One of the main things that I have been struggling with the past 2 weeks is my “dead legs.” I put in a solid 20 hour (really 25 hour if you count the day before) week 3 weeks out. I took a very easy week last week to recover and this week have been taking it easy. The thing I’ve noticed though is that I’ve got dead legs from even just an hour of riding. Two things I think are at play here. It’s really freaking hot and I’m riding late morning instead of EARLY morning and I’m probably not really getting warmed up. Even in my training I would take about an hour to really get warmed up. That’s my hope, is that I haven’t peaked to soon and will ease into it come race day. My “coach” Mr. Keith (Bigred) Grey has told me to chill out because it’s normal. It’s hard to chill out when I haven’t felt like this in a long time with a big ride coming up!

Another thing that kind of drives me nuts is the amount of secrecy that goes on with the ultra-endurance crowd. I mean, they keep their gear/equipment list close to their chest. I’ve been following many of the racers blogs and through on-line forums but they pretty much refuse to say what they are using. This is so opposite from the hiking crowd. Maybe because it’s somewhat of a new thing? I don’t know. The main excuse people give is that they don’t want to give it away because they’ve spent a lot of time and money testing their gear and they would like to hold on to that advantage. The other reason is that they don’t want to recommend something for someone when it may not work for them. Horse poo I say! Hey, listen, if you want to know what I’m using, I’ll tell you. Yes, I’ll say it may or may not work for you, but I’ll still tell you. Hell, I’ve already posted it up! I’ve got a bit of homemade gear as well, I’d be happy to show you how and why I think it’s good. I realize not all racers are like this. There are a few that will tell you straight up what they are using. It took a bit of digging to find out, but you can still find it. I’ve spent a pretty penny with equipment this year, and I could easily go drop another $500 right now for the CTR and get the gear I really wanted but couldn’t really afford. No worries. My gear will work perfectly fine (I hope!).

Anyway, thank goodness for the Tour this year. It wastes half my day. Otherwise I’d be sitting around watching The View and Elen and getting bored out of my mind. Did you know that the Today show goes on for like 5 hours? Al Roker has got to have the best/most boring job in the world. Best because he say’s basically the same thing and only actually works about 20 minutes a day, worst because he say’s the same thing and has to be around all those screaming people trying to get on T.V.

My mind is set right and my goal is simple. 8 days or less, but ultimately to finish. I know day 2 and 3 will probably be the hardest, once I make it past that I think I’ll be good. It’s hard to say though. My 2 biggest weaknesses are the heat (I’m REALLY sensitive to heat exhaustion and get migraines due to them, got a small one earlier today in fact) and the altitude. We’re gonna be pretty high that’s for sure! I keep thinking of that movie Spaceballs where they open a can of fresh air and breath through it while in space. I wish there was some way to do that! I’d love to be able to sit on top of the Continental Divide and open up a fresh can of Whip-Air! What a concept, the ability to breath.

Well, thanks for reading, I’ll see you.

Sherpaxc

Trackback URI | Comments RSS