2008_Anger_Management_Criterium_Race

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Anger Management Criterium Race Report

Before last week's Roger Millikan Criterium where I placed
11th, I eased up on my weekly mileage and shortened my commutes to
save my legs. In a stark contrast, my preparation for the Anger Management
Criterium in Long Beach, CA included commuting the full length only twice (65
miles each way), I did some half commutes (30 miles each way) with the train
ride in the middle and then a double century (194 miles with 9,000 feet) the day
before the Criterium, bringing my weekly mileage to 460 miles by Saturday. On
Sunday, this in-depth study revealed that the extra mileage resulted in losing only
one placing in criterium racing and this week's crit yielded a 12th place
finish. ;)

If you've read my last post, you know that I finished Butterfield Double Century at
5:01 p.m. on Saturday evening--good enough to be the third best time overall. We
made it to bed around 9:30 p.m. and Brandy administered the dreaded <a
href="http://www.amazon.com/Intracell-Travel-Stick-Massage-Hand/dp/B000BRG
N62">"stick" massage</a>. The alarm was going off again at 4:00 a.m. The plan
was to be in Long Beach no later than 5:45 a.m. to give myself an hour to warm
up on the trainer before the 7:00 a.m. race.

We arrived closer to 6:00 a.m. and by the time I registered and pre-rode the
course, I didn't get much of a warm-up. But heck I did 200 miles less than 12
hours earlier. How much warm-up did I need?

The field was very sketchy, which is indicative of a Cat V field--but I have to do
my time. 2 out of 10 races done. I stayed near the front in the top 10-15 places of
a 50 man field. As the pace picked up for the final five laps, I felt good enough to
maintain my position. On the final turn when the sprint began I had no legs to do
a sprint and only eeked out a 812 watt sprint. I ran out of gas
50 meters from the line. I sat back down, spun up the cadence, got as aero as I
could and FINISHED 12TH. I wasn't happy with my result at
the time, but now that I have had time to reflect, 12th place in a Criterium after a
third place finish in a 200 mile event the day before with a time of 10:46 is pretty
darn good.

NEXT UP 400KM (252 MILES)BREVET WITH APPROX 15,000 FEET
OF CLIMBING.

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