Rattler Rambling Part 2 - What you think matters, probably doesn't!
Starting where I left off in Part 1 with the original realizations from the Rattler road trip ramblings; we dive into the reality that what you think matters really doesn't. What does this mean? Really it's two things. The first is often athletes choose to waste energy thinking about the wrong things. And two is when the fundamentals & principles are adhered to, then the peripheral things (often from former point 1) don't seem to matter. These concepts may seem very general, and yes I agree, so I'll dive in a bit deeper.
As a both coach and athlete, I luckily have two vantage points. I've seen myself stress and strain on what tire to run, what air pressure, having an aero number plate, even spraying cooking spray on a bike before a muddy race (hey I think it actually worked....for 15min!). And now as a coach, I repeatedly answer many of these same questions. Not to say all of them are pointless, but I'd say if you are on the bell-curve with most of these things and not on the extremes, it shouldn't change your result drastically. For example; the question of what tire should I run for Leadville 100? Well on one extreme of that curve is an uber-light paper thin sidewalled 2.0 tire that I'd question trusting on my cruiser to run grab coffee with the dog and the other extreme is a 2.4 width DH tire with wire bead casing knobs so aggressive it'd suffice on a KTM. So yeah if you run the exaggerated intertube, you're probably going to flat and spend more time patching, booting or installing tubes than you should. And if you choose the moto tire then you'll be wasting energy turning all the meaty rubber over each revolution. But if you're in the middle of that with a good quality tire that suites your ability and comfort, then you're end result won't change much. And by that I mean if a bit bigger tire gives you confidence of not flatter or not washing out; you are much faster not bleeding and pedaling! So choose with confidence.
This is the same for nutrition too. If you over do it with hydration, food, etc then yeah you can have hyponatremia or vomit. And if you under-fuel then you're dehydrated or you bonk. So message is don't jam food down your throat because a package says "45min before, 15min before and every 30-40min". Remember your body has ~90-120min of stored energy on deck from muscle and liver glycogen before you bonk. And if you were smart you ate a good breakfast or meal before your event so there is energy still digesting. Trust me I saw this personally and leads to part 3 of the realizations.
And to offer more depth to the 2nd point above basically your tire choice, nutrition, etc. don't matter as much if you've done the work and your engine is tuned. So the fundamentals and principles are the work in advance to prepare you for the task at hand and the practice of seeing what works for you in training. It's the process that has led to being prepared for the event. So you can't blame it on not having the best latest and greatest bike, suspension design, tire/tread pattern, etc. Take the ownership to prepare the vessel (which is you!) for the event at hand so you can push all the fancy equipment we have to it's limits. I know I showed up to the start line with a nice bike but it was literally pieced together from spare parts of past bikes, an aluminum hardtail frame I got a pro deal on (if you know me I don't like hardtails and they kill my congenital back problem) that as a whole I may have had $600 into the entire thing. While I looked at some guys beside me with $5000 rigs and some even finishing 3hrs after I had on more than $7000-8000! So yeah I shimmed my slipping seat post with a beer can on Friday night, never changed my "confident" 2.3 knobby tires for 2.2 race tires and I finished 7th overall after taking 18mths off racing. I invested in my engine and good nutrition to make sure I was ready and I surprised myself bettering my goal of top 20 to being in 2nd group of the race.
So invest in yourself to prepare the fundamentals and the peripherals will be less important.
As a both coach and athlete, I luckily have two vantage points. I've seen myself stress and strain on what tire to run, what air pressure, having an aero number plate, even spraying cooking spray on a bike before a muddy race (hey I think it actually worked....for 15min!). And now as a coach, I repeatedly answer many of these same questions. Not to say all of them are pointless, but I'd say if you are on the bell-curve with most of these things and not on the extremes, it shouldn't change your result drastically. For example; the question of what tire should I run for Leadville 100? Well on one extreme of that curve is an uber-light paper thin sidewalled 2.0 tire that I'd question trusting on my cruiser to run grab coffee with the dog and the other extreme is a 2.4 width DH tire with wire bead casing knobs so aggressive it'd suffice on a KTM. So yeah if you run the exaggerated intertube, you're probably going to flat and spend more time patching, booting or installing tubes than you should. And if you choose the moto tire then you'll be wasting energy turning all the meaty rubber over each revolution. But if you're in the middle of that with a good quality tire that suites your ability and comfort, then you're end result won't change much. And by that I mean if a bit bigger tire gives you confidence of not flatter or not washing out; you are much faster not bleeding and pedaling! So choose with confidence.
This is the same for nutrition too. If you over do it with hydration, food, etc then yeah you can have hyponatremia or vomit. And if you under-fuel then you're dehydrated or you bonk. So message is don't jam food down your throat because a package says "45min before, 15min before and every 30-40min". Remember your body has ~90-120min of stored energy on deck from muscle and liver glycogen before you bonk. And if you were smart you ate a good breakfast or meal before your event so there is energy still digesting. Trust me I saw this personally and leads to part 3 of the realizations.
And to offer more depth to the 2nd point above basically your tire choice, nutrition, etc. don't matter as much if you've done the work and your engine is tuned. So the fundamentals and principles are the work in advance to prepare you for the task at hand and the practice of seeing what works for you in training. It's the process that has led to being prepared for the event. So you can't blame it on not having the best latest and greatest bike, suspension design, tire/tread pattern, etc. Take the ownership to prepare the vessel (which is you!) for the event at hand so you can push all the fancy equipment we have to it's limits. I know I showed up to the start line with a nice bike but it was literally pieced together from spare parts of past bikes, an aluminum hardtail frame I got a pro deal on (if you know me I don't like hardtails and they kill my congenital back problem) that as a whole I may have had $600 into the entire thing. While I looked at some guys beside me with $5000 rigs and some even finishing 3hrs after I had on more than $7000-8000! So yeah I shimmed my slipping seat post with a beer can on Friday night, never changed my "confident" 2.3 knobby tires for 2.2 race tires and I finished 7th overall after taking 18mths off racing. I invested in my engine and good nutrition to make sure I was ready and I surprised myself bettering my goal of top 20 to being in 2nd group of the race.
 |
| All smiles on the start line ready to rock! |
So invest in yourself to prepare the fundamentals and the peripherals will be less important.
Labels: Austin Rattler, Coaching, cycling, fundamentals, knowledge, Matheny Endurance, mountain bike, principles, Racing
posted by Unknown at 4:33 PM
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