Compex - Active Recovery post True Grit

I ran a Compex active recovery session on Saturday evening after the True Grit 50.  After spending over 5 hours on the bike during the race I figured this would be the litmus test to determine the efficacy of the e-stim unit.   Up until the True Grit, I had not spent more than 2 hours on the bike so the jump up in time in the saddle to over 5 hours was significant and there was bound to be some soreness and stiffness.  I felt the usual achey body and stiffness for a few hours after the race.  Once I ran the active recovery session my legs did seemingly feel better immediately after.

The pleasant surprise was that upon waking up on Sunday the legs felt much better than they usually had (and better than the prior evening) over a long push in the saddle.

Normally, I would just let the legs rest the day following an event but vacation days are precious and I did not want to miss a day of exploring/riding while in the desert.  I decided it would be a good idea to get on the road bike and spin somewhat lightly.  The local bike shop provided the beta and map and it was off to ride around Squall Hollow Lake.

Affirmation (and no, not one of those Stuart Smalley SNL affirmations 'I am good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me'') #2 of the Compex active recovery having done its work:

I fully expected my legs to feel heavy and having to coax them into riding.  Surprisingly, the legs felt pretty good (relatively speaking considering the prior day).  It was a 2 hour ride that was at a brisker pace than the leisurely stroll originally planned and the legs complied.  There was no 'heaviness' in the legs.  They did not have a lot of snap (did not try to hammer but made the legs work) but they responded well.

They responded so well in fact that I rode the following 2 days too (more to come on the Gooseberry rides later in the week) and ended up riding 4 days on...and the legs felt really good on the 4th day!

I am an e-stim believer!

The ride proper was amazing.  It was a road biker's paradise...smooth road, amazing scenery, huge shoulder, little traffic...mmm mmmm gooooood!

True Grit 50 Observations

What a weird transition over the last 24 hours.  This time yesterday I was riding the Gooseberry trail just outside of Zion National Park by Hurricane, Utah and it was sunny and downright warm in the low 70's.  Fast forward 24 hours and I am back in the winter wonderland of Montana where the forecast calls for snow over the next few days.  There will be more about the rides in Utah but first, time to wrap up some thoughts on the True Grit 50:

Observations about the Course / Race:

• I had no idea of the level of 'epic-ness' of this event until we got an email update after the race from the  organizer indicating the issues with rider safety and rescues due to conditions.
• There were 9 Epic (50 mile flavor) official finishers 
• 148 signed up for the Epic (an additional 30 or so signed up for the Challenge course of 26 miles)
• The race turned from 'race mode' to 'rescue mode' for some (including volunteers)
• Hypothermia was a real issue for all
• Rescue vehicles could not get to Aid stations due to conditions!
• A dry course would make for a super fun and super fast 'fiddy'
• There were some fairly tekkie sections - nothing too crazy
• The course forced you to stay alert with enough tekkie to keep you focused.
• The mud riding up to Barrel Rolls was just MEAN - it clumped up and wreaked havoc!
• The scenery was spectacular
• Race organizers made the right call by shutting down the race.
• Race organizers did a great job in following up and ensuring everyone got off the course and was accounted for.
• Thanks to all the volunteers
• It would have been nice to have known what was going to be at the aid stations
• I hope to ride this again next year!

Observations about my day:

• I rode 45 of the 52 miles before getting pulled...would have been nice to have been allowed to finish but I totally support the call the officials made.
• I had little to no brakes left due to the mud eating up my brake pads...made descending a little exciting!
• The legs felt surprisingly good (good being relative for the little training and prep)
• I love the new bike build!
• 29r fully rigid singlespeed Vs 26 fully rigid singlespeed....26 and smaller wheels beat you up a lot more!
• Happy about the gear ration for the first event (32X20)
• Yes I was cold, but so was everyone else...deal with it!
• The race trail conditions were not ideal to break in the new bike!
• Maintenance required after the race - bottom bracket removed and serviced
• My body deals much better with cold than with heat (I only drank 1 1/2 bottles of liquids through my 5 hour adventure and was not de-hydrated).
• I have never worn so much mud!
• The body did not crave protein while riding (have always tried to include protein starting at hour 3 of longer rides/events)
• The fully rigid ride really forces you to pick good lines and make you use your upper body to absorb the hits.
• Despite the craziness and adverse conditions, it was FUN...it is what we do and what we signed up for.

True Grit Fall Out

The mind is still processing the mud fest that was the True Grit yesterday.  A more detailed race report to follow later in the week.

The immediate fallout was to do some maintenance on the bike before dirt started to make things creaky and cranky!  I took the bike to a car wash and did a quick power rinse to get all the mud off.  I don't like to power wash a bike as it tends to embed dirt in areas where it shouldn't be.  Being that I was on the road and had no idea where to go, there were few options.  Once rinsed it was time to get the bike to a shop and have them remove the bottom bracket and clean and re-grease it.  It is a good thing I did because the bike wrench told me there was some dirt in there.  I also had to replace the brake pads - the pads were almost down to metal.  The chain is probably still salvageable but it will take working lube into each one of the links to make sure the lube prevents the chain from seizing.

A couple of quick pics of my clothes after the race:

Shoes caked, knee warmers caked, jersey caked, socks caked, shorts caked....note that the shorts in the picture above were turned inside out so all that mud was on the inside of my bibs!

And another one with the shorts rightside-out:

I forgot to take a picture of the bike before hosing it off but suffice it to say that it had substantially more mud on it than my clothes!  

