Since Devon I was on a big high feeling strong & confident going into Cat3. I had already achieved 2 of my 3 goals for the season which were winning a race & getting into Cat3. My body unfortunately wasn't ready for the 3rd loftiest goal of getting into 1/2 before the end of the season.
The plan after Devon was to go back into a build phase & be ready to throw down in Cat3. My body ended up in a serious hole that I couldn't get out of despite recovery & top ups on vitamins & rest. I was flat. No power to the engine room was left. I had raced more this season than I ever have yet in Triathlon/Cycling. Even though I was listening to my body & trying to be careful with recovery the intensity had caught up to me. I ended up taking chunks of training days off just to try & bring my body back to equilibrium again. This never really happened & I gave Tour De Bowness a chance to maybe salvage any form that was left for the season.
The road race was 132km in the Cochrane area & although the weather wasn't blistering hot it was enough to bonk my already flat form. On the beginning of the third lap I made a gutsy call to bridge to the 5 man breakaway up front & thought this might be the final selection. The peloton reintegrated shortly after & the race turned bad to ugly for me from there. I started to bonk & became dehydrated & the body started to cramp. Although consuming calories & fluid regularly throughout the race this obviously wasn't enough. I got dropped by the main group on the final hill with serious cramping & clawed my way back on the flats. Tried bridging to a group ahead of us & this ended up being my last match. Ended up reintegrating with the peloton & got popped again on the last hill leading to the finish.
The next day the hill climb went much the same followed by the crit the next day. No power, flat as a pancake & watching the race with no top end power left in the tank.
In summary I went from feeling strong & confident leading into Cat3 to feeling weak & vulnerable ending my season. Not a feeling I wanted however I hope this is a learning curve for the future.
I know I can be strong but have to recognize each athletes body responds differently to all types of intensity in different amounts. I have to recognize that my body was extra sensitive in the ladder part of my season & make future adjustments.
This was a year of accumulating points & next season will be better planned out with races being spaced more appropriately from each other.
I am excited for the off season & will be doing some running & swimming & just general relaxation. Heading to Kelowna with the girlfriend on the 19th to watch the ITU National triathlon championships & catchin up with Birdman.
1 comment:
Hey bud, don't get too down on yourself. I thought you had a tremendous season and it's only a matter of time before you make that last upgrade.
I had the opposite this year; not enough racing!
Have a good off-season and recharge.
Post a Comment