Cohutta 100 Race Report

It has taken me a few days to finally write about this race. It was a really fun day and a disappointing one all at the same time. Five of us from Joe's Bike Shop made the 11 hour drive down, and is was awesome to have that many teammates racing. Jeff and I camped out with Chris and Kathleen for 2 nights at a campsite about a mile from the start line. We met up up with Greg, who also races for Joe's, and Andrew, who races for Rare Disease Cycling, for a fun pre-ride of the single track section on the Friday before the race. It was really fun sharing the race experience with them.

Cohutta 100 is part of the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) series and takes place in TN and Georgia in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. The first 20 miles or so is fun, fast single track. The next 80 miles takes place mainly on fire road hills with 2 more single track sections at about mile 50 and then right at the end at about mile 93. Up and down, up and down. There is over 14,000 ft of climbing in the race and by the end, even the small hills feel like mountains. We were pretty much either climbing or descending the entire time.

I felt a lot of different emotions after finishing. I was excited, angry, relieved, frustrated, happy, sad, and I felt like I let a lot of people down, especially Joe's, who helped me get my Foundry MTB all tuned up and race ready, Coach Newell, who has been helping me train for the last 4 months, and my teammates, who have been so supportive and encouraging. I really wanted to have a better result. But yesterday, I got an email from the race directors about a race essay contest with extra points awarded for humor. As I thought back over my time at the race, I realized there were some really funny moments. So instead of focusing on my disappointments, I decided to write about the funny parts of Cohutta 100. 

How to Have the Perfect Race

The Perfect Pre-Race Prep:

Prep #1: Get some stitches. On Thursday evening I was out for a relaxed hour on my mountain bike spinning my legs and getting ready for the big race. I went over a large root, came unclipped and WHAM - sent my left shin smashing into my pedal. I spent the rest of that night at urgent care getting 10 stitches to close up the gash. Crashing before the race means a clean ride Saturday, right?

Prep #2: Make a long drive to the race even longer. Jeff's pre-race hydration plan consisted of venti coffee, red bulls and 44oz diet coke Thirst Slayers from Sheetz. Needless to say, we made many hydration/pee stops on the drive down.

Prep #3: Stock up on the healthiest race food ever. After a trip to Walmart, we had cliff bars, peanut butter crackers, slim jims, pop tarts, uncrustables, oreo cookies and monster energy drinks to fuel us on race day.

Prep #4: Eat a very appetizing pre-race dinner. We had a small plate of pasta from the race sponsors, and that was really good, but we were still hungry so we topped it off with a bagel dipped into a cold can of chicken noodle soup back at the campsite.

The Perfect Race Day Plan:
Plan #1: Ride a hardtail locked out for the entire race. I locked out my fork on the first fire road climb and then proceeded to forget about the fact I had front suspension. Who needs biceps/triceps the next day anyway?

Plan #2: Get in some extra miles. Everyone knows that 100 miles on a mountain bike with over 14,000 ft of climbing isn't really challenging enough. Gerry Pflug felt he needed some extra miles, and since one day I want to win races like he does, there was no way I was going to let him have all the fun of riding more. I decided to add my extra miles around mile 50 when I missed the left hand turn down Potato Patch Mountain. I added about 6 miles and an extra hill climb onto my day. My teammate Greg must really want to win future races because he added an extra 15 miles of training by missing the same turn!

Plan #3: Skip the aid stations. I only stopped at one at mile 75. They are just time killers, especially when you want to make up for lost time. Getting dehydrated is definitely a better long term plan than taking 2 minutes to refill your bottles.

Plan #4: Push as hard as possible back up Potato Patch Mountain. All of the climbing is over after that right? Haha. Completely wrong. Curses at all the hills that came later in the race!

The Perfect Post-Race Recovery:

Step #1: Celebrate! I was so excited to cross that finish line even though the race didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I gave my teammates high fives and hugs. I compared stories with other racers who had just finished the course. I took off my shoes (I could barely reach my feet my back was so sore) and soaked my legs in the Ocoee river. I hobbled around like I was 70 yrs old. I basked in the glory of not having to climb another hill for at least 2 days. I devoured the post-race veggie burritos, sodas and sweet potato fries.

