checking my ego at the door & other ramblings
I guess it's been awhile, eh? Facebook has stolen away my blogging time but after this past weekend - I thought I'd do a little race report...
Checking my ego at the door
You would *think* after trying so many new things as an adult I would be used to humbling myself and checking my ego at the door. This year I'm learning how to be a multi-day mtn bike stage racer. Since I'm turning the big Five-Oh - I figured I'd race myself into middle age by racing the Breck Epic.
Here's a little table of new activities I've learned as an adult and in the process I usually embarrass myself pretty good...
I don't know why I would expect this to be any different.
The Coach
I knew I couldn't prepare for the Breck Epic all by myself - i needed some good coaching and advice. Luckily for me - I've been able to enlist the help of the top endurance coach and racer in the country, Lynda Wallenfels. I can't think of anyone better - she just pulled off an amazing OVERALL win on the AZT 300 race. She knows what it takes for sure.
So I've been working with LW Coaching for the past few months preparing for August 2011.
I have raced a couple of races so far and I haven't been pleased with my performance. With the 12 hours of Mesa Verde fast approaching(I would be racing this as a duo team with my good friend, Jessica Moon Bernstein. We raced an 8 hour race in September 2010 and pulled off a 1st place finish.) and discussing the past 2 races with LW - she came up with a different approach than I'm used to for the 12 hours of Mesa Verde.
The Mesa Verde Race Plan
1. I couldn't bust ass on laps 1 & 2. I have to keep my HR in as close to the "tempo zone" as possible. If it started getting higher than that - I was to start "soft pedaling" - if my HR started getting toward the "threshold zone" I was to "STOP PEDALING". Are you kidding me? Stop pedaling? In a race?? Yowza, I'm not that fast to begin with and I knew how it would go down. I cringed at the thought of riding slow(er) than normal and watching everyone & their grandmother pass me in the process. I told myself "girl - check your ego". After laps 1 & 2(~32 miles) I could bust ass (if i had anything left) and not worry about HR. But she was pretty clear on what I had to do for laps 1 & 2.
2. I couldn't look at the time. I would only race by HR and I would have no idea how much time was passing. Seriously? Are you kidding me again!? Anyone that knows me knows how much I love my numbers & data. Asking me to ride without my data is like asking me to ride topless! (btw- Lynda if you do ask me to ride topless - that's something I won't do ;) ) I was horrified - but I trust Lynda, I swallowed hard and setup my Garmin Edge to only display Heart Rate and distance. I would use distance to determine when to get some calories in.
Lap 1
Jessica when out first (thank goodness as I'm NOT a runner and it would've been ugly if I did the LeMans start). I figured with congestion she'd come in ~1:40 range and sure enough she showed up at 1:42.
Off I go on my 1st lap and I'm immediately in the red zone - I backed off and spent the first 20 minutes trying to get my effort under control. I didn't feel too slow on the descents and I think I've been improving my swoopy singletrack skills but every time the trail pitched upward and my HR started climbing - I had to soft pedal or not pedal.
And sure enough - it felt like the entire field was passing me - here are some examples:
After this lap - I felt pretty darn good. My legs felt good - I really couldn't tell i had just rode 16 miles. I drank 1/4 a serving of a recovery drink and ate some other things to keep the calories coming in and waited the 1:30 for Jessica to complete her 2nd lap.
Lap 2
My legs felt fresh and feisty when I started this lap.
However, my stomach started feeling queasy and I was experiencing some "gastro distress"...ugh. I decided to switch my "on bike" calories from Infinit to EFS liquid shot hoping that would ease my discomfort.
The first 8 miles I felt great - I finally got the hang of riding at the prescribed pace and I was feeling really good - feeling i was riding smooth and nailing the tech bits with ease. I was taking in my calories but my stomach was still not right. Then around mile 8 the sides of my quads started hurting (nothing major but noticeable) and then I noticed my effort suddenly got hard (labored breathing) but my HR dropped. Oh crap! I was glycogen depleted. Lynda had told me what glycogen depletion felt like and this was it. MAN oh MAN - what happened? what did I do wrong? I kept pushing knowing I was halfway through, finished off my 400 calorie EFS and I hoped when I got my next break I could "fix it".
