Excruciation Exam Race Report
Last year after doing support for DH at the Excruciation Exam Marathon I decided it was something I wanted to try. It For those of you who don't know it is about 80 miles starting at one mountain bike trail in Warda, then about 25-30 road miles to another mountain bike trail in Smithville, followed by 20 miles of mountain biking there and then 20 or so miles back. Insane? Yes. I had fairly simple goals:
- Not dehydrate, bonk or mentally give up.
- Attack the race as four distinct parts mentally, check each off to keep a mental focus.
- Finish in under 7 hours 30 minutes, looking at the times from last year and knowing they added some miles at Rocky Hill I felt this was feasible but would be difficult. My breakdown was sub 1 hour at Warda, 2 hours on the road 1, 2.5 hours at RHR, no more than 2 hours on the road back.
- Be strongest on the road back - this is where I heard many people struggle
The day started with dense fog pushing the start back. I was pretty nervous about the Lemans Start where you run about .25 miles to your bike on a gravel ranch road but mostly was calm. Finally we get started and we all start to run/jog/trot to our bikes. I was happy to not roll an ankle. On the bike I had a good start, I love the Warda start loop and was happy to pass at least one girl in my division. Once we got in the twisty trees it was a mess. The fog had my glasses fogged up, the roots were slick and there was a lot of nervous energy. I was disappointed to have to get off my bike for two relatively easy parts but I quickly cast this aside, got out of the trees and stuffed my glasses in my base layer to head to Gas Pass. The downhill for Gas Pass was a bit slick, I was happy to negotiate it well. It was comical my jersey zipper broke, causing it to start unzipping upward. If I didn't have an undershirt this might not have been funny but it distracted me with my new fashion statement. The rest of Warda was uneventful, I was disappointed to not make the Carpet Climb but it was a long race so no use dwelling. I left Warda at approximately 50 minutes and as planned took a gel immediately and locked out my front fork. Mentally this was segment one, check that is done.
The road part I expected to go well. I was a bit shocked even though I was riding with a small group of guys they seemed to have no knowledge or interest in drafting. I expected this and was mentally prepared to ride alone which I have often done in the nearly 8 years I since I started road riding. My bike was definitely faster on the dirt roads than the pavement and I focused on trying to minimize my time under 15-16 mph while not using too much energy. About 2 miles from checkpoint one a guy asked if he could sit on my wheel. If you who knew me know this a bit comical. One I was a foot shorter than him so I was only going to be modest help drafting, I also don't tend to be the strongest rider but I guess for him I was. I pretty much pulled him to checkpoint one. At the check point I got my zip tie and moved along. I watched my computer to remind me to take another gel at 45 minutes, I also focused on drinking my 20 ounce bottle of Gatorade, took sips of water and would take on a bar/solid food again when I got close to Rocky Hill Ranch (RHR) in Smithville. There were some sections that felt like washboards and I couldn't wait to hit Rocky Hill, as we neared I ate a bar which was not easy to get down. I wasn't hungry but taking on solid food before RHR was part of my plan and I knew I would need it. I got to the ranch, collected my zip tie at the checkpoint and smiled, segment two was done. I quickly swapped out my Gatorade bottle, gave our wonderful teammate who volunteered support my glasses and he attempted to help me zip the busted zipper. It was nice to see friendly faces at Rocky Hill, I stuck to my plan of minimizing my stop time. This had worked at my road centuries that felt the most successful. I was on the trail in 1 hour 58 minutes from when I left Warda, under my time goal.
Rocky Hill is has always been one of my love/hate trails. When I am comfortable it is fun, it has also been the site of very bad rides. I didn't feel completely comfortable, I was setting up lines a little ugly and it made me even more conservative. I was able to do some things like climb really well, but unlike three weeks ago at the marathon at RHR I was descending sloppy and dabbing more than I would like. I tried to just focus on making sure I drank, ate gel at 45 minutes and not let things weigh too heavily on me. I still had twenty miles when I left so being disappointed wasn't going to help. I made sure to drink my Gatorade in open sections and mentally focus on this was just one part of a bigger goal. I got off the trail, grabbed my third zip tie, took off the cold weather clothes, filled my Camelback since I was down to 10 ounces of water, grabbed a peanut butter and jelly that was so hard to eat but was part of my plan and left for the road at 2 hours 45 minutes. Above my goal but still overall I was looking good for my time plan, the volunteers said it was 22 miles to the finish. Segment three was done.
The big road climb away from Rocky Hill was brutal, I put it in a very easy gear and just spun up the hill. There were several guys walking and one at the top who seemed to be cramping. He said he was okay so I continued on. I felt pretty strong on the road, just as I had planned to. My focus was to have my computer read 15 mph or higher for most of the ride. My ego liked that I was starting to catch other riders and was too strong for them to keep up. Somewhere along the way I caught up to a rider who commented how strong I was riding, he asked if he could hold me wheel. Like earlier he was quite tall but okay, hop on. He was quite friendly and we soon caught an Aggie Rider. We invited him to hop on and he tried but couldn't keep the pace, he gave a little whoop as he pulled off and I told him I was class of '03 to keep going and gave him a Gig 'Em. We kept humming along, at one point my traveling buddy pulled. I was feeling a bit of fatigue so this was welcome. I had to spin many of the climbs and just kept focus on water, gel at 45 minutes, Gatorade. Around 64 miles I still felt pretty good and knew, I was going to make it and finish the race. Now my focus shifted to making it to check point four. We saw train tracks and my riding friend commented we must be close.
Once we got to check point four I only stopped for my zip tie, the volunteer said it was eight miles meaning I was calculating mileage correctly and I was going to make my time goal. My drafting partner stopped for water, I had no time for stopping. When I got on the road it was as though I had wings. I was easily going 17 mph, not sure if I had tailwind or just adrenaline. I passed the large church I remembered from last year and knew it was almost over. I could see someone in the distance, I made them my carrot to keep myself focused on riding hard. As I neared closer I realized it was a guy I had met through my friend Laura, Joe, it was nice to see a friendly face. After crossing Highway 77 and turning on the road to Warda I finally closed in on him. On the road I saw our friends Patty B and Derek leaving the ranch, I definitely enjoyed the energetic waves.
I caught Joe at the singletrack and he was exhausted, he let me pass and I twisted through the short section, out into the cow pasture and around to the barn. Finally near the house DH saw me and started cheering. I finished strong, on cloud nine. I was done way under my goal at 7 hours 14 minutes, the race was 80.5 miles. This put me in 5th place, I was disappointed until I saw the times for the three girls ahead were around 20 minutes or less faster, this isn't a terrible gap in my mind for my first attempt at a race of this distance still more than I wanted but that can be used to push me next year.
I never cramped, I never hit "the wall" mentally, I never felt I couldn't do this. Talking to my friends that had done this before helped me develop the proper plan for this race. I was very sore but didn't feel awful from dehydration. Looking at the data I feel I could have rode strong at Rocky Hill Ranch. I felt too conservative but that is part of what I love about marathon racing is there is always the trick of the right mental and physical balance. Next year I know what to expect and can build on this year's successful run.
