Super-D and Short Track

2 events, 1 good, 1 not so good. The Super-D wasn't until 3 PM today, so we just chilled out and watched TV all morning. I was excited that women's tennis was on so I could watch Serena Williams and Justine Henin duke it out. I used to be a pretty serious tennis player in high school, so these ladies are my former heroes. For those of you who don't know, a Super-D is supposed to be the downhill portion of a cross country race, ridden on XC bikes. The Super-D course here at Nova was less than traditional, being all smooth and flat with a couple short, punchy climbs. Needless to say, it was like racing ANOTHER time trial. My Scott Contessa Scale was a great bike for this course and I have been really happy with it. I have never felt so great riding a bike. The super-d was a sufferfest. I probably went harder in that than the TT yesterday because there was absolutely no place to recover. You had to be on the gas the entire time. I had a great time, but I should have pre-ridden it a few more times. When you are doing four events, you really have to pick and choose what you pre-ride or you can tire yourself out fast. I got 6th, just 10 seconds off the pro podium. I was frustrated, but I did the absolute best I could. Next time! :) Oh yeah, numbers for you. Avg HR: 201. Max: 211. Git it. The times for the Super-D ranged from 19-23 minutes.

Trying to keep the legs happy in between events. I know I'm an enginerd, but I can't get this rotated right.

Short track start. I stole this pic from cyclingnews.com

Cycling news story: http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2007/mar07/NORBA_1_07/NORBA_1_073

The short track was also very non-traditional. My short track was at 7:30 PM(it is usually during the day) in downtown Fountain Hills. Part of it was on the road and part of it was on a flat, old construction site with tons of loose rocks and some bumps that were short and tall. I got back from the Super-D at about 4, and tried to recover the best I could. Judy and I rode up to the course about 2 hours later, and I was hurting pretty bad from my 2 anaerobic efforts over the past two days. I guess it's time to start training. I felt my Go Fast kick in and was ready to roll. That stuff really gets me fired up and is a great pre-race energy drink. It tastes great too, much better than Red Bull. I always love the short track, but I have a lot to learn. The announcers called us up based on our overall natioanl short track results from last year. I'll set the scene because I know a lot of my readers have never actually been to a national before. 70 girls. Spectators lined up on either side of the start chute. Loud techno or classic rock and a guy screaming on a microphone. The announcer calls us up one by one and we get to roll up to the start individually. I was suprised to get called up in the top 30 and got to line up in the second row. I felt really intimidated because I was right behind Shonny Van Landingham's wheel(national champion). the first row are all the fastest women in the country and the world. All I could do was smile like an idiot. The speaker announced 2 minutes to go, 1.5, 1, 30 sec, and then counts down 10. The spectators are banging on the sides of the start chute and cheering so loud that you can't even hear the announcer so you just listen for the whistle. Anyway, the race was fast. Brian said that I was in the third chase group which is super exciting! I was unfortunately not aggressive enough and was letting people by, thinking I would pass them on the next lap. I was sitting in and not really putting out a maximal effort. Before I knew it I got pulled(if you are about to get lapped, they pull you out. Pretty much everyone but the top 10 get pulled) I'm not sure what place I got, but I learned that next time I need to be hungrier for it. I'm not happy with being so lame, but I learned my lesson. I don't know what place I got yet. Brian did AWESOME. He was in the top 15 and pretty much with the lead group consisting of all the top guys in the world for awhile...until he crashed out really hard, but he pulled it together. I would put the photo of his mangled knee, but I know you all probably dont' want to see it. I think he still got top 25. Good job!

Tomorrow is the XC at 1 PM. I'm still buzzing hard off the Go Fast, so I am FIRED UP and ready to go hard tomorrow. I actually feel like I deserve to be racing with the pros last year. Last year as my first time as a pro was rough and I was doubting myself a lot. Now if I only I could get more confidence for the short tracks....

Sorry for the lack of photos. All my friends race pro so there is no one to take sweet actions. Anyone want to start coming along as our personal photographer? I hear the ice bath calling my name. wahhh.