I subjected myself to another day of hot weather racing at the 12 Hours of Temecula @ Vail Lake this past weekend. This was also an opportunity to camp out with some friends that were racing as well. That always makes for fun times.
I was so afraid of cramping, that I think I may have actually been taking in more electrolytes than I needed. But I guess that worked out, because I kept riding until about 8PM (with breaks in between laps of course), without any cramping at all. Tired with low energy, yes - but not cramping.
My on-bike nutrition consisted of the following for each lap:
1-2 Saltstick tablets
2 scoops Perpetuem + 1 scoop of Fresh Apple Cytomax in a bottle
50oz of water w/ Elete
A few Clif Blox - Margarita
In between some laps, I had a total of:
2-3 Clif Bars
2 bottles of Pickle Juice Sport
1 Gatorade
1 Red Bull
1 Banana
1 PBJ
Leftover rice, chicken, potatoes from night before
Each lap was about 11 miles long with approximately 1500 ft of elevation gain. My laps times weren’t exactly blazing fast, especially during the hottest parts of the day. My original goal was something along the lines of 8 laps, but that quickly changed, as I found myself already behind pace after only 3 laps.
Instead I finished with 6 laps, good enough for 2nd in the Solo Men’s Beginner class.
Lap 1 @ 9:00AM - 1:17:45
Rode the last portion of the lap with Carl. I think we kept on saying we were going too fast. I guess we were as this was the fastest lap of the day for me.
Lap 2 @ 10:23AM - 1:23:10
Uneventful?
Lap 3 @ 12:00PM - 1:33:31
Stomach started growling near the end of the lap. Thoughts of food crowded my mind.
Lap 4 @ 2:17PM - 1:35:47
Food must have still been digesting. Felt super sluggish here. Thoughts of calling it a day started to cross my mind.
Lap 5 @ 4:23PM - 1:31:08
The Red Bull from Michael must have helped a bunch. Felt re-energized.
Lap 6 @ 6:24PM - 1:25:09
The happiest feeling in the word is knowing that you’re going out for your last lap. I figured I would come in around 8PM, which wouldn’t be enough time for me to complete another one.
The course had some fun sections, as well as some soft powdery areas this time. It seemed that quite a few people kept going down. I can only describe the descents on the soft powdery sections as controlled chaos.
What makes these races a ton of fun is all the people who are out there giving their support, not just those working the pits, but also fellow racers.
The next 12 hour race at Temecula is in November, which is a bit less than 5 months away. With this ample lead time, I may be able to get in some serious training and see what I can really do.
Tags: clif bars, electrolytes, endurance race, mountain bike, pickle juice sport, vail lake
I wonder how many of us still remember the resolutions we made for 2008. And I wonder how many are still sticking to them.
One of my goals was to get down to 170 lbs. I was 178 lbs at the time.
While I haven’t hit 170 yet, I’ve been hovering consistently around 172. The biggest two things for me that have made a difference have been:
1) Cutting down on sugars, especially processed sugars. Causes body to store more fat.
2) Weight training. More muscles - more calories burned.
May 2008
Total Distance - 176.52 miles
Total Time - 22:51:32 hours
Total Ascent - 22,313 feet
Total Calories Burned - 16,430
2008 YTD
Total Distance - 974.85 miles
Total Time - 117:04:00 hours
Total Ascent - 122,830 feet
Total Calories Burned - 88,789
Just about halfway through 2008. Man..where is time going? It really does seem to go by faster as you age.
For May, I didn’t ride too many days - only 9 out of 31. I usually get out about 20 days a month. I guess you can attribute some of that to burnout - plus I’ve been spending some more time at the gym. The core exercises I’ve been doing seem to be helping with both my power and endurance on the bike.
Got about a week to go until the #2 12 Hours of Temecula race for 2008. Weather forecast says it’ll be hot, which is to be expected. What sucks is that the forecast two weeks ago called for highs in the 70s. 70s are quite different than 90s. Damn those weather people.
Anyways, I’ll see if I can ride for the entire 12 hours this time, and see if I can ward off cramps as well. I’ve started using Elete water drops in my hydration pack as well as SaltStick tablets. Hopefully they are the cure…
Shortly coming off my completion of the Counting Coup, I decided to give The Traverse a try, which is a mountain bike race that consists of 46 miles and 8000+ feet of elevation gain across the Santa Ana mountains.
