2019 Race Report #10: WI Senior Olympics 10 KM Time Trial

My 10th race of 2019 was the first of two races for the Wisconsin Senior Olympics: 10 KM time trial on Tuesday, August 20, and 5 KM time trial on Wednesday, August 21. The course was a rolling hill loop inside a local park. The 10 KM race (6.37 miles) covered four laps of the loop.

The weather was warm and humid with overcast skies. Temperature at my 9:11 AM start time was 72 degrees with humidity at 78 percent. The wind was from the east-southeast at 6 mph, creating a headwind/crosswind on the second half of the loop.

I started my warmup about 45 minutes before my start time by riding the course. I was particularly concerned about the effect of the wind and the shallow hills. My 30-minute warmup got my heart rate and power level up to just below race pace.

This is the third consecutive race that I have ridden the course as a warmup. It has allowed me to reach my threshold heart rate by the four minute mark of the start of my race. Like my last race, I remained in a tuck position for the entire effort, even on the corners. This allowed me to post a time of 0:16:14 (23.54 mph), my fastest average speed of the season.

I finished in first place out of four competitors. The second place time was 0:16:47 (22.77 mph). The times of the third and fourth place finishers were 0:17:11 (22.24 mph) and 0:17:43 (21.57 mph) respectively. Overall, my finishing time was 10th fastest of the 46 competitors.

Race replay: WI Senior Olympics 10 KM Time Trial

I have two more races during the week of August 19: the Wisconsin Senior Olympics 5 KM Time Trial, Wednesday, August 21, and Cherry Valley 20 KM Time Trial, the 17th MATTS race. Cherry Valley, IL, is 95 miles southwest of Milwaukee.