Legos into Linkin Logs at Firecracker 50

I guess everyone has their good days and bad days....this was definitely one of the latter.  I should have known as I warmed up with Charlie Hayes on his SS up Boreas Pass when I saw a HR that was too high for the respective power that I was pushing.  Ehh, I usually take the optimistic approach so I was just hoping 2 wks at sea level that began 7 days of crewing for Race Across America team that I coached.  I guess the 12hrs of sleep in a week put me under more than I'd thought!


As we rolled out main street of Breck with crowd-lined fencing cheering us on behind the mayor on the moto up Boreas pass, I noted the smaller and less competitive Pro field since the race isn't Marathon National Champs this year so the heavy hitters were in Idaho for XC Natz.  That meant the pace was chill for a bit longer before a few guys got bored and decided to animate the pace.  With one 15sec punch to close up the gap with the lead group, I felt the wrath of day to come slap me in the face.  HR spiked, legs turned to jello and other riders started to swarm by me.  I just dialed it back and tried to get my composure.  Watching the power drop to tempo, then endurance, then recovery and the HR just wouldn't drop and I couldn't go harder.   Soon a small group of Cat 1 men and Pro women caught me just before the single track.  In this group were 2 Stinger teammates Wade and Tammy that were riding strong.  I could tell they were in awe to see me within the initial 25min of race.  




So as I fell into No Man's Land I kept keeping myself entertained by reciting my blog title as a funny analogy of how my legs felt.  Basically like logs! There's not much to report from there besides the funny realization that I made by looking at my HR and power on the SRM....Power = HR is not good.  When I was "just trying to keep going" my HR and power were both in the 150s-160s and then why I "tried going harder" the power was still below 180w and HR in the 160-170s.  For those of you that know numbers you'll get a kick out me admitting that implosion!


There is positive in this story because I managed to finish a few spots from last, rip some downhills (as that's the only thing that was going in my favor), help 2 other riders with handing off my spare tube/air for their flats and I dug back out of the hole to rage the new section of the V3 trail to the finish on the 2nd lap. I just hate a  DNF for the record and I think it's a cheap out unless you've demolished your bike. I actually saw a guy finish with his frame broken completely in half with rear triangle folded to front triangle only connected by cables and chain!  That's my type of guy.


So the thing you can take from that is a tough day builds character.  I don't think I've felt that bad on the bike since I was trying to defend my 2008 Silver Rush 50 win in 2009 after returning from a 2wk trip to South Africa.  But I made it through that day by dialing it back to what I could manage and forcing fluids and calories in the system to make it under the finish banner with respect of a placement vs the DNF on record at the bottom of the results page.


I haven't seen any pics yet since I hope the usual photographers were busy having fun on Independence day with friends and family vs processing photos of us slogging out the trails.  Check back with Mountain Moon as they usually posts some good photos that should be uploaded soon. 


Always a pleasure racing with Mav Sports and Westy.  They do it right with aid stations, good post-race food and cool shirts/woolie socks.  I had 10 athletes racing and all went home with a great experience with even a few podiums including 2nd overall male  SS and 4th Pro female along with age group finishes and some couple coached duos!  


Another day at the office!