Heart of Lakes Preview

This is a race that I have passed up for a number of years. Not that I have never wanted to do it but that it just never fell quite right in my schedule. This year it fell perfectly though and I have planned on it being one of my A races. However, things change and I've added a few races which threw my training schedule into a tizzy. Which basically means all my races have essentially become A races. Although I'm a little more focused on next weeks Twin Cities. On top of that I'm fighting off my 2nd cold in three weeks. Like before it hasn't held back my training and I should be 100% on Sunday. To be honest other than being slightly more tired than normal and have a runny nose and scratchy throat I haven't been affected.

The fun thing about this race is I have little to know idea how I could place. I know Patrick and Dan will blow my doors off but after that there could be hope. When I say hope I mean I need people to have bad days and I need to have a good day but anything is possible. Especially because last Sunday after Granitman I had a monster bike ride on my training bike where I found my bike position. I avg 22.6 mph over 48.6 miles which included stopping for stop signs and stop lights. Keep in mind that this was also done at about 80 degrees with high humidity and on my training bike and training wheels. This was one of the fastest rides I've ever had on my P2 at any distance much less my long ride. So I am super stoked. Now I just had to simulate this on my P3. I tried and think I'm close but may not be their entirely yet. But I did feel like once again I'm fresher off the bike. I think I'm close to if not feeling as good as I did at the end of my epic '09 season when I finished with three 1st place and two 2nd place finishes. But more importantly was putting up stupid fast times.

Here's how I see the race. The only hope is that Kevin again is not at his best and I have improved since Waconia. Brian Bich is an icon and an awesome guy but has not raced much this year and is not as fast as he was. Even so if he is at his best I still have little chance. The big wild card is Brooks Gossinger. Brooks was only 9 or so seconds behind me at Waconia and closing fast. He will have an extra mile to catch me on Sunday so I will have to have improved my run and bike to stay ahead of him. That could be a tall order as Brooks is stupid fast and been quietly improving over the last few years. I hate to say it but I give an edge to Brooks on this one.

The bottom line is I need to have improved since Waconia to show that I can bark with the big dogs. Will my extra work and new bike fit make the difference. We'll wait and see.