Horribly Hilly Ahead

This weekend I'll be riding the Horribly Hilly Hundreds. I am filled with both expectation and dread. As excited as I am to do this event, my fitness level as of two weeks ago was... wanting, shall we say?

In addition, I have noticed that my allergies are exceptionally bad this year. Or I should say they are exceptionally bad exceptionally late this year. The cotton trees are just beginning to drop their large white puffy balls of fluff. I have noticed that when allergy season is in full swing I have a tough time putting out as much power as I would like. My endurance is still there, but my power is lacking. This makes things like sprints (criteriums) and hills (road races) fairly difficult. It's just not a good time of year for me.

I'm hoping that I can just do a nice long slow distance ride this weekend. Given the chances of rain and bad weather, though, this just may turn out to me my next epic bike adventure...

Spring Prairie Road Race (WI State Championships) 6/5/11

A week ago last Sunday I raced in the Wisconsin State Championship Spring Prairie Road Race. It was hot and quite difficult. I didn't have my best day. And really before I get any farther let me sum up the race for you in three words:

Legs tore off.

That's the bottom line, really. I just didn't have a great day, not even a particularly good one. I have lots of reasons and perhaps excuses as to why, but we'll get to that later and let you decide whether they are valid or not. Until then, just know; legs tore off.

Sunday was a pretty pleasant day. That is if you want to sit at the beach or hang out by the pool. Unfortunately for me I was bike racing. I had just returned from a trip to the Pacific Northwest where the temperature was a mild 75 degrees with a cool dry breeze from the Ocean. I returned home to a day of heat and torture. 65% humidity with temps in the mid to high 80's (maybe higher on the tarmac). It was gross. So hot on the pavement, in fact, that the squiggly lines or tar patches on road were not only squishy but almost slippery in the corners. Tough day.

I lined up with the Cat 4/5 field for our 39 mile excursion in the hottest part of the day at 3:05pm. You can see the route here. Prior to racing I had put in about 32 miles over the past two weeks. Yeah, go back and read that again. 32 miles total in two weeks. Oof, you can already tell that I'm in for a doosy of a ride. This is what happens when Final Exams fall just a couple weeks before a race.

The big selector of the race was the finishing hill on Johnson road. It was claimed at 18%. I don't know if I'd give it that, but it was definitely steep with a capital 'S'. Probably in the 10-15% average range for about 1/3 of a mile. As tough as just about anything else you'll see in this state. The race organizers kindly gave us a neutral roll out that started below this hill, so our six lap route included 7 trips up this grade instead of 6 (note the sarcasm dripping from my keystrokes). Let's just say that the selection began even during the neutral roll out thanks to this design.

I knew from the start that I was going to be struggling just to hang on, so I made that my goal. Just hang on! I tried my best to stay out of the wind and protected in the bunch. It wasn't too difficult as I was basically at the back of the pack the whole time. The first lap was mostly uneventful. A couple small accelerations but no big surprises. There were about 40 of us with narrow lanes and a "no crossing the center line" rule, so it made it difficult to go on the attack.

Finishing the first lap, I got gapped a little bit on the Johnson road grade, but made it back with the pack before too long. Unfortunately, I could tell my selection had already been made. I stuck with the group as we tooled along but by the time we turned back east on Potter Rd I was hurting. A few of us were off the back as the front of the race started to pull away. I looked at the guys around me and did my best to organize a chase. Only two of us were really up to the challenge. We had a headwind at this point and little hope of catching the riders in front of us while on the straight, so we just tried to damage control as best as we were able.

Turning up Johnson road to finish lap 2 was tough. The rider who was with me (Ben from Brazen Dropouts) definitely had more spring in his step for the hill. He got away from me but then waited as I was able to recover some and catch up after getting over the top, but I knew that was the last time my trip up Johnson grade would even resemble racing. I rode with him the rest of lap 3 then told him before reaching our Selectinator (aka johnson), and offered him a big pull before I popped. I launched him at the bottom of the Selectinator and then just survived my third (actually fourth thanks to the roll out) trip up to the start/finish line.

