2013 MBAA Finals Pre-ride and Prep

This is it. The MBAA finals is around the corner. This was one of the races I got my feet wet last year so I thought I already knew the course. That gave me some relief as I'd been gone 2 weekends in a row for races and I needed a weekend home. I did the Cat 3 course last year and knew the Cat 2 did the same with an extra Red loop topping out at 17ish miles and 1500 ft of climbing. Meh, big deal right? Well, luckily someone mentioned that the Cat 2 course was way different this year which prompted me to go check.

2012 MBAA Finals 1st Cat 3 race - The log on last stretch

Oops almost endoed!

HOLY COW! WHAT IN THE HELL!? TOTALLY different. 26 miles and 3600 ft of climbing!? This bastard would take around 3 hrs. I just got done with the Whiskey for god sakes and wasn't expecting another effort like that until next year. My little Cat 2 legs were used to 14-17 miles, 1-1.5 hrs long, 1000-1500ft of climbing with loops that were all cuddled-up safe and sound next to the venue. They had us going on a gigantic 26 mile loop out into the pine forest abyss where if I got lost would have to incorporate some of the survival methods I learned on the show "I Shouldn't Be Alive."

Oh man, forget that nice weekend off at home. I'm going to HAVE to pre-ride this. My category is packed with stiff competition as we have been the largest of the women categories so far this year. Many of them excel in longer races like this with lots of climbing. With that one race drop rule, I was in the lead with Tina Stocking close behind. If I win or place ahead, I'm good. If she's ahead of me, I'll need to be at least 2 places from her to get the overall. This was before knowing that Darci Komac and Shandra Lee weren't going to race. I thought, crap all three are climby climbersons and I bet they were licking their lips at this course. Demelza Davis and Connor Gifford were in that mix too and it'd be a fight for the top spots. I was worried. Of course I want to win this race but I know my limits and conditioning at this moment. This type of race is teetering on survival vs. race for me. Next year though, no problem!

The next Saturday I went on up to Flag and pre-rode. It was awesome but I became nervous when thinking about racing it. Going race speeds on the exposed, somewhat technical back end for miles scared the hell out of me. I knew I could catch people on this sketchy part (downhill mostly) after possibly getting passed on the 5 mile grind up Elden Rd before that. Should I really go that fast on this exposed section? You fall off the edge and you'll roll down for a while DEFINITELY hurting your chances of winning or perhaps walking or breathing again. Parts like this freak me out because of my fear of heights. Mountain biking has helped me overcome this, but it's still a work in progress. And this is not like an "Oh how cute, you're afraid of heights. Well just don't look" type of fear. Thanks for the unique advice by the way. Never thought of that before. No, I'm talking "vertigo, puking, pass out, suck my thumb in the fetal position when I'm w/in 30 ft near any steep edge" fear. I'm a basketball player at heart and my peripheral vision is always on "see the whole court." "Do you want to win this?! - my inner coach screams. You better change your focus! Besides, the majority isn't a sheer drop, just maybe an average of a 70 deg angle sometimes less, sometimes more. Those down trees will catch your fall after you've rolled a good 100ft. No worries!

By the time we got done with the pre-ride, I was exhausted. I found I took several wrong turns and spent quite a bit of rest time figuring out where in the hell we were on the map. This is AFTER the dude marking the course went by us even. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized the epic riding I just did. Talk about amazing trails to go fart around on but again, I'm racing this sucker - a whole different ballgame.


As we were driving back, I thought about my strategy. I really didn't know what I was going to do. I walked quite a few sections on that backside. I was shaky the entire time back there. Was it my fear of heights? Was it exhaustion after the big climb? Was it my asthma up that high (~9000ft)? I had no clue. I decided to shut my brain off with that part and concentrate on how I'd fuel myself. I had just got done a couple weeks prior with the Whiskey and this was similar in climbing and length. I cramped bad during the Whiskey, and was dying for real water by the first aide station only having a Carborocket mix. The GUs I had worked well though. I didn't take one before the start which I wish I would have. I instead had a bottle of Carborocket during warm-up and before the start. This time, I was going to GU it before the start for sure.

