12-Hours Completed!

Okay, the title might be a bit deceiving, so let me explain...

The race itself was a 12-Hour race.  The goal of any 12-Hour race is to complete as many laps as possible during that 12-hour period of time.  I finished my last lap at 10 hours, 51 minutes...and 56 seconds.  Which means that I could have turned one more lap within that 12 hour time frame...but I didn't.

My goal was to complete 10 laps...I completed 11...finishing 28th out of 48 competitors in my division. Once again however, I fall victim to NO AGE BRACKETING...oh well.  I am very happy with those results, but I think I can do better next time.  In fact, next year I am shooting for 15! (Don't tell Donna...she doesn't know this yet!) 

Now let me tell you how the day went...

First of all, I took the last twelve hours of my shift off from the fire department.  I did this so that I would have plenty of rest within the 36 hours prior to the race.  I ate well, following a modified carb-loading protocol over the three days prior to raceday.  I had a good high-carb dinner Friday night, and even managed to NOT drink any wine...I didn't want a repeat episode of my race in Prescott!  I hit the rack early, as I would need to be up by 3:45 am in order to eat and get to the race venue by 5:00 am to get 'camp' set up.  You see, I was sharing my spot in 'solo alley' with a quad-team of my fellow firefighters...so we needed a good camp for those guys who would spend a great deal of time resting between laps.  Me?  Rest?  Not so much.

One of the four-man crew, staying warm before the start

The 7:00 am start time came quickly, and before I knew it I was kissing Donna 'goodbye' and heading off on my first lap.  Thankfully, Donna was there to support me by getting all of my supplements ready for me...which I was quickly taking after every lap.  My race-plan...everyone needs one...was to ride three laps, then take a short rest, and head back out for another three...then resting as needed, until I had reached my goal of ten laps.  I came back after my second lap, to restock my liquid fuel and the multitude of pills I was taking, feeling awesome.  I downed the pills, grabbed a fresh bottle, and headed back out.  My other race-plan was to keep my lap times at around 40-45 minutes.  Last year, as a member of the four-man team, I was turning 34-minute laps, but I knew that I would need to slow down in order to achieve my goal without burning out.  

Amazing nutrition/supplements!  I highly recommend them!

After lap number three I still felt amazing...no cramping, no fatigue...everything was great.  I decided to head back out for a fourth lap...just to get a jump start on my goal.  As I was riding my fourth lap, I began to notice the familiar burning sensation in my lateral knees caused by Iliotibial Band tightness.  I figured I had better take a break after completing lap four, and stretch out my IT Band.

As I returned to camp after my fourth lap, I realized that I had set a pretty fast pace...for me anyway.  I had completed four laps in just under three hours.  This meant that I would have plenty of time to take some rest breaks throughout the remainder of the day, and still reach my goal of ten laps.

After a short, thirty-minute break I headed back out to complete lap five.  I was looking forward to getting over the halfway 'hump', and planned on completing two laps on this outing.  My IT Bands however, had a completely different plan!  They were on fire!  Getting tighter and tighter with every pedal stroke.  It was really a shame because other than those pesky IT Bands, I was feeling great!  No muscle cramping, plenty of energy, and no power loss on the climbs...just pain when I needed to hammer on the pedals.  

I came in from lap five in a fair amount of pain, and decided to put lap six on hold for a few minutes.  Fortunately, there was a rehab station manned with two massage therapists, so I headed over for some work on my ailing IT bands.  After a 15-minute massage I was ready to hit it again, so I headed back out for lap number six.

Things went pretty well after that.  I was still having pain, but I managed to get through it by just turning single laps, resting for 20-30 minutes, and stretching before I headed back out. I finished lap ten...my goal...with roughly 1 1/2 hours remaining...plenty of time to get in at least one more lap, and beat my goal.  I decided to rest for about 40-minutes before heading back out.  This would give me plenty of time to fuel up, stretch, and mount my lights...I would be finishing in the dark.

Goal accomplished...ten laps...ahhh!

I have to be completely honest with you here...as I headed out on my 11th lap, I felt like crap!  Within the first 1/4 mile I was actually trying to justify reasons why I should just turn around and head back.  After all, I had accomplished my goal, right?  Somehow I managed to push past that point, re-framing those negative thoughts into positive ones, and actually began to feel really good.  The fuel I had put into my body was obviously kicking in, and started to feel like I could hammer...so I did!  I was able to power up the climbs, and bomb the downhills...I felt like I did on my first lap!  It's amazing what kind of power lies within our minds!  I completed my last lap at roughly the same pace as that of my first two laps...and then I was finished!  It felt great to have accomplished, and beat my goal...but I know I could have done even better.  You see, I still  had time to get out and complete one more lap...my 12th...but I had pushed so hard on my 11th, that I figured I had better not push my luck.  Besides, this way I have a good goal for next year!