I thought after Solitude, it might be a turning point for my season. I finally felt good at that race and was hoping this was a sign of change. I could not have been more wrong.
While my heart rate monitor reported a high of 179 bpm for Snowbasin, I never saw anything higher than 171. That is hardly racing. Maybe I had not recovered from Wednesday's ride. We hit PC again for our anniversary. We only rode 3.5 hours and I pushed but not crazy hard. I can hope that was the issue though.
I got some new shoes last weekend also. I rode with them on Wednesday and my feet were numb in the beginning but felt better after an hour or so. They were miserable during the race. I messed with the positioning of the cleats hoping that would improve things. I doubt this really impacted my race though.
Then to add insult to injury. As I was on my final descent before the finish, I feel an intense stinging on my right shoulder blade...repeatedly. I try to ignore it. It continues to intensify but I am not any place where I can take a hand off the handle bars. I finally opt to stop for a moment and try to kill whatever is there. I start pedaling again and shortly the stinging resumes. I find a spot to take a hand off and swat at what may be there. I still don't think I got it, but finally get to the finish line. I have quite the collection of bites in that area that itch like crazy. Again, this had little impact on my placing. Erica would still have been over a minute in front of me.
Next time...right?