The last 3 laps saw me chugging along by myself, getting passed by the 30+ Masters field which had started 5 minutes before me and finishing in 29th place. Somewhere in there I was caught and passed by two other riders in my field. I tried to work with one of them, but didn't have the legs for it and the other caught me and passed me on my second to last battle with the Selectinator.

Now for the really interesting part. It was a hot day at the race and while I managed to do fairly well with my fluid intake, I don't know that I did well with my electrolytes. I probably only used half of the Nuun that I should have and paid the price on my last trip up Johnson grade. As I approached the bottom I knew it would just be a matter of survival. Sit, stand or crawl I was going to tame this beast one last time. I started up trying to spin, but it got steep enough that I had no choice but to stand. However, when I stood my quads cramped like never before. I actually had to work to straighten them again. In fear of hurting myself or falling over, I sat down but them my hamstrings cramped. Again, hurty and stiff and confusing. I stood again, then sat again, then stood again. At this point is was mind over matter. Forcing my legs to do their work. I made it to the crest and sat back down. Still a hundred meters or so from the finish line I staggered across and coasted to where I could safely stop. (wait a second...Can you stagger on a bike?...well, I did)

I found my wife and parents-in-law who had come to watch me get my butt kicked. My lovely wife watched somewhat worriedly as I collapsed into a camp chair while my father-in-law grabbed me a cold iced tea. Perfect. My nephew then proceeded to quiz me.

"Uncle Craig, why didn't I see you with those other guys?" (aka: the rest of my field)

"Well, because I was riding behind them."

"Why were you riding behind them?"

"Because today I was slower than all of them."

A pause for a moment, a quizzical look and then the knockout punch.

"Uncle Craig, why did you ride your bike so slow today?"

Nice, eh? Nothing like the interrogation of a 4 year old to wipeout any sense of self-pity.

It wasn't my day. Like I told my nephew, I was just slower than the rest of them. That's it plain and simple. Not enough training, too much heat, allergies acting up, whatever the reason I just couldn't keep up. Some days just aren't your day and 6/5/11 was definitely not mine.

Legs---tore----off.

"Mountain" Biking?

I have no idea what race this is, but apparently, the city is the new mountain bike scene?

Did you see them just go through the inside of that building!?!?!?

Poor Man's Recovery

Cycling is expensive. It costs a pretty penny for all the gear: bike, helmet, shorts, jersey, pedals, shoes etc. etc. Then if you decide to race you are paying race day fees and for your yearly USAC license, plus you may join a club and pay dues so that you can race for a team. Then there's all the time you put it into it. I know that's not money (I don't really think time is money), but it's still a cost.

With all these costs, it pays to be stingy whenever possible. There are definitely plenty of places you can afford to do so. For instance, a $20 cyclocomputer tells you how fast you are going just as well as a new $650 Garmin 800. And that piece of paper you wrote down directions on is still just as reliable as any instructions you'd get from a GPS.

So why all this financial hullabaloo, you ask? Because one area where it doesn't make sense to cut corners is taking care of your body. However, I'm here to tell you that you don't have to break the bank to do what's good for your body. One of the areas of training that is more essential than anyone gives it credit for is recovery. Often the difference between winning and losing isn't necessarily how well trained you are, but how well rested you are. Let me say it again. Recovery is of the utmost importance.

It doesn't matter how much you train and stress your body, if you don't have time to rebuild and repair your performance won't improve much. So let's get down to business and talk practical recovery at minimal cost.

Recovery Priorities:

1) Replenish depleted energy stores.

