Crunching Numbers, pt 2

To better understand this post, you should probably read "Crunching Numbers, pt 1".

Last year I decided that I wanted to do some XC Endurance events for 2008. After reading the blogs of Harvey, Eddie and Nam O, Danielle, Harlan Price, and others it seemed so attractive that I just couldn't deny trying it. So I decided I better bring myself in slowly by doing the 6hrs of Santos. At the race I went off the front with Shawn S. and Greg D. and we created a huge gap. But at 3hrs, 55mins mark my legs were cramping up, and my stomach would not hold any food. I was practically finish racing at the 4hr mark. I had gone right into cramping up, and it would switch from quad to quad, and hamstring to hamstring, and finally hamstring and quad at the same time.

So I realized I had to study Endurance racing like I had studied everything else I do, and come up with some reason why I think I can pull it off.

What I have going against me is a couple of things. I'm genetically built like a sprinter, and I don't think it's ideal for attempting Endurance Races. The second thing is historically speaking my background in racing is only XC, which does not go over 2 and a half hours in 95% of the races I have done. The third thing is I am prone to cramping up after 2 hrs of hard racing, especially in hot weather. It does not even matter if I'm super hydrated. The last thing that I could think of is going from a 2 hrs XC race to 12 hours of racing is borderline "Insane" to put the body through.

Now, what I have going for myself. Since I played table tennis between 4-6hrs a day, I have built up my body to be more aerobic based, instead of ballistic. I love the concept of riding much longer races where you really get a chance to see the race really play out from a "Will Power" standpoint. You get a chance to really see if it is just talent, or a really fighting "Spirit" in getting a result. The second thing is I can do 100 mile rides on my road bike, and have NEVER encountered a problem with cramping. What is most important is once I have created the cirriculum for any program I have done better than expected. The last and most important is I have never half-assed it once I was Dedicated to the task.

These are the reason I decided that I should start crunching numbers so that I could create a startline and a finishline to being prepared to attempt this type of event. What I did first was I started to crunch the numbers for all XC Endurance races that I followed in 2007. I also got a little bit of advice from Eddie O of 55nine performance last year on exactly what training zones you should be in when training for this type of event.

I basically followed the 12 hr events because they show lap times. It is difficult to mention the 12-hrs of Oleta as it does not have really depth on a high level. The first real event with significant competition was obviously the 12hrs of Razorback. Because it got put on the National Calendar it attracted some really good Endurance races in the likes of Harlan Price, Rob Lichtewalner, Harvey Minton, Ernesto Marencin, and Chris J. Now these guys are very heavy hitters. It essentially was a 2 man race after 2 hours as Harlan and Rob rode awy from the pack. Harvey and Chris had a battle right down the wire, so it essentially was a 4 man race. Not to mention the distance, and the fact that Razorback has fangs.

I won't count the Hospice 100 as it only 62 miles, and it's done essentially on a XC course instead of a endurance course. The next event that I could look at lap times is the 12 hours of Tsali. There were 4 riders in 12hr race, but it was a 1 man race, as Brandon lapped is 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place compeitors. When the winner can lap his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place competitors, it lets you know that the word "Pro Mtn Biker" is really a relative term and should be used loosely. I followed all the NUE Series races, but they are normally set up to do 2 long laps, or just out and back. But Chris Eatough, Harlan P, and a whole host of other very strong riders dominate those races. After reading some of the post that riders put on their blogs, I was able to get an idea of how things went down without having to look at laptimes.

The next event was the 12-hrs of Santos. It was a 2 man race as Drew and Bob went off the front of our group 6-hr group of Greg D,Shawn S and I. I'm convinced to the deepest part of my soul that the pace the 12-hr guys were going was above XC race pace and they would have paid for it big time. Chris J. and Eddie O are the real veterans in that kind of race and I think they would have brought it back. I think they both got caught up in a duel, and they went to try to crack each other early in the race. The race got called because of dangerous thunder and lighting, and trees down. It would have been nice to see how the back end of that race would have finished since I got a chance to ride the same course.

