Climber's Cup, etc.

'Twas a fairly successful day. The goal was to be top 5 in Masters. IOW, to get paid. Mission accomplished. My 4th paid enough to cover the entry fee and gas, and then some. And since the top 2 were 45+, I became the M35+ Hillclimb Vice-Champion. Yes, it's a real title and no one will spoil it for me. So there. Congrats to my teammate Scott for taking the trophy.

The plan was to be fairly conservative up the first climb. Considering the length of this time trial I expected to push a bit harder than my FTP, but that never seems to work like that. Except for very short efforts and still can't seem to attain my indoor wattages when climbing. Pacing issues? Altitude? Heat? Dunno. Having started 4th in line I was the first man to the top, and surprisingly I caught 2 of my minute men even before the final climb to the top. I cringed into a ball on the flat/downhill sections trying to save as much energy as possible to save myself for the crucial pushes uphill. As you can see from the graph below, I even coasted at one point. I guess I didn't ease off enough, because later I really couldn't produce the kind of power I expected except at the end when I was just anaerobic.


I don't have any hindsight regrets. When I crossed the line I knew I went as hard as a could on that day. In fact, I could barely breathe. That seemed to be the limitation. My legs felt OK, but my lungs just weren't keeping up. Where you see those dips in power is when I'm easing off to prevent getting a side-stitch, which I could sense lurking in my gut.

On Sunday, I finally went up American Fork canyon with a warm-up over Suncrest. 20 minutes is my new PB up the north side. I think that's pretty good.