For the past year Ive been considering what I could have done differently. Was my training insufficient for the LT100? Am I doomed from the the altitude of Santa Barbara? Am I genetically incapable? For much of the past year my theory is the altitude was just too much. On race day last year my heart rate could barely break 145 bpm, with one single moment at 150 bpm. Considering I'd trained my max HR to 202 bpm and my lactic acid threshold up to around 174 bpm, I was missing much of my performance on the one day I needed it.
The working theory has been the altitude at ~10,000 feet was too much for for my lungs; they maxed out first preventing me from even pushing into my LT performance zones. Then the other night I remembered my ride up to Montezuma 4 days before the race. I went back and looked at the heartrate data: no issues due to altitude. The elevation was just shy of 10,000 feet, but my heartrate pushed up to 176 bpm with no problems, and I sustained 160-170 efforts with easily.
My new theory? I went up in altitude at the wrong time. Not too late, not too soon, just wrong for me. There is a bunch of conflicting information about acclimating to higher altitudes before a race. I think there are too many variables in our individual lives and physiologies to find an absolute rule, but I believe I arrived from sea level at the wrong time for me. Since I don't have the luxury of arriving 3 weeks before a race, if I ever do Leadville again, I will arrive the day before the race, perhaps in the 30-40 hour range. My advice to others? Try to avoid arriving a week before hand.
Other factors certainly may have played a role, such as adrenaline during the race. I'm not sure how to counter that since it was 7 months of focus and preparation all culminating in one big effort. But the data I do have shows a huge difference in HR at day 2 versus at day 6, so I'll work at it from there.
2011 has been all about getting married - which has been one amazing year that I wouldn't trade for any belt buckle, trophy or accolade. While my mileage has been a fraction of last year's, I have maintained my lower weight. This has actually been the longest length of time that I've stayed around 165 pounds since high school. While I don't have the miles in my legs or hours of interval training, my performance is pretty good. Not lugging around an extra 10-15 pounds makes a huge difference. It's like riding my road bike as if it had zero mass; that's what I've lost.
So with thoughts of 2012, I'm considering getting ready and starting training long before I can even enter the lottery. Right now I've considering a weight lifting routine, while locking down some solid base miles. Cycling is fun again. This time last year I was done with riding. I don't think I could have pushed for more miles, but I also don't think I needed to. I believe I was ready, but something the day of just didn't work for me and depressed my HR capacity.
Today, that sweet, happy place my bike can take me has returned and I feel it pulling me back outside.
-PW
Monday, August 1, 2011
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Still going?
It seems my training is having latent effects. I guess I should have expected this. When I began training in January I sprinted to the top of a steep hill to determine my maximum heart rate (HRmax). In February it was 191 bpm. April? 192. I checked again in June and it was still 191. In July it seemed a bit low so I raced up and down the same hill three times: 187, 187, 186. And now? I'm rested and recovered and raced up that same hill again: 201 bpm!! That is the highest HRmax I have ever recorded. My previous max was in my late 20s and it was 194, but that was 8 or 9 years ago and your max is supposed to decline with age. I didn't even think you could train your max to a higher rate. As a nice bonus, it seems my lactate threshold (LT) has followed suit and lately I have been able to push and hold my heart rate into the upper 170s. In total, my limits have all moved up by about 10 bpm this year. I can push harder and deeper into those uncomfortable places and it isn't nearly as painful as it was in the past. So there's that. But still no belt buckle. Damned.
-PW
-PW
Friday, August 20, 2010
Well...
That about says it all. So you're doing the Leadville Trail 100 in 2011? My one piece of advice is don't stop riding until someone makes you stop. PERIOD! I have a lot more advice than just that, but that is the most important. I've said up and down that 2010 is my one shot no matter what... but now I'm having some big regrets and I hate living with regrets because there is only one way to make them go away: Do it again without regret.
Frisco, CO is a great little town located at a good proximity to Leadville. We had a beautifully appointed condo and the price was great. We arrived Monday night and Tuesday I rode up to a "town" called Montezuma. You can look it up, but it's a dirt road though a few houses at elevation. Tough ride, but good. Wednesday off, Thursday was a very easy recovery ride. Friday off, Saturday race. Wednesday and Thursday we all felt like tired and listless, but by Friday we all felt much better.
