It's officially the Wednesday before the race. 4 days till race day. This is a good sign. At this point I'm recovering from CO and the RC50 and the efforts I've done this past week have been solid and I'm really feeling hopeful for the race. On top of that I have both tires sealed up and fully tubeless and I should be able to actually have better control of my race prep than for two weeks ago. I've been sleeping well and a lot and that's a big help. For the last race I felt off and really overwhelmed by the humidity and being back in NJ for a while before this race makes me feel more confident as well.
The next best thought is that I should be more prepared as this is the 3rd attempt at the SM100 course and the 4th time I will be riding it(Rode it once in a non-race scenario). All the climbs and hard sections are burned into my mind and my time goals are already set. For the first run at this I ran a 10:39, then in 2009 an 8:41. This year I'm trying to go sub 8. That was my goal for the W101 and I beat it by 12 minutes but the trail was a bit different. The SM100 is advertised as the exact same route and I want to knock off 42 minutes from my PR. If things go well I should be able to reach that. I remember in my last attempt at the race that I actually got woosey climbing and descending between aid 3 and 4 and actually rolled down the hillside as I was hallucinating as I messed up my hydration/nutrition needs. This time I have been experimenting with that as well and I think I have figured that out a little better. I have been existing on Hammer gel alone and I don't think that's been fueling my body the way it needs. So now I've been using the gel and Clif Blocks and that has been a lot better. Well that and not using Accelerade. Accelerade is good for training but not for racing. I just feel 100% better when I use plain old water. Go figure...
So Friday night I'll be traveling down to the SM100 grounds so I have a nice long relaxing Saturday before the Storm and then let 'er rip for Sunday. Should be a nice long effort to put one last big race in the tank for 2011. After this my focus is shifting to the shorter stuff as I finish up the last XC races on my calendar and then the full CX schedule is ahead. Only 3 more months left to the racing season. Wow that's still a long time!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Rattling Creek 50 Recap
Well after a hectic weekend, nothing I had in my mind to setup for the RC 50 went the way I planned. I wanted a nice warmup on Saturday followed by the drive out to camp for an early bedtime. Then the next morning I'd wake up late after a good night's sleep and put on the number, warmup and roll. Yea.....not exactly.
Life got in the way Saturday and I rolled home Saturday night with a lack of hydration/regular nutrition/and the worst part was I was still at home... So with life true as it is I got to sleep at about 11 pm and I had to be up at 5 am for the drive the next morning. So with packing and breakfast I rolled out with my lady Ant and my buddy Lucky to head out to hit up the 50. The last thing I really wanted to do was drive 3 hours the morning of a race and I had to so too bad. Then the worst part is somehow I underestimated how long it would take so at some point I figured we might reach registration too late as it closes at 9am. Yikes...pedal down.
So we rolled into the registration area with a few extra minutes and got ready. The warmup seemed ok but I was nervous as to how my body would respond. I just got back the Wednesday before from Colorado and the previous week I rode for over 17 hours and waaaaaay too many feet of vert. I was cooked when I left. I was hoping I had some in the tank for RC. As it turns out there wasn't many matches left in the matchbook for this one. Into the first climb I felt ok and was doing well trying to moderate my effort and it went by fairly quickly. As I got into the singletrack I wanted to accelerate hard as I was feeling pretty good. That seemed to work as I was keeping up with the guys in front of me and I was in the top ten or fifteen at this point. I figured I'd just chill there and set a good pace and see if I could pick of the guys that cracked later on in the race. Well I was one of those guys to crack early.
After 10 miles or so I felt kinda crappy and knew the wheels were starting to fall off. I was trying to ignore the signs but there were too many to avoid. Here's the thoughts that were going through my head:
This place is too hot and humid...
I didn't hydrate enough the week or so prior...
My front tire hasn't come off yet...
My front tire has too much pressure...
I can't believe my rear tire hasn't flatted yet...
These trails are nicely techy but annoying to try and race on...
