My first race

[outlawracer]

So on the 27th of this month ill be at the cranksgiving 6 race in Austin. Its a 6 hour all you got race. Every lap you do earns you a raffle ticket. from what I’ve seen its a 10 mile loop. So I know i’m up for 10 miles, I know i’m up for 20, but after that I have know idea. So what do yall eat and drink before a big race. I have two weeks to get my body completely hydrated, and running clean. On the day of the race should i just carb load and hydrate? any suggestions

[Dustin Gaddis]

Since you’ve never done a long ride like this, there’s a few things you should know. You’re not going to come even close to winning, and you’re going to suffer. These races are crazy fun though! And that’s what it’s all about. They give you a chance to ride with a lot of friendly people, and a chance to push yourself further than you thought possible.

I’ve done a few 6hr races and a lot of 50-65mile races (which take me around 6hrs). On a good day I’m a mid pack finisher. I’m just now really starting to get good at knowing what/when/how often I need to eat/drink and how to pace myself. It’s taken me 3yrs to get to this point, it’s a learning process, everyone is different and has to figure out what works for them. So here’s my advice.

Start hydrating two days before. Don’t drink TONS of water, just make an effort to drink a few glasses throughout the day, and stick with plain water at meals.

Don’t eat a huge sized meal the night before the race. Eat a moderate sized meal that’s heavy in carbs, like pasta, but don’t eat a ton. No need in being full/bloated on the morning of the race.

Poop before the race, so you wont have to during the race. That’s an important tip right there!

Start slooooow. It’ll be hard. The start of a race is exciting, especially since it is your first one, and you’ll want to go hard, or try and keep up with everyone else. You’ll pay for it later if you do. For a 6hr race, if you’re like me (aka not a pro or aerobic freak of nature) you should try to avoid ever letting your heart rate get high – stay out of the red! If you find yourself breathing too hard to carry on a conversation, you’re going too hard, so slow down. This is especially true the first few hours of the race. You only have so much energy in the ‘energy bank’. And going into the red withdraws a LOT of energy from the bank in a very short time.

For food, you have to experiment…sounds like your race will be your first experiment if you’ve never done a really long ride like this! Everyone’s different as far as what they like and what works well. You want something you can eat quickly and easily (and on the bike if possible), and easily digested stuff is good, don’t want to mess up your stomach. I personally use gels almost exclusively for rides in that 5-7hr range. Gels are easy to eat on the bike, quick, and lots of calories for their size. And they don’t upset my stomach. I’ve seen people eat burgers or pizza at these races tho. Everyone is different.

For fluids I use a sports drink mix. That way I’m constantly taking in calories and electrolytes. I’ve been using Gatorade Pro lately, but I mix it much weaker than they suggest, it’s too sweet at full power. Not all drink mixes have both carbs and eletrolytes, so pay attention to the labels.

One other tip – keep moving! If you need to eat, walk and push the bike and eat instead of sitting down in you pit area. Same thing for resting, walk, don’t sit. Time sitting is time you’re not making forward progress, and a few minutes here and there adds up quickly. It can easily make the difference between doing one more lap or not.

REMEMBER – it’s all about having fun! You’ll probably have to remind yourself of that at some point haha.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

EDIT – one more tip, possibly the most important (besides the poop thing) – get some sort of chamois cream (aka butt butter). it’s basically a lotion that lubricates your skin so you don’t chafe. I know it sounds gross, but trust me, it’s important. I can ride comfortably without it for 2-3hrs, but after that my butt feels like it’s on fire. With a cream, that never happens, even after 7hrs. I use Chamois Butt’r brand. I put it on the padding of the shorts, either the night before the race or the morning of. Some people apply it directly to the affected area, but, I prefer to just put it on the shorts 😆

[Corey Maddocks ✓ supporter]

"dgaddis" wrote

Poop before the race, so you wont have to during the race. That’s an important tip right there!

Not to mention how many grams this sheds! 😆 Seriously though, this one is worth the effort, it makes a HUGE difference.

Start slooooow. It’ll be hard. The start of a race is exciting, especially since it is your first one, and you’ll want to go hard, or try and keep up with everyone else. You’ll pay for it later if you do.

This one is really hard to do. For my first lap at 24 Hours of Moab (my first race) my average heart rate was 187. For the whole 15 mile lap.

The first 4 miles of the course is a pretty decent climb and I hammered it. Hard. On the back side are miles of relatively flat fire road where I should have been cruising along in the big ring, but I was suffering incredibly from pushing it too hard at the beginning.

I personally use gels almost exclusively for rides in that 5-7hr range. Gels are easy to eat on the bike, quick, and lots of calories for their size.

Me too, Hammer Gel specifically. (Apple Cinnamon is just awesome) For really long, self-supported rides I also throw in some Clif Shot Bloks.

Be sure to check out the bulk Hammer Gel bottles and the 5 oz squeeze bottles. They’re perfect to use one-handed while on the bike, and there’s no sticky packet to deal with.