Step #2: Drink some beers. We somehow made ourselves get back on the bikes to ride back to the campsite (a literal pain in the butt!). We made a fire, enjoyed beers, and planned our return to next year's race. It's funny how quickly we can forget the dark places we entered at times during the day that left us questioning exactly why we signed up for the race in the first place. That night, I couldn't wait to come back for more.

Step #3: Lie in the tent and get some sleep. A WHOOOPER WHILL. AAA WHOOOPER WHILL. A WHOOOPER WHILL. AAAAA WHOOPER WHILLLLLLLL. Thanks bird. I hope you find a mate. Your call is really quite something.

Step #4: Wake up before dawn to drive back to Baltimore. The one good thing about not stopping at the aid stations on race day? Plenty of left over drop bag snacks for the ride home!

One way to prevent burnout in life and sports

As 4th year medical students, we are required to take a course called TRIPLE: transition to residency and internship and preparation for life. We had an interesting conversation the other day about physician burnout. Burnout is quite common among residents and doctors, and is associated with job-related stress and poor coping mechanisms when faced with significant pressure. In recent years, burnout has also been a hot topic in sports medical journals as kids become more and more focused on athletic performance and on early sport specialization. But burnout can affect anyone, athlete or non-athlete, physician or not, and I think there are some interesting ways to cope with stress to prevent burnout in any aspect of your life.

The burnout syndrome in work or in sports is characterized by losing enthusiasm (emotional exhaustion), having a negative attitude towards people or sports (depersonalization or devaluation), and having a sense that work or racing is no longer meaningful (low personal accomplishment).

There are several factors that can lead to burnout. The most obvious one is excessive working or training with too much monotony and little time for recovery. Other factors associated with burnout include low autonomy and involvement in decision making, having multiple stressors outside of work or sports, such as financial obligations or balancing family life, feeling pressure from peers or coaches to perform up to inappropriate expectations, and feeling trapped by work or sports because to leave would mean giving up one's identity and years of preparation. There are also perfectionist or anxious personality characteristics can make certain individuals more prone to burnout.

But burnout is not inevitable. People can be doctors or athletes for years without feeling distressed about their jobs or races. While there are multiple ways to prevent burnout, such as emphasizing recovery time, varying daily routine and surrounding yourself with a strong and supportive social network, recent studies have also shown that mindfullness training can have a positive impact on individual well-being and burnout prevention.

What exactly is mindfullness? That was my first question when I heard about these studies. It sounded a lot like soft fluffy psychology with no real scientific basis to back it up. However, after reading some more about mindfullness and talking with my classmates and mentors in small group sessions over the past 2 weeks, I have a new appreciation for what it means.

Anyone who has taken a yoga class or tried meditation has practiced mindfullness, which is the the ability to pay attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. It includes the capacity for lowering one’s own reactivity to challenging experiences; the ability to notice, observe, and experience bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings even though they may be unpleasant; acting with awareness and attention (not being on autopilot); and focusing on experience, not on the labels or judgments applied to them.

When I am working in the hospital or sometimes even in a race, I find myself daydreaming a lot of the time and thinking about the many tasks I have to get done before the day ends, my plans for the next weekend, how tired I am, everything and anything except on what is going on in front of me.

Being pulled in multiple directions and multi-tasking is part of any career or athletic pursuit. As a result, living mindfully is something you have to consciously practice and cultivate. It doesn't just happen on its own. Below are some techniques that can help you become more self-aware and more in-tune with your personal well-being. Interestingly, in the process of learning about yourself, studies have shown that individuals who practice mindfullness training become more emotionally stable and better able to manage stress, more empathetic and open towards others and new ideas, and have improved relationships with the people around them - all qualities which are important in work and sports. Being mindful doesn't require a big time investment. Many of these techniques can be done in 5 minutes or less.

Meditation: The purpose of mediation is to become aware of your sensory, emotional and cognitive reactions that you experience on a daily basis. These can include: 

• Body scan: start at the top of your head or the bottom of your feet and notice bodily sensations and the cognitive and emotional reactions you have without attempting to change the sensations themselves. Alternatively, you can practice being aware of each muscle in your body and work from head to toe contracting muscles and then relaxing them.
• Sitting or walking mediation: Bring awareness to the thoughts, feelings and sensations experienced while sitting or walking
• Mindful movement: yoga-type exercises that allow you to use movement and breaths to bring awareness to your body
• I really like these free, short, guided mediation audioclips: http://www.freemindfulness.org/download

Reflective Narrative Exercises: By writing brief stories about personal experiences and sharing them with friends or peers, you can explore challenges you faced, recognize ways you successfully worked through difficult situations, and identify personal qualities that promoted success or failure.

