Fall Epic 8 Hours Challenge 1 - Me 0

So the challenge is finally complete and I managed to finish with another century pin to post high above my exercise room for years to follow. It wasn’t easy and had it’s on set of challenges vs my two other attempts. You can watch the first lap of ten here.

Challenges

I think the biggest challenges were factors beyond my control. The course was a lot different compared to the past. Each lap was a bit longer (almost 700 meters compared to some previous distances) and trails were more technical singletrack without much open double track. It also had a lot more awesome features thrown in throughout the course. Sounds amazing you’re going out for an afternoon shred with friends, however if you're spending 8 hours on the bike trying to cycle 120km, it can beat you up pretty good. According to my garmin I had 10.5km distance and about 150 feet of elevation per lap.

Success

Body - Well this the best I have ever felt after completing my day on the bike. Still by no means do I feel great, but I only had minor aches. The last time I completed the race in 2018, both my IT bands started giving me issues during lap 6 and it continued for the rest of the race. I then went into a long rehab stint. Since then I always had my tight IT bands in the back of my head during any sort of long workout. So as you can imagine, it was always in the head during the challenge this year, “when it is going to hurt? Is that it? Oh, I should stretch it out”. But amazingly that never happened. I was advised by my physiotherapist to stretch my hip flexors out whenever I stopped at the car to refuel and I kept that routine up diligently throughout the ride. My shoulders near the end started to feel beat up, and slight on sets of cramping in my hamstrings, but that soon went away during my breaks off the bike.

Nutrition - I think I had a good day regarding nutrition as I managed to stay on top of my fluids and my stomach only really started to feel it during my final lap (maybe it was the can of coke I chugged before I sprinted out). Over the course of the day I consumed two bananas, three half sandwiches of peanut butter and jelly, two cliff bars, a nature valley bar, and two packages of Cliff shot blocks. Throw in five bottles of Gaterade/BCAA drink mix, one bottle of nuun, one bottle of water, six electrolyte capsules, and finally a can of coke before my last lap.

Results

So I managed to complete 10 laps (105km) in 7:14:55 total. The rules of the challenge state that you can start your last lap before 7:45 and complete it by 8:30. So I had the chance to complete another lap (maybe two if I timed it better). However two things entered my mind. I achieved my initial goal of completing 10 laps pain free! Secondly, during a traditional race the awards ceremony is at 6:30 where you have to wait around to collect your much deserved pin. This year, it was waiting for you once you finished, so not needing to wait around (especially when you had a few buddies who tapped out hours before, cooler full of cold beers and burgers on the bbq) made the decision easy. So taking all that in before I finished, I decided to go full gas on my final lap, blowing everything I had left in the tank and see what I can do. I was pretty happy to say at the end of seven hours on the bike I can push a 10.5km ride in 38:34.

Moving Forward

Some key takeaways I learned from this experience:

• My nutrition is pretty sound, just need to practice it all on longer rides

• Learn how to keep a solid pace for longer without taking breaks (the 5-10 minutes to refuel and stretch out, hurts your overall time in the end)

• How much can I push without cramping

• Keeping my speed in flowy sections to reduce the amount of pedaling

After spending 8 hours on the mountain bike you can’t help but feel defeated. Fall Epic 8 Hour Challenge 1 - Me 0