Fisk Knob...an ode to agony

You may have noticed that it was a bit breezy yesterday. And, to some extent, that had to do with the weather. You know...cold fronts, warm fronts, clouds and moving air.

However, I would like to assure you that some of that wind you felt had nothing to do with Mother Nature. I contributed to that cool breeze in at least two significant ways...

1. I'm slow. I suck. In fact, I sucked so hard that people in other states felt the breeze of my suckdom. I have godlike sucktitude. If suck were speed...I'd have won. But, I didn't. Because I suck.

2. The wind you felt may have had some contribution from the massively heavy breathing I was doing. I was gasping for breath like you wouldn't believe. I honestly tried to push myself hard...but, I wasn't really ready for that last two miles of hills. That was hard. Really hard. A couple of guys passed me going REALLY fast...but, even then looked at me as though they should stop and help me. I must have sounded pretty bad.

The race was painful to put it mildly. For me it was nearly an hour long...which is too long, in my opinion. I should have been...probably could have been... much faster. The thing is...that hour was all out. I think I might have let myself get a bit comfortable in the middle of the race for maybe a mile. But, for the most part, I was right at the edge of my upper limits for the whole race.

I think I made a couple mistakes.

1. I should have put the aero-bars on my bike. I didn't do it for a couple reasons. But, they were lame reasons and I should have just done it. It might have saved me a few minutes.

2. I started off too fast. Though, it wasn't a newbie mistake type of fast start. It was calculated...I intentionally pushed myself past my sustainable HR for the first couple miles. My thinking was that the first few miles were primarily down hill. My weight (relative to other riders) gives me a substantial advantage in momentum on the downhills. Therefore, I was seeking to maximize my advantage. In short, I wanted to get as much out of the downhill as possible...knowing that the return trip was likely to hurt me badly. Well, I was right about the return trip. My legs had nothing left during that last two miles. And, I blame that on my strategy of going hard at the beginning.

3. I was a bit too comfortable during the middle stretch of the race. I hurt myself badly during the beginning so that I could maximize my speed on the downhill stretches. And, I hurt myself badly on the return trip to the finish line. Somewhere in the middle, though, I stopped punishing myself. I should have...could have...kept my pace higher for miles 7-11. That was a bit disappointing.

I'll do better next year. My goal is to beat John Jasker...why? I don't know. Seems like the right thing to do. See you next year John!