The Second Half

Race #1

We rolled down to Phoenix on Saturday morning, and opened the doors to 65 degrees, and ahhhhhh. Quick change, and on the road bikes for 1.5 hours just to spin it out and take in some sun. There aren’t a lot of cars traveling out and about on this side of the valley, so the spinning was quiet, smooth…..until D came rocketing past CW and I and of course, we had to chase her down. A few more shenanigans, and we were back at the campsite. I believe I called D a “little f*cker” when she attacked and we had a good laugh about it.

Woke up to a gorgeous pink desert sunrise, and took care of the necessary stuff like food/coffee/race packet, and I had no worries about my bike because I had dialed it in last week. On the stand it sat, waiting to go. I don’t like surprises 5 minutes before go time.

Me and CW went to the line at 8:25, and the gun went at 8:30. The open class marathon field had some really fast looking pros from Powerbar et al, a lot of guys like me with team kits on and hopes for a solid finish, and a few clowns who you could predict were going to persevere through a death march. As with most marathon races, the group establishes itself quickly and there’s not a lot of passing after the first half hour. I had to let 20+ people go ahead of me because they were faster, and I took the time to sit in and find a challenging, but manageable pace. Lap 1 was good, lap 2 was great, lap 3 had a lot of traffic from the Cat 2 men and women to pass, and then I started cramping as I crawled back up to the start/finish line. My right ham locked and I had to hop off and stretch for a minute. OK tough guy, get back to it. I hopped back on and put a bow on race #1 of the season. Not a big bow, just a little one. I was pretty cooked after lap 4. So…..40 miles, 3.5 hours, and there was nothing left in my personal tank, my camelback, or my water bottle at the end. Done, used, expired. I finished 24th out of 36. I felt pretty good about that, and I felt especially good that the running I have been doing translated into bike fitness – or it would have been a short day.

Race #2 is in three weeks at the White Tank Mountains. I’ll be there, and I figure if I keep this up, I’ll be hitting my stride by early April.