I haven't drank enough...
I haven't eaten enough...
When is this going to end...
In other words - don't mess with tubeless tires the few days before a race and really focus on race prep. It didn't work so well for me this time.
So needless to say I wasn't on my game for this race. I passed the first aid station. Hit the 2nd not really aid station. Then the next one. Skipped the following and then begged for water when I hit the last aid that was the not quite an aid station. The first 20 miles I was really struggling with trying to keep my pace going and then after that I had an epiphany. Just because there is a race number on the bike doesn't mean you HAVE to race. I just rode. Then I tried to kick it up again and my body said no. So I just tried to put down a consistent pace. My best thought was that I may finish by 5 hours and beat the thunderstorms. So I kept on and just dreamed of the finish line. The last aid station that I begged for water told me it was 2 miles to the finish just over the top of the crest of the fire road ahead of me. Thanks goodness! Unfortunately I saw someone sneaking up on me so I had to go now...
I locked out my fork and put everything I had left in the tank into the pedals to get over that hill and get to the finish. I raced down the final hill and crossed the line in 4:41 for 14th place overall of 43 finishers and probably 50+ starters. I was actually pretty happy with how I did for how bad I felt. Still a great training day on the bike and some fun trails to ride - if yer not racin! I'd love to go back and ride some of those in a more chill fashion.
So one I was done I got back to the car to see how Antonella was doing and she warned me that some storms were coming and boy was she right. We wandered over to get some recovery food at the tent and it opened up! It came down in sheets and the lightning was close! Too close! So we got the car and stayed nice and dry as we watched racers finish one by one. Lucky wasn't so lucky as he finished a bit later after an hour or so in the hellish storm that engulfed the entire area. He was a bit battered and bruised but was happy to have been there and finished. Another one in the books...
Life got in the way Saturday and I rolled home Saturday night with a lack of hydration/regular nutrition/and the worst part was I was still at home... So with life true as it is I got to sleep at about 11 pm and I had to be up at 5 am for the drive the next morning. So with packing and breakfast I rolled out with my lady Ant and my buddy Lucky to head out to hit up the 50. The last thing I really wanted to do was drive 3 hours the morning of a race and I had to so too bad. Then the worst part is somehow I underestimated how long it would take so at some point I figured we might reach registration too late as it closes at 9am. Yikes...pedal down.
So we rolled into the registration area with a few extra minutes and got ready. The warmup seemed ok but I was nervous as to how my body would respond. I just got back the Wednesday before from Colorado and the previous week I rode for over 17 hours and waaaaaay too many feet of vert. I was cooked when I left. I was hoping I had some in the tank for RC. As it turns out there wasn't many matches left in the matchbook for this one. Into the first climb I felt ok and was doing well trying to moderate my effort and it went by fairly quickly. As I got into the singletrack I wanted to accelerate hard as I was feeling pretty good. That seemed to work as I was keeping up with the guys in front of me and I was in the top ten or fifteen at this point. I figured I'd just chill there and set a good pace and see if I could pick of the guys that cracked later on in the race. Well I was one of those guys to crack early.
After 10 miles or so I felt kinda crappy and knew the wheels were starting to fall off. I was trying to ignore the signs but there were too many to avoid. Here's the thoughts that were going through my head:
This place is too hot and humid...
I didn't hydrate enough the week or so prior...
My front tire hasn't come off yet...
My front tire has too much pressure...
I can't believe my rear tire hasn't flatted yet...
These trails are nicely techy but annoying to try and race on...
I haven't drank enough...
I haven't eaten enough...
When is this going to end...
In other words - don't mess with tubeless tires the few days before a race and really focus on race prep. It didn't work so well for me this time.
