NW Solo Championships - Race report

What a weekend! Lets start with the fun details/stats first:
- Place I finished: 3rd
- Number of female 'real pros' at the race: 4
- Number of miles ridden: 225
- Number of feet climbed: ~17,000
- Number of hours I had to stop due to stomach issues: 2.5
- Number of minutes difference between my fastest and slowest laps (excluding stomach laps): 10 minutes

We got to the venue on Friday and set up camp. I had my plan for the race - I had a lap goal, an eating plan, and I was set to go. The weather was a bit hot - it was 80F - and we have had a cool wet spring here in Seattle. To say I wasn't acclimatized would be a bit of an understatement. But I had a plan for that too ... I was self-supporting so we had a bin of ice water on the table and I'd take a cool cloth to my core, legs, and neck each lap. 30 seconds of cool bliss each lap.

Before I knew it, the start gun went and we were off. I did my usual 'pacing' and was almost dead last in the run. The first lap was slow but my plan was to turn it up as the sun (and heat) went down. The first laps felt slow - I was holding back due to the heat. I didn't want to over-do it.

I started feeling good around 6pm. The air was starting to cool and my lap times were starting to get faster. Right around this time I got what my Dr calls 'exercised-induced bronchial spasms' (I've been informed by my Dr not to call it asthma). This resulted in shallow breathing which led to a nice stitch in my side (yes, it hurt!). Oddly, the stitch is almost a good thing --it means the spasms are over - and I can control the stitch pain with some deep breathing.

From 7pm to 11pm I had my best lap times. The air was cooling down and I was feeling good. And then it happened. I had a bad lap - i had to walk a downhill because i was feeling stunned, I started to feel nauseous, my stomach felt like it was on fire, and I had to stop. I was super frustrated. My brain wanted to keep riding but given my experience at Canmore 2 years ago, I didn't want to risk it. I took some anti-acid pills, more endurolytes, and laid down. I listened as the riders rode by and kept on wishing I were out there. Several times I would stand up and immediately feel nauseous so I laid back down again. After 2 hours of this I decided that it was time to give it a shot. I could always turn around if I felt too bad. I got ready, downed some more electrolytes, and headed out for a lap.

I warmed up quickly and felt pretty decent. I didn't puke. This was good. I picked up the pace and my stomach was still co-operating. Things were looking up. The air was still cool (it was around 3am) so I was able to put in some good lap times. Fraser let me know that I was catching 2nd but I had to put on the gas. I tried. I was reeling her in but ran out of time (what an odd concept for a 24hr race)...

In summary I didn't meet any of my goals for this race. I do believe that I learned another lesson and we may finally have the last piece of the puzzle in place for my stomach issues. Here's hoping :)

I will say that I had a great 24hours on my bike! I loved my new ride and the only mechanical was that I got a flat tire! Thanks again to the guys at Norco for the sweet ride and to the guys at SVC for setting it all up and dialing it in for race day.

So now that the dust has settled I am in recovery mode .. trying to clear the dust out of my lungs, getting some sleep, and fighting off the re-appearance of my cold.

I've got a race every other weekend for the next two months - lots of time to test out my new slightly modified plan - stay posted :)

The countdown has begun

Next weekend is Spokane! In seven days (yes seven!) I will be riding my bike in circles for 24 hours. So what have I been up to you ask? Eating. Sleeping in. Shorter rides. Getting organized.

All this eating and sleeping is treating me pretty well. I am feeling pretty good. I did a loop of Tiger today and crushed my climbing time by 1 minute. That might not seem like a lot to you but trust me- it is! It is one minute better than my best time! I felt fantastic - full of energy and wanting to ride. Looks like this taper thing is working.

So, 6 more days of eating, sleeping, and trying not to work too much should put me in a pretty good place for the race.

Eyeing the competition there are 11 women signed up for the Solo race. 3 of them are serious girls who've done well at Solos in the past (one got 3rd at Worlds one year and another placed 2nd (by 2 laps) to Rebecca Rusch at Spokane). Strong women. It should be a good race! It will be fun to have some good solid competition to really put my new eating strategy and fitness to the test.

Fraser is also contemplating doing it Solo so i am planning to self-support. I think I have a pretty good strategy to minimize pit time. My new eating plan makes self-supporting easier as I won't be eating many solids, if any. It should be good!

OK, off to eat some more food before I can start sleeping again ...

All is quiet on the Westren front ...

You know when this happens that it's been lots of hours of training, work, life, or, in this case .... all three!

Our move (moving homes) the end of April co-incided with my training peak for Spokane, my first 24hr. Incidently work was super busy as well. Throw it all together in a pot and mix it up and out comes a sick Monilee. Yup, i got a cold - and a nasty one at that. Oh how I dispise being sick!!! The part of my taper was spent moving. A whole week … sick. And now … I am on the mend and tapering (or is that training) again.

In the meantime – before this “perfect storm” of activity I got some good rounds of Tiger in on my 08 Faze. I just had it into Samammish Valley Cycle – not thinking it needed much of a tune up – but they did it all – rebuilt my shocks, replaced some seals and bolts, and did a general over-haul of my bike. It was amazing. I thought my bike was running well but the work they did made it smoother and stronger. Now they just need to make it faster :)

I swapped out the wheelset and breakset from my 08 (XTR for both) to the 09 (XT and Avid Exlicir) so that I could keep the better wheelset on my ‘dry bike’. As such I got to try out the new disk breaks – Avid Elixcir. I have to admit that when I went from the Hayes 9 to Shimano XTR I didn’t notice that much of a difference – they both break in the same manner/style. You can modulate your breaking pretty well. The Avids are a totally different beast. They also alow you to modulate but when you get to the ‘breaking point’ – pardon the pun, could not resist – that is it. You stop. Full stop. And yes, I found out the hard way – going full speed down the mountain around a twisty singletrack turn. And I still (2 weeks later) have the bruises to show it. Ahhh, trying out new gear is soo fun! The great news is now I know the limits – and did not learn in a race (always good)!

So now I am on my official taper and am eager to try out my new ride. Jon and the boys at SVC are tuning it up for me! The official count down is on - 10 days until my first 24hr Solo!! Wheeeeeee