Appreciative Inquiry: Listening to others share their stories can be equally as beneficial as being the storyteller. Listeners practice avoiding interruptions and judgments, resist comparing their own experience with that of the storyteller, and try to truly understand the situation from the storyteller's point of view by thinking of focused questions to deepen understanding of the storyteller's experience.

One part of me still thinks that mindfullness training is a bit of nonsense. But another part of me hopes that by spending a few minutes a day living more mindfully, I will be able to balance the demands of 80 hr residency work weeks and still fit in some racing (and all the other things important in life) without getting too stressed or burned out. Since I won't have much time for rest and relaxation, I am hoping that through mindfullness training, I can find meaning and a sense of well-being in the moment to moment experiences in my daily routine.

A story about intervals

Intervals. I dread them and love them. I have been doing them for years, ever since joining the track team in 5th grade. In high school, I kept running and started swimming. Both sports rely on interval-based training. In college, I did crew. More intervals. Now I'm biking and all winter long I've been doing intervals. I recently read a great story about them. It's from a book Once a Runner by John L. Parker. But I read it in Going Long: Legends, Oddballs, Comebacks and Adventures. The Best Stories from Runner's World.

"Twenty quarters [quarter miles] in sets of five, 110 jog btw the quarters, 440 jog between the sets, 62-63 second effort."

That's the workout the coach prescribed in the book. After the first set of 20 intervals, the coach tells his distance protege to do 20 more. At the end of 40, the coach says he has 20 left. The distance athlete is left running long into the night.

I only do intervals if I have a coach telling me I have to do them. As a Christmas present, Jeff gave me an awesome gift: free coaching for a number of months. All winter long, I have been working with Chris Newell from Sublime Athletics. He coaches a lot of athletes in Baltimore, and has been giving me weekly training plans. Most of them involve intervals on the bike trainer or road if weather permits. I have to log my workouts on Training Peaks, which keeps me accountable. If I didn't have a coach, I would skip the intervals and just do lots of long endurance steady state zone 3 workouts. The kind of workouts that are fun and build an aerobic base, but don't make you faster at anything.

"They began. The first few always seemed especially bad. Actually that was misleading. They seemed sluggish because the body was shocked by such a sudden demand for sustained speed. The heart rate shot up to the hummingbird levels it would have to maintain for some time. The legs became prematurely heavy, and the central nervous system sent up the message that such punishment could not be endured."

This is exactly how my interval work usually starts. The first ones are often the worst. I think it's partly because your body is shocked into a high output mode, but it's also mental. At the start of an interval session, there is so much more hard work ahead of you that it can be difficult to wrap your mind around actually finishing.

"The runner deals nearly daily in such absolutes of physical limitation, which the nonrunner confronts only in dire situations. Fleeing from an armed killer or deadly animal, a layman will soon find the frightening limits that even stark terror will not overcome. The runner knows such boundaries like he knows the sidewalks of his own neighborhood."

Interval work changes the body physiologically. In sedentary or recreational athletes, interval training can increase one's VO2 max by as much as 44 percent after just 10 weeks of training. VO2 max is a measure of aerobic fitness; it's the maximal amount of oxygen your body can take up and use to make ATP to power your muscles before lactic acid starts accumulating and your legs feel tired and heavy. Interestingly, in endurance-trained athletes, interval training has little effect on VO2 max. In endurance-trained athletes, interval training improves performance but through other mechanisms.

"Round and round the field they went, each repetition so much like the one before they had to count out loud lest they forget how many they had done....The only difference between one and the next was the slight increase in lactic acid in the lifting muscles on top of the thigh that made each a little more difficult and started hurting earlier in the sprint."

Highly trained athletes already have a high VO2 max. Their hearts are already strong and pump blood efficiently throughout the body. Their muscles have already adapted to exercise. Highly trained athletes have more type 1 muscle fibers, which are important for removing lactic acid, and their muscles have an increased density of capillaries, which means more blood flow and oxygen delivery. Muscle enzymes that make ATP have already adapted to work at maximal capacity. So in highly trained endurance athletes, it can be difficult to measure exactly how interval training increases performance.

