Paul's Pedaling Thoughts: Cross Crusade

In the past, the course at Rainier has treated me well. The course isn't super technical, lots of room to pass, and there's a good climb at the end of each lap. A good fitness course. It's also been dry the past few years, so that makes it less technical.

Well, this year was quite different. It rained considerably the few days before the race and it was a mud pit in sections. It stopped raining in the morning and the sun came out. By my race at 1140am the mud in the woods section dried out enough to become a very thick mess which was nearly impossible to pedal through. That meant: running. Yuck!

There was mud (photo courtesy of Victor Duong)

My start position wasn't too bad - half point in the field. We started straight up the big hill. I passed a bunch of people on that hill and had the leaders in my sight. Got to the back woods section and I was still looking good, but had to get off the bike and run like everyone else. That winded me a bunch so I eased off a bit, but didn't seem to recover very well at all. I was going full tilt to keep my position. Got to the hill the at the beginning of the 2nd lap and that's when disaster stuck. Wasn't a mechanical - it was my body.

All cross races hurt, but this was something different. I was definitely charging up the hill hard like everyone else, so definitely in the VO2 max region. However, my lungs and legs weren't doing well at all. I backed off for some recovery, but I just couldn't recover. I was losing a bunch of spots and I could tell my day was about over already. It took most of the next lap to settle down and by then I was on a joy ride.

I was not feeling good (photo courtesy of Victor Duong)

Earlier in the work week I did something I always do. When I got the call from the nice old lady at the Red Cross, I said sure I'll donate blood like I always do. Not a good idea 2 days before a cross race. I sure missed all my oxygen giving red blood cells.

So, I rode the rest of the race for fun and enjoyed the ride. Didn't really enjoy the run in the mud, but that's OK. There's always next week - Sherwood. It's got a big hill also I hear. It's was a new course last year and I haven't done it yet. Should be interesting.