Eastern Seaboard Series Race 3

Well, yesterday was the third installment of the Eastern Seaboard Series races. In the Sr. Men's race we did not have any stars this time around, No Michael Cheek, one of the fastest skaters in the US. No Oliver Jean, an Olympic gold medalist. So it was a little calm I think. Everyone there in the Sr. Men's race pretty much knew everyone else and how they raced. We skated a 21k this time which I would prefer we skated everytime but that's okay.

From a personal stand point I wasn't exactly looking forward to the race. I thought I was but then when I was there I just felt tired and sleepy. I kept yawning. Luckily when I started racing that went away for the most part. I was much much more active this race. In the first race I was pretty dormat, in the second race I didn't do much because I was tired after falling. But this race I did a decent amount. I chased and got on every single breakaway except one (more on that to come). In the beginning I just chased because it felt like the right thing to do. Then I just kept doing it and kept doing it. In the middle of a race I got on a breakaway with about 3-4 other skaters. We stayed out for about 4 laps (4 miles) or something close to that, maybe a little longer or shorter. For a little while it looked like we might finish on a breakaway which would have put me at a huge advantage in a very small field sprint. But with a little less than two laps to go the pack, led by Justin Mannon caught up to us.

Naturally, shortly after the pack caught us there was a counter attack. Something that every good skater should be aware of. Anyway, the counterattack looked very weak at first and I didn't think it would end up being a break away so I waited in the pack because it wasn't getting far in front of us and didn't look like a huge threat. Then two more skaters chased it. But the pack was still in striking distance. I hesitated chasing the break, I stepped out of the pack to chase and hesitated and jumped back in the pack. I huge mistake on my part. Anyway, the break managed to get further away then I would have liked. On the bell lap (last mile) they had opened up a pretty big lead. I thought about chasing it because I thought I could have caught them, but I wouldn't have had much left for a sprint and at least one person in the pack would have just followed me up to the leaders and then took off sprinting for the line. I figured if no one else in the pack was going to do any work I wasn't going to do all the work for none of the glory. So in the end, three skaters finished the race on a breakaway. At the line Justin Mannon beat me by probably just over a foot. Giving me fifth place for the race.

I was disappointed that I didn't go after the break with less than two laps to go. I don't exactly know what I was thinking. I'm pretty sure I had the legs to go after it even though I was on a break right before. I hate losing and I still don't know why I didn't go after it but that's alright. In terms of a training race I did good. I chased breaks and went on some and still had someone to sprint against at the end there. Every race is just getting me ready for Outdoor Nationals when I won't be able to afford I mental lapse.