I got there a couple hours before my start to spectate and warm up. The weather was chilly, but perfect for racing. The course was in perfect condition with only a few mud patches here and there.
I took 20 minutes to warm up, doing a mixture of tempo and some short intervals to get my HR and core temperature up. I felt ok, maybe a little lightheaded. But ive felt this before.
I lined up and found myself in the middle of the group starting off. My strategy for this race was to start off slow so as to save my legs for the end of the race.
When the whistle blew, I gradually fell towards the bottom of the pack. The start seemed comparatively slow to Mansfield. However very early in the race I noticed I was feeling very very lightheaded. I attested this to the initial hard effort and the fact I was gasping for breath at points. I figured id settle into a rhythm towards the end of the lap when my heart and lungs caught up to my heart. However this never happened. I felt extremely lightheaded for the entire duration of the race. I didnt have any 'kick' when the rollers came, and everytime i ramped up the effort, my HR went through the roof and I would start feeling dizzy. Something was definitely up.
My nutrition was perfectly dialed during the race, I experienced some mild cramping towards the end of lap 5 but it was not of the severe nature that I experienced at Mansfield. In that regard, I would consider my nutrition strategy an improvement.
Thanks to Ryan for the photog (and encouragement "Finish this one for me, will ya!")I am however quite concerned with how I felt through the course of the race. I know 100% that I am capable of going faster than this. The lightheaded feeling and very sensitive heart rate is worrying me. I am 10 lbs lighter than I was at this point last year, and historically Ive never averaged below 19.5km/h on this course. I finished with a filthy 18.99km/h It wasnt because I 'ran out of gas' on lap 5 either. It was because I just couldnt go faster anywhere because I would redline and get dizzy.
My nutrition 72hours prior was flawless. My hydration was flawless. Electrolyte consumption, flawless. WTF?
I am coming off three weeks of high intensity interval work, although I will say that I felt rested going into this weekend. I had scheduled a rest week for the following week, but I think I may use this week as a rest week instead.
Come on, can't I please have a good race just once? Anyone have advice for me?
