New 10 mi. TT PR

Well, last night the weather was hot and windy at the Speedway. Around 7:10 I rolled off on my 10 mile TT. When you are doing such a short event, you don't really have time to think much about it. But you do have to be ready to go and go hard from the start.

A 10 mile to me is much like running a mile race. There is no time to settle in. One needs to be at the top of their game right from the start.

I arrived later than usual at the track, but I got a chance to put in a few miles before the festivities got rolling. The wind was on the ugly side of the track in my opinion. What I mean by this is that the wind was blowing down the front stretch and the wind was a combination of a crosswind and tailwind down the back stretch.

As I rounded the corner in turn 4, the wind started really picking up and continued all down the front stretch. Only once I got between turns 1 and 2 did the wind move to my side and back.

For the first couple of laps, I was struggling. I was trying to push too big of a gear down the front stretch. There were 3 or 4 guys around me. They would pass me on the back stretch and then, I would pass them back on the front stretch.

My legs felt like I was grinding them into the ground.

So for miles 4 to 5, I started down shifting going into turn 1 and holding it all the way through the middle of turn 1 and 2. Allowing my legs to spin in a lower gear was just trick. Suddenly, I was able to pull away from the guys around me. I was no longer losing the time that I gained down the back stretch. My average speed was climbing as well.

First, it was 24.5, .6, .7, and finally .8 over the last few miles.

I knew by the average speed; I was on a PR pace, but I didn't know by how much until a crossed the finish line in 24:13. This was 32 second PR over my last ride in July.

At the finish, I was dripping wet with sweat and exhausted.

The statistics from my heart monitor showed that I averaged 168 bpm with a max rate of 198. Over the closing miles, my heart rate was pushing a solid 178 bpm.

Clearly, this was not an ideal night for fast times, but something is working for me, and I hope it continues in the same fashion.

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner