Close to Race Day – 100K MTB Plan

[slueth]

Lynda

 

I am two weeks out from the Ouachita Challenge and think training has been going well…up until yesterday.  Including trainer miles and time outside, I have been able to turn a little over 1400 miles since starting the plan on January 9.  Completed all of the workouts with the intended zones, etc.  The only thing that was difficult to do was spend as much time on a singletrack environment as was intended due to weather, short days, and trail conditions in the Midwest.  Spent most of the short rides on a trainer with the longer rides on the MTB or cross bike riding gravel roads.  Trying to get some real time conditions with wind, steeper hills, soft road conditions, etc. on the gravel roads.

 

Yesterday was the first time I was able to get out on an actual MTB trail.  Did not go as well as I planned in that I was only able to get 35 miles in 5 hours and was gassed to the point I could not finish.  Was not hurting from cardio issues…legs were just dead.  I could not keep control of my heart rate and found it consistently in zone 4 and 5.  I basically burnt myself up and could not finish.  Trail conditions were really soft and pulled hard.  This trail system is rather small with approx. 13 miles of trails before you start a new loop, but rather technical with significant climbs (Nothing like Ouachita though).  I thought I was taking it fairly easy, but could not keep the heart rate down.  A little concerned with only two weeks out from the event and technically should be starting the descent and recovery for the race.  Is this something I should be concerned about or was it just early year jitters on the trail? 

 

Regarding yesterday’s ride, I also lost about 8 pounds of water in the 5 hours I was able to ride.  And did not take any endurolytes.  Maybe part of the problem?  I have not played around with the endurolytes as you suggested in earlier workouts.

 

Also, with two weeks out, I have a couple of questions regarding nutrition.  Let me know if this is something you would rather not answer, but I will throw them out there anyway.

 

1. Anything special I should be doing for my diet in the next two weeks to prepare for race day?
2. Race Day start is at 8:00 am.  Regarding breakfast and timing of eating, what would seem to be the good selection of breakfast foods and what would be the timing for eating to best “pre-fuel” the body?

Thanks for all your help.

 

slueth

[Lynda]

Dehydration will cause HR to be elevated, heavy legs and fatigue. My best bet is that is your issue. Losing 8 lbs in 5 hours is significant. Drink more and take electrolytes as suggested in the plan.

Nutrition

1. Yes! The special sauce secret to pre-race nutrition is to keep it normal. Avoid any new and strange foods and diets pre-race. Normal…

2. Eat your normal breakfast at least 2 hours before the start of the race. Avoid any new and strange foods and diets pre-race.

Lynda

[slueth]

Thanks…additional info would be I consumed approx. 100 oz of plain water, 30 oz water w/ HEED and 30 oz water w/ Perpetuem in hte 5 hours, but I am guessing my timing was probably bad.  As I recollect…I completed my first loop (IE 1 hour) before I really took a chance to really take on water.

 

In summary, if dehydration is the issue (which I agree with you)…maybe I started a little dehydrated and then did not consume enough early.  Basically got behind and never could get caught up.  What are some early symptoms and what can I do to get “caught up” if I start noticing early symptoms of dehydration?  Is it really possible to get “caught up” on fluid during an event?

[Lynda]

The earliest symptom is your heart rate is too high for a given effort. It certainly is possible to catch up once you are behind. In hot conditions replacing your Perpetuem with HEED will be better. Perpetuem is tough to digest on hot days.

Lynda

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