the first rider I met at about 10.5 miles. Man that felt good! I felt myself getting stronger, which was probably mostly mental, but it helped me push on. The rain started at that point. It continued intermitently until the end.

Between 11 and 12 mile mark I met the second rider and pushed on past him up the hill. Fourteen miles in I met the third rider, and I blew past him, but pulled up. "Hey you want to work together to try to catch up?," I called back. "Sure!", he yelled. So we worked together for the rest of the first lap. It was my turn to pull heading into the first hill so I took the lead, but he seemed to pull up and slow down. I looked back to see if he was going to keep up. He shrugged and motioned for me to take off. So I did

I felt my strength building because my legs were fully warmed up and my heart rate slowed down. I put my head down and picked up speed. I past my fourth and fifth riders as I got further into the lap. I yelled to one of the race officials to ask how far the group was ahead. "Over 5 minutes," he yelled back. That was really disheartening, but I pushed harder. The next turn cam and I asked again how far ahead they were and the answer was "4 or 5 minutes." Was I pulling some time back? Maybe, but maybe not. The answer gave me a little more energy to pull harder.

I past the the 1 KM sign and I heard "your left!" from behind me about 200-250 meters beyond it. DAMN! The women's CAT 4 group had caught me. They were scheduled to start 5 minutes after my CAT 5 race, but I don't know if that's what happened. Getting caught by them was a little disappointing, but I noticed 90 percent of the group were college women who would also be racing later that day in the collegiate races.

Recapping the goals of my first race, I realized I met my moddest goals. The first and most important goal was not to crash. That was easier since I wasn't riding in the pack for very long and the roads weren't too bad. Second, run faster than 18 mph, which I achieved by runnind 18.9 mph. I was very happy about that because the elevation of the course was more rolling than I thought and that Mapmyride.com had indicated. There were 3 ten percent grade hills and averal five percent or more. Third, I didn't want to finish last. I actually past 5 other riders, but didn't finish near the main group of riders. There's an area to improve on.

My average heart rate, 172 bpm, was significantly higher than a normal ride. That's another area to improve on. I got more comfortable and stable as the race went on, but there is a signifcant improvement that could be made in conditioning and weight. How much better would I have ridden if my weight was closer to 150 than 170 pounds? Professional riders my height are all 150 pounds or less. What if I had better equipment, coaching and nutritional advice? I hope to find out!