Who doesn't like escaping the cold and getting a tan in February?
As 2019 came to a close, I booked my flight to Sebring, Florida and started preparing for, what I anticipated being, a defining year. Sebring will always be my true "Birthplace of Endurance Racing" as it was my first endurance race and sparked my interest in focusing on these events. This race is is early enough in the year that it allows me to test new strategies and demo plans before the season heats up. The temperatures are also a warm welcome coming from the cold east coast.
At the end of 2019, Andy Jackson, from Peaks Sports Consulting, sat down with me to reflect and discuss the 2019 season, what went well, what could improve and our targets for the new year. 2020 was going to be different from many angles. From a training perspective, we were going to focus more on power control while riding the TT bike and on shorter, more intense indoor sessions. In review, Andy identified a large opportunity for positional optimization on the bike. While I was currently set up in an efficient way, there was an opportunity to modify my position for improved aerodynamics. Combining both a new position and workouts would stress my body in different ways than experienced before.
Training indoors also gave us a great opportunity to work on nutrition. Skratch labs makes many different drink mixes that can be used in a variety of ways. We experimented with taking different concentrations of their exercise hydration mix and hyper hydration in anticipation of the Florida heat. With months of testing, the initial plan was to consumer one Skratch bar and one bottle 500mL of Skratch exercise hydration mix per hour of the race. Learning from last year's race experience, this plan should provide additional calories to reduce the deficit and enable the performance we anticipated.
The days passed quickly between classwork, exams and training. Before I knew it, Sebring was only a week a way. It's hard for me to visualize this race as most of the winter, 99% of my rides, are spent inside on the trainer. Reacting to the outdoors is an initial shock, but fortunately passes quickly in the pre-race ride.
Sebring 2020 will be remembered in infamy for several reasons. The traditional finish circuit around the race track was canceled and moved to a side street which was a contentious move. Many racers opted to change their registration from the 24 hour in favor of the 12 hour as a result of the course modification. The biggest result from this change was that Slovenian champion and endurance legend Marko Baloh would be switching to the 12 hour race - competing against me.
In review from 2019, I modified my race set up. Again, the BMC TM01 was my weapon of choice. The BMC offers a lot of adjustments that could put me in a more aerodynamic position that was also more comfortable. A HED disc wheel rear and Enve 5.6 front wheel completed the wheel package. The new, more aero and efficient position, along with the disc wheel, on paper, would provide a faster ride given the same power output. As always, I carried a stick of Wend Wax to freshly wax my chain the day before for those extra watt savings.
Before jumping into the race recap, I cannot stress the importance of preparation. My ultimate result in this race was directly attributed to my preparation. Who would have thought that the weather in Florida would dip into the low 40 degree mark? I certainly did not, and did not pack warm weather equipment. Before anyone comments that I should have checked the forecast, I did. In fact, the day I left the low forecast was only upper 50s, quickly rising into the 70s. But I digress...
I woke up on February 9th and made my go-to race breakfast, oatmeal and a heaping spoon, or three, of Peanut Butter & Co White Chocolate Wonderful. To avoid mental stress or psyching I avoid looking at my Whoop recovery score before a big day. Post race I saw that I was "moderately" prepared physically according to my Whoop. Sleep wasn't as optimal as it could have been but I would chalk that up to pre race excitement and a slightly early start. 62% was around an average recovery for the thirty day period.
To say I was frustrated and disappointed in my preparation was an understatement and was suffering from the result. I was cold. I was very cold. Fortunately my father was kind enough to lend me his jacket at the start line. It was two sizes too big but I was just grateful to have something warm to wear. I could barely stand still on the line as my body was overwhelmed with shivering. There's a great photo that I cannot find of my Dad hugging me for warmth at the start. I think I would have performed better if he rode shotgun on my bike and hugged me the whole century!
It's easier for me to mentally piece this 12 hour race into four separate parts. I consider the track, the century, the short laps and the finishing circuit as independent parts to the 12 hours. In my opinion, the starting track is the hardest part of the day due to the early start, tight turns, congestion and high energy start. This year was no different from my 2019 experience- a fast start (The highest power from 5 seconds- 15 minutes) and several crashes on course. Despite starting at over 5 watts/ kg my body did not warm up. With no feeling in my body I successfully exited the track in the top 5 and started the second part of the race, the century leg to Frostpoint.
