Solid

Its been a soild 2 weeks. Part 2 of "back to back" days was good. I took in 68 miles with 2 significant climbs. Aeolus was fickle and made for some hairy decents but overall it was a great day. While not true back to back days, it did feel good to put in almost 200 miles over 3 days. I felt pretty cooked on Sunday and again this morning but tomorrow's tempo ride should flush out any sore and stiffness.

This week starts another cycle. I'll repeat Saturday's 68 mile ride again this weekend. Next week take in a 15 mile circuit a few times which includes the short but steep Adams Avenue Parkway for some climbing repeats.

As we enter just over a month to go to LOTOJA my mind turns to more detailed logistical preparations. I have a crack crew supporting me on race day. One thing that worked for me 3 years ago was a detailed list of what I wanted to eat and drink and when. My crew (wife) was able to follow the list pretty well. She also saw what extra I needed and fueled me with Red Bull even when I wasn't thinking clearly and would refuse. Here's my preliminary food list for race day:

Pre-race breakfast: Glass of Ovaltine, Wheaties Fuel Cereal, banana
30 minutes to start: can of FRS, 5 Pure Endurance pills
15 minutes to start: package of GU Roctane
Start-Preston: bottle Cytomax, bottle water, GU Roctane
Preston-Montpelier: Cytomax, water, GU, Cliffshots, Powerbar
Montpelier-Afton: Cytomax, water, FRS can, cococut cookies, Spirro Sport Bites
(soft jerky), GU, 5 Pure Endurance pills
Afton-Alpine: Cytomax, water, GU, Cliffshots, Powerbar, banana
Alpine-Jackson Hole: Cytomax, water, can of FRS, GU (Sport Bites?)

The goal is to take in 24 oz of liquids and 200-300 calories per hour. That's based on my own training and guidelines from Hammer Nutrition. Many people like to eat sandwiches and such but I have found that on long rides "real" food doesn't sit to well in my stomach. Spirro Sport Bites are excelent though as they break up the sugary routine yet are easy to chew and quite tasty. I remember craving bacon after leaving Alpine 3 years ago and the Bites are a good substitute.

Heading into my next race this month, I'm going to experiment with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) loading. I'll get into that a bit more next post.