It’s been a few days since the Time Trial. I have started to forget about the pain, so I thought I could write more of an objective blog. I’ve competed in a lot of different types of bike racing. I think that I have to rank time trialing close to, or even above mountain biking in relationship to the pain factor.
My legs felt a little tired at the start of the race. This is the longest time trial I have ever done, so I was trying out a new strategy. Earlier in the week I attended a time trial clinic hosted by Team Priority Health’s very own Kathy Kirk. Kathy gave us some great tips and strategies. Most of which I used, and some I adjusted to fit my own strategy. It was Kathy’s recommendation to work into that “comfortable” TT heart rate, not to start all out…so you could save some for a burst at the end. I did try this, but quickly noticed that I was at or above my TT heart rate from the word “go.”
It’s hard not to let your mind wander during a TT. I started thinking about how much I was hurting, how beautiful that sandy beach was that I passed, that I wanted to throw up…and many more random thoughts along the way. I kept trying to bring my concentration and focus back to my breathing and my heart rate. There is one statement that nearly sums up time trialing in my opinion; if it does not hurt you are doing something wrong.
Even though I went out hard in the beginning I managed to keep my average heart rate around 180. I was happy that I had enough left at the end to go harder and increase my heart rate to about 185 for the last mile. My finish time was 1:01:00.174, good enough for the fastest overall women of the day. I never imagined I would call myself a Time Trialist.
If I would have written this write after the race, there would have been a lot more focus on all the pain I felt and a long list of reasons why this was my last TT. Since I can barely remember all of that….I am sure that you will see me on a TT bike again soon!
Congrats to my teammate Marie, she was the 3rd fastest women overall!
Women's Overall