Friday: Packet and race info pickup followed by the Mandatory crew and racer briefing... in a gym big enough for 1200 people. When we got to the door the crew were not allowed in due to lack of space - shocking. I sat in for about 45 minutes and it was nothing more than a pep rally. A big waste really.
The bike: My setup was perfect! 29er hardtail. Most critically with small knobbed tires: Kenda Small Block Eights. Everyone had small knobbed tires. Everyone! And for good reason. Hardpack with gravel is about the worst you'll see there... except for the upper part of Columbine. More pavement than I expected. While I ran flawlessly I heard many people dump their chain into their spokes on the climbs - get your bike professionally serviced!!! Those people are risking all that time invested over a $80 service fee. Ridiculous!
Clothing. Skip the jacket, knee warmers and toe warmers - all those people went numb too, but they had to stop, sit on the ground and peel that crap off. Look at what the pros wear: shorts, arm warmers, vest. I copied them and added a ear warming headband. Perfect... Went numb, warmed up, shed while riding. You have to keep moving as much as possible in this race.
The race. Don't stop racing until they make you. I had fun. A lot of fun. At times I was giddy because I was doing it!! Racing down Powerline was awesome: I passed about 10 other riders coming down that - it is badly rutted, but if you're a mountain biker you skill will show here. As for the first two climbs, I can't say how hard they are because you're packed in like sardines going only as fast and the slowest person in the pack. It's so tight that once one person spins a tire and stops the six or seven riders behind do the same then they're all suddenly walking. Practice remounting you bike on slopes from a walk. You should be able to jump on from a walk into pedaling then clip in without missing a beat. This skill saved me twice.
As for the sardines, I like the mass start idea and appreciate that this is how it's been done for 16 years, but they need to start staggering the start badly. We all had timing chips so it would not be hard to implement, but you'd lose the shotgun firing at 6:30pm with any meaning. I can see keeping it, but it's be a better race if they ditched the mass start format.
Pipeline was a disheartening bitch. What I knew of it made it seem flat from the bottom of Powerline to Twin Lakes - well, it ain't flat. Some is, but there are two pitches that sapped my energy and spirit. There was also a nice piece of singletrack - more of that please! Twin Lakes is a huge party - make sure your crew is looking for you and maybe have them marked with a distinct flag or something else you can look for while pedaling through the thousands of people. Note: The cutoff point is after the Twin Lakes stop, so don't doddle if you're nearing the 4 hour cutoff.
Columbine is a death march. I figured the four hours allotted to get up and down it were plenty - they're enough, but you don't have much time to stop and rest. The lower section switches back and forth through the trees and is tough but can be ridden. Some were walking the bottom - Ride it while you can!!! We were all in our granny gear going about 3.5 mph, but once we stopped and walked we were going 2.5 mph. You need that 1 mph while you can get it. Ride. Once you reach the end of the tree line the road pitches up to 25% and everyone (save the best) is walking. Just keep marching. The altitude here will be killing you - my heart rate would go above 145 bpm because my lungs were the limiting factor. I didn't feel like I was at the limit, but I could not go any faster. And don't quit!! This is 2 to 3 hours of misery, but just keep pushing.
My problem was I thought myself out of the race. My low heart rate was freaking me out, which combined with a touch of cramping made me think I was out of potassium and possibly doing some heart damage. My right knee hurt the moment I started the hike-a-bike. I was on the edge of cramping and while watching the clock I starting doing the math in my head. I could see the top, but my math was telling me I couldn't make the time cut. Doing math at +12,000 is a bad idea. I quit. I stopped on some alpine grass fueled up and then headed back down. I quit. I quit. Now I have to live with that. Looking back at my times last night... I was doing just fine. I would have made the Twin Lakes inbound cut and maybe the Powerline cut. I could have finished, but I quit. If I hadn't quit and they made me stop, I'd be good right now. But I quit and I regret it so much today. Yes I was suffering, but we all were. That's the point! I trained for seven months and quit about a mile from the summit. That slog of a pace puts me 17 minutes from the summit and I just quit. Looking at it from the trail, I estimated and hour more to get up there. Wrong. So, so wrong. Now I have to start all over again.
