Monday, July 21, 2008

Cornhusker State Games Race Report

The cornhusker state games race was one that I had looked at as a bigger race for me for the season since last year it was my first race and I ended up getting a flat tire on the first lap and wasn't prepared and had no way to change it and ended up with a dnf and not even completing one lap.

I was real antsy at the start line and was putting a lot of pressure on myself to finish strong and have a good race especially since it was on what I consider to be my home course at Branched Oak lake. The race started with a long flat section of grass along the lake before we got into the single track. When the gun went off I had a good start and was right up with the leaders from the expert category when we hit the singletrack everyone got bunched up and there was a big train of us going through the course. We were running the course the opposite way that they normally do used so it practically seemed like a different course. I stayed up with the expert leaders for about 3/4 the way through the first lap and that's when the problems started. I started having stomach issues again. I think this time it was due to the heat. I wasn't hydrating very well and it was humid with a temp of about 92 degrees. As I progressed along I slowed down some and lost the leaders. I was going through stages of dry heaving for about the first 2 miles of the second lap and was really slowing down. I crashed towards the end of the second and I got caught by a couple of people by the end of the second lap that I wouldn't catch again. That crash I think really got to me more than I thought it did.

Towards the end of the second I really was taking in a lot of fluids and was feeling a bit better and was able to able to pull a couple people back and really progressed pretty well around the course for the final lap. I was closing down on some more people but ran out of space and time and finished the race. I felt pretty strong coming across the line which is pretty common for me the problem I have is always in the beginning or middle of a race I feel like crap and by the end it's to late for me to catch anybody.

When the results for the race where posted I ended up finishing in fourth. One of the guys who passed me when I crashed was the third place finisher. This was the best ending results I've had so far this season but I still felt I could have done better. I did get some things out of the race. It really showed me I need to get more time in on my mountain bike(hopefully the rain stops). I was not very good at picking my lines and on the descents which has always been a problem. I was also slow going through a real tight twisty section of the course towards the end. I also really need to change my training I think so that I'm getting more work in on the top end of my speed and heartrate instead of just logging huge miles on the road. I need to get used to going at my max for longer periods of time without cracking. During the race my legs felt good but I always was having trouble with my oxygen intake.

In the end the best thing about the race for me is that it was a good time and my family was there to spend it with me. It was nice to have my wife be proud of me when I finished towards the front end and my kids had the best time out of anybody getting to play and swim in the lake for a couple of hours.

The worst part of the whole day is after the race I had some plans of getting some stuff done around the house since I was home by 1:30. We were able to get out and eat and go pick up some stuff we needed but as we were doing that I started to get a migraine that only got worse as the day went on. It ended up being one of the worst migraines I've ever had and I spent the rest of the day in bed and wasting one of my precious days with no work.

At least I feel much better today and can get on with things. No riding for me today since I got to work both jobs probably get back to my new training plan on Tuesday.

the kids playing in the lake having a blast

Crossing the finish line

I would also like to throw out a congrats to Ryan and Justin who I beleive finished in Second and Third respectively in the beginner race. Nice Job guys.

Harp

6 comments:

Highwaymunky said...

Good Race dude! 4th place is a great finish.

rg said...

Great write up. Battling through builds character!

Bluenoser said...

Good job harp. Sounds like you worked real hard for the placing. That guy was probably so glad when he seen you down, otherwise he would never have gotten past you.

-B

Judi said...

4th place! That is great Harp!

Cornbread said...

Good job out there on Sunday. That heat was intense.

Judi said...

You have been tagged again!