By: Dani Arman Land Run 100 was a prefect example of both the healthiest and masochistic form of peer pressure. I only say this because I signed up believing it will rain, and it may 12 hours to complete. My teammate, Kristen Legan has a season stacked with gravel events and I thought it would be fun to see what hype was all about. Previous years indicated complete torture was inevitable. Let’s call it, spring cleaning and/or rust busting. Having ridden one five hour ride in the past nine months, I figured it would be a ‘hang-on for dear life' situation paired with an eating contest. Wasn’t too far off. The atmosphere at this event was something else. The organizer, Bobby Wintle, put on an experience more than a race. He would be awarded the “most stoked on life” eagle scout badge, and those vibes were extremely contagious. Race Day
Prep & Retrospection I decided to compete at Land Run 100 in early February. With the race being mid-March, having a full-time career, and coming off of a knee injury, I didn’t exactly provide time for a large base load. Working coach man, Grant Holicky, we strategized the year as a whole rather than focus on this specific event. This includes physical and mental training. We concluded that I perform really well with volume and intensity. A cocktail like that however, could lead to long term fatigue and loss of drive. An example was the walking pneumonia I had for most of this past CX season. I’m great at overdoing things. The ability to look at things objectively has always been a challenge and therefore, a major long term goal. I work and will continue to work to determine the difference between hurting myself or accepting I may be tired and need to dial it back. I have a lot on my plate. No matter if its mentally or physically taxing, stress is stress and it takes a major toll on the body. There is a reason “happiness watts” is a thing. We are the most ready when we forget ourselves and live in the task at hand. Some personal red flag indicators:
Training included days of high intensity, big recovery, and strength training. As mentioned, I do not exactly have the time to ride 5+ hour days consistently. So we needed to improvise. I hit it hard and took loads of recovery to compliment. Meaning, the right amount of sleep, eating, and stretching. Having a puppy helps with shake out walks and mental breathers. We worked to remove too much time spent in tempo pacing, focusing on base, LT, VO2, and sub 100 watt recovery. Although my inclination is to go hard all the time, it is more effective to be deliberate. I was seeing high numbers for long periods of time when it mattered. Sounds so obvious… because it is. But try not to care on the next group ride and see what happens. Food/Drink/Body setup:
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