Remember your task is to pedal, not calculate and analyze. Don't stop until someone else makes you stop. Period.
Frisco, CO is a great little town located at a good proximity to Leadville. We had a beautifully appointed condo and the price was great. We arrived Monday night and Tuesday I rode up to a "town" called Montezuma. You can look it up, but it's a dirt road though a few houses at elevation. Tough ride, but good. Wednesday off, Thursday was a very easy recovery ride. Friday off, Saturday race. Wednesday and Thursday we all felt like tired and listless, but by Friday we all felt much better.
Friday: Packet and race info pickup followed by the Mandatory crew and racer briefing... in a gym big enough for 1200 people. When we got to the door the crew were not allowed in due to lack of space - shocking. I sat in for about 45 minutes and it was nothing more than a pep rally. A big waste really.
The bike: My setup was perfect! 29er hardtail. Most critically with small knobbed tires: Kenda Small Block Eights. Everyone had small knobbed tires. Everyone! And for good reason. Hardpack with gravel is about the worst you'll see there... except for the upper part of Columbine. More pavement than I expected. While I ran flawlessly I heard many people dump their chain into their spokes on the climbs - get your bike professionally serviced!!! Those people are risking all that time invested over a $80 service fee. Ridiculous!
Clothing. Skip the jacket, knee warmers and toe warmers - all those people went numb too, but they had to stop, sit on the ground and peel that crap off. Look at what the pros wear: shorts, arm warmers, vest. I copied them and added a ear warming headband. Perfect... Went numb, warmed up, shed while riding. You have to keep moving as much as possible in this race.
The race. Don't stop racing until they make you. I had fun. A lot of fun. At times I was giddy because I was doing it!! Racing down Powerline was awesome: I passed about 10 other riders coming down that - it is badly rutted, but if you're a mountain biker you skill will show here. As for the first two climbs, I can't say how hard they are because you're packed in like sardines going only as fast and the slowest person in the pack. It's so tight that once one person spins a tire and stops the six or seven riders behind do the same then they're all suddenly walking. Practice remounting you bike on slopes from a walk. You should be able to jump on from a walk into pedaling then clip in without missing a beat. This skill saved me twice.
As for the sardines, I like the mass start idea and appreciate that this is how it's been done for 16 years, but they need to start staggering the start badly. We all had timing chips so it would not be hard to implement, but you'd lose the shotgun firing at 6:30pm with any meaning. I can see keeping it, but it's be a better race if they ditched the mass start format.
Pipeline was a disheartening bitch. What I knew of it made it seem flat from the bottom of Powerline to Twin Lakes - well, it ain't flat. Some is, but there are two pitches that sapped my energy and spirit. There was also a nice piece of singletrack - more of that please! Twin Lakes is a huge party - make sure your crew is looking for you and maybe have them marked with a distinct flag or something else you can look for while pedaling through the thousands of people. Note: The cutoff point is after the Twin Lakes stop, so don't doddle if you're nearing the 4 hour cutoff.
Columbine is a death march. I figured the four hours allotted to get up and down it were plenty - they're enough, but you don't have much time to stop and rest. The lower section switches back and forth through the trees and is tough but can be ridden. Some were walking the bottom - Ride it while you can!!! We were all in our granny gear going about 3.5 mph, but once we stopped and walked we were going 2.5 mph. You need that 1 mph while you can get it. Ride. Once you reach the end of the tree line the road pitches up to 25% and everyone (save the best) is walking. Just keep marching. The altitude here will be killing you - my heart rate would go above 145 bpm because my lungs were the limiting factor. I didn't feel like I was at the limit, but I could not go any faster. And don't quit!! This is 2 to 3 hours of misery, but just keep pushing.
