15th March 2009 - Thruxton 4th Cat

Preparation - Week 7 - Block 2

06:30am - Wakeup

• 8.5 Hours Sleep
• Sleep Quality - 8
• Heart Rate 47 / 71
• No weight measured
• Mood - 7

Woke up feeling rested and ready. Appetite good and feeling fresh. Picked Morgan up at 7:15 and drove to Thruxton in the sunshine. No wind.

10:15am - Thruxton 4th Cat Race - 10 Laps / 25 Miles

Aims

• Finish in the top 30
• Concentrate on energy conservation in the bunch

Result

• Bunch Sprint
• Finished approx 35 out of 70

Positives

• Kept in the bunch for 8 laps of 10 shielded from the wind but close enough to the front to avoid troubles behind (2 crashes!)
• Penultimate /final lap defended a good position in 5/6th place
• Final lap slipped through gap before being boxed in on the left hand side to sprint across the bunch and join the 5th wheel before the hairpin
• Strong sprint on the climb to regain a good position
• Kept heart rate 165-170 for 90% of the race
• Positioned well on each approach to the climb / hairpin

Negatives

• Followed the wrong wheel coming into the climb heading into the penultimate lap, ended up in 2nd position for much of this lap and wasted energy
• Didn't have enough left for the second sprint out of the shicane after expending too much effort on the penultimate lap

Summary

• Technically best race so far
• Positioned well throughout the race, was able to defend position
• Overcooked it on the penultimate lap (almost as at Chertsey) defending a position too early

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