So needless to say I wasn't on my game for this race. I passed the first aid station. Hit the 2nd not really aid station. Then the next one. Skipped the following and then begged for water when I hit the last aid that was the not quite an aid station. The first 20 miles I was really struggling with trying to keep my pace going and then after that I had an epiphany. Just because there is a race number on the bike doesn't mean you HAVE to race. I just rode. Then I tried to kick it up again and my body said no. So I just tried to put down a consistent pace. My best thought was that I may finish by 5 hours and beat the thunderstorms. So I kept on and just dreamed of the finish line. The last aid station that I begged for water told me it was 2 miles to the finish just over the top of the crest of the fire road ahead of me. Thanks goodness! Unfortunately I saw someone sneaking up on me so I had to go now...
I locked out my fork and put everything I had left in the tank into the pedals to get over that hill and get to the finish. I raced down the final hill and crossed the line in 4:41 for 14th place overall of 43 finishers and probably 50+ starters. I was actually pretty happy with how I did for how bad I felt. Still a great training day on the bike and some fun trails to ride - if yer not racin! I'd love to go back and ride some of those in a more chill fashion.
So one I was done I got back to the car to see how Antonella was doing and she warned me that some storms were coming and boy was she right. We wandered over to get some recovery food at the tent and it opened up! It came down in sheets and the lightning was close! Too close! So we got the car and stayed nice and dry as we watched racers finish one by one. Lucky wasn't so lucky as he finished a bit later after an hour or so in the hellish storm that engulfed the entire area. He was a bit battered and bruised but was happy to have been there and finished. Another one in the books...
Monday, August 1, 2011
Wilderness 101 Race Recap
Well this was this years Heerschap throwdown as my brother flew out from Durango Colorado to have a rematch. He destroyed me in 2007 at the marathon nationals in Breckenridge, CO by 28 minutes and this year I was ready to return the favor and hopefully not by minutes but hours. This year it was my turn to race on my turf at the 101 and we agreed that there was no game plan to stick together - just to thrash it and see who could come out on top.
7 am the pace truck rolls out as I barely get out of the crapper and mount my bike. Perfect timing. So we said good luck and off we went. It was forecasted to be in the low 90's and at race start it was 70's and super muggy. So muggy I ditched the glasses which I never race without. So the first climb popped up hard left and I tried the best I could to stick with the lead group. I did that for most of the first climb as I got shot off the back slightly at the top but regained my place on the downhill. We got cut off of the main group and formed a great 2nd group which included the top 2 ladies. The group was working together well for a bit but the ladies had either pacers or boyfriends with them helping to set the pace and it was too slow for my liking. So I rolled off the front and went alone dragging the faster people in that group. On the next climb it all shattered and it was just work with who's around you.
The 4 mile climb at mile 42 is my nemesis. I wanted to ride that steady and hard(SLN) and I've ridden that better than any other previous attempt. I had a good cadence and it seemed to fly by. Awesome as last time up it I was hoping to have both tires fail and have to ride the sag wagon back to the start/finish. Each time the climbs popped up it was a good effort. Some felt better than others but in general I was happy with how I climbed. I had set time goals for myself and for what I could see they were all being broken by a few minutes as I rolled through. They eliminated a climb but threw in NASTY singletrack that was insane to ride with a really sore back(don't put a roof on the few days before a big race) and they eliminated a piece of easy single track and added another mile + climb and a horribly washed out baby headed decent to follow it. So they said the race may be a little quicker, it certainly didn't feel like it.
I hit aid station 5 at mile 89 and my clock said 6:45 or 6:50 so I knew I had to set a good pace to accomplish my goal of a sub 8 hour finish. I hit the last fire road and put down all I had left to get to the one remining climb. I met up with Greg Kuhn and we decided to work together to get all of the pain over with. We traded pulls into the last climb, then he coaxed me to the top of it with some positive words as I was starting to cramp badly. We crested it and then hit the decent into fisherman's trail where we both walked as it's STOOPID techy and at 95 miles not worth the pain. So we hit the remaining rail trail Greg pulled as I started to cramp. I worked through my cramps and he was on the verge of vomiting so I pulled him the rest of the way to the line. We finished together and he said to go and pulled back as I finished in 7:48:22 with Greg a second back. I was 26th overall of 325 and 21st in open men.