2 weeks later Eddie O won the 12hrs of Dauset, and Harvey finished second. Harvey got a pretty nasty mechanical, if not, it would have been a much more intimate race. Looking at the results it look like Harvey brought it back to within a minutes, that that was some really intense races. But they rode away from 3rd place, so it was a 2-man duel.

Now, I need to get to more number crunching with the little info that I can put together. First thing, I need to spend more time riding on my mtn bike to get comfortable with riding for very long periods of time in the attack position on a mtn bike. I need a dress rehearsal before I get to Santos. So on Sunday, my plan was to go out to Markham and do it "Godzilla".(It means big people, you know "Grande)

I slept in on MLK, did some reflecting on how far we have come as a society. We have a black man and a women in the race to be president, that's just awesome. We have come a long way. Enough with being preachy.

I can say after the sprinting on foot on Sunday that I woke up and the legs were a little bit tender, but not enough to say that they were sore. But the balls of my feet, toes, my abs, and biceps were really sore. I packed up and went to Markhum and I thought about how I wanted to make the ride really one to remember. In the car I came up with a plan. I would ride around the park to warm up (3.5miles), then do 2 laps back to back, get more water and ride around the park again, then 2 more laps, then ride the levy up to Atlantic in Coral Springs, then back. That is about as epic as I can make it. That would make it a 51 mile ride on the mtn bike, which is something that I need if I want to race longer Endurance events.

I get to the park and my Active Cycles teammate Tom Pike shows up right with me, and we chat and catch up as we have not seen each other since the Amelia race last month. Michelle didn't make it out to ride as she was having some abdominal pain, so I wish here a speedy recovery, and a quick return to the single-track. As I'm ready to start my warm-up around the park, Richard Diaz shows up and I tell him what I plan to do, and he tags along with me as Andres has not shown up yet. There is the nastiest wind head going South West, and makes is almost impossible to ride in, so I know that there will most likely be no riding the levy for me as it would just be too much of a hassle to ride for 10 miles into a 20mph wind.

After we get back to the entrance into the trail Andres is there unloading and has Jorge Cortez with him, so I opt to go in by myself and I find a nice flow, but I don't feel so good yet. I know that my breakfast was still on my stomach and I haven't had any water yet. But I'm doing the first 2 laps back to back, and I have 2 bottles, so I work that out. I finish the first lap, and I feel even worst on the second lap, and I lose 90 seconds. Once I get out I realize it's just too windy to ride around the park, so I decided to not ride around the park, but to do 2 more laps which would make it 6.

I get 2 more water bottles and I head right back in for laps 3 and 4. Now, my legs have found a mode and the burn is at bay and I have a nice clip going. I finish that lap 1 minute slower than my first, and go back in and do the same speed for the 4th lap. I get 2 more bottles, and head in for the 5th and 6th laps. My goal was to ride in the 150’s for as much as I can, and that is what I did the first 4 laps. In fact, my 6th laps was faster than my 2nd-5th laps. My 6 HR's were 158bpm, 152bpm, 152bpm, 155bpm, 153bpm, and 158bpm. Here is the chart for it.

I spent 100 minutes between 150-160bpm, and I can't get more "Endurance based" than that. I'm going to try to keep putting together big rides between now and Santos, but I honestly think that for where my form is, the 6hr event is more ideal for me. I don't want to force the form to try to do the 12hr, so I'm going to be smart based on where my form is, rather than what my head is thinking.

I'm sure if any real Endurance rider reads this post, they will see that I have probably left out 10 factors in training, nutrition, pacing, etc. The good thing about putting together a program, is you can modify it as you go along. I think the important thing to do is keep putting together good workouts that make sense.

Only time will tell if any of this makes sense, and of course I give you all the details.

Later Planet Earth

Pacer Out!