Boston 200k Ride Report May 6, 2006

(note – I’m moving my Brevet ride reports from elsewhere on the web to this new blog)

Boston 200k
Start: May 6, 2006 7:00 am
Route: 125 miles, north into Southern New Hampshire
Time Limit: 13 hours, 30 minutes
Finish Time: 9h46min

I’ve encountered a bit of a bump in the plan for my brevet rides, as recent blood work has me with really screwed up blood counts. I’m anemic, and depending on who I talk to it borders on potentially dangerously low levels. (my doc has not been a giant help, and other people who have seen my results are concerned…) I may postpone my riding plans until my body is straightened out – and I figure out where the problems are.

So, I’m not a doc, but from what I understand this is how I summarize whats going on: Thoughts are it is related to my thyroid disorder and how my body makes blood and processes b12, folate, and iron. As I strive to be an aerobic athlete I have been running at an oxygen deficit – the blood that I need to carry oxygen to working muscles is not there, so I have less to use for recovery and to motor my body along. This reinforces itself as I have been training harder trying to get better, but not seeing improvements. Being in the deficit then hurts my recovery days, and I reinforce the low counts… and on and on. I may have a problem with b12, as is common in folks with thyroid disorders. This affects iron absorption and blood creation.

I’ve discussed my training and rides with the doc, and he (or his assistant) didn’t seem to think I should worry, but others I’ve mentioned it to seem to think I need a new doc and should be undergoing a battery of tests to find the root causes.

I’ve been feeling sluggish and tired for 3 months, and I’ve just figured it was the amount I’ve been working and exercising. I have been pissed that I’m not seeing any significant gains in my cardio fitness levels… so that was starting to raise flags – but as usual – I figured I wasn’t working hard enough. (the weight loss has stopped and is hovering between 175 and 180, but the endurance and intensity don’t seem to be getting better).

I finished the Boston 200k – taking it slow, and listening to my body. I left the HRM at home, with the goal of just finishing.

125 Miles, 6880 feet of climbing. (I think they picked every road that went up, and up, then up some more) We rode from Bedford, MA up into New Hampshire (near Hollis, Amherst, New Boston… and a whole bunch of small towns)

My finishing time was definitely slow, as some people probably finished in 6 hours or under (wow, that’s fast). I finished in under 10 hours, which was a “soft” goal for me. I had thoughts of finishing in under 8… back when I started training… but under the circumstances I think I did well. Haven’t seen the official results list yet, but will know more later this week.

Total time includes the 10 minutes I waited at the start for my group to leave, as well as all stops (2 checkpoints to get my time card stamped, pick up food, use the boys room, etc…).

Not bad for a guy who only got 3 hours of sleep the night before, had to drive 2 hours to the event, and whose body is severely deprived of his ability to transport oxygen to working muscles… (going to the doc again this week to start sorting that mess out)