Rattler Ramblings Part 3 - Ability to adapt the plan

After posting the first two posts regarding the process and what really matters, I experienced a first-hand example of the latter that if overanalyzed would have resulted in not getting out for a ride with clients, friends and just having a day on the bike.  Bear with me as I reflect on the other end of the "what matters" spectrum before diving into the topic at hand of having the ability to adapt the plan.

Into the sunrise on gravel

So after return from the Rattler, there was a local gravel grinder that was set as a training ride for some athletes I work with to prepare for the Dirty Kanza 200, Leadville 100 and Rebecca's Private Idaho.  I was set to go to lead the ride and offer coaching support, BUT I don't own a cyclocross or gravel grinder bike!  This would have been an "oh no" moment for many and most likely the easy excuse of not attending b/c "I don't have a bike!".  You know what, I do have a bike....the same bike that I raced in the Austin Rattler.  Yup, 29er hardtail with 2.35 knobby tires, a 1x drivetrain, riser bars, complete with a bell and all!  I could have swapped tires to cross tires or skinnier XC race tires but that just pulled time from time with my clients, wife, sleep, and getting a fun mtb trail ride in; so I just left it the way it was.

 Was it difficult?  Yeah but did it change my result?  No because it wasn't a timed event and was just for fun and probably I got more work in because dragging the tires around for 95 miles and spinning my brain out on the descents to keep pace.  So what mattered was being there with my athletes, having a personal day out on the bike, still getting the things done off the bike like family time, work, etc. which could have been easily disrupted by laboring over having the exact bike for the job or taking the time to modify it with tire swap or rigid fork.

Now that I've gone rehashed on that tangent, the concept of having the affinity to adapt the plan is critical.  As a coach, putting a plan together for annual goals (like big event preparation), process goals (like power to weight objectives that helps step to the big goals), and even individual day ride or race day plans is part of the art.  I've done many events personally and prepared others for way more than I've been able to do and can speak as a lab rat subject of sorts and on my athletes behalf that "shit happens" on day of!  No matter how much training and preparation you put in, hiccups happen and if you are rigid to the idea of not adapting on the fly, then you are in for a rude awakening at some point.  Not to say you should not have a plan, as the process of planning helps avoid stupid mistakes. But if sticking to the plan to the point you overlook a principle that would help you succeed, that's a huge oversight.  Believe me I love pulling the "ignorance is bliss" card, but backing that up is sound principles.

To add some depth to what I mean; here's my nutrition/fueling example from racing the Austin Rattler.  Just a note this was the 1st race I'd toed the line for personally in 17 mths since I was in Africa working with the National team most of 2014 so I was going in kinda toeing the line with some unknowns.

The usual event-day plan, although unique to each athlete and event, was outlined like this.

• Before the start: Bottle of fluids pre-breakfast while cooking, breakfast of hearty high fat porridge ~2hrs pre-race with coffee and then finish another bottle pre-start.  Possibly a small snack in the form of gel, small bar or banana 30min prior if I felt breakfast not enough. Signs of adaption & flexibility already coming out in my plan.
• During race Hydration; 30oz of fluids per hour with a mix of high electrolyte drink mix and pure water starting with mix and then alternating after 1st lap.  (*expected lap times for me were ~ 1hr +/-)  As for electrolytes I usually alternate bottles with goal of 600mg/hr (* sometimes up to 1200mg as an "emergency" bottle held for later point on hot days). Oh even more adaption I'm noticing is built-in!  
• During race energy; I usually alternate quick fuel (gels or gummies) with whole food (homemade bar, snack bar, etc) with a goal of 250kcal/hr based on my self-determined expenditure rate from training and racing with a power meter for years. 

To be honest right up front...NONE of this went as planned really and if I hadn't adapted I probably wouldn't have finished as well as I did.  How?   Well we were RVing it at the venue with multiple athletes around and a bit of being too relaxed, I was eating breakfast with 45min to the start.  So when I hit the start line, I didn't need any option pre-race snack and frankly I was still feeling my normal pre-race breakfast settling a little too heavy.  This feeling stuck with me well into the first lap so my normal routine of drinking a mix bottle to stay on top of hydration and some energy while the pace is hard and initial things get settled went out the window.  I had almost a full bottle nearing the lap end so I took some swigs but didn't stop to grab another to go out on 2nd lap.  I finished it by the end and needed some more nearing the 2hr mark so I stopped to grab a fresh bottle for lap 3.  This bottle went down quickly as the breakfast had worked thru the system and was starting to feel the demands of the TX day warming up.  So to end the 3rd lap I took a single gel with some pure water and picked up 2 bottles (1 mix & 1 water) for the final lap.  I downed those over the course of the final lap and got to the line in 7th place and was definitely "running lean" on energy and hydration.  But I made up for it with immediately downing quite a bit fluids and some calories in the form of real food from the aid support station and the RV, which I prefer over sports nutrition in most cases.

Fueling suffers to stay with a good group at times!

So in all I had 350kcal from the 2 bottles of mix and 1 gel, as part of ~80oz of fluid and 1400mg of electrolytes in just over 4hrs of racing which is ~650kcal shy of my 1/3 expenditure rule (~3000kcal expended for 4hrs at this pace so 1/3 of that is 1000kcal), ~40oz shy of my ~30oz/hr rule (30oz x 4hr = 120oz) and was 50% off my electrolyte goal only consuming 1200mg (600mg/hr x 4hrs = 2400mg).  I was shy in all the pillars of a successful plan but I somehow persevered!  How and why?  I've been eating a more high fat diet so relying less on the high burn rate carbohydrates, so overall I think I was more efficient than I expected.   Also I was well-fueled on the start line and I'd almost say over-fueled from the way I felt.  But that goes with my porridge having a higher fat content than previous years and thus slowed digestion rate.  The morning of hiccups led to more and more being off in the plan but I adapted and got to the finish by reflecting that I was well-fueled from dinner the night before and breakfast and I'd hydrated well the days prior.  If I'd tried to stick to the plan, I'd over-consumed and thus been more sick.  So I simplified the plan and modified on the go based on how I felt.

This is an important concept if you know the principles. 1) Hydration comes first! If you are hydrated then you can consume food if you feel the empty feeling coming on. 2) Electrolytes are of next importance.  If you don't have the necessity for muscle activity the cramps will impede you pretty quickly from moving forward. 3) And finally energy or calories is final importance.  Get the first two done and you can put fuel in when you need it without a concern of digestion.  But if you are dehydrated and start to bonk...then the food will worsen the situation by pulling fluids into your gut from your tissue thus causing further dehydration.  That is if you can digest at all!  Have you seen or heard the horror stories of people throwing up in endurance events?  That's one of the reasons is too much fuel that won't digest because of lack of hydration and blood flow shunted from stomach digestion to the working muscles (where it should be going!).

So have a plan for your events and even daily training, but be flexible within the scope of what is going on prior to and during the activity.  Performance is process of personal exploration and that is the fun that changes with different events and challenges we choose to face.  Keep it rolling and see you out there on road or trail!