honk honk thursday night train...my back....my quads

well i had loads of energy for today cause i didn't expend too much energy wednesday night. nole drove me down and got me all pumped up with his sweet dj-ing. blah blah blah the race started...and suddenly i realized i made an attack at lap 67 or 68 and was riding solo. usually you think about these things...but i didn't really think much-- suddenly i just found myself making moves and realizing what i did after. it was like a higher state of consciousness....except my higher state is kind of moronic. anyway, obviously a breakaway on lap 67 or 68 ain't gonna hold...but, i was all pumped up from that music and was so ready to r-a-c-e (unlike yesterday where i was more of a race observant!). anyway, first several points laps (60, 50, 40) i didn't go for too hard, and got 4th or 3rd. then i knew i needed to work, so lap 30 i got 3rd...lap 20 didn't do so hot but got 4th cause we were chasing a break that we caught at the line to steel the points. i knew i needed some big points, cause i was just getting 1 or 2 points. so with 12 to go i made a break and held it to get first on lap 10. that was sweet. i think at that point i was in 2nd place...but i needed to score well in the final sprint for sure. with 3.5 to go a fast guy pulled off the front of our pace line. i figured if i attacked there, i could get a gap. well, actually, i didn't think too much, it just kinda happened...but that is my reflection on the matter. anna was behind me and i was hoping she'd let me go. i had a pretty good gap, but a little more than 1.5 laps later they bridged up to me. i pulled up to get a draft for the final lap. then some guy cut in kinda close at the banking on the beginning of the last lap. things were a little sketch and larry yelled at us to be safe. so i eased back so not to hit someone, thus missing the break away to the finish, so no points on the final lap where i needed points, but also no broken bones!!! i ended up with 4th - so that was cool. 2nd place only had 1 point more. amanda got second-- she had a sweet race and did a really great job at positioning. kudos!! i need to position myself like her cause i know i was taking some big pulls and bridging lots of the gaps for the field. but, i was pretty happy with how quick i reacted to breaks that were coming from up track- i felt pretty good seeing them beforehand. i was also happy with how i was pulling off and getting back in the paceline. our group stayed together for the most part, so i figured out how to steel wheels and get back in position 4 or 5, instead of drifting back to 10 or 11. all in all, sweet day of racing and i'm not too pooped, so that is great!

here are some photos from last week.

this is me hurting lots, last week.

me wondering how big those LGBRC guy's quads are.

this is sabine and her 62.5cm quads!!!

(thanks mike for letting me steal these picutres of last week from your blog so mine isn't so boring with just text.)

before i get to my quads, i want to say something peter bohl said to me last night. (awesome guy who rides the moto for us!)

you got good legs, good heart, but no back. you need a back to sprint.

there we have it. my back sucks.


now for the quads. very sorry i dropped the ball yesterday. i am quite surprised HOW MANY PEOPLE are asking me about my weekly measurements. i am glad you all care. of course you do, you have all seen me in my underwear. here we go-- 61.5cm whooooooo! (i was 60.75 for the last two weeks.) this is still 1cm less than Sabine's impressive 62.5cm!!! What were you today?! Bigger?!?!?!

A note on quad measurement. It is sometimes deceptive. For instance, Julie Grenshaw measured and she was a solid 58cm. then she measured right after her race on friday night, thinking that she would be bigger after her muscles swelled...but in fact, she was at 56cm.
Several things could account for this:

1. human error in measuring.
2. unexpected growth/shrinking of muscles during different times of day, or after different workouts.

to address point 1-- i think it is important to measure 3 times and keep measuring to be for sure if you have big discrepancies. so, for example. tonight i measured and got 58cm, was a bit confused. then i measured again and got 64cm. then i got serious and measured 4 more times, all within the 61-62 centimeter range. so, please measure several times to ensure accuracy.

as to point 2-- that is why WEEKLY measurements are important. it does no good for someone to be all macho and measure 68cm some random day in july and then never measure again. consistent measuring on a weekly basis is key. just as consistency in a training program are valuable, so to is consistency in quad measurements. i suggest measuring at the same time of day. from now on (because wednesday nights are over), i will be measuring on thursday nights after the points races-- which is several hours after i race. perhaps my quads are bigger/smaller at different times of the week. however, this is my baseline. your number compared to others isn't as important as the changes found over time.... although, we all love to shit-talk about quad sizes...which, i feel is way more classy than shit-talking about placement in racing.