11 June 2007

Vancouver World Cup Race Report

A picture is worth a thousand words.
(pre-race)
In Honolulu , I finished, but had a miserable race. In Vancouver I posted a DNF but I raced so much better and I am more encouraged by my efforts here. I arrived at my first world cup(Ranked Last). Looking around at some of these guys, it was hard not to be intimidated.

Race morning I got up at 8am to go for a jog with some accelerations and a big breakfast due to a start time of 3pm. Coffee and a bagel at noon and I was ready to race.
Swim Finish

Because of my start position, I had open water from the start. But I knew I would have to really put my head down and go in order to get into the front pack. So within the first 400m I just swung across the front of the pack over to a pack which included Jenkins and Potts.

We exited the water ( I was in 4th position) and I could already feel my legs starting to cramp. I was a little panicy in T1, knowing that there was a chance for me to be riding in the first pack. My transition needed to be perfect and it wasn't. I felt very strong on the bike, especially on the hills.But throughout I had cramping calfs anytime I put too much effort on the the pedals. On the decents I would try and stretch and dig my thumb into the muscle. Although I was able to mix it up. Terrenzo and another athlete were off the front leading into the hill and when the pack arrived , I put a surge in to join them. I worked with Terrenzo to the top of the hill but my legs cramped up leaving me time trialing for a 3/4 a lap. I did not want to enter transition with such a large pack so I surged up the hill for the last time, and soloed the remainder.


My final Breakaway into T2.
I was kind of excited. I was in a great position, had a fast transition and I was off. But right away I knew I was in trouble. 200m in , All the muscles in my legs cramped up. From my quads to the arch in my foot. I stopped and I tried to stretch it out. I tried to get back up and ran 10 steps more. Shit... my first DNF.

So three big lessons from this race:

1) Never drink much more than you would in preparation for any hard workout. I was probably over hydrated for this race, and had probably diluted my salt content and flushed out valuable electrolytes. Thats probably why the cramping started so early in the race.
2)My first transition needs to be unbelievably fast.
3)Confidence. I know I can do this. I can be competitive in a race at this level.

It Was So Great to See Simon at the Top Of the Podium!

Congratulations to Paul and Colin!



Well that's it,
Andrew McCartney
Today's Top 5
Top 5 songs I listened to on race morning: The nice thing about a 3pm start time and a hotel room to yourself is you can totally "rock out" before a race!
  1. Hans Zimmer - Injection (As heard in MI2)
  2. AFI - Silver and Cold (Very Powerful)
  3. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (lies) (This will always be on my playlist)

Honorable Mentions:

Arcade Fire - Intervention (I hope they come out with a music Video)

Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye (I absolutely love this Video!)

5 comments:

C said...

Good job man! Sadly it seems like the learning curve of this sport will never end.

keep moving forward.

Andrew McCartney said...

Ya not the way I wanted to end my first World Cup but thanks for the comment.

Jordan Bryden said...

Woho! I got a meantion on your blog!
Dang man, I was heart broken to see you on the side of the road when I went by. earlier in the race I was so pumped that you were having a good race even thou I was having a really off day myself. I think that starting position was a good choice for you and I. I noticed Matty Reed lined up over there as well.
when will I see u again?
J

Andrew McCartney said...

Well I am still crossing my fingers fore Edmonton but other than that not sure.

Gillian Carleton said...

too bad about the cramping, it's unfortunate it had to happen at your first world cup. but, you learned from it, which is good.

sounds like you had an awesome swim, at least!