I heard it was supposed to be a little tougher compared to the Counting Coup. What I wasn’t aware of when I signed up was that we’d be in the middle of a heat wave. That made it a LOT tougher.
Here are some memorable moments during the course of the race.
Mile 8: Rear tire blows off the rim. The Bontrager Dry X was supposed to be tubeless friendly with the Stan’s Arch 29er rim. WTF? I pop in a tube (the only one I got - remember this) and keep on going. Luckily, I was climbing and going slow.
Mile 13: I start feeling cramps in my legs - particularly my calves. I guess the heat is really getting to me. I was hydrating all week, taking in extra electrolytes and everything. WTF? I end up starting to walk some of the steeper hills, which is still tough, as that would trigger cramps in my quads.
Mile 21.6: I get to the first aid station at Four Corners 45 minutes before the cutoff. I really wanted to just roll down Maple Springs back to the car and call it a day. It was easily 100 degrees out already and my legs weren’t feeling well at all. I decided to keep on going.
Mile 25: I reach Santiago Peak, the highest point in Orange County. I’m rewarded by a few miles of downhill. I realize during the course of the downhill that my rear brakes may have been contaminated by the tire sealant that was ejected as a result of the tire blowoff at mile 8. Think of nails on a chalkboard, and amplify that by about 1000 times. That’s what it sounded like every time I got on the rear brakes.
Mile 29: I reach the 2nd cut off point with 45 minutes to spare.
Mile 31: The front tire (Bontrager Dry x) blows off the rim (Stan’s Arch 29er). WTF x3? This isn’t good. I’m out in the middle of the sun and I have no more tubes with me. I decide to start walking and looking for shade. Thoughts of quitting again crossed my mind.
Mile 31.25: Found a guy laying in the shade, with medic support staff around him. Apparently he was suffering from heat exhaustion or something. But luckily, he had an extra tube! I asked him what he wanted for it, offering him some cash. He replied “Just finish.” Thanks #141. I owe you one.
Mile 36: I finally get to the top of Trabuco. The climbing was finally done for the day. Only 10 miles to go, pretty much all downhill.
Mile 36.1: The amplified chalkboard scratching returned, only to be joined by 1000 banshees. I have got to change out these brake pads.
Mile 46: Crossed the finish line 8 hours and 30 minutes after I started. Received some sort of ribbon for finishing. I’m not sure how I placed, but I was just happy to finish.
I’m glad I didn’t give up. This quote rang through my head many times.
“Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever” - Lance Armstrong
My wife even sent me a picture txt message holding up a sign saying “Congrats”. What disappointment I would have felt if I didn’t finish. And having a DNF by my name on the Warrior’s Society site would have been a constant reminder.
Next year? Who knows…I just know I can barely walk right now.
Update: 2008 Traverse Results
Tags: elevation gain, endurance race, mountain bike race, santa ana mountains, santiago peak, traverse
April 2008
Total Distance - 166.98 miles
Total Time - 19:06:33 hours
Total Ascent - 19,636 feet
Total Calories Burned - 15,002
2008 YTD
Total Distance - 798.33 miles
Total Time - 94:12:27 hours
Total Ascent - 100,517 feet
Total Calories Burned - 72,359
Another month come and gone. Looks like I just broke 100,000ft for the year. I got the Traverse coming up soon and the 12 Hours of Temecula in another month. Training has gotten boring. I need to do more fun rides again, but I would feel guilty for not training. Weird huh?
Another month has come and gone. Is it just me or is 2008 going by super fast?
I was pretty productive on the bike this month. I think most of the additional riding was a result of participating in the Counting Coup.
March 2008
Total Distance - 246.11 miles
Total Time - 28:41:04 hours
Total Ascent - 32,284 feet
Total Calories Burned - 22,760
2008 YTD
Total Distance - 631.35 miles
Total Time - 75:05:54 hours
Total Ascent - 80,443 feet
Total Calories Burned - 57,357
Although it seems like I’ve been spending plenty of time on the bike, I don’t know if I would consider it training. I have a few events coming up where I feel totally unprepared. I got The Traverse coming up in May and the 12 Hours of Temecula in June. I’m not so much worried about Temecula, but The Traverse is getting me a little nervous. They have some semi-aggressive cut-off times. I don’t know if I’ll be able to ride fast enough to meet them all. We shall see..