1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Headed down to Leesburg, VA on Friday for the 2014 Leesburg Bakers Dozen. I hated the fact that I was going to miss SSAP, but once the date was moved up from earlier versions, it was unavoidable.
So much to process from Saturday ... still not able to get it all in some semblance of an order (I'll probably do that on my blog at some point.) But a few highlights:
(1) The course ran opposite from last year, which I thought made it a little faster, but more technical ... and it was dusty dry and hardpacked.
(2) Had a little bit of everything happen -- heat headache, foot pain, numb hands, twingey legs, saddle sores and a chorus of odd noises from my drivetrain throughout the day. But kept to the basics -- steady drinking, brief rest stops, lots of sunscreen, and never trying to be "fast" on the climbs.
(3) Coming into my last lap, I had built up about a 12 minute lead on one guy I'd spent the whole day going back and forth with, but that just meant that for that whole last lap I was running like a scared rabbit whenever I felt lights behind me or heard a bike in the distance. Sprinting the last quarter mile after 13+ hours on a bike is not fun.
(4) Held it together to run 17 laps (about 140 or so miles), which was good for 3rd place.
(5) While breaking down my camp, I ate six slices of pizza and drank about half a gallon of water and still felt like I was running on empty. Good times.
So much to process from Saturday ... still not able to get it all in some semblance of an order (I'll probably do that on my blog at some point.) But a few highlights:
(1) The course ran opposite from last year, which I thought made it a little faster, but more technical ... and it was dusty dry and hardpacked.
(2) Had a little bit of everything happen -- heat headache, foot pain, numb hands, twingey legs, saddle sores and a chorus of odd noises from my drivetrain throughout the day. But kept to the basics -- steady drinking, brief rest stops, lots of sunscreen, and never trying to be "fast" on the climbs.
(3) Coming into my last lap, I had built up about a 12 minute lead on one guy I'd spent the whole day going back and forth with, but that just meant that for that whole last lap I was running like a scared rabbit whenever I felt lights behind me or heard a bike in the distance. Sprinting the last quarter mile after 13+ hours on a bike is not fun.
(4) Held it together to run 17 laps (about 140 or so miles), which was good for 3rd place.
(5) While breaking down my camp, I ate six slices of pizza and drank about half a gallon of water and still felt like I was running on empty. Good times.