Hmm, I thought a bit about it. Let's try a mix of liquid energy and electrolytes in my pack except this time Beth gave me some GU Brew. It had proven to be awesome so far in a couple of my group rides. I wasn't sure about race pace though so I planned on using it all week for all rides to get use to it. The GU Brew wasn't as potent as the Carborocket in calories so I'll tape extra GUs on my bike as well. The taping method was so much easier than fighting with my jersey pockets. Ok, so a 3 L mixture of GU Brew in my pack and a bottle of water to wash down my GUs. I learned not having that pure H2O option was torture during the Whiskey. Wait do I really need 3 L? Elden is right at first and that's a lot to carry up it. Stop being a weight weenie! Your body needs 3 L for a 3 hr effort right now. End of story.

Ok so how about other fuel? No - no solids, no blocks. I've found that taking in solids during race pace is near impossible. Have you ever tried to chew something while sprint running? Try running a 200m dash while opening a package with your teeth ever-so-perfectly, then chewing it the entire way while trying to breathe and go just as fast. Good luck! I can't believe I even thought that was an ok idea at one point. Go ahead and eat solids if you feel like being cotton mouth and chewing forever then followed by a forced swallow and regurgitation. That is if the sucker doesn't get jolted out of your hand before getting it to your mouth even. I learned that lesson from the first MBAA race at McDowell where trying to down something solid when you're vying for position isn't the easiest. Then it just sits in your stomach. You can feel it there just sitting, waiting for

MBAA Mcdowell - I'm in the green. See my stupid feeder bag?

your body to expend extra energy to digest it. I was on this Honey Stinger waffle kick around Fat Tire 40 time. Big sale on them thanks to Lance. They're so good but by my 2nd one during the FT40, I about barfed trying to get it down and the group I was in slowly drifted away. It felt like I chewed for hours. The shot blocks I tried to eat flew out of the package both times. I guess I'm not graceful enough to open it perfectly while racing. I don't know. The second time the blocks as well as everything in my feeder bag went flying out as I hit unexpected turbulence. Aw, the feeder bag. Not such a bad idea at first but then as I got faster, it got harder to deal with. Potentially good for a road race, not so good for mountain races. I'm starting to learn that GUs and/or liquid calories seem to be the answer for most of these races.

2013 MBAA Race #1 - McDowell

Not all energy gels are created equal by the way. I've tried GUs mostly. I like their consistency. The double caffeine Roctanes were my gel of choice. The Hammer Gels were so damn thick I might as well have had a piece of beef jerky. Cliff shots were ok but the one I liked with double caffeine was very sweet and hard on the stomach. Honey Stinger gels weren't bad but they too were extra sweet not to mention kind of expensive. I tried some others that were expensive but they worked just the same. The GUs seemed to have that perfect bang for the buck, taste, and my stomach liked them better.


When should I have my GUs? When should I drink? You may laugh but certain courses, it's not easy to get a sip out of your pack even. I really don't know how people do it with just bottles. Maybe I'll get there? Who knows. I can see why people use bottles now though. It's not just weight savings but you can tell exactly how much you've had. If you know your body well enough, you'll know how much you need at certain points in the race to not cramp. I "got" this after the Whiskey as it was obvious that I hadn't had enough out of my pack to keep me from cramping. You can't really tell how much you've had out of a pack. So my GU plan - one 15 min before race start, one when I got half way up Elden, one before I hit the climb after Little Bear, and then one right after Shultz so it kicks in on the climb before the downhill to the venue. I'd make sure I drank at any safe opportunity throughout the race, thirsty or not, but on Elden and the other climbs I'd take swigs every few minutes. Having too much too soon is bad too. On the preride I had to pee on Elden because I drank way too much at first. Nothing is worse than having to pee during the race. And don't even say it, triathletes, I'm not to the point I feel comfy pissing myself on the bike. Maybe next year. ;)

I had my fueling plan set. I was done thinking for now. Time to concentrate on training, relaxing, work and family. You can think more on the drive up and while freezing your ass off Friday night in the tent.

Tic Toc Tic Toc..