VQ build

The timing for my training this week was perfect. I felt fully recovered from the ultra and with two weeks until the Vision Quest I could really punish myself and recover enough to be a bit stronger for the race.

I started the week with my normal schedule of fitting in a swim and run where I could but I also tried to focus more on the bike and I did it with a little help from my friends. Marius had rounded me up a bike light from Cisco so I could make a Tuesday night ride up blackstar. That was awesome! My first night ride. Monique and I rode our trainers on Thursday night which I haven’t done since December and for the first time in weeks I was setup to ride more than two times a week! I now just needed to get at least one long ride in and see as much of the VQ course as possible.

On Sunday, Georgina had rounded up a crew to ride the majority of the VQ course but Monique and I had already signed up for the TeamSole adventure of the month so we were booked. It would have been nice to ride with them and I think that they had something like 8-9 riders with car shuttles, etc. Georgina is a great organizer! With Saturday open I thought that it was best to get a long ride in and then I could push with what I had left on Sunday in a Kayak and not have to worry about spraining my ankles. So that is how it worked out and it was perfect.

Monique, Marius, Corby and I decided to head up Blackstar about 9ish on Saturday. By now the curves of the trail were starting to look familiar and the ride to the soccer ball was shorter. The wind was bad on the climb and we decided when we got to the ball that Monique and Corby would head back down blackstar and Marius and I would continue on up and down motorway to meet them at Maple Springs. Marius and I started to talk about expected times for the race and I started to think about how much food and water to take too. This was a great time to experiment.

When we reached the Maple Springs parking lot we got to reload on some fuel and water and by then Monique was ready to go to her sisters house to take a nap. Marius was also done for the day because he was going on the big ride Sunday and he had some pictures to take. Not that he was tired. He could have towed us all for the rest of the day! Corby was anxious to get more points on Geoladders so we were off heading up Maple Springs road to four corners. Up to this point I had only used about 60oz of water but my trip up Maple Springs drained my newly filled bladder before I got to the top. The heat was started to get to me and my appetite was in full force. I ate all the food I had in my backpack but I was able to share a bar with Corby before it was all gone. ;-) It was great to catch up with Corby on the trail too. He has become such a stronger rider. Geoladders is a great motivator!

Although we had lots of stops it was the first time I had rode that much of the course at one time. Looking back I think the maple springs climb to the top of Santiago Peak will be the hardest part of the race. It looks to be the longest single climb. I think I have my water needs worked out and what food to carry on the ride but I will need to check on aid locations. I ended up burning about 3500 calories and ate the following on our ride.

Hand full of Mrs. Mays Sunflower Crunch(179)
Five (Accel) Gels(500)
One chocolate power bar(230)
Two Nature Valley bars(360)
One baggy full of pretzels(220)
Two E-caps

1489 Total Calories

I think if I can put away about 250 calories an hour and keep my electrolytes up I will be fine. I just need to do some more research on the aid stations and water for the course but I feel much better getting in a long ride before the race.