What is the Leadville
100 Mountain Bike race? The main
website for the race describes it as follows…
”This is it. The race of all races. One hundred miles across
the high-altitude, extreme terrain of the Colorado Rockies. Created for only
the most determined athletes. Starting at 10,152 feet and climbing to 12,424
feet, you’ll be challenged to catch your breath — while the views try to take
it away. The 100-mile out-and-back
course is in the midst of the Colorado Rockies. Low point, 9,200 feet; high
point is Columbine Mine, 12,424 feet. Majority is on forest trails with some
mountain roads.” One little thing that
they don’t market, is that the race is actually 104 miles and the last four
were such a blast!
Why would anyone want
to do something like the Leadville 100?
Good question. Read on and maybe
you can help me figure out why!!
Motivation
What motivates people? Many people will say cash and yes, committing
to the $275 entry fee certainly put this race on a different level. You can’t just bag out of it! Others might say the reward is in the work
itself and in the process – the challenge
and I would certainly agree with this. For me it was a combination of things. The camaraderie of training with friends and
meeting new ones was all part of it.
Training
Where to begin? How
much? How frequent? All great questions. I had never been in a 104 mile mountain bike
race before, so needed some guidance. I was
very familiar with the American College of Sports Medicine’s general exercise
recommendations, but to tailor a training plan for an epic event like this was
new to me. I searched the internet, read
blogs and consulted friends and professional colleagues. My good friend from high school was the third
place finisher in the M4 category from 2010, so he was a wealth of
knowledge. I also consulted with another
friend and colleague whom I consider to be a world renowned exercise physiologist. He was an elite cyclist in his day and now is
a coach to elite athletes and cyclists, including a Tour de France champion. He suggested I get my VO2 max and lactate
threshold tested. Having been a baseball
catcher in college, I did not quite have the physiology of the cyclists he was
used to working with, but he said there was hope – though the time before the
race was not on our side. I believe that
lactate threshold testing is key for any type of endurance training. It provides a barometer to go by and a heart
rate number to stay under so as to avoid going “into the red”. As I comment below, going into the red for
too long is a recipe for disaster and almost a guarantee to “bonk”.
Nutrition
This is really an area you have to experiment with – and not the day of the race! I tried various products and really liked
Gatorade or G2 as my electrolyte drink during exercise as well as Powerbars . I needed to consume about 400-500 calories
per hour and this combination in general worked well for me. I did a lot of training with Ensure
nutritional shakes, but found on race day that due to the hot conditions, it
did not sit well with me. What I also
found very helpful under these arid conditions was fresh fruit e.g. blueberries
and watermelon. I am a ‘salty sweater’ so without doing formal
salt loss testing, I knew that I needed to consume additional salt. This came in the form of healthy snacks like
pretzels or gorp. I also consumed Endurolytes
every hour during long rides and the race.
For me, this really helped with cramping. I typically think about the causes of cramping
in three ways – dehydration, muscle
fatigue or sodium losses and during my training I learned about all of
these ways to cramp! Often it is a
combination of the three.
Hitting the wall,
Going deep into the red zone, Bonking
I think you have to do this at some point in your training
prior to an endurance event such as the Leadville 100. I did and so did many of the friends I
trained with. If you don’t know your limits, how can you push beyond them? One caveat and I am biased here – obtain
a formal medical evaluation before embarking on any new exercise regime or
endurance activity. The Wrangle
the Ridge ride in Castle Rock in June was the turning point for me. I signed up for the marathon ride which was
60 miles. You could see the heat
radiating off the dirt and the wind seemed to stand still – at least around me! 30 miles in and I was done. The nausea, quad cramping and overall fatigue
made me really second guess this whole Leadville thing. I was about to throw in the towel and allow
myself more time to spend with my family.
My thinking at the time was why should I train so hard and spend so much
time away from family when I was just going to hit the wall. After a bit of soul searching, I made the commitment
to see this through.
Last minute
preparations before the race
The pre-race briefing for new racers was very helpful. One suggestion that benefited me the most was
to bring a moist bandana and wear it to avoid the extreme dust on the
course.
Race Day
Wow – what a spectacle!
