Hello self, this is your innerself - you know, the voice in your head. We seemed to get past our differences on RAWROD and no doubt, we will have plenty of time to talk to each other on the PCPP. We've never done the Park City Point 2 Point so I thought I would write you this letter to help remind you of a few things for the race. I'm going to call you stupid and remind you of the many of the stupid things you've done in the past so don't let this hurt your feelings
1. Balance. Fight off the desire to take off from the start like a jack rabbit. Obviously, if you do this, you'll blow up. However, also be aware that you need to position yourself in Round Valley. Once you start the climb up skid row, the opportunities to pass are limited. Find the balance of pushing yourself and riding within your limits.
2. Eat & Drink, and then Eat & Drink some more. There is a reason why we have an alarm that goes off every 45 minutes. It's to help you once your reach a stupified state to remember to eat and drink. The temperatures in PC will be moderate and you may not feel like eating or drinking. If you don't, we will pay for it in the latter part of the race.
3. Deep Dark Place. At some point, you will reach a very deep dark place in the ride. Heck, you may be in that place all day long. You will start questioning your intelligence and sanity. You may even have thoughts of quitting. There is no easy way through these dark pits. You will have to push through it remembering that you have trained and are prepared for this race.
5. Throttle Back. About the time you reach Deer Valley, all ability to think clearly will most likely be gone. Don't be stupid and go full throttle on the downhills. This is where you are most likely to wreck. Pull it back a little to ensure you don't eat it and earn a sweet DNF. You wouldn't want to chip a hip or something lame like that?
6. The Carrot. Do remember how towards the end of an endurance race, you start fixating on a simple food that is waiting for you at the finish? Maybe chocolate milk, cherry coke, chicken tenders, watermelon, etc. Figure out what your carrot will be and start dreaming of it.
7. Enjoy the journey. Sounds like an overused motivational poster. However, remember that this is some of the finest singletrack around. It will be easier to tolerate the suffering if you can take in some of the beauty of the area and enjoy the trails.
8. Feed Zones. It is so easy to take a break in the feed zones. The minutes in the feed zones accumulate very quickly. Be aware of this and try to minimize your feed zone time.
Sincerely,
The voice in your head.
5 comments:
That's a good letter.
Always, always keep moving. And when you want to take that nap. Don't. I know from experience.
I am going to copy and paste this in my head.. thanks for saving me all the work.
Sounds like a good plan, good luck.
Any word on the Niner?
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