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| Castelli had me covered head to toe! |
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6 Hour Race Nutrition: Nuun, Nuun performance,
Larabar Bites, Jelly Belly Sports Beans,
& French’s Mustard of course!
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Secondly, I want to personally congratulate and give kudos to Nicole Volek, who completed (and WON!) her very first Ultra Distance Bike Race, completing 24 laps/149.04 miles in 11:40:29! Nicole won the Traughber Nutrition Sponsorship, and worked with Shane Traughber in the months leading up to the race to dial in her nutrition and training, and boy did it pay off! I’m so happy for her, and proud of the hard work and dedication that she put into preparing for this event!
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| Christopher Bean Coffee saved the day! |
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| To Jacket or not to Jacket? Brrr. .. |
In the week prior to the race, I had gone back and forth 100 times about whether to race my Road Bike (Cervelo S5) or TT bike (Cervelo P3). I’m perfectly comfortable with the mileage on either one, but this course is just sooo hilly, and even though the hills roll into each other fairly well, I was concerned that the additional weight of the P3 would end up fatiguing me earlier than my S5, and slowing me down toward the end. . . I left it to a last minute decision on race morning. . .as we were packing to leave the house, it was still raining outside. I’d just had my P3 overhauled for the 2018 season by the awesome Mechanics at Austin Tri-Cyclist, and I’m racing my first big Stage Race of the year in 2 weeks (Valley of the Sun), so I opted to leave “Wicked” at home because I didn’t want to grime up her bottom bracket with a bunch of road spray on the back of my car. . .this ultimately was not the best decision. . more on this later!
The day started off on the chilly side, misting heavily during our drive out to Pace Bend Park, but beginning to clear by the time that we got there. The 6 Hour race went off at Noon, so #TeamTracyATX rolled in about 9:15am to set up our tent in the VIP area, pick up packets, do a final check of the bike, and of course share the warm, delicious goodness of Christopher Bean Coffee with fellow racers! Pro Tip: Fastest way to make friends at a chilly bike race: Bring Good Coffee!
I knew that there was a pre-race meeting at 11:45, but didn’t realize that we’d be rolling straight from the meeting into the start of the race. . so I had to do a bit of last minute scrambling to stuff my pockets w/ gels, throw on my helmet, and grab my phone/headset. . at 11:44 . . oops! In the rush, I somehow managed to forget chamois cream. . .but THANK GOODNESS the Chamois in my Castelli SanRemo 3.2 Speed Suit was kind to me, and I didn’t even realize that I’d forgotten the Chamois Cream until after the race, and was fortunate to escape without any chaffing or “issues” – phew!
As I stood at the start line, there was a noticeable chill in the air, and I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to start with my jacket or not. I knew I’d be a little chilly for the first lap if I shed it prior to the start, but was worried that I would have to stop and put a foot down to ditch it, and didn’t want to stop at all during my race, so I decided to start without it – good call! I was plenty warm by 1 mile into the race 🙂
Another thought running through my head at the start line: “OMG – nearly every single person is on a TT bike. . . yikes. . did i make the wrong call? Oh Well. . .too late now!!”
This race was non-drafting, but we were allowed to draft through the end of the first lap in order to allow the mass start to naturally break up, as everyone found their own pace and settled into it. The race started fast and furious, and I went off with a group of 3-4 guys that surged off the front from the start line. Our little group naturally broke up about half-way through the first lap, and when I glanced briefly over my shoulder, I didn’t see anyone else in sight, which meant that I had the lead in the 6 hour female division.
My plan going into the race was to hold a steady ~190W (3.15 W/Kg) from start to finish. I knew this would be a tall ask, as I got a super late start to my base training as a result of the Zwift Academy Semi-Finals, and haven’t done any rides longer than ~3 hours since the WTTC in Borrego Springs in early November . . but I wanted to push my limits to see what I was capable of, so that was the plan! I also hoped to complete 1 lap more than last year, for a total of 19 laps, before the 6 hour time cutoff. Of course, I hoped that holding these #s would result in the win, because those sweet Beast Mode Trophies are the best things ever!
Despite my careful planning and calculations, I found myself settling in comfortably at ~200-205W after the madness of the 1st lap. My HR was behaving, and my legs felt great, so I thought to myself “What the hell… I’m just going to hold it here for a little while”. My husband, Jamie was texting my gaps to me each lap, and they would display on my head unit, so I knew that I was holding about a fairly steady 1:30-2:00 gap on Christina Bonnington in 2nd. 4 hours in, I scrolled through my screens on my Edge to find that my Normalized Power race-to-date was just over 200W, with an Avg Pwr Output of 195. . .my legs were really starting to feel the effort, so I decided to back it down just a hair.
About the same time (3-4 hours in), the wind started picking up significantly. We had a head wind down the back side of the loop, which was more down then up, and significantly favored those on TT bikes. . .I was fighting so hard just to push into that wind, even when going down hill, and despite being on a super Aero Road bike, I just didn’t feel like I could get tucked enough while still pedaling. I could almost feel Christina gaining on me every lap down the back side, but there wasn’t anything that I could do about it, so I just kept tucking as much as I possibly could, while trying to keep my power up, which was becoming increasingly difficult as my legs continued to fatigue, and the headwind became more and more vicious. I was mentally kicking myself big time for leaving Wicked at home at this point!
