Team Littleton Bike and Fitness / Untamed NE: Vermont 50

It's hard to believe that it's been almost 2 months since the VT50 and I haven't posted anything on it...again sorry for the delay. But like a fine wine my stories get better with age. If I don't ruin my sperm by biking every day I hope to have kids one day and those kids will hopefully have kids and if I'm still alive I'll be one of those grand dads with the most kick ass stories!

Alright, The VT 50 is a 50 mile ultra run and mountain bike. Those of you who know me will attest to the fact that my opinion of running vs. biking is such that you will not have to ask which division I entered.

They didn't allow camping on site this year so all us cheap skates were forced to sleep in our cars on the side of the road instead of the field. I found a nice little spot behind a church and was only bothered once by an officer of the law. The 6 am start is always an early one, I guess that's why I like ultra distance races instead of regular endurance races...the rule of thumb is that if a race is over 24 hours long starting at some hellish hour is about as important as shaving your legs to cut down on drag...that being said you can shave your legs for other reasons like: the smooth feeling of sliding freshly shaved legs into cool sheets after a 5 hour workout, hot aromatherapy bath and self massage with skin firming lotion. Who ever said it was about aerodynamics?

6 AM at the start line, chilly, dark and damp. I took the lead off the gun to avoid the chaos of 100 mountain bikers clumped together trying to negotiate three 90 degree turns on wet pavement. After the last of them we were on dirt and in a small group of 8 riders pushing a good road pace. The first climb came and I sat into my 80% HR and chugged. One by one people started coming off the back and before the top I was well into the wave ahead of me and off the front of my field. The second climb is a single track muddy mess with walkers everywhere. I took the wattage through the roof to stay on the bike and gain a lead over the early race bottleneck. If there's one thing I've learned in racing it's this: You can always push harder that you think and you can mentally produce more output than you can ever imagine. So, off i go into the red zone early and start feeling it in my lower back. slacking on my truck conditioning over the summer has reminded me why I have clients do 6-7 days of core training a week. At the top of the climb I gave the ol self chiropractic pop to my f^&$ed up SI joints and enjoyed the rest of the day in less agony than before.

Mile 25 was not as much of a blur as the others mainly because I, along with 15 other dip shits, missed a turn and ended up climbing an 300 vertical ft driveway before ending up on some poor saps lawn only to turn around and coast past a few other saps riding the same hill before returning to the race course and passing the same people for the second time. At this point I figured I was well in the lead of my division but with a 5 min detour and a neurotic brain at the helm I put it into overdrive and started really mashing the pedals. Chasing a fictional leader that passed me while I was off course at the very least made the blur seem interesting and the cramping calves a sign of reaching physical capacity...after thinking I'd make to the next aid station on half a bottle of water I found myself quite dehydrated and crampy as a result. A couple shot blocks helped the cramps in my legs but made new one's in my cheeks as I had nothing to wash it down with. Aid station 9 or 10ish was an inviting one, many a snack and beverage. Knowing what my body is telling me is not a new concept. Being a nutritionist and OC trial and error race nutrition freak I walked into that aid station with one purpose "fix what was wrong and get the hell out of there"All I wanted was a chair and blanket but I opted for a potato rolled in salt, a glass of water, half a banana and a swig on mountain dew...now that I think about it that sounds gross but it did the trick at that particular moment in time.

Only one other course change threw me off. Instead of that quickie field climb to height of the land and the decent to the finish line we did a single track climb through the woods then a decent to the field and another single track climb to the Adirondacks and back then a series of PUDS (pointless ups and downs) along the ski slopes before shooting out of the woods into an off camber grassy uphill turn at high speeds. After removing the grass from my shorts, teeth and ear I dodge the next lucky schmuck flying out of the woods to a grassy ass ripping and made my way to the finish. Just before the last decent there was a course marshal standing 10 feet away from a 20 foot long and 40 foot wide wooden bridge reminding me to "be careful on the bridge" that I could see from half a mile away...I laughed inside at that moment given the last 2 minutes and then smiled knowing that the pain was almost over.