When I woke up I was PISSED!!!! I was having the race of my life when it was taken away from me. Boo!
And then I remembered something! My saving grace....
The Pat Griskus Olympic, Saturday June 16th, Quassy Amusement Park.
You read that? Quassy Amusement Park. That's right folks! Same area, same terrain, some similar roads between the Rev3 and Pat Griskus courses. This will be my REVENGE race.
First I cleared it with Coach. His response?
"Jon, you have endurance. I could ask you to ride 6 hours tomorrow, and it would be no big deal for you. Let's work on your speed even more. Use this race as one last speed tune up for Mont Tremblant 70.3 the following weekend."
And it was done. Was registered on active.com 2 mins later.
So two race weekends in a row? BRING IT!!!! Not the first time actually. I did my first two sprints back to back, but they were sprints and that was 4 years ago. This is a pretty hilly Olympic where I am racing for blood followed by a 70.3 up in Canada, eh, where I will also be racing for a good time (and course recon-ing as well).
After that nap, talking with my coach, registering for my race, I did that 90 min run, but then went back up to Quassy on Sunday to spectate and ride the Griskus course for 4 hours. If I am going to race for blood, I want to know the course, especially with how technical and hilly it is. I really wasn't confident on the technical parts of the Rev3 course and prolly would have lost time to my competition. This time I want KNOW the course better.
Finally, I swear that this is just a coincidence, and I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but this race is also a USAT Olympic National Championships qualifier in Burlington, VT on Saturday August 18th. See where I am going here? IMMT 140.6 is Sunday August 19th and is only 3.5 hours away from Burlington!!! It would just be a tuneup! (gotta qualify first of course.....riiiiiiight)
And, will someone please knock Jon over the head. Thanks!
But seriously, riding the Pat Griskus course on Sunday not only had me questioning life while climbing 5300 feet over 58 miles, but I know why this course is so tough. It just made the Rev3 course look like a downhill course! Had I ridden this course before signing up, I might have NOT signed up. Too late now! Haha!
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| Pat Griskus Bike Elevation |
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| Elevation from Sunday's Recon ride. |
June is gonna be another race filled fun month!
Yay for races! I'm kind of bummed because I've only got two races in July (2 weeks apart) on my calendar right now. I'll figure something else out soon though. Just trying to juggle the rest of my life to do so. That is one hilly course - best wishes!
ReplyDeleteSWEET!!!!! You've got this buddy, and I hope you really do get revenge! I can't wait to hear all about it.
ReplyDeleteJON!!! don't even THINK about racing the day before IMMT!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is really great! Go get your revenge! I'll think about the August 18th though...:)
ReplyDeleteThat is a crazy ride. I don't think you could ride throughout all of Texas and see that kind of elevation.
ReplyDeleteRevenge is a dish best served over 5150 (yeah I used it WTC so what?).....
Make sure to pack tweezers.
ReplyDeleteJon, the most important part of this post was that you remembered to include the term "course re-coning" when mentioning the MT70.3 - Kevin, Mandy and me are glad to see you have your priorities in order, because it is all about us (-:
ReplyDeleteThat ride profile looks awesome. Who woulda thunk the Rev3 Quassy course would look easy by comparison? What type of grade % are those big ones in the middle - 10-12%?
I have a friend who is planning on racing in Burlington then driving over to MT for the race (to spectate, not race) - you could caravan!!
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with a little tune-up before the big race?? GO FOR IT!
ReplyDeleteSince I'm not one to talk about doing another race way too close to an IM, let me help you out here:
ReplyDelete-Drive up to Mont-Tremblant on Thursday. Check in, leave your tri bike with somebody for racking on Saturday (just in case you are running late after AG Nats).
-Drive down to Burlington, check in and rack your road bike on Friday.
-Race AG Nats Saturday morning, drive up to Mont-Tremblant in time for dinner.
-Race IMMT on Sunday.
You're welcome.
KICK SOME ASS :)
ReplyDelete5300 will make that end bike portion of Tremblant feel like a breeze:)
Revenge race! I like it
ReplyDeleteI'd say you should definitely do USAT Nationals, except that it will interfere with practice Ironman you should be doing that day. Have to be sure you're ready for IMMT!
ReplyDeletesweet revenge.....will be yours
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I didn't realize that Pat Griskus course is right around Quassy as well! I was thinking of signing up for that race in a desperate attempt to qualify for Nationals. I am sure you will kick the crap out of that course and revenge will be sweet!
ReplyDeleteWell, I am not going to lie, I would consider (aka someone would have to talk me out of it) doing races back to back, but I might be a little more addicted to races then the average endurance athelte. The more the merrier I am
ReplyDeleteback-to-back races sounds fine to me. when you are fatigued you have more fitness so you can push harder at a low HR. logic.
ReplyDelete