Result: 13th
The 7th Annual Cowbell Challenge was held in Davidson, NC on June 21st. This event is one of the premier endurance events in the southeast, and is race USAC-MTB Ultra Endurance Race # 4 and part of the NC State 12-Hour Championship. This is the first year the course was held at this venue, and it was approx 7 miles in length with around 600 feet of elevation gain per lap. The course is a terrific mix of fire road, and flowing (technical in spots) fast single track. I, for one, loved this course. The climbs where short and fairly steep, and the twisty, tight, technical sections where an absolute BLAST to ride!
I headed down on Saturday morning with George, Greg, and George's wife Sara all jammed into the XC-70. George and Greg where racing in the 12 hour solo as well, and Sara was the "award winning" bit boss (as well as photographer extraordinaire). Meeting us down there where Jeff from The Bicycle Chain, and my favorite training partner Marcy. I was up and out of bed by 05:15. Blood glucose was a little high at 186, but I always try to prevent < 100 the night before a race. I did a smaller than normal bolus for this reading. I ate a quick breakfast at 06:00, just before we left the house - normal meal bolus. The four of us left home at 06:15, and arrived at the race site around 08:30.
I tested once more on the way down, and was running a 163 just before 08:00. I did another "bolus lite" at this time as well.
The only real problem we had all day occurred right when we got there. Overnight folks came in and setup there pits right on the race course. Only reason this was an issue was that on the Cowbell site it states "Solo and team pit areas will be marked, and volunteers will be on hand to direct you to the right spot". There was no room for us 5 solos (including Marcy and Jeff) to be right on the race course. This was pretty lame, and did add about 3 or 4 minutes (maybe more) to our lap times. Hopefully, they will have this corrected by next year.
At 09:00 I lowered my basal rate to a normal 55% reduction in preparation for a 10:00 start time. At 09:30 I tested again at a 80. I decided to take in about 30g of simple carbs, and also lower my basal rate by another 5% since I was within 30 minutes of start time.
Race start was AWESOME, since there was no Le Mans style start. I registered for the race in the Pro/Elite category, so I lined up right by Ernesto Marenchin, Nat Ross, Josh Tostado, and Brandon Draugelis to name a few. Some big time names on top of the sport for sure. It was pretty cool (note: I bet their blogs say... "man, I lined up by Type1Rider". Um, no). :)
During the first lap, I figured I was able to take 1 PowerBar Gel at the halfway point , and 16oz of water. Nearly every lap, I would also test my BG and take in some food in the pits. That would be a perfect fueling schedule.
First BG was at 11:28 and I was at a 83. First couple of laps are usually a little lower than I would like, since I riding a little harder and HR was higher then my normal endurance race pace.
While on the next lap, I decided I should drop my basal rate a little more - to my normal 5 hr rate of 35% of normal. This was do to my 83, and the fact the temp was high (upper 90s) which might (did) affect my desire to eat calories for the rest of the afternoon.
Back in the pits at 12:20. So my BG was reading a 501. Um, something was a miss here as I felt fine. I retested 1 minute later and was a 283. I took the CozMonitor off the back of the Cozmo pump, and dried it off. Also, I cleaned the dirt off the back of the meter. I tested again and was at a 99. I waited 10 minutes, and tested right at a 126. Ok, cool. I left the meter in the pits (as it is not waterproof - the pump is) and I was sweating a ton and dumping water on my head.
Next couple of hours of the afternoon went by as planned with BG readings of 128, 109, and 129. Man that is PERFECT! PERFECT! PERFECT!!
A little before 18:00 (8 hour mark), I started to feel a little sick. These feeling soon became very nauseous, and I actually could barely speak or move my head without feeling like I was going to hurl. I believe that I caused this myself, as I was forcing my fuel intake to keep my BG, insulin, carb intake in perfect balance. I stopped eating on my final lap and it shows with the BG of 62 at the end of that lap.
There was no way for me to ride at this point, so I thought I would take 30 minutes and just get squared away. Then, back on the bike to complete the event. Since I was going to be sitting VERY still for a while, I set my basal rate back to normal at 18:20 to prevent an a high BG.
About 30 minutes later, 18:45, I was back at a BG of 85 and was considering getting prepped to go back out by 19:15 or so (hopefully).
While I was sitting there, I didn't notice that a thunderstorm had moved into the area. There was a fair amount of lightning, and, although there was no rain, the race was called at around 19:00 because of some strikes. Rider could finish the lap they where on, but that was it.
Energy Expenditure 6504 kcal
Number of Heart Beats 79975 beats
Minimum Heart Rate 73 bpm
Average Heart Rate 149 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate 188 bpm
Ascent 4663 ft
Everyone took something positive away from this event. Jeff finished 4th in the 6 hour solo class. George finished 4th, and Greg 5th in the 12 hour solo sport class.
This Cowbell Challenge has traditionally been a JDRF fundraiser, and a few folks did come up to speak with me before, during, and after the race about being a diabetic athlete. Always a good feeling for sure! Even the EMTs remembered me from last year and came by to say hi. :)
For me, it was another fantastic blood glucose control event. Although my fitness level this year is still coming along, I am AMPED beyond to be able to stay steady with readings of 83, 99, 126, 128, 109, and 120 during the 9 hours of racing.