After this lap - I immediately downed another 1/4 serving of recovery drink and 12oz of water hoping to clear my stomach of whatever was bothering me. I decided to stick with the EFS liquid shot for the next lap as that's what tasted the best. I rested - drank a de-fizzed coke, some soft cantaloupe, some honey stinger waffle and grapes. I was trying to get easily digestible calories in and replenish some glycogen.
Jessica rolled in banging out a ~1:35ish lap time and I went out for my 3rd lap.
Lap 3
I *knew* I'd be cutting it close to get back by 6pm. 6pm was the cut off time for a rider to go out on course. But since I wasn't able to look at the time - the best I could do was ride to the best of my ability, hope my legs would come around and pray I'd get back in time.
My stomach stayed queasy and my gastro distress lingered on. I focused on riding smooth and pushing as hard as my legs seemed to let me. I kept up my calorie intake and every once in a while I'd feel a little better but it never lasted long.
Around mile 9.5 at Moki hill I saw my friend, Sarah Rarick standing on the side of the trail. She was on her 5th(!) lap on her rigid singlespeed and she was hurting. The rigid fork was exacting a toll on her and she had to mentally prepare herself for the chunky rocks that were coming up. I stopped and gave her a hug and commiserated with her for a minute or so but since I was racing to get back for 6pm - I wished her well and continued on.
At mile 15 - i heard someone behind me and asked if they wanted to pass. the girl said "no - i can't keep up with you on the descents and it's mostly downhill from here". Then she said "are you on a team? If so, it's 5:51 and we have 9 minutes to get back to get another rider out". Really?? All of a sudden I got a BIG burst of energy and gunned it. I rode my little friggin' heart out for the next mile for the first time this race I was passing people. As I exited the singletrack I asked the course marshall - "how much time? how much time?" she said I had 3 minutes to get to the transition area. I kept it pinned on the gravel road(I rode that last mile 11% faster than I had in Laps 1 & 2) and reached the transition area with 2:08 to spare. Jessica was kitted up and ready to go - she went out and tacked on one more lap to make it the total of 7 laps.
We finished 8th out of 18 teams.
.
Aftermath
I think I found the 'gastro culprit'. Usually I have a cast iron stomach - as my sister likes to remind me "We are *peasant stock*" my family is definitely hardy. But I think it was the 1/4 serving of Ultagen every lap - it's probably too much protein for me to handle while racing . At the Dawn til Dusk race (the12-i mean 10 hour race in Gallup) I was having the same stomach issues but I thought it was the Hammer Gel shots I was using as on-bike fuel and the 25 degree weather/51 mph gusts of wind/pelting snow/ & freezing rain that was shutting down my stomach.
Jessica thought she'd try what I was doing and after downing some Ultragen after her 1st lap she had stomach issues too. She didn't take in anymore and by her lap 3 - she said she felt great. I was happy to learn this from her. Of course since we didn't have a chance to talk during the race - I didn't find out until much later.
Since my stomach was in distress most of the race and even tho I was putting in the calories I wasn't able to replenish my glycogen stores. In our pre-race discussion Lynda told me when all your glycogen is depleted then your body switches to fat for fuel. Converting fat to fuel takes more energy and hence you can't go as hard. Usually your breathing will become labored and your HR will drop. (exactly what happened in the middle of lap 2).
Of course I've been glycogen depleted before but I haven't really be doing long races - it's been on rides where it didn't matter that much. But it's very interesting to me that now that i am paying attention - it was literally like a switch being turned off.
Now that I recognize what that feels like - hopefully I can be more aware in the future and prevent it.
Badass friends
Several of my friends were doing this race - it's such a fun event. And true to form - many of them pulled off some great performances.
Megan railed out 7 laps and finished 2nd place in the Solo Women. She passed me every lap I was out and she looked great every time - riding strong and sounding cheerful.
Cat Bywaters and Katri pulled off a strong 6 laps each. Cat told me her goal was 6 laps and she was hurting after 5 laps but she's stubborn and went out for the 6th one.
And of course - Jessica - she rode strong all her 4 laps and pulled off some great lap times.
It's super cool to be friends with such amazing women!
