Prior to this "A" race, it's been a hard 4 weeks of training; hills and track work galore. Tuesday throat is a bit scratchy. Wednesday- sneezing, runny nose accompanied by nasty headache. Full-blown head cold by Thursday. Thought I might be ok, started wheezing Friday. Was committed to instructing a course Thursday/Friday- so I couldn't stay home. Went to race today- I was feeling a little better. Coach was there. He suggested I just use the race for training and assess how I felt after each element with strict instructions to stay in Zone 2. The first run -2k -at a very leisurely pace my HR was 170-176
even on the downhills. I shut it down. It is disappointing - since it was a goal race-and doubly disappointing because I had my "yearly" cold last month. I rarely get sick and 2 colds 2 months in a row...argh! I think I wasn't getting enough rest. Lesson learned.

Next du in 3 weeks. Yay!