"In a hail of killing blows, the fighter's quiet center of logic, schooled in brutality, will be calmly theorizing: We are hurt pretty badly. If we do not cover up and take up the slack we will soon be unconscious. Not that this quiet center logic fears unconsciousness (indeed, how welcome it might seem at times), but it knows that one can't win while unconscious. Likewise, no highly trained runner slacks off because he fears pain, but because the quiet center of logic says he will win nothing if he runs himself to a standstill."

In elite athletes, interval training improves performance through a number of proposed mechanisms. It increases the heart's contractile force, which means more blood flow and oxygen delivery to the body. It improves heat tolerance by increasing blood flow to your skin and sweating rate. It may improve the ability of working muscles to produce and use ATP. Interval training has been shown to provide athletes with a greater ability to buffer acid build-up. Acid inhibits the oxidative enzymes that make ATP, so athletes who can buffer acids can make more ATP to power their muscles. But I think the most important part of endurance training is the mental toughness it instills. Interval training forces you to overcome that quiet center of logic that says stop and seek safety. It re-teaches your brain to allow you to run yourself into the ground. It means that in a race, your body will be primed for peak performance and your mind will know how to push it even further.

"Just as each repetition made the next seem more impossible, he knew that without question he would do it. There was no refuge in injury; his body could not be injured in this way. There was no refuge in mercy; there was nothing to forgive, no one to issue dispensation. And at last he saw: there was no refuge in cowardice, because he was not afraid. There was no alternative; it just had to be done."

At the end of the day, this is how an interval workout gets finished. As the workout progresses, resolution sinks in. There is no place to escape to until the intervals are done, no option to spend the present time in any different way. Once started, intervals must be finished because any other scenario will render all that initial work for nothing. So the mind focuses on overcoming each little hurdle and steadfastly ignores the pain in the legs, the pounding heart and the trouble breathing. There is no alternative; the intervals just have to be done.

"When he finally trotted on, he looked up at the bright, clear stars and his eyes welled; mixed with the hot sweat of his face, tears ran down to the spittle around his mouth and chin, and he felt quite literally that he was melting, turning into human slush as he jogged along. Only when he started a repetition did he become solid once more."

When I first read this story, I thought it was real. I believed this Olympic-bound runner actually did 60 intervals around the track, 40 more than he originally thought he was going to have to do. For about a month, whenever I had an interval workout, I thought about this runner and knew that if he could push himself to such extremes for hours on end, then I could get though just 1 hour on the trainer. I found out later that this story is one of fiction. But I still like it. I'm sure someone out there has read this story too and has actually gone out to do 60 quarter mile intervals or something equally as long and hard. Maybe one day I will try that. Fictional or real, I think this story captures exactly the sentiments and lunacy that at a lot of athletes experience when faced with prescribed interval workouts and touches on the importance of mental toughness that interval training builds.

Race report: 6 hrs of Cranky Monkey

So much has happened in the last 3 days - it's been a whirlwind! On Thurs, we were enjoying our last day at the beach in the FL. Then our flight home was delayed by 5 hours so we arrived back in Baltimore at 3am on Friday morning. At noon on Friday, I found out that I matched into emergency medicine residency at UNC, which was my first choice. That was exciting, emotional, and a huge relief to finally know where I will be spending my next 3 years! Later on Friday afternoon, Jeff signed all the papers and finalized the sale of his old house in Hampden. And then on Saturday, we were up early to get to Rosaryville State Park to race the 6hrs of Cranky Monkey MTB race.

The course at Rosaryville is so fun. It is an 11 mile course, fast, flowy, with some short climbs and logs piles in sections. It is not technical at all, which I love. I stayed on my bike for the entire race, which is saying something because I am usually the first one to dismount and run over obstacles cx style. The weather was also perfect for an endurance race. It was a bit chilly and overcast at the start, but the day warmed up throughout the race and by the end, we were hanging out in shorts and tee shirts, enjoying pizza and Chad's rum.

