Overview:
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| 2019 Bourbon & Bluegrass Century |
Having been dealing with hamstring issues in my right leg when
running for a couple weeks now, no issues with it when riding, which limited my
running I decided to take at least a week off from running and started this
week. I will run 3 miles this coming
Tuesday and see how things are feeling and if any issues I will take another
week off from running as with the Grand Canyon R2R2R in October now is the time
to rest the hamstring and get it better.
That said it was not an entire week of rest.
I did use the extra time to do more stretching and do some body
weight exercises to work out the kinks in my legs and back. My schedule was pretty screwy this week so
only got in one ride mid week then the Bourbon & Bluegrass Century on
Saturday. Hard to tell how the hamstring
is doing but I have noticed that while before I could feel it was there even on
a ride or while walking or sitting, but no real pain, by the end of this week I
did not notice it at all– good news I am hoping.
Wednesdays 40 mile road ride was a nice paced ride where I
got close to a 20mph average and felt good the whole way. For this ride I started in a lower gear and rode
comfortably and then during the ride I did a number of tempo sections – even
getting my PR on a pretty steep hill.
For the Bourbon & Bluegrass Century Saturday the goal
was to ride with a group and set a good pace from the start and that is what
happened, well for 35 miles at least.
For the first 35 miles we averaged close to 23 and then at a rest stop a
few of us thought we were stopping to get water but that was not the case as
some went on. So we were down to about 4
or 5 people and we rode at a good pace for the next 12 miles where the next
stop was. One of the goals of this ride
for me was to not stop as often, and only quickly for more water when I did
stop, so that my elapsed time was shorter so when we got to mile 47 I went on
while the others stopped – also thinking
maybe I could catch up to the larger group that went on at the next rest
stop. My bad, as the larger group we had
been with was at the rest stop I bypassed waiting for us but I could not see
the stop as it was off the course some – I should have thought of tis as they
had not stopped yet and this rest area was at about half-way. I did see a group ahead and thought I could
catch then so pushed pretty hard for 5-7 miles doing from 22-24 mph but
realized that they were going as hard as I was since I picked up some distance
but nowhere near enough to catch on and I finally blew up and had to relax for
a few miles or have an issue making it to the finish. Thus started my solo 55 mile ride– did catch
the group ahead at the 60 mile aid station but they were leaving as I pulled in
but I needed some water and by the time I was done, even if only 2-3 minutes,
they were probably a mile down the road and I would never could catch them. My goal then became to keep my moving time
under 5 hours for the ride and not get caught from behind – got both of those
even if I only got under 5 hours by a few seconds.
While I was bummed to ride over half the ride alone it did
turn out to be a good ride for training as my elapsed time was only about 12
minutes, 2+ of which was being caught at an intersection waiting on a couple
semi-trailers to get through, more than my moving time so I was able to get 4
rest stops done in about 10 minutes total.
I never bonked but was for sure tired and hot. I also, at about 90 miles or so, got a major
adductor, inner thigh, cramp which slowed me for a couple miles but was able to
work though it and get over the last few little hills that felt much bigger
after 90 miles. The ride is pretty flat
with what hills there are being in the last 1/2 of the ride. Again, while it would have been nice to ride
with the group in a pace-line looking back this was probably the better
training for me as I am sure I will have a good chance of getting caught out in
the middle of nowhere on my own during the Dirty Kanza 200 next year and for much longer than the 57
miles I rode alone today.
As an aside I rode with the new SFuels-Race formula today
and it seems to have worked well and I really like the light flavor. Need to work on if I am drinking enough, or
too much, and when as I tend to be one who once I start drinking fluids seems
to want it non-stop – even feeling a little bloated at times but still wanting
more. One difference in this ride was I
worked to get the ride going pretty quickly so did not really get in a good
warm-up so that may have affected my nutrition some or at the least was a
difference from other rides. I will need
to work on this next week as I am sure the Kentucky Gravel Championships will
go out faster and I want to stay close as long as possible not as much for the
racing as to not get lost and with some help for lines to take on the
course. I also used the AMPHuman
PRLotion and am sold that it is works.
Not in a miraculous extra energy sort of way but just that it does seem
to keep, buffer, the lactic acid at bay, the result of the lotions bicarbonate
that goes into your legs, or wherever you use it, transdermaly,. An extra benefit that is worth it if nothing
else came from using it is that my legs feel much better the next day.
Relive 'Bourbon & Bluegrass Century'
Diet Notes:
Nothing really to report this week other than kept diet
around my normal levels of 100-150 grms of carbs a day with some more and some
less but in that range. Also, as I mentioned
above I need to look at long ride/run/race nutrition for those times I go out
harder for long events as it does work the body differently. This seems to come into play more when riding
than running as for long runs it is much easier to go out easy to get the body
warmed up but for long rides in a group missing the pace line early puts one at
a large disadvantage in energy usage.
More to come on this as while I Dirty Kanza I do not want to go out hard
I am sure I will get dragged along as, again, do not want to miss some easier
miles in the pace line. As usual below
is my fueling for this past weekends Century:
Pre-ride meal the night before:
- 10oz Ribeye, Sweet potato with regular butter, side salad with Ranch – did have a couple dinner rolls that I gave into.
- Not the usual pre-ride meal but a ribeye is a good choice as it is higher in fat and then get carbs with the sweet potato. Listen to this podcast with Jeff Browning and he when asked about his pre-race meal the night before he eats much the same before an ultra and I have heard Zack Bitter eat much the same.
Century Pre-Ride Fueling:
- Modified Bullet Proof Coffee (MBPC) – Coffee, Butter, Coconut Oil, Collagen, Raw Egg, Heavy Cream and Chocolate Primal Fuel
- One 20oz bottle of water with 2 scoops UCAN, 2 scoops SFuels-Train and one Vesap Concentrate
Ride Fueling;
- 8 – S!Caps – 2 each hour – was warm out
- 4 – 27oz Bottles of water with SFuels-Race
- 2 – 27oz Bottles of just water
- 1 - Vespa at 50 miles
- ½ a UCAN Coffee bar over course of ride
- Took a 2 Maurten 100 Gels – one at about 60 miles and one at 85
Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
- Monday & Tuesday: Rest (Did do stretching and some body weight exercises)
- Wednesday: Ride – 40.8Miles
- Thursday & Friday: Rest – (Did do stretching and some body weight exercises Thursday)
- Saturday: Ride – 102 Miles
- Sunday: - Rest
Totals:
- Running Miles – 0
- Riding Miles – 142.8
- Total Time – 7:02
Month End Totals
- Running Miles – 89.3
- Riding Miles – 458.8
- Total Time - 41:51:59
Conclusions:
I have a PT appointment on Monday and as I do not like to
run or ride after them I will give my hamstring a try on Tuesday or Wednesday
and do a 3 mile route that is out and back so that I can cut it short if there
are issues. Depending on how that run
goes I will run a couple more times but keep the runs to 3 miles just to ease
back into it. Also, as I am riding the
Kentucky Gravel Championships on a tough 61+ mile course this weekend I will
probably only get in a 30-40 mile easy ride during the week so as to be ready
for the rocks, mud, dirt, creeks and heat this weekend. This will only be my second gravel/mtn bike
ride so is just all part of the process of getting ready for next years Dirty
Kanza and learning to ride off road.
While this race is on county roads they are in many places pretty rugged
for a road. The goals for the race are,
in order: Have fun & Finish, No
flats or mechanicals, Get under 6 hours, Do the best I can in the 50+ age group
– oh yea and maybe this should be first: Not Get Hurt.
As always if you have questions or comments leave a note
below in the comments.
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