When less is more

Exactly a week after the ToA I was due to ride A10/19, a fast Midlands course and one of the MWTTS counting events. Having been full of cold for almost the entire week I had sensibly had a whole four days off the bike, five depending on whether you consider a short, little ring leg-spin to check that you can still pedal a ride or not! Despite the fact that I hadn't actually felt well enough to train, so it definitely wasn't a case of lazy-itis, this had played on my mind somewhat. Having watched my TSS (freshness indicator) increase exponentially as my CTL (a measure of fitness) plummeted, I was really equivocal about whether the sensible thing would be to withdraw gracefully. It's a fast course, there were some strong riders on the start sheet and I needed to take maximum points having apparently misinterpreted the MWTTS rules and entered too late for my round 1 win to count. All valid points but ultimately excuses! It was only a cold, four/five days off the bike wasn't going to be season-ending and worst case scenario it would be a good training session - after all I was pontificating about how many of those I'd missed so now was a golden opportunity to bank a good one.

Race number seamlessly in my NoPinz speed pocket, warm up done and I was on my way to the start. It was pretty chilly for an April morning and in my eagerness not to cut it as fine as I sometimes have, I found myself getting chilly while I waited for the three riders in front to go off. One minute seems a comparatively long time when we were set off at 20 second intervals in ToA... Eventually I was off, trying to keep in mind that my heart rate would likely be elevated due to the rest and to keep an eye on my power without panicking that my cardio system was going to spontaneously combust.

... and away from the start I go! Come on legs!!

I knew I had to maximise the opportunity of what is billed as a fast course, so set out with my usual mindset - pedal hard and then pedal a bit harder! I'd not ridden this event before but had driven the course so knew that I had to keep my wits about me at the roundabouts. I had a car on my outside so had to stay wide but having had a glance in his direction he seemed to be aware of my presence so I maintained as much pace as I could heading up on to the dual carriageway. At least I was heading in the right direction, geography and directional awareness is not my strong point!

I could see that my heart rate was starting to climb on the way back and pedalling harder was only adding to this. I decided not to look at it as given how much my legs were starting to hurt it might have set alarm bells off that I was going to blow up ahead of the finish! Paul has often said to me that there would be benefit in blowing up in a race and failing to finish (well crawling the last few [hundred?] metres) so I know just what it really feels like to strike that fine balance between giving absolutely everything and finishing with something still in the tank - I really didn't fancy today being that day. I was nearly at the finish, or was I? That final stretch on the single carriageway was longer than I'd remembered... a whole half a mile longer! That feels like an eternity when you've wound up what is left in your legs for one final push, it was like a slow motion replay, except it was everything I had!

On returning to HQ to return my number and sign myself as safely back in, I was barely through the door before Deb excitedly said 'quick, you've just missed the presentation...' Still in a relatively dazed state I looked at her enquiringly as she said 'you've come 2nd'. Wow, I hadn't expected that!! Although I technically counted as 2nd senior female in the prizes, I had actually finished 3rd overall in a closely fought battle that had seen only 6 seconds between 1st and 3rd place. Top rides by Lauren Creamer, NCC-Group-Kuota-Torelli & Chris Melia, Born2Bike RT for 1st and 2nd (with only 1 second between them)! Thanks to Alastair Semple and Born2Bike for organising a great event.

2nd senior female - thanks for organising Alastair

The moral of the story is that less would appear to be more on some occasions. Whilst it's not an excuse for avoiding hard sessions or being demotivated, I think, certainly in my case, when you're feeling under the weather it can be hard to allow yourself adequate time to recover. When you have a massive will to win and a love to pushing yourself to your limits but just don't feel like training, don't beat yourself up - listen to your body, you can't do much without it and it will all come good in the end!!

Some excellent times in the top 10