The route up to Frostpoint is usually pleasant, but this time is was not as enjoyable. Did I say I was cold? Keeping pace with the front 4 was becoming more challenging. My body couldn't generate power and my hands were so cold that I couldn't even shift the DI2 buttons on my bike. About 10 miles from the turnaround point at Frostpoint, I let the lead go and I stopped on the side of the road. I was in this race for the long run and needed to eat/ drink if I had any chance of survival. Without being able to reach around on the bike, the only way to feed was to stop. You know it's cold when you can't move your mouth to chew. Did I mention I was cold? You don't stop, or plan to stop, in endurance racing- it's almost a rule. It's rather simple, time stopped is time lost. Despite being angry for stopping, I couldn't help but laugh at my sorry state and not being able to chew- which didn't help my ability to eat. Begrudgingly, I clipped back in and was on my way to the Frostpoint mark.
The first turning point of the race came around mile 60 when I could start to feel my fingers and toes. I had managed to catch most of the front group except for Marko, who had established a strong lead. With warmth on my side I was finally able to settle into my own pace and could set myself free. I road away in pursuit and anxiously awaited seeing my crew in the feedzone back at Sebring raceway.
The race organizers took feedback into account and decided to remove the time matts around the short loop for this year. The lack of timing blocks meant that racers could go around the turns without slowing or without the fear of jettisoning bottles (I lost a few last year). The short loops flew by, and the distance between Marko and myself decreased with each lap. Mentally, I was feeling strong. I was in second place and gaining on first. Physically I was off. My body felt fine, power was spot on, and my stomach was comfortable. But, something was nagging on my leg- more specifically my knee. It's hard to describe the feeling- not an itch or a tickle, but a combination of the two and I couldn't "scratch" it. It started to build after 7 hours of racing and increased with each pedal stroke.
The second turning point of the race came when I caught Marko. Only so briefly...My knee had transitioned from nag into a strong pain. No pain, no gain- right? I thought I could fight through for the last few hours of the race- but I thought wrong. I had planned to feed on this lap, which is when I caught Marko. I thought to myself that I could quickly stop, feed, and get up to speed, catching Marko by the end of the next lap and take the lead. However, little did I know what awaited in the feedzone...
Race rules at Sebring mandate that you stop to feed. This isn't a problem as long as you are efficient with your needs and your crew is ready to help. However, unclipping from my pedal welcomed an immense about of pain into my leg. I quickly grabbed what I needed and tried to clip back in, but couldn't. The force required to clip in strained my knee more than I could handle. Now, its a no brainer- I should have stopped. But, in the heat of the moment, all that mattered was the race, Marko up the road, and catching him. I pressed on pedaling with one leg for another lap. My pacing plan went out the window, along with hopes of catching Marko.
My body had had it. After pedaling around with one leg I was almost moving backwards. The pain in my leg was too much to handle, and I had to call the end of the race. I was distraught. I can respect giving the race your all and finishing last place. But I didn't finish, I retired early. To say I was angry was an understatement. I felt like I had let so many people down, especially myself.
Despite retiring early, my lead allowed me to take second place overall. While bittersweet, the true highlight of the weekend came from the extraordinary sportsmanship exemplified by Marko Baloh. The best part of the day was when Marko accepted his award and called me to stand next to him. Marko's sportsmanship and conduct is truly an example of what it means to be an exceptional athlete.
Sebring 2020 did not go according to plan. The Skratch Labs nutrition was spot on, pacing spot on, but I missed something. Where did this pain come from and how would I address it? The uncertainty of how this happened and the time required to recover was almost as painful as the injury itself. I knew the next few days would be tough as I tried to recover and figure out what happened to my knee. Little did I know that a combination of cold weather and stationary training would lead to months of physical therapy and time off the bike. Fortunately I was optimistic, a little bit naïve, and just looking forward to the cannoli waiting for me at home.