Checking my ego at the door
You would *think* after trying so many new things as an adult I would be used to humbling myself and checking my ego at the door. This year I'm learning how to be a multi-day mtn bike stage racer. Since I'm turning the big Five-Oh - I figured I'd race myself into middle age by racing the Breck Epic.
Here's a little table of new activities I've learned as an adult and in the process I usually embarrass myself pretty good...
I don't know why I would expect this to be any different.
The Coach
I knew I couldn't prepare for the Breck Epic all by myself - i needed some good coaching and advice. Luckily for me - I've been able to enlist the help of the top endurance coach and racer in the country, Lynda Wallenfels. I can't think of anyone better - she just pulled off an amazing OVERALL win on the AZT 300 race. She knows what it takes for sure.
So I've been working with LW Coaching for the past few months preparing for August 2011.
I have raced a couple of races so far and I haven't been pleased with my performance. With the 12 hours of Mesa Verde fast approaching(I would be racing this as a duo team with my good friend, Jessica Moon Bernstein. We raced an 8 hour race in September 2010 and pulled off a 1st place finish.) and discussing the past 2 races with LW - she came up with a different approach than I'm used to for the 12 hours of Mesa Verde.
The Mesa Verde Race Plan
1. I couldn't bust ass on laps 1 & 2. I have to keep my HR in as close to the "tempo zone" as possible. If it started getting higher than that - I was to start "soft pedaling" - if my HR started getting toward the "threshold zone" I was to "STOP PEDALING". Are you kidding me? Stop pedaling? In a race?? Yowza, I'm not that fast to begin with and I knew how it would go down. I cringed at the thought of riding slow(er) than normal and watching everyone & their grandmother pass me in the process. I told myself "girl - check your ego". After laps 1 & 2(~32 miles) I could bust ass (if i had anything left) and not worry about HR. But she was pretty clear on what I had to do for laps 1 & 2.
2. I couldn't look at the time. I would only race by HR and I would have no idea how much time was passing. Seriously? Are you kidding me again!? Anyone that knows me knows how much I love my numbers & data. Asking me to ride without my data is like asking me to ride topless! (btw- Lynda if you do ask me to ride topless - that's something I won't do ;) ) I was horrified - but I trust Lynda, I swallowed hard and setup my Garmin Edge to only display Heart Rate and distance. I would use distance to determine when to get some calories in.
Lap 1
Jessica when out first (thank goodness as I'm NOT a runner and it would've been ugly if I did the LeMans start). I figured with congestion she'd come in ~1:40 range and sure enough she showed up at 1:42.
Off I go on my 1st lap and I'm immediately in the red zone - I backed off and spent the first 20 minutes trying to get my effort under control. I didn't feel too slow on the descents and I think I've been improving my swoopy singletrack skills but every time the trail pitched upward and my HR started climbing - I had to soft pedal or not pedal.
And sure enough - it felt like the entire field was passing me - here are some examples:
- first Megan came by me - she was on her 2nd lap (on her way to 7(!!) laps and a solid 2nd place finish in the Solo Female category) sounding cheerful and looking strong.
- then the girl in tennis shoes, flat pedals and a 35lb hardtail
- then there was a rock on the trail that "tennis shoe girl" hit and fell over - I passed her back - 3 minutes later she passed me again.
- then the fat, old guy(s) passed me
- a heavyset older lady (probably my age) blew past me
- then the guy with 1 leg passed me (actually this guy was really fast and he would've passed no matter how fast I was going)
After this lap - I felt pretty darn good. My legs felt good - I really couldn't tell i had just rode 16 miles. I drank 1/4 a serving of a recovery drink and ate some other things to keep the calories coming in and waited the 1:30 for Jessica to complete her 2nd lap.
from photoreflect site -in process of ordering photo
Lap 2
My legs felt fresh and feisty when I started this lap.
However, my stomach started feeling queasy and I was experiencing some "gastro distress"...ugh. I decided to switch my "on bike" calories from Infinit to EFS liquid shot hoping that would ease my discomfort.
The first 8 miles I felt great - I finally got the hang of riding at the prescribed pace and I was feeling really good - feeling i was riding smooth and nailing the tech bits with ease. I was taking in my calories but my stomach was still not right. Then around mile 8 the sides of my quads started hurting (nothing major but noticeable) and then I noticed my effort suddenly got hard (labored breathing) but my HR dropped. Oh crap! I was glycogen depleted. Lynda had told me what glycogen depletion felt like and this was it. MAN oh MAN - what happened? what did I do wrong? I kept pushing knowing I was halfway through, finished off my 400 calorie EFS and I hoped when I got my next break I could "fix it".