My problem was I thought myself out of the race. My low heart rate was freaking me out, which combined with a touch of cramping made me think I was out of potassium and possibly doing some heart damage. My right knee hurt the moment I started the hike-a-bike. I was on the edge of cramping and while watching the clock I starting doing the math in my head. I could see the top, but my math was telling me I couldn't make the time cut. Doing math at +12,000 is a bad idea. I quit. I stopped on some alpine grass fueled up and then headed back down. I quit. I quit. Now I have to live with that. Looking back at my times last night... I was doing just fine. I would have made the Twin Lakes inbound cut and maybe the Powerline cut. I could have finished, but I quit. If I hadn't quit and they made me stop, I'd be good right now. But I quit and I regret it so much today. Yes I was suffering, but we all were. That's the point! I trained for seven months and quit about a mile from the summit. That slog of a pace puts me 17 minutes from the summit and I just quit. Looking at it from the trail, I estimated and hour more to get up there. Wrong. So, so wrong. Now I have to start all over again.
Remember your task is to pedal, not calculate and analyze. Don't stop until someone else makes you stop. Period.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Count Goes On
Life at +9,000 feet is challenging. Tuesday I rode from the condo here in Frisco up to Montezuma at 10,200 feet. It wasn't easy but I pushed up some 9% grades. The gains of riding at 150 beats per minute (bpm) versus 170 bpm are minimal, which is good and bad. There just isn't much benefit when spending those extra 20 heart beats per minute, however now I know that pushing myself to my lactate threshold really won't help me much, so I can sit back in my comfort zone between 155 and 160 bpm and go just about as fast.
The tough part of the elevation is the everyday living: I'm not sleeping well because each time I drift into sleep my respiration slows too much and I wake up with a big gasp for air. I repeat this for hours. Tonight I think I'll try a breathe right strip to help open the passages and maybe I can sleep better.
For added stress when I got up here my brakes were mushy and the levers pulled back closer to the handlebar: there's in the lines. Those tiny, inconsequential bubbles at sea level grew into problems at elevation. So I ran into a local shop here to have them bled and one of the handlebar clamps broke... this has happened before and Shimano warrantied the lever, but I'm sitting here with less than 3 days and no front brake. Luckily the guys at Podium Sports are on their game: before they called me to say it was broken, they phoned Shimano got the part warrantied with next day shipping. THEN they phoned me with the bad news and told me a free replacement was on it's way. By 11am this morning by bike was race-ready again. Well done! Had that not gone so smoothly, the boys at Win's Wheels we ready to next-day me the parts I needed. Having a solid working relationship with a top-notch bike shop has been imperative to any successes along the way. Hopefully I can reward the boys with a shiny new belt buckle. And the song goes:
4, 3, 2, 1
Earth below us
drifting, falling.
Floating weightless
calling, calling home...
The tough part of the elevation is the everyday living: I'm not sleeping well because each time I drift into sleep my respiration slows too much and I wake up with a big gasp for air. I repeat this for hours. Tonight I think I'll try a breathe right strip to help open the passages and maybe I can sleep better.
For added stress when I got up here my brakes were mushy and the levers pulled back closer to the handlebar: there's in the lines. Those tiny, inconsequential bubbles at sea level grew into problems at elevation. So I ran into a local shop here to have them bled and one of the handlebar clamps broke... this has happened before and Shimano warrantied the lever, but I'm sitting here with less than 3 days and no front brake. Luckily the guys at Podium Sports are on their game: before they called me to say it was broken, they phoned Shimano got the part warrantied with next day shipping. THEN they phoned me with the bad news and told me a free replacement was on it's way. By 11am this morning by bike was race-ready again. Well done! Had that not gone so smoothly, the boys at Win's Wheels we ready to next-day me the parts I needed. Having a solid working relationship with a top-notch bike shop has been imperative to any successes along the way. Hopefully I can reward the boys with a shiny new belt buckle. And the song goes:
4, 3, 2, 1
Earth below us
drifting, falling.
Floating weightless
calling, calling home...
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Are you ready?
The stupid little clock over there says 26 days, 15 hours... So here I am with 4 weeks to the start. Everyone keeps asking if I am ready. Maybe. Maybe not. To date I've ridden over 161 hours, covering 2,127 miles and have climbed 131,727 feet in preparation for Leadville. These numbers are impressive for me and are not too far off of an unattained annual goal I've made from time to time of riding 5,200 miles in a calendar year, to average 100 miles a week. But while riding through Santa Paula yesterday en route to 100 miles, a guy rode up to me and we chatted. He was riding from Saugus, went up to Ojai and now was on his way to Zuma Beach. Someone will always ride father and go faster than me.
