Gloucester Goals Recap

As a reminder, they were:
-focus on Gloucester for two weeks
-increase mileage to >0 miles per week
-Tiered goals based on percent back, place, and people I beat
-Ride cleanly, put on time in runup

So, I focused on Gloucester. Kind of. I actually rode almost 200 miles in those two weeks. I know, you're laughing, but thats 200 times more than I was riding before. Lets keep in mind I also trained 31 hours over those two weeks, with one of those a rest week (For me most of my training is running, rollerskiing, and core strength).

Day 1, I was 10.04% back from Lynne Bessette. This means I got a tier 2 goal! Yay! Day 2 I was 12.6% back from Lynne, which is a Tier 3 goal. I got another tier 2 goal with my top 30 on day 1. And a tier 3 with my top 40 (of like 38 finishers) on day 2. Now lets talk about people... of the random names I chose for tier 1, I beat Pauline Frascone by default (she crashed out and couldn't finish) on day 2 (Pauline if you read this, I hope you're alright!). I didn't beat Melody Chase, but I rode with her and was at times in front of her on day 1. Perri Mertens didn't race. Or sign up. Tell me why I picked that name again?

Tier two names: I beat Hannah Kirshner on day one, but she beat me on day 2. I don't think Meg Bilodeau raced, or at least didn't finish. I was nowhere near Marci Titus-Hall (shouldn't that be a tier 1 name?). Of the tier 3 names, I beat Allie Kenzer by default (I think she and Pauline took each other out. I hope you're both ok!) on day 2. But I was nowhere close to her on day 1. Sue Mclean beat me on day 2 (didn't start day 1?), and I beat Erin Duggan on day 1 but not day 2. Ok, so beating random people doesn't mean anything. What counts, is that I wasn't lapped by Lynne Bessette! That, and I was by far the strongest runner-upper of the little groups I was riding with.

So, it feels to me like most of these goals were fairly meaningless, but at least I can feel good about making some of them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had fun racing at Gloucester, and i feel like it was a successful weekend for me. I was neither last nor lapped, and I actually had fun out there. The coolest part was actually riding with a group of riders, instead of being out there suffering alone in no-man's land. Granted, they then all beat me, but it was fun anyway. And fun is why I do this sport.


(picture blatantly stolen from picasaweb)