So somehow I managed to get through an entire summer last year of riding while big and pregnant without being a sweaty mess. Now that I'm not pregnant and should be at my peak, I'm a sweating like a pig (do pigs actually sweat?) that can't stay hydrated to save my life.
Case and point...ORAMM.. We prerode the Kitsuma downhill the day before and I was pretty stoked to race the following day. I had a good start, just a bit behind Carey and was feeling good and enjoying the gradual warmup as we rolled out of town. Once we started climbing, I settled into a nice 170 HR and rode behind Carey for a while. About halfway up, I had to let her go to keep my HR in check but was cruising along in second place feeling pretty good. Just before the top of the climb, another fast lady, Paula, came by, which is fine because I knew it was a long race and I certainly wasn't going to chase anyone early on. Did I mention it was close to 100 degrees up there?
The descent was awesome.. I jumped off at a couple sketchy sections, as either line down them was blocked by someone walking slowly. Not only did that save me from potential crashing and injury, but I passed 3-5 guys on each of those sections with my graceful 'run-a-bike' ninja skills. I ran the last bit at gazelle speed and even had one guy say "Damn, nice move!" and I wasn't even on my bike. The rest of the downhill was flowy and fast. I crept up on the guys in front of me and didn't get caught by any of the clusterf*ck behind me. When I hit the bottom of the descent, I was 1:15 in and still feeling good, though it was HOT. I had some gel and drank some water.
The next section up Star Gap is a long switchbacky, low speed climb. I was sweating buckets here and I guess I didn't keep up with the hydration and calories so well because this is where I started to feel really lethargic and lightheaded. I figured I'd recover on my way into the second aid station and then fill up on calories and coke there.
After a quick refuel, I started up Curtis Creek. I felt good for about 10 minutes but then the Coke buzz wore off and I started deteriorating quickly. I was taking in fluids, but I think I had already worked my way into such a deficit that I couldn't replenish the fluids that I lost. By 1/2 way up I was soft pedaling in my small ring just to keep moving. Then the cramps set in...foot cramps and my hip flexors. WTF? Never had my hip flexors cramp before... So by 3/4 way up I'm pretty much dying a slow death and only plodding on because I know there are cold drinks up the road a bit. I keep seeing people riding back down the hill towards me...hmmm...tempting. I don't think I could have possibly rode any slower and not fallen over. It was crazy that I was still holding 3rd place, despite my slower-than-walking-pace riding.
I hit the aid station and decided I'd hang out a while and try to regroup. I sat down on one of the coolers and drank cokes and water and shoved all kinds of food in my face. I think they were wondering when I was going to leave, because I was tearing through their supply of food. After maybe 10-15 mins, a group of ladies pulls in. Andrea asked me if I was going on and I said, "I think I'm going to camp out here." I'm pretty sure they were all happy to hear that. I finally got up, reassesed my condition and found that my cramping was getting worse and I was still lightheaded despite the massive calorie bomb I just swallowed. Fearing getting to the point where I was laying on the side of the road writhing in pain, I decided not to continue and rode back down Curtis Creek. I was bummed because I really wanted to ride the downhills, but considering I cramped up riding back down the forest road, I would have been in bad shape down Heartbreak Ridge. I still felt pretty bad riding easy back into town, so it was probably a good thing I pulled out early.
Back at the finish, and even on the ride home, I was still completely out of it and cramping up when the car would go over bumps. Now I have a headache 2.5 days later still...ugh. It is imperative that I train myself to eat and drink more WHILE racing or I'll never finish a race over three hours. Not to mention, the recovery has been painfully slow. Bad Lisa, BAD! The faster I get, the dumber I get it seems. I think for my next race Chris is going to write EAT and DRINK really big on both my arms so I remember...
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2 comments:
Dang, that stinks you could not finish but Lisa, I am GLAD you opted out, health and well-being first because there is no opting out of mommy hood when you get home. I was worried about you when I didn't see you on the list and told Julia too.
You would have def been second we all already know that and I commend your efforts. I spent the day trekking aimlessly around Canton trying to find a CP that was buried in a pricker bush, I could hardly walk after 6 hours of that and quit early too. You are the best, nice job, glad you are okay, hopefully the headache goes away soon!
I drank 170 ounces of fluid that day and still developed a headache climbing up Curtis Creek.
I made the mistake of not eating/drinking at the 2009 Ouachita 80 miler. The next race I wrote EAT with a Sharpie on my arm. Since then I have not forgotten.
You'll learn, my Ninja run-a-bike friend!
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