Camp Hilbert has put on some great races this year - this was their first 9 hour race. I hope the continue to put this event on in the years to come.
9 Hours of Hilbert was a painfest and I loved every minute of it. It started like any other XC race does, with testosterone pegged and everyone trying to get into the woods first. My buddy and I ended up around the 6/7 position going into the woods. That was cool until I realized we ended up behind a roadie pretending to be a mountain biker - he was killing us in the turns. Before I knew it everyone in front of him was gone. Once we got to an open area we passed the roadie and opened up a gap. Before I knew it I was alone - and rolling solo for about 3 hours.
About 3 hours in I saw a guy roll through the pits, I was worried that he might be in a position to knock me down a spot so I worked on wheeling him in. Once I passed him we spent the next hour or so fighting back and forth, it was pissing me off - I would catch and pass him then he would roll through the pit and I would have to start all over again. Eventually he ran out of steam and couldn't keep up - but the nice thing about this battle was it pushed me to overtake the 4th place guy (I didn't know that at the time)
On lap 11 - I was ready to call it a day I was so tired. So I check with officials to see how I was doing and they told me I was in 3rd place. I guess this just that gave me some energy because I felt GREAT on lap 12 and 13 - however lap 14 might have been the longest 6 miles of my life.
I ended up taking 3rd place out of 19 solo men. In all my years of racing this is my first time on the podium in an XC race.
Goals accomplished
1. DIDN'T CRAMP AT ALL
2. Didn't have butt chaffing
3. 84 miles!
Goals not accomplished
1. Nipples still bleeding
2. Horrible post ride stomach cramps
Special thanks to Jeff for helping me top off bottles when he was taking breaks - and to my Coach Dave K!
Here's a link to my garmin data - battery died at 7.5 hours
Link
Here's a link to the official results
Link
9 Hours of Hilbert was a painfest and I loved every minute of it. It started like any other XC race does, with testosterone pegged and everyone trying to get into the woods first. My buddy and I ended up around the 6/7 position going into the woods. That was cool until I realized we ended up behind a roadie pretending to be a mountain biker - he was killing us in the turns. Before I knew it everyone in front of him was gone. Once we got to an open area we passed the roadie and opened up a gap. Before I knew it I was alone - and rolling solo for about 3 hours.
About 3 hours in I saw a guy roll through the pits, I was worried that he might be in a position to knock me down a spot so I worked on wheeling him in. Once I passed him we spent the next hour or so fighting back and forth, it was pissing me off - I would catch and pass him then he would roll through the pit and I would have to start all over again. Eventually he ran out of steam and couldn't keep up - but the nice thing about this battle was it pushed me to overtake the 4th place guy (I didn't know that at the time)
On lap 11 - I was ready to call it a day I was so tired. So I check with officials to see how I was doing and they told me I was in 3rd place. I guess this just that gave me some energy because I felt GREAT on lap 12 and 13 - however lap 14 might have been the longest 6 miles of my life.
I ended up taking 3rd place out of 19 solo men. In all my years of racing this is my first time on the podium in an XC race.
Goals accomplished
1. DIDN'T CRAMP AT ALL
2. Didn't have butt chaffing
3. 84 miles!
Goals not accomplished
1. Nipples still bleeding
2. Horrible post ride stomach cramps
Special thanks to Jeff for helping me top off bottles when he was taking breaks - and to my Coach Dave K!
Here's a link to my garmin data - battery died at 7.5 hours
Link
Here's a link to the official results
Link
Seriously though, get some Lansinoh breast cream (you can get it at Target with the baby/breast feeding supplies or any pharmacy) or something that's 100% pure lanolin ointment or cream. Using this cream before during and after should help.