Early spring blow out/blow up

Chickasaw Trace, yesterday, S.E.R.C. #2. I raced sport 19-29. There were around 35 of us on the line, sport juniors were going off the same time as us and there were 6 of them. I was on the line. He says go, I have a good start, get out front but it's a long way to the single track. after a minute two guys come around, I get on a wheel and we head down the gravel section, make the sharp turn and it's onto the pavement. One or two more come around at that point but I'm still content. With about 40 yards to go about 5 dudes make a charge on the left and get in front of me so I'm entering further back than I want too but there really wasn't anyone in front of me holding me back too much, at least not in my class. One of the wood-n-wave riders went down at the bottom of a steep descent but I had enough time to see it all and react he ended up having to be taken away in an ambulance. I think he is okay though. I didn't really have a good idea of how many were in front of me. I tried to watch Ryan Woodall's little brother because I knew he would do well. he was a few people in front of me and it wasn't long before he was slipping away. I was hoping to catch people on the second lap because I thought everyone was going a little too fast. :)

The weather was hott, in comparison to what I'm used to and the start was fast. I had my heart pegged for most of the first lap. It was hard to settle into a rythm cause there were so many people catching up and passing even though most were from other classes, it's hard to know especially when there behind you. Towards the end of the first lap I was in bad shape. I was going a bit too hard and had to take it easy for a while. I ended up spending 10 minutes in my zone 3, just trying to drink and eat some gu, recover etc. A couple miles into the second lap I was able to get back into a good pace and maintain it, for the most part till the end. I finished with a time that was a few seconds slower than last year but a better placing. I got 7th and a free pair of socks, woo hoo.

I think a steady ride would have worked out better for me than balls to the wall for 40 minutes, chill for 10-15 minutes then steady for the rest. I forgot to look at my lap times but it will be interesting to see lap 1 compared to lap 2. I think it was the lungs more than the legs that held me back but I haven't been focusing on anaerobic stuff in the training so I expect this area will improve in the future.

avg hr 176, max 189, speed was like 11.98 mph or something like that. I was about 7 minutes off of second (I think), first place was a good 3 or 4 minutes off the front.