February brought cold weather to the east coast. Fortunately I only had to endure a few days before finishing midterms and being able to travel down to sunny Florida for my first WUCA race of the year, Sebring 12 HR. I was nervous about this race due to the amount of uncertainty surrounding the event. I had only been on the BMC TM01 for 2 hours prior to this event, restructured my training plan in November, and started a new nutrition plan with Skratch Labs. Everything seemed to be progressing in training, and there was only one way to see what didn't work- race!
Sebring 12 HR 2018 was my first experience in the Ultra Cycling world. After surgery prevented me from riding for months and limited my training capacity, I registered for Sebring 12 HR to test my endurance and to motivate my training. I finished with ~244 miles raced in 12 hours, placing 2nd, two miles behind 1st place. After finishing, I knew this was a race I wanted to race again and win!
2019 offered a new opportunity to come back and race harder with new knowledge and greater strength. Following my experience at the first Sebring 12HR, 12 HR National Championships, Luchon-Bayonne and the World Championships, I had a better understanding of the effort required for this event and far greater experience.
The race started at 6AM for a few laps around the Sebring race track. Mentally, for me, the track is the hardest part of the race. The track has holes and cuts that can catch a tire if one isn't careful, and is curvy. This is challenging in the morning when it is dark and even harder in the evening as the sunsets and the fatigue of 12 hours of racing sets in. After three laps of the track, the gates open and racers start the long course of 94 miles. The remaining time is spent riding laps around the short course, about 11 miles.
There was no fog this year which allowed me to see clearly once the sun came up. My legs felt locked in lower power zones- which was okay given my pacing plan- but not my ideal performance feeling. My bigger concern was hydration! I lost a bottle on the Sebring track which left me with only two bottles for the first 102 miles. I had the option of stopping at the turn around point to refill my bottles, but that violates one of the main rules of endurance racing- DO NOT STOP! Perhaps my paranoia kept my mind off the ride as I quickly found myself back at the Sebring track after completing the first 102 miles in 4:07. I was able to feed from my support crew and like to think I was able to reduce the severity of my dehydration.
The next 8 hours passed by quickly. The short loop is 11 miles in length with mental markers that help move the time. I was able to set up a plan for the loop that kept me engaged and entertained on the road by eating at certain locations and keeping an eye out for landmarks- like the manatee mailbox!
There is a point where the race uncertainty about completing changes into certainty and the confidence level and leg strength improve. At that same point, I realized that I had the opportunity to set a new course record. All I had to do was FOCUS. Stay on plan, eat and relax. The wind picked up at the end and made the last hour challenging, especially on the track.
The race organizers only count complete laps towards the final race distance. I finished my last lap on the track with 4 minutes of race time remaining, which was not enough time to complete another lap of the 3 mile track. At that point I had completed 269.36 miles and decided to end.
What a day! I won the race, set a new course record, a new PR and was able to test out my new gearing plans- a huge success. Chris Richardson from Bike Doctor set me up on the BMC in a position that was fast and comfortable- despite only having ridden a TT bike for 2 hours before the 12. My chain was silent the entire race and still felt waxy at the end- definite savings from the Wend Wax team. The other plan, nutrition, was on point too! Miraculously I didn't suffer from the dehydration I expected after loosing a bottle early on. And, the variety of tastes from Skratch kept my stomach happy and my energy levels high.
Despite success, there is still a lot that can be learned from this race. The timing mats were raised up- more like riding over a curb- which was a jolt when impacting at speed. I spoke with the organizers and am hopeful that this will change next year- the number of bottles ejected and flats experienced by racers made the course hazardous at times. My nutrition plan worked but it can be improved. I finished with a 5,000kcal deficit compared to what I consumed during the event. Drinking more would certainly help get more calories into my body and help with hydration. I have also been experimenting with more nutrient and calorie dense foods that will provide additional energy going forward. After reviewing the race data, I noticed a dip in my power for about 30 minutes 8 hours into the event. Similarly, my power output for the race was 10w under what I had been aiming for (10w avg, 5w normalized). I believe these are nutritional issues and can be improved with better planning.
I am not surprised that my Whoop strain for the day was 20.7. Comically, the race wasn't over when I finished- I still had to eat dinner, pack my bike and gear for the flight home on Sunday at 7AM! I hardly slept that evening and Whoop virtually pronounced me dead with their recovery score. Happy to cross this race off my list.
Next up, 12 HR National Championships.