So am I ready? I honestly won't know until I'm a few hours in to the race. I feel like if I can make the 4 hour time cut, I'll be good. I'm not worried about the 8 hour cut because if I make the 4 hour cut I can bank a little extra time and start my push up Columbine climb and back down. From there I can go slow. Probably real slow at times. And if I don't finish? Too bad... I not going to try again because all the training I've done to this point is all the training I am willing to do. I've turned myself inside out and have sacrificed a lot of time. The amount I've trained to this point is the maximum amount that I'm willing to do. If I tried again next year I wouldn't put one more minute into it. If this isn't good enough, then I'm not good enough and that is absolutely okay. I am sick of training. I mean even my tan lines have tan lines! It's ridiculous. Belt buckle or no, I've learned the depths of my commitment, how hard I can push myself physically and mentally and how supportive my family is, and most valuably how supportive my fiancée is. And all that is far more valuable than a damned belt buckle.
-PW
So am I ready? I honestly won't know until I'm a few hours in to the race. I feel like if I can make the 4 hour time cut, I'll be good. I'm not worried about the 8 hour cut because if I make the 4 hour cut I can bank a little extra time and start my push up Columbine climb and back down. From there I can go slow. Probably real slow at times. And if I don't finish? Too bad... I not going to try again because all the training I've done to this point is all the training I am willing to do. I've turned myself inside out and have sacrificed a lot of time. The amount I've trained to this point is the maximum amount that I'm willing to do. If I tried again next year I wouldn't put one more minute into it. If this isn't good enough, then I'm not good enough and that is absolutely okay. I am sick of training. I mean even my tan lines have tan lines! It's ridiculous. Belt buckle or no, I've learned the depths of my commitment, how hard I can push myself physically and mentally and how supportive my family is, and most valuably how supportive my fiancée is. And all that is far more valuable than a damned belt buckle.
-PW
Friday, July 2, 2010
The Countdown Starts
The nerves are getting a little shaky and life has been quite a challenge, but here we are with ~42 days until the starting shotgun is fired at Leadville. Physically I don't know how much more preparation I can do for the race, but I know there's plenty of time to blow it all. I'm still doing by scheduled weekday intervals, but the weekend rides seem way too short. How are 3 to 5 hour ride supposed to prep me for an 8 to 12 hour race? So I'm extending the distance on those rides. Saturday was a 5 hour jaunt around Lake Casitas and I felt pretty good but it's clear to me that I need to get more long distance rides under my belt. By mile 60 my ass hurt, by mile 70 I was slowing down and my legs were tired. So I'm getting closer and I know I could finish a hundred miler tomorrow, but it wouldn't be pretty. Including tomorrow I basically have 5 weekends left to prepare.
I've pared my equipment choices down and am close to having a final setup, but now there is a crack in my frame. I don't think it a huge problem, but the boys at Trek Bike of Ventura are going to try and get me a replacement in time for the race. Otherwise I'll race the cracked one. C'est le vie!
I have to say that some days I am simply tired to riding. It used to be so simple to just jump on and fall into a warmed and readied pace within a few minutes. Now it takes me about an hour of riding before everything feels relaxed and comfortable. I don't understand this phenomenon, but after that first hour the time and miles just fly by and next thing I know I'm nearing the end of my ride.
Happy Independence Day and I'll be out riding early and trying to enjoy the holiday weekend for the rest of the time. Enjoy!
-PW
I've pared my equipment choices down and am close to having a final setup, but now there is a crack in my frame. I don't think it a huge problem, but the boys at Trek Bike of Ventura are going to try and get me a replacement in time for the race. Otherwise I'll race the cracked one. C'est le vie!
I have to say that some days I am simply tired to riding. It used to be so simple to just jump on and fall into a warmed and readied pace within a few minutes. Now it takes me about an hour of riding before everything feels relaxed and comfortable. I don't understand this phenomenon, but after that first hour the time and miles just fly by and next thing I know I'm nearing the end of my ride.
Happy Independence Day and I'll be out riding early and trying to enjoy the holiday weekend for the rest of the time. Enjoy!
-PW
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tahoe
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