Friday night I rode the local trail where I first learned to ride, FB. I finally felt like I got my legs back. It felt good to sprint and go fast. This gave me high hopes for this weekend's race.
Saturday morning I drove up to Tsali with a friend for race number 4 in the Southern Classic Series. We prerode a full lap of the course, 15 miles. There were real climbs that made my legs burn and some crazy downhills. But mostly it was some fun, smooth and fast riding. And Tsali was bone dry. In the 5 years or so since I have ridden there, it has never been so dry, or so fast. It was so much fun. And the weather was perfect, just a little chilly.
On Sunday, race day, it was super cold. I think it was 36 when we started. Yikes. I wore a long sleeve Under Armor shirt under my jersey. I got a decent start and was taking it pretty easy at the beginning of the race, knowing I had two laps, 30 miles, to do. But after the first climb, it became obvious that some girls were just too slow. And on the first downhills, they were even slower. Weird. So I passed 4 girls pretty quickly. Then a few more later on.
About half way through the first lap, some sport guys started to catch up and pass us. I witnessed two bad sport men crashes that I had to wade through and cost me some time. But I finally warmed up and got into a grove and was able to hang with some of them and really make up some time and distance on the girls behind me. I was really cruising, standing up most of the ride, really going fast, for me at least. Then all of the sudden the lap is over, and the sport guys are done..... And I have another 15 miles to go. Uh oh.
I start the gravel rode climb into the single track to start my second lap and I am tired. I am really thirsty (not having had any water yet), and all of the sudden I realize I am really hot. Apparently it warmed up to the mid 70's by the end of the race.
Anyway, I don't feel like I can stop to drink. And even though I don't see any of the other girls I know they're not that far behind me. So I push on. After about five miles they catch up to me. So I slow to take a sip of water, knowing that I'm losing it. It helped for a while. But then one girl went by. So I took another drink. And that helped again. But with five miles left to go, I completely bonked. And all the girls went by me. I held on for a while, but then realized I was empty.
At the finish there's a short steep little climb that I usually just stand up for. I tried that at the end of the race and my left quad froze up and I almost fell over.
I really have to get this hydration thing figured out. I still don't feel comfortable wearing a camel back over my shoulder. And I am way too uncoordinated to drink from a bottle with any sort of speed. Maybe a waist camel back? It's not getting any cooler!
Hey Layla,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you would have won or at least finished high up if you didn't bonk. Actually that's a good sign because with a little adjustment it looks like you could be kicking butt.
Now back to hydration and energy. If you feel thirsty you probably waited too long to drink.
My advice is to plan to drink x amount of fluid every 20-30 minutes or so and take supplements on the same schedule too. You need to practice doing this if you're uncomfortable with it so that during races it's status quo for you. I'm not sure why you are uncomfortable with the camel back, but practice using it. As long as the stem is close to your mouth you should be all set, I think.
When you get run down during a race it really can effect your performance, especially at the end like you experienced.
I hope this helps somewhat.
Ken
Thanks Ken. I do need to practice and do better in training. The camel back strap rubs on the washer in my shoulder/clavical bone, so it is uncomfortable at first and painful within minutes. But hubby has made a rig that seems to work for now.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking that perhaps some time of foam material strategically placed on the strap with ducktape could work. I used foam pieces from inside a bike helmet on one of my waistbands that I put water bottles in etc. when I do longer runs. It stopped the chaving around my waist.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it sounds like your hubby came up with a good solution. Now go kick some butt!