For fluids I use a sports drink mix. That way I’m constantly taking in calories and electrolytes. I’ve been using Gatorade Pro lately, but I mix it much weaker than they suggest, it’s too sweet at full power. Not all drink mixes have both carbs and eletrolytes, so pay attention to the labels.

Hammer Nutrition was a sponsor in Moab and they provided Heed to drink. I have always used Poweraide, but it is too sugary, like you said. Heed is very light, with just a hint of flavor. I loved it, and will be switching to it.

EDIT – one more tip, possibly the most important (besides the poop thing) – get some sort of chamois cream (aka butt butter). it’s basically a lotion that lubricates your skin so you don’t chafe. I know it sounds gross, but trust me, it’s important. I can ride comfortably without it for 2-3hrs, but after that my butt feels like it’s on fire. With a cream, that never happens, even after 7hrs. I use Chamois Butt’r brand. I put it on the padding of the shorts, either the night before the race or the morning of. Some people apply it directly to the affected area, but, I prefer to just put it on the shorts 😆

This varies from rider to rider. I don’t get saddle sores, ever, and don’t have to use cream. You’ll probably already have an idea if you need this or not. DZ Nuts seems to be all the rage these days.

[markowe]

The pacing tip is really important – it’s SO easy to max out that pulse from the start when the atmosphere and excitement get to you but it’s a recipe for failure because few of us have the energy stores for a sustained effort like this over more than 1 or 2 hours. If you have a pulse monitor it would be good to find a sweet spot, which for an endurance event might only be in your second zone (a la Friel). It might seem slow, but trust me, 3 or 4 hours of even moderate effort like this and you really start to feel it! In this kind of event there is NO point pacing yourself to others, just find your own sustainable pace (do that in training!) and keep to it. You may very well find yourself overtaking people an hour or two down the line.

[bmakabayan]

"dgaddis" wrote

Since you’ve never done a long ride like this, there’s a few things you should know. You’re not going to come even close to winning, and you’re going to suffer. These races are crazy fun though! And that’s what it’s all about. They give you a chance to ride with a lot of friendly people, and a chance to push yourself further than you thought possible.

I’ve done a few 6hr races and a lot of 50-65mile races (which take me around 6hrs). On a good day I’m a mid pack finisher. I’m just now really starting to get good at knowing what/when/how often I need to eat/drink and how to pace myself. It’s taken me 3yrs to get to this point, it’s a learning process, everyone is different and has to figure out what works for them. So here’s my advice.

Start hydrating two days before. Don’t drink TONS of water, just make an effort to drink a few glasses throughout the day, and stick with plain water at meals.

Don’t eat a huge sized meal the night before the race. Eat a moderate sized meal that’s heavy in carbs, like pasta, but don’t eat a ton. No need in being full/bloated on the morning of the race.

Poop before the race, so you wont have to during the race. That’s an important tip right there!

Start slooooow. It’ll be hard. The start of a race is exciting, especially since it is your first one, and you’ll want to go hard, or try and keep up with everyone else. You’ll pay for it later if you do. For a 6hr race, if you’re like me (aka not a pro or aerobic freak of nature) you should try to avoid ever letting your heart rate get high – stay out of the red! If you find yourself breathing too hard to carry on a conversation, you’re going too hard, so slow down. This is especially true the first few hours of the race. You only have so much energy in the ‘energy bank’. And going into the red withdraws a LOT of energy from the bank in a very short time.

For food, you have to experiment…sounds like your race will be your first experiment if you’ve never done a really long ride like this! Everyone’s different as far as what they like and what works well. You want something you can eat quickly and easily (and on the bike if possible), and easily digested stuff is good, don’t want to mess up your stomach. I personally use gels almost exclusively for rides in that 5-7hr range. Gels are easy to eat on the bike, quick, and lots of calories for their size. And they don’t upset my stomach. I’ve seen people eat burgers or pizza at these races tho. Everyone is different.

For fluids I use a sports drink mix. That way I’m constantly taking in calories and electrolytes. I’ve been using Gatorade Pro lately, but I mix it much weaker than they suggest, it’s too sweet at full power. Not all drink mixes have both carbs and eletrolytes, so pay attention to the labels.

One other tip – keep moving! If you need to eat, walk and push the bike and eat instead of sitting down in you pit area. Same thing for resting, walk, don’t sit. Time sitting is time you’re not making forward progress, and a few minutes here and there adds up quickly. It can easily make the difference between doing one more lap or not.

REMEMBER – it’s all about having fun! You’ll probably have to remind yourself of that at some point haha.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

EDIT – one more tip, possibly the most important (besides the poop thing) – get some sort of chamois cream (aka butt butter). it’s basically a lotion that lubricates your skin so you don’t chafe. I know it sounds gross, but trust me, it’s important. I can ride comfortably without it for 2-3hrs, but after that my butt feels like it’s on fire. With a cream, that never happens, even after 7hrs. I use Chamois Butt’r brand. I put it on the padding of the shorts, either the night before the race or the morning of. Some people apply it directly to the affected area, but, I prefer to just put it on the shorts 😆

this are quite true….

[Author]

Posts