22nd March 2009 - Thruxton 4th Cat

Preparation - Week 8 - Block 2

06:30am - Wakeup

• 7 Hours Sleep
• Sleep Quality - 5
• Heart Rate 50 / 71
• 76.8Kg
• Mood - 7

10:15am - Thruxton 4th Cat Race - 10 Laps / 25 Miles / 1Hr 5 mins

Aims

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

Result

• Breakaway win followed by bunch sprint
• Finished approx 35 out of 70

Positives

• Slight hangover so this week concentrated more on keeping back in the bunch to save energy
• Was able to recover on all laps to sub threshold hr 160-165 bpm
• Was able to summon a sprint from some new depths of pain for the finish line, though not in contention for any placings
• Technically rode better than last week

Negatives

• Preparation, though unavoidable (not everyday you get a wedding at St Pauls!) resulted in a similar performance to last week
• Again went too early on the climb on the last lap to keep a good position into the chicane. Maybe next time should sit on wheels a bit longer to see who blows, then attack out of the chicane

Summary

• Another great race technically
• Improved lap recovery on last week
• Improved sheltering in the bunch
• Improved red zone effort - new max at 101% HR on the final sprint (189bpm)
• Heart rate average was 1 bpm below my lactic threshold, shows that I'm improving my ability to go into anerobic and back to aerobic repeatedly
• Heart rate average 166 / max 189