I got up around 4 am and did some last minute checks but was ready having
completed a more extensive check list the day before. We (my crew – wife and brother!) arrived
around 5 am and I was able to place my bike in a decent position about mid-way
in the pack. I then went back to the warmth
of our car until a little before 6 am.
Then the pre-race nerves kicked in and had to make a few trips to the
bathroom. The opening and closing of
port o potty doors was some of the only sounds in those pre-race minutes. By 615am everyone had to be by their bike and
at 630am the shotgun blast signified the start of the race. With somewhere around 2,000 people racing out
of Leadville the fun began. At around
the 4 mile mark, the pavement turned to dirt and due to the dry conditions – it
was a dust bowl and thankfully I was wearing that moist bandana to avoid the inhalation.
The course was tight with cyclists and the speed would
fluctuate frequently due to the terrain and the sheer number of cyclists vying
for position. My heart rate was supposed
to be below 150 bpm to avoid exceeding my lactate threshold, but unfortunately
to keep pace and to make the first time cut off at 4 hours – I had to push
pretty hard and exceeded this rate most of the time. I knew I would likely pay for this, but I
really had no choice if I wanted to keep racing (Mistake #1 – but no way to fix
this other than getting a better base earlier in the season). I made the first cut off by about 10 minutes
and pushed on towards Columbine Mine at 12,600 feet. I
refueled (sort of) at Twin Lakes and was
off. About 4 miles into this next stretch,
I began to feel a bit nauseous and my Gatorade and GU were not sitting well
with me. Unfortunately, I did not bring
any plain water (had plenty of Gatorade and Ensure) – Mistake #2. I had to get off my bike and walk at least
3-4 miles until I felt better. Nearly 2
hours later (no food or water during this time – ouch! – not a recipe for
success), I was near the top and was able to ride to the Columbine Mine Aid
Station – where unfortunately they had
run out of water. They did have
watermelon and I was able to stomach this and then made my way back down to
Twin Lakes.
I made it back to Twin Lakes under the time cut off – now at
the 8 hour mark and had to get to the Pipeline Aid Station before the 9 hour
mark. To do this, I had to dig deep and
make it in just over 1 hour. Still not
feeling great, I pushed on and was able to get down some blueberries and a
peanut butter and banana sandwich.
As I approached the Pipeline Aid Station, fans were yelling
“2 minutes” – so I basically sprinted and made it just under the time cut off
for the third time. Mistake # 3 – not really! What this allowed me to do was to suffer for
another 4 hours and 25 minutes.
Climbing Powerline at around 4 pm in the heat of the day was
pure joy (Oh, did I mention this was one of the hottest and driest races in
recent history – with temperatures over 80 degrees and no wind!). This is where I saw grown men crying with their
head in their laps and riders standing and vomiting over the seats of their
bikes. No, not me – I just suffered
quietly. I had already done my vomiting and crying earlier in the race! As I raced down Hagerman pass, I knew there
was no belt buckle for me. Sadness was
certainly one of my many emotions at the time, but I thought I might have a
chance to finish under 13 hours – so I pressed on. Well, the nausea and cramps resurfaced on the
way back up to the last Aid station, but there was no way I could stop
now. Pushing hard over the last 10 miles
only to miss the 13 hour cut off by about 25 minutes. The worst gut wrenching cramp came with just
over a mile to go and I had to get off my bike one last time. After walking for about a quarter mile, I got
back on the saddle and pushed onto the home stretch where I saw my family cheering
me on and realized that this is what it
is all about. Their support and
cheering brought tears to my eyes and the volunteers at the finish line were so
kind to put a Finisher medal around my neck to validate the entire event.
Crew
No way, no how! Could
not have finished this event without my supportive crew including my wife
brother, mom and kids.
What would I do differently,
were I to do it again?
-
Start training 3-6 months earlier i.e. 9-12
months out
-
Train more in extreme conditions – i.e. heat and
cold – especially heat for me – long rides
-
More training at altitude – over 10,000 feet
-
Always bring enough plain water on your rides –
you can always bring electrolyte powder to mix, but you can’t go the other way!
-
Experiment more with natural foods during
training e.g. fruits
What next?
Stay tuned…
