Ice Breaker TT

I woke up Sunday to rain and wind gusts that sounded like they were going to knock my wind chimes off the porch. Perfect conditions for the seasons first individual time trial! A true test to see who's fit and mentally strong for 10 miles out and back in flat Black Diamond, WA area. The weather report said 90% chance of rain with 18 mph winds and a high of 46. Ahhhh the great PNW.

Luckily I preregistered and knew my starting time (if you have the option - I HIGHLY recommend it - last year a friend and I showed up without preregistering and waited 4 hours for her start time). I broke out my Zipp 909 disc set - it's only seen action on the track so I was excited to find out what it would feel like on the road. It was risky using the disc on such a windy day because gusts could easily make you waver and lose time. But I only had a few instances of panic.

The start went really well - solid and up to speed within the first 500m. There was an awesome tailwind out to the 5 mile point, where you slow to turn around and fight it on the way back in. My disc sounded great - you can really feel when you are utilizing the full pedal stroke or not. It's nice to have something to audibly focus on. I hauled out to the mid way point and then focused on pushing a little harder on the way back in - a little above my LT heart rate... but not too much so my power would peak and valley. With TT's - it's all about consistency. The finish line was in sight and a guy passed me on the left - I shifted up and hammered it across the line in a sprint like fashion. (Probably not the most efficient but I'm still learning how to harness the power.) It felt good - like puking but then the endorphins kicked in and I was floating on cloud nine. If my calculations were correct - I was in the 26 minute range... knocking over 5 minutes off my time from last season. It wasn't until later on that night I found out my time was 25:55... 5 seconds shy of 6 minutes from last year. Holy cow. Uhhh.. thanks coach! It put me in 5th position - and something to work with. By the end of the season I want to be rocking in the 23-24 minute range. Not bad though for the start of the second season.