The kicker today? The HEAT!!!! Oh man, it was 93 or 94 degrees and HUMID. There were times I felt like vomiting from the heat. I actually employed a technique we use in yoga to cool the body temperature down – lions breath. Stick your tongue out and exhale forcefully. I probably looked crazy, but I used that technique and it seemed to help. I was eating Elete tablets and drinking massive amounts of water and PowerBar Endurance. I stopped at every aide station and left with full bottles and a full stomach of water. I would chug a full bottle of water and dump water on my head.
My time today was something like 4hr 25 min and in that time, I drank close to 240 oz of water. I peed about 30 minutes after I finished. I did not get dehydrated except for one section where I ran out of water. I was very happy with my fueling and hydration today.
We have designated drop bags and the volunteers did a great job helping me get what I needed out of my bag each time I stopped. The aide stations had lots of good stuff too.
Even though I was tired, I had no problem riding the technical trail. I was surprised with my confidence, but there are a few trails in Colorado that helped me. The Sourdough Trail above Ward, CO is very similar to PA riding. There are downed logs and tons of rocks.
It’s funny, in Colorado, a downed tree normally is a block on the trail indicating the trail is closed, or that you should turn. Here? A downed tree is just another obstacle. My technical skills are not holding me back – it’s simply the lack of ability to turn the pedals. The stage was muddy once again with some fun creek crossing, challenging climbs, rock gardens, steep and rocky descents… you name it!
In my clinics, I tell people that momentum is your friend. I did crash once today, but it was because I lost momentum and was too stubborn to dismount. The faster you come into the rock garden (and find places to pedal), the more likely you’ll make it out. On the descents, I forced myself to keep my fingers off the brakes and it helped. Staying loose in your body is also very important.
3 hours in, the looney effect happened – the switch flipped and I felt strong again on my bike. I hate this. I was able to push hard again and my heart rate jumped about 20bpm as well as my speed picking up by about 2 mph. I pushed that pace to the finish, but it was far too late to make up any places. I needed about 40 miles in the race!! I am making it a top priority to figure out why this happens. It’s been going on sporadically for years and I’m tired of being out of contention for races because it takes me 3 hours to warm up.