Here is my race report:
I was very lucky to even be racing yesterday. 2 weeks ago, I found out that the top tube of my new carbon Foundry hardtail frame had a giant crack in it. I haven't been riding my MTB recently because the trails have been either been too snowy or muddy for the past month, so I'm not exactly sure how it cracked. I was pretty devastated though because I spent a lot of money on that bike and hadn't even had a chance to race it yet. But Joe's Bike Shop is unbelievably amazing. Within 2 weeks, Joe called Foundry and was able to get a new frame under warranty (I still don't know how many strings he had to pull to get that). My new frame arrived in Baltimore on Thrus. And then Ethan built up my bike so that I could race it on Sat. I can't thank the shop enough for helping me out with all of that!

Needless to say, I was super excited to finally be racing my new bike, and my goal from the start of the race was to win, since I wanted to get Joe's name on the top step of the podium as a way to thank them for everything. I started out strong and got to the front of the women's pack. Midway through the 1st lap, I was having so much fun, it didn't seem like a race anymore. I was really happy to be riding fast single track on my new bike and psyched that I could get over all of the obstacles without any difficulties. I held really consistent lap times throughout the race and felt strong at the end. The difference between my fastest and slowest lap time was 72 seconds. Unfortunately, I missed the cut off time for the 6th lap by less than 2 mins, but I accomplished my goal of getting Joe's name on the podium. It turned out to be a great race for Joe's team all around. Kathleen came in 5th in the solo women's category, Chris got 4th in the solo men's category, Jeff got 2nd in the solo 35+ category, and Ethan and Pat got 2nd in the duo category. Way to go Joe's! And thanks to the shop again for getting my new bike all set up.

Joe's Bike Shop Racing Team all over the podium!

Here's Jeff's race report:
Like Carla mentioned, fun week in Florida, JHU Match Day, sale of my house... then an equally awesome part: actually being able to ride/race mountain bikes.  The weather has been terrible for so long. We caught a break for monster cross a few weeks ago, and we caught another break for the 6-hour Cranky Monkey Race at Rosaryville.

At registration, we all received leg markings:  a number on our left calf indicating what category we are in.  I was given the number 8, for solo-male-6 hour-35+.

Even though all my competitors had the number "8" on their leg, I really did not know many of them nor their capabilities... except for 2 of them:  Chris McGill and Racer-x. Chris McGill: I know his name because he crushed the 12-hour CM race last June and I was very jealous, and wish I could perform that well.  Racer-x I only recognized from last year at Rosaryville... I think he was 2nd or 3rd last year.  In either case, McGill took off at the start and I did not see him all day.  Racer-x I saw slide out in the first grassy section of the prologue.

I felt great for the first lap.  I like being behind people I trust, so I cozied up behind Shawn Downing.  He had a great pace going.  Racer-x came by us around mile 2 or 3, in sort of a sketchy area.  I was thinking I should simply let him go and race within myself.   So I stayed with Shawn for another couple of miles.  Then another "8" came by us.  I wanted to chase.  So I did.  After a mile or so I was in front of him and feeling great.

On lap 2, around mile 3 I was sitting on Racer-x's wheel.  And it was not tough.  I was thinking, "did he blow himself up on the first lap?"  I did not know what to do.  I just stayed with him for a while, until the aid station on the road, he asked me pass him.  I said I liked the pace and needed something to chase.  He insisted I pass, so I took off.  From there until the end of lap 3 I was pushing it.

Laps 4 and 5 were torture.  I definitely did not do the nutrition thing right and I should have paced myself better. I think I added 10 mins to those laps.  I made the cut off time for the 6th lap with about 10 mins to spare.  I had no idea how many "8"s were in front of me.  I had no idea how far back Racer-x was.  I could have waited those 10-mins to see if any others came through before the cut off.  But, if that happened, I would have needed to "race" them on that last lap.  So I decided I needed to go.

I felt so much better on the final lap.  There were a few riders coming up from behind and that would get me moving faster, thinking they could be in my class. 

Coming into the finish area I saw Carla and Chad.  I could hear them cheering and that is always the best feeling.  A smile can't be held back, regardless of how tired you are.  They told me I had 2nd place.  Then Carla said she had first and I think we might have high-5'ed four or five times.

Carla says I have been typing too long, so I guess that is the end of this...  Final thoughts:  bikes rule, racing rules, having fun with your friends on a great, sunny day is epic.

Charlie says it is time to wrap this up too!