It was such a hard race and every pedal stroke up some of those hills was killer. I had the drive to keep pushing and know that if I let up for a second my hungry bro was going to sneak up and eat me for lunch. So maybe there was some extra motivation there. Like I had hoped, I saw my bro at the start and never again for the entire race. He did an amazing job and ran his first 100 miler like a veteran. He was bragging about his red blood cell count coming from elevation and I'm sure it gave him an advantage. He ripped up the hills and had a great time loving every piece of singletrack. It was nice that I got to do my cool down ride, swim in the river, eat, and change before he finished though :-) He crossed the line in 9:22. That's a great time especially since he didn't really know the course. He said it's his first and last 100 miler but I think he'll be back. Either way I still got him by 1:34 so that's all that matters.
What a great day in the heart of PA!
7 am the pace truck rolls out as I barely get out of the crapper and mount my bike. Perfect timing. So we said good luck and off we went. It was forecasted to be in the low 90's and at race start it was 70's and super muggy. So muggy I ditched the glasses which I never race without. So the first climb popped up hard left and I tried the best I could to stick with the lead group. I did that for most of the first climb as I got shot off the back slightly at the top but regained my place on the downhill. We got cut off of the main group and formed a great 2nd group which included the top 2 ladies. The group was working together well for a bit but the ladies had either pacers or boyfriends with them helping to set the pace and it was too slow for my liking. So I rolled off the front and went alone dragging the faster people in that group. On the next climb it all shattered and it was just work with who's around you.
The 4 mile climb at mile 42 is my nemesis. I wanted to ride that steady and hard(SLN) and I've ridden that better than any other previous attempt. I had a good cadence and it seemed to fly by. Awesome as last time up it I was hoping to have both tires fail and have to ride the sag wagon back to the start/finish. Each time the climbs popped up it was a good effort. Some felt better than others but in general I was happy with how I climbed. I had set time goals for myself and for what I could see they were all being broken by a few minutes as I rolled through. They eliminated a climb but threw in NASTY singletrack that was insane to ride with a really sore back(don't put a roof on the few days before a big race) and they eliminated a piece of easy single track and added another mile + climb and a horribly washed out baby headed decent to follow it. So they said the race may be a little quicker, it certainly didn't feel like it.
I hit aid station 5 at mile 89 and my clock said 6:45 or 6:50 so I knew I had to set a good pace to accomplish my goal of a sub 8 hour finish. I hit the last fire road and put down all I had left to get to the one remining climb. I met up with Greg Kuhn and we decided to work together to get all of the pain over with. We traded pulls into the last climb, then he coaxed me to the top of it with some positive words as I was starting to cramp badly. We crested it and then hit the decent into fisherman's trail where we both walked as it's STOOPID techy and at 95 miles not worth the pain. So we hit the remaining rail trail Greg pulled as I started to cramp. I worked through my cramps and he was on the verge of vomiting so I pulled him the rest of the way to the line. We finished together and he said to go and pulled back as I finished in 7:48:22 with Greg a second back. I was 26th overall of 325 and 21st in open men.
It was such a hard race and every pedal stroke up some of those hills was killer. I had the drive to keep pushing and know that if I let up for a second my hungry bro was going to sneak up and eat me for lunch. So maybe there was some extra motivation there. Like I had hoped, I saw my bro at the start and never again for the entire race. He did an amazing job and ran his first 100 miler like a veteran. He was bragging about his red blood cell count coming from elevation and I'm sure it gave him an advantage. He ripped up the hills and had a great time loving every piece of singletrack. It was nice that I got to do my cool down ride, swim in the river, eat, and change before he finished though :-) He crossed the line in 9:22. That's a great time especially since he didn't really know the course. He said it's his first and last 100 miler but I think he'll be back. Either way I still got him by 1:34 so that's all that matters.
What a great day in the heart of PA!
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