ANYWAY. . . . . . . .
Iola. Yeah. Not what I had hoped for. A quick review of the 1st race hosted there this year shows a winning Sport women's time of 1:20:56. This time around the winning time was 1:26:18. That right there is interesting. Of course the top 3 "fast" girls the first time around did not race this Sport race, another interesting tid bit of info.
My race time for THIS race was 1:30:13. Last time I managed to pull 1:28:28. Almost a 2 minute difference. Not so good. Why you ask? Well. . . . . . . . . .
Yes, I did have a great first lap. Yes, I did start off the front, as I usually do (I'm usually somewhere in the top 5 at the start, as I'm a "good starter"). Yes, I did hold that for the entire first lap. No, my heart rate was NOT any higher than normal, in fact, I realized it was several beats LOWER than I'm capable of holding as a race average. That right there was a strange thing.While I worked my butt off that first lap, I saw a "lower than normal" heart rate, and yet it FELT like my HR was WAY higher. I was recovered going into the race, so I know I wasn't "over trained", which would give me a lower HR. I hadn't been sick, no cold, no fever, etc. . . .so why it was lower, I don't know.
I haven't had the chance to read other people's accounts of the race, but I've been told I'm not the only one who had a "strange" race. I literally had what felt like what I would assume to be an asthma attack (since I don't actually HAVE asthma, I can only guess what that would feel like). Not a full-blown attack, but a severe tightness in my chest, a burning all the way from deep in my lungs up into my throat, an inability to take a deep breath, and a wheezing sound in my lungs that intensified (and HURT) at a higher heart rate. In fact at one point I began to hyperventilate (which I usually do at least once per race), but this time around I almost wasn't able to get my breath back. I thought I was going to have to head to the first aid tent or be carried off the course.
I had no "reason" this occurred. I'm not sure I've EVER had something like this happen. I didn't know what to expect, or what was happening. And I actually got a tad bit scared for a bit - when I couldn't get a breath.
I'm STILL trying to figure out what happened. . . . .allergies? Dust? A harder effort that didn't reflect a higher HR? I don't think I "popped", because I was never at 100%. How can you POP when you can't even GET to 100%? I've had issues breathing in the humidity when I'm riding/racing, but never to this extent. I've never "wheezed". Maybe it's just SARS.
Anyway, I took it back a notch to see what would happen, if I could catch my breath, if my wheezing would stop, if I would pass out and need to be carried off the course. . . . . . . and I watched my peeps pass me one by one, some of them cheering for me to hook their wheel, to work together with them, to DIG on the hills and just hang in there and finish (thank you ladies - you know who you are. You are a JOY to race with and I love you guys).
So that's what I did. I scaled it back a lap, let the HR drop and rode it out. The wheezing persisted, but it got a bit easier to breathe and I managed to pull just a LITTLE bit more out of my butt at the very end to pass a handful of girls for 9th place overall.
I'm still in awe that I was even able to finish. What was I thinking?? I couldn't even BREATHE and I STILL just kept riding. Someone CHECK ME IN SOMEWHERE!! :-) But seriously. . . . . .2 minutes slower than the first time around, from 1st to 14th back to 9th. . . . yeah it wasn't what I hoped for but then again taking top 10 on a "bad" day is still pretty good. Maybe not "elite material" in some people's eyes. . . . . .but since when I do what others tell me I SHOULD do?
Onward and upward. Sheboygan is another opportunity for a great race.
9 comments:
Interesting...
Maybe it was the Iola air, I couldn't breathe either.
my gasping for air had nothing to do with the iola air and i have asthma. stupid food.
good job hanging in there to finish.
Even 'elites' have bad races.
Your situation is similar to the elites situation. First, it was my hope to be faster at this race than the first Iola race...That didn't happen. I was about 3 minutes slower. I looked up Sara Kylander-Johnson's time and hers was just about 3 minutes slower as well. I think there was a factor affecting all of us out there. the course being one of them.
And don't even say your not elite material. You definitely have it! It felt like everyone was just not feeling it out there that race, I know I wasn't. I know I was questioned why I raced elite, but then there are those races where you say, THIS is why Im doing it.
Definitely do it for yourself, because we all know you have what it takes.
Kill it at Sheboygan!!
I am thinking you had an asthma attack brought about by all the dust along the course. I too have been having problems for the past couple of years with, what my Dr told me, exercise induced asthma and now I'm taking an inhaler along with me on all rides. Your symptoms seem to be quite similar to those I've dealt with. Funny enough, I first noticed a problem at Iola last year when I couldn't breath after the race - air could go out but not back in.
Talk with your Dr. Good Luck!
John
although i've never introduced myself in person, i check up on your blog from time to time and would like to say how much i have enjoyed your dialogue on the decision to upgrade next year. i hadn't really planned on upgrading next year for a number of reasons but between knowing that other sport women my level are upgrading and talking to a couple girls racing expert now and finding out it's not that bad, i'm thinking about it for next year. see you at sheboygan!
I think it is AWESOME that there are a bunch of us that are planning on making "the plunge". It's going to make next year a whole lot more fun.
I have the utmost respect for the women who race elite, and for those who have the courage to move up and race among them, even if some people think they "don't belong". If everyone had HALF the courage some of those women (and men) had, we'd NEVER have another "conversation" about SANDBAGGERS again. How nice that would be.
There is something called exercise induced asthma. When I used to go really hard sometimes I would get this.
It was almost always accompanied by cool or cold temps and very dry air. It almost always occurred only when pushing very hard on climby sections and for as I recall mainly in early season. If you ever got the wind knocked out of you --it feels like when your breathing comes back and has that wheezy sound.
There is also something that we refer to as winter lung. This is felt on cold winter days or on cool dusty races like this year's Chequamegon. Your lungs hurt a bit sometimes. After the ride your lungs may hurt and you might have coughing fits.
Post a Comment