Sea Otter Circuit Race M45+ Cat 5

I was signed up for the Cat 5 Circuit race as well as the Cat 5 Road race, but I knew my fitness was not going to let me do both…still too much recovery going on from my crash. I decided to skip the road race and see if I could make a good effort in the circuit.
Saturday morning dawned with perfect weather and almost no wind. Our group ran late but we finally got up to the starting line around 9:45, and we were off. The course was 50 minutes over a 2.2 mile loop and starts with the climb. I felt that everyone started out pretty easy to get the feel of things, but by the second and third time up the climb, the pressure was building. The speed coming down off the corkscrew was phenomenal. The 4th time up the climb, I noticed that we had dropped a number of riders and I could tell that my fitness wasn’t going to let me ride near the front. I was pretty sure that I could hang on, but there were two or three other guys towards the back that were riding a little squirrelly. Memories of my crash flashed through my mind, along with thoughts of Jim Langley telling me to trust my instincts and steer clear of squirrels. I gave this situation a moment to roll around in my head, and then I dropped out. I felt a little bit like a chicken for a few moments, but then I got over it and went home to submit my request for an upgrade out of the 5’s. It was approved Monday morning, the same day I was able to complete my L4 trainer intervals for the first time since my crash. Recovery takes more time and has more facets than I would have thought. See you out there.