Top 5 Things Learned From Sunday's Race

1. I love racing close to home. Nothing beats sleeping in your own bed the night before the race. Also, you can’t beat being able to race with your friends and local rivals. It’s all encouraging and gives you more motivation to do well.

2. My new bike position works well for me. I had made a few changes to my bike to make me a little more aero. The changes also put me in more of an aggressive position. I dropped my handle bars, raised my seat and moved it forward a bit, and narrowed my arm rests and aero bars. It’s very comfortable and much more aero. I had no problems with staying down and pushing the peddles this weekend. I was very encouraged by that.

3. I need to reevaluate my nutrition needs during a race. Ok, it’s simple math and it’s plain to see where I screwed up. I started the day with 3 packs of instant oatmeal which equals 510 calories. I had 1 20 ounce Gatorade before the event for 150 calories, two energy gels during the race for a total of 300 calories, and 20 ounces of Heed for 100 calories. This totaled 1060 calories. Most every athlete has 2000 calories stored as glucose, so for Saturday I had a total of 3060 calories at my disposal. After the race, my calories burned totaled 3860. I was in the hole 800 calories. That’s like a whole Big Mac. No wonder I couldn't run. I had nothing! I’m going to need to do a better job of eating before and during my races. (See future post on the wonderful treat that is the Cliff Bar)

4. I need to take in more salts during a race. I’m a sweater. Not the Christmas kind. The kind that gets me in trouble for dripping on the hardwoods in the house after a long run. Or any kind of run for that matter. The weather was a cool 60 something degrees and I still managed to sweat out enough electrolytes to give me a few cramps. I took in 3 electrolytes Saturday night and 3 on Sunday morning, but it wasn’t enough. I need to have some on the bike. Considering that summer is just around the corner and I do live in Alabama, I’m going to have to really be careful and take in the right amount to be able to replenish what I’m sweating out.

5. Recovery is hard. I can’t say that I haven’t felt any effects from Sunday’s race, but my legs aren’t really that sore. So my head is going, “well let’s go do something!” Not so fast. To get full benefit from the work I did during the race, I need to let my body recover this week by taking it easy. I want to get back at it soooo bad. I just need to remember, it’s going to a long season and I’m going to have plenty of chances to get after it. I need to enjoy these moments of rest.