After this lap - I immediately downed another 1/4 serving of recovery drink and 12oz of water hoping to clear my stomach of whatever was bothering me. I decided to stick with the EFS liquid shot for the next lap as that's what tasted the best. I rested - drank a de-fizzed coke, some soft cantaloupe, some honey stinger waffle and grapes. I was trying to get easily digestible calories in and replenish some glycogen.
Jessica rolled in banging out a ~1:35ish lap time and I went out for my 3rd lap.
Lap 3
I *knew* I'd be cutting it close to get back by 6pm. 6pm was the cut off time for a rider to go out on course. But since I wasn't able to look at the time - the best I could do was ride to the best of my ability, hope my legs would come around and pray I'd get back in time.
My stomach stayed queasy and my gastro distress lingered on. I focused on riding smooth and pushing as hard as my legs seemed to let me. I kept up my calorie intake and every once in a while I'd feel a little better but it never lasted long.
Around mile 9.5 at Moki hill I saw my friend, Sarah Rarick standing on the side of the trail. She was on her 5th(!) lap on her rigid singlespeed and she was hurting. The rigid fork was exacting a toll on her and she had to mentally prepare herself for the chunky rocks that were coming up. I stopped and gave her a hug and commiserated with her for a minute or so but since I was racing to get back for 6pm - I wished her well and continued on.
At mile 15 - i heard someone behind me and asked if they wanted to pass. the girl said "no - i can't keep up with you on the descents and it's mostly downhill from here". Then she said "are you on a team? If so, it's 5:51 and we have 9 minutes to get back to get another rider out". Really?? All of a sudden I got a BIG burst of energy and gunned it. I rode my little friggin' heart out for the next mile for the first time this race I was passing people. As I exited the singletrack I asked the course marshall - "how much time? how much time?" she said I had 3 minutes to get to the transition area. I kept it pinned on the gravel road(I rode that last mile 11% faster than I had in Laps 1 & 2) and reached the transition area with 2:08 to spare. Jessica was kitted up and ready to go - she went out and tacked on one more lap to make it the total of 7 laps.
We finished 8th out of 18 teams.
My awesome partner Jessica.
Aftermath
I think I found the 'gastro culprit'. Usually I have a cast iron stomach - as my sister likes to remind me "We are *peasant stock*" my family is definitely hardy. But I think it was the 1/4 serving of Ultagen every lap - it's probably too much protein for me to handle while racing . At the Dawn til Dusk race (the
Jessica thought she'd try what I was doing and after downing some Ultragen after her 1st lap she had stomach issues too. She didn't take in anymore and by her lap 3 - she said she felt great. I was happy to learn this from her. Of course since we didn't have a chance to talk during the race - I didn't find out until much later.
Since my stomach was in distress most of the race and even tho I was putting in the calories I wasn't able to replenish my glycogen stores. In our pre-race discussion Lynda told me when all your glycogen is depleted then your body switches to fat for fuel. Converting fat to fuel takes more energy and hence you can't go as hard. Usually your breathing will become labored and your HR will drop. (exactly what happened in the middle of lap 2).
Of course I've been glycogen depleted before but I haven't really be doing long races - it's been on rides where it didn't matter that much. But it's very interesting to me that now that i am paying attention - it was literally like a switch being turned off.
Now that I recognize what that feels like - hopefully I can be more aware in the future and prevent it.
Badass friends
Several of my friends were doing this race - it's such a fun event. And true to form - many of them pulled off some great performances.
Megan railed out 7 laps and finished 2nd place in the Solo Women. She passed me every lap I was out and she looked great every time - riding strong and sounding cheerful.
Cat Bywaters and Katri pulled off a strong 6 laps each. Cat told me her goal was 6 laps and she was hurting after 5 laps but she's stubborn and went out for the 6th one.
And of course - Jessica - she rode strong all her 4 laps and pulled off some great lap times.
Comments
way to keep it reigned in ... and focused on AUGUST!
so proud of you!
jj