0 for 5

Right now I am 0 and 5 for endurance races.  So what is the problem?  Great question that can not be answered with a canned response.  I suffer from GI Distress (gut distress) and it effects 50% of the endurance race population and is the cause of more DNF's than another factor.  What sucks about this is that there is no easy answer for it.  What works for one person won't necessarily work for another.

2012 Lumberjack Start

So for me, almost every time I line up on the starting line at an endurance event it like gambling.  Will I get it right this time?  This last Saturday at the Lumberjack I didn't get it right.  The more I study this the more I learn and the more things I try to correct my gut distress.

I have been using a sport drink that has protein in it.  My reading and research has lead me to believe that this may be the cause of my problems... Article by Joe Friel on Stomach Shutdown.

The good thing is that I the team I ride for is sponsored by Infinit Nutrition and they custom make my sport drink.  They sent me a new formula to try without protein which I will test next Wednesday.  The difficulty in testing my formulas is that I need to do long rides under stress to simulate a race.  These rides need to be at least 50 to 75 miles long and last at least 5 hours for a good test.  The problem is I could easily over train just testing formulas.  This also makes it difficult for the shorter XC races on Sundays, if I am doing long rides the same week.  Keep in mind this needs to be done on a Mountain Bike on mountain bike terrain for a real test.  Going out on a road bike for 5 hours just isn't the same.

So am I a little bummed at my performance this past Saturday at the Lumberjack, you bet.  Am I going to let it stop me, HELL NO! It's all a learning experience.  I have to look at where I came from.  3 years ago I was 278 pounds and could barely ride 10 miles.  Today I am 195 pounds and race the Expert Category in mountain biking, not bad for 3 years! When I do finally complete my first 100 mile race it will make the story even better and the accomplishment even more precious,  I can't wait.