Basically this means EAT! In my opinion this is one of the best parts of recovery. Especially when you've been out for a really long ride (you know the 2-4+ hour kind). After all that work you're body's glycogen stores are emptier than old mother Hubbard's cupboard. This is the best energy source for your muscles. The recommendation for endurance sports is to replace both protein and carbohydrates. Typically at around 3:1, carbs:protein. There are lots of expensive sports drinks out there that will give you their "ideal" blend. I have teammates who use Recoverite by Hammer Nutrition, but it's pretty pricy.

I prefer chocolate milk. A tall glass of fat free or 1% chocolate milk is just about perfect after an hour or two out on the bike. Plus it helps replenish your lost fluids you lost while you were sweatin' to the oldies.

As it turns out a can of Coke may not be a bad option. A recent study discussed by the New York Times, suggests that athletes that replenished after a hard workout with fructose actually recovered a little faster and lots of people feel that caffeine helps their recovery too.

One Caveat: Just be careful that you don't use your workout to justify eating junk all day long. You have a little leeway to eat whatever you want in the first half hour to hour and a half, but after that it's best to keep on a normal healthy eating plan with lots of fruits and vegetables and reasonable portion sizes.

2) Stop excess inflammation

There are a few options here and the proof that they work is variable. The two main suggestions are ice and compression. You can buy compression socks or tights or all sorts of different garments these days for reasonable prices and everyone says that they make your legs feel great the next day. The scientific evidence for compression garments is lacking, but half of recovery is just feeling better even if there isn't some sort of top secret anything going on in your muscle cells. So if you want to feel better the next day after a hard workout, compression is a good option.

Ice on the other hand is cheap and easy to use: Step one, Remove ice from freezer. Step two, apply ice to recently exercised muscle. The idea is that chemical processes are slowed down by lower temperatures and so the breakdown of muscle tissue is slowed by using ice. This is just difficult to do because it takes some serious self motivation to get out an ice bag for 15-20 minutes after every intense workout or use an ice bath. Unless of course you're a Polar Bear, then you've got an edge on the recovery market.

3) Rest the muscles that just got used

Your muscles need some time to loosen up and rebuild. We've fed them and tried to limit our damages by decreasing inflammation now it's time to rest them and rub them. As the saying goes, "don't stand when you can sit." Lay down if you can. You may not have this luxury since chances are good that you aren't getting paid to lay around at the office, however, if you can sit or put your legs up on a leg rest or another chair you should do it.

Massage is another great tool for loosening up tired muscles. I haven't done any personal research on this but the word on the street is that it's a good idea. Unfortunately, massages are expensive. A foam roller on the other hand is not. Rubbing out your muscles helps keep you flexible and injury free. It also feels great. Check that, the result feels great. The actual process is often quite painful. But it's worth it. (PS- for those of you shaving your legs, the massage part is the one of the most convincing reasons for shaving your legs when talking with non cyclists. If you explain that it's not a lot of fun to have your leg hair pulled out when rubbing your tired muscles and then give them a quick demonstration on their arm if they don't believe you, you will soon have a new convert.)

4) Feel Better

The bottom line is that you want to feel better and to feel rested so that you're ready to tackle your next event or workout. Recovery is just as much a psychological process as it is a physical process. If your brain feels tired, you aren't going to want to get off the couch and do anything. You also won't be sharp enough to be your best at work or play. This part of recovery is very personalized. If it means playing video games, watching a golf tournament (aka napping), reading a book or taking a nap, you can decide for yourself. It's like a choose your own adventure book.

Just remember if you don't have to stand, sit down; and if you can put your feet up or lay down that's even better. Train hard and rest harder.

The June Challenge

After a month off of monthly challenges I have survived spring finals during M1 year of medical school and I'm ready to hit the ground running...or burpee-ing. Inspired by an article in the New York Times, I think I'll make this month's challenge Burpees. I'm going to do 50 a day. Although, after reading the article it might be better to do burpees for a certain amount of time, if you care to join me, you can set a time limit or a number goal. This one will be tough so it's okay that it's a slightly shorter month (I was on vacation for the last week, so I wasn't doing burpees either which means you didn't miss any.)