About 5 hours in, both of my calves started to severely cramp to the point that I could barely put any pressure into the pedals without excruciating pain. Shortly thereafter, my inner thighs (knee to groin) joined the party, and then my abs, of all things. . crap!! I shouted at Jamie my next time through the pit area to have some mustard packets taped to a bottle for me the next lap to help kill the cramps, and just did my best to keep pedaling through the next lap, but my power fell off significantly. I took the mustard handup at the start of lap 17, but the damage was already done. My leg muscles were convulsing like crazy. When the cramping finally settled down, I was able to put a little more power into the pedals, but found that my muscles were literally bruised from the severe cramping, and I just couldn’t pick it back up to 190W despite my best efforts. Christina had made up 1:30 on me during lap 16, and I knew it was only a matter of time until she passed me.
Sure enough, about 1/2 way through lap 17, she went flying by, looking as strong as ever, and despite my best efforts to keep her in sight, my legs just wouldn’t give it to me. I poured everything that I had into that last 1 1/2 laps, hoping that I’d still manage to cross the start/finish line with 18 minutes to spare so that I would have a chance of hammering out a 19th lap, but the best I could manage was 18 laps in 5:43:37. My fastest lap of the day had been ~17 minutes, and that was the “drafting” lap when I was 100% fresh, so I knew that there was just no way that I’d be able to complete another lap in the 16:23 remaining on the clock, and called it a day with 18 laps / 112 miles under my wheels. I finished in 2nd place, 1:14 down on Christina, who raced a super smart race, held a steady pace throughout, and 100% earned that epic Beast Mode Trophy!
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| Post Race Smiles w/ Teammate, Missy & The Vegan Athlete, Kyle! |
After rolling through the finish line, I briefly congratulated Christina on her win, and then got a little assistance from Jamie dismounting my bike! Smiles and Hugs were shared by all, and it seemed like pretty much everyone that I chatted with post-race was pleased with their performance and the way that their race had played out :-).
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| World’s BEST Crew Chief AND Hubby! |
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Women’s 6 Hour Podium:
1st: Christina Bonnington
2nd: Christie Tracy
3rd: Allison Atkinson
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I also have to send a quick shout-out to Coach Extraordinaire Matt Seagrave, who apparently ran not just one, but TWO trail races on Saturday, yet somehow still managed to make the time to stalk my progress online and text me words of encouragement throughout my race. Talk about going above and beyond!
Looking back on my race, I am VERY happy to have averaged 190 Normalized Power for the duration of the race, and thrilled with the metrics improvements across the board from Pace Bend Ultra 2017 (my first Ultra Race). That said, I could and should have done a better job off holding a STEADY 190W from start to finish rather than starting out at 200+, and fading to the point that I could barely hold 160W by the finish.
While I didn’t meet my goal of 19 laps, I DID average 0.25 W/Kg more over the entirety of the race at only 3bpm higher avg HR, knocked ~6 minutes, 30 seconds off my time, averaging 0.3 mph faster in windier conditions, improved my average cadence from 85 to 91, and “lasted” a bit longer before my power started to fall off this year. I honestly feel that if I could have managed to avoid those horrid cramps, I could have finished the race much stronger, and held ~190W through to the finish. (coulda, shoulda, woulda, right?)
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| 2017 Ride File |
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| 2018 Ride File |
Okay, so now for Lessons Learned:
- If I’m on the fence about which bike to race, TAKE THEM BOTH! I kicked myself SO HARD for leaving Wicked (TT Bike) at home once those winds kicked up 3-4 hours in!
- Practice What I Preach! DON’T GO OUT TOO HARD! I already knew that holding 190W over ~6 hours would be pushing my limits, so I don’t know WHAT I was thinking when I decided to just settle in at 200W. . . I really think my cramping was much more due to over-exertion/pushing too hard than it was to any kind of nutritional, electrolyte, or hydration issues. IF I had dialed it back just a little more from the 2nd lap on, there is a good chance that I wouldn’t have cramped up to the extent that I did, and would have had more left in the tank to finish strong with, possibly resulting in holding on to that lead through the finish. . . .learned this one the hard way!
- The Ultra Racing Community is AMAZING, and I love the fact that I had the opportunity to help cheer on many of my fellow racers throughout the day, and their encouraging words out there on the road helped pull me through some tough times too!
- I can’t “win them all”, and I truly CAN be happy with meeting my performance goals, even if it doesn’t result in a top step on the podium! I’m genuinely thrilled with my ride (outside of the cramping).
Well, that’s THAT! Glad to have the 1st race of the year under my wheels, and very much looking forward to what 2018 has in store for #TeamTracyATX!
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#NeverNotSmiling!
Photo Credit: Rob Jan Martinez
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