True Grit Quickie

What a whack day on the bike!  This will be a brief update with a more encompassing race report to come...

As per the weather forecast this morning, there was a 10% chance of rain and highs of low 60's for the day.  Suffice it to say the forecaster were way way WAY wrong!  It never got above 45 during the race and it rained all day!  The clouds were full of moisture and the longer the race was, the wetter and colder everyone got.  It was not noticeable until you stopped at an aid station, etc.

The trail conditions were absolutely horrendous!  There are a couple places one the course where the mud/clay just collected on anything and everything.  My tires had over an inch thick coat of mud coated on them at certain points...and it was the kind of mud that does not wash off, it clings and collects.

The race organizers eventually called the race off at a certain point and told everyone to pack it in...only about 10 people (out of 175)  beat 'the race is called off' and finished the race - no single speed finishers....the bummer was that I only had one more short loop to do (all the hard stuff was behind me already!) and then a few miles of fire road and about a mile of pavement.  They pulled us off the course and gave us the option to ride back via the road or get a lift back...I opted to ride the 6 miles back...I still put in a 43 mile day and the legs actually felt better than I expected.  The new bike handled well but unfortunately due to conditions, I will have to replace a few things like the chain, brake pads (both sets of NEW brake pads done in 1 ride due to conditions....I have no pads left on the disc brakes - crazy!).

It took my hands a while to un-claw from the bar grip position and it took a couple of hrs until I could get feeling back in the hands.  I don't think I have ever had that much mud on my bike or myself...I might very well have had more mud in my shorts than on them.

Of all things that I was trying to manage, rain in the desert was not one of them...still a good day and a good barometer of where the legs are.

Couch per-Taper

I woke up to a resting heart rate of 36 this morning.  My norm is somewhere between 38-42 in the morning so just maybe (wishful thinking) the 'taper' off the couch is doing something.  It could also just be that the body is relaxing now that it is officially on vacation!

The plan is to get an early start this morning and try to hit the road.  I might split the drive into two days depending on how it goes.  The tentative plan is to hit an REI around Salt Lake and look at all the temptations for the REI dividend that we got last week...hmmm...

I am taking the road bike and the mountain bike just in case there are good options for the roadie while down around St George.  I might no-tell motel it for a night or two based on location and availability of camping options prior to race day on Saturday...after that it is full on camp mode and find some warmth mode!  It has been a long cold winter in Montana and the thought of the desert in Southern Utah all of a sudden sounds just pretty sweet! Riding, camp fires, nice long days, riding. sunshine, riding...what more can you ask for?

Rhetorical Taper

Theoretically, a taper is supposed to be a period of time in which you let your body recover and rest for an upcoming race.  The big ASSumption is that you have something to rest from...some sort of base, or hard efforts, or anything...I am not so sure anything during the training regimen in the off-season qualifies as such so far.

So what exactly do you do if your body is already rested?  The Montana winters don't exactly let a guy put a lot of mileage in prep for an early season biking event.

I am still taking the taper approach this week for the upcoming True Grit this weekend.  What do I have to lose?  Any hard efforts might just tire out the legs for Saturday and if there is nothing to taper off of, then there is no harm done...hmmmmm

The course profile looks like:

There don't appear to be a lot of long hill climbs but given the elevation gain (almost 7K) of the event, there must be a lot of short climbs and descents which usually translates into some tekkie terrain which is only confirmed by an excerpt of the course description on the True Grit site:

"The total course is 51 miles in length with 46 of it on dirt. The course is very technical and should be pre-ridden, especially the Zen and Barrel Ride trail section.  There are several steep drops, climbs, and turns that may require riders to get off their bike.  ( please watch the videos )" 


So far my formula looks a little sum'n sum'n like:

sub par fitness + single speed + first time on recently built bike + first long ride on a 29'r + tekkie terrain + 50 miles + 7,000ft of elevation gain + not many places to 'recover spin' + never ridden trails = recipe for 'UH OH'

yo' Charlie, hook me up with some of that 'Tiger Blood'...

Flock Of Seagulls

As I roused myself out of bed this morning I took a look in the mirror and a Flock Of Seagulls hair-do was looking right back at me...WHOA!  My hair is getting long and as a result the morning hair experiment always proves to be good for a laugh or two after it gets all matted down, up, & sideways from sleeping.  I kid you not...it really was a blast into the past with a serious Flock Of Seagulls coif (be fore-warned....pic of old dude having just woken up and striking a pose):

The best part was no hair spray was used, nothing, nada, zilcharoonie, zero - this work of art is just all natural thanks to the mysteries of tossing and turning.

The only elements missing were a keytar to strap over the shoulder and some big loud fluorescent colored glasses and a crazy tuxedo shirt (ala Seinfeld) and a pair of pants that came up to the sternum.  I might be guilty as charged on some of these transgressions (to a certain degree) but the coif was more the hockey hair for me back in the 80's.
If you are not a child of the 80's then you are probably can't appreciate the references, but you might be able to relate to the mullet!   Here in Butte the she-mullet is still in vogue...the chicks that rock the she-mullet around here would kick my ass so I will refrain from talking too much trash about the she-mullet, other than the she mullet here is not so much about biz-nass up front and pahtay in the back, but more like pahtay in the front and pahtay in the back - it is a 24 hour pahtay!

Now that the flashback is over, it is time to fast forward 20 years and get back to reality - although that alternate world of the 80's was bubble-gummy fun and light hearted....and I rannnnnnnnn, I rannnnnn so far awayyyyyyy