My first race of the 2022 WCA cyclocross season also may have been my last. Today at the eighth running of Flyover Silver Creek CX in Manitowoc, I re-injured that left calf muscle, this time with a discernable “pop” and a sharp pain that almost certainly means a torn gastrocnemius. When the injury occurred, I was in no danger of winning the Masters 1/2/3 50+ age group. I knew before the race began that even the lower steps on the podium are not meant for me. But I was on my way to a 14th place finish in the 18-man field, and I was OK with that. In the end, I yielded 14th and 15th to riders who caught me on the last lap when I no longer could run with the bike or climb hills. I was still able to apply force to the pedals while seated, though, and I preserved 16th place by outsprinting my last challenger. It was my first bike race since CrossFire in Sun Prairie on October 26, 2019, and I had high hopes for it and for the season in general. Now I just want to be able to walk without a limp when I visit my mother in two weeks.
I’m assuming there will be no more cyclocross races for me in 2022, so my training focus is going to shift back to high-mileage weeks on the road for as long as the warm weather holds. As of today, I am still 300 miles short of my goal for the year and 688 miles short of my 15th 4,000-mile season. I will shoot for those marks. When the weather turns, I will get more serious about Zwift. Clearly, this isn’t how I wanted my season to go, but I will try to salvage something from it.
No comments:
Post a Comment