Category: Health & Fitness

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No training or exercise for 2 months = Not great performance

Surgery…

On July 7th, 2017 I went in for what was supposed to be a minor surgery.  I was diagnosed with a non-cancerous cyst, which is quite common except for it was located right on top of my tailbone (not on the tailbone but right next to it).  This meant that I was regularly sitting on it, especially when I would slouch.

It had originally come up 3 or 4 years ago after 6 months of karting all the time.  I thought it was just a result of all that trauma to my tailbone.  It was an annoyance but never very painful until this past June, during the second Portland International Raceways weekend.  After the first day of testing, I woke up sore all over my body and my cyst was really tender.

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I ignored all the pain and discomfort and made it through the weekend but went to the doctor the following week.  It turned out that my cyst had gotten so swollen, it was infected and those body aches, were my body fighting the infection.

Long story short, I needed surgery to have it completely removed.  It is a straight-forward procedure and usually within a week, someone can go back to normal activities, but because of the location, the recovery was at least 2 weeks and possibly up to 2 months before feeling ‘normal’ again.  Well for me, it ended up being the 2 months.

+ Bad Decisions

For 2 months, I wasn’t able to workout, do much simulator training and was on various combinations of pain medications.  2 weeks after the surgery, I decided to compete in a race at Pacific Raceways, where I got pole and finished P2 but I needed help getting into the car, out of the car and was icing my incision all day long.

A week after the Pacific race, I was reading to my kiddo and his friend, but I was also laid up, trying to take the load off my incision.

The next couple of weeks were really tough.  I don’t know how differently or faster things would have healed if I had not raced but I think it slowed things down.  A checkup with the surgeon a couple weeks later showed everything looked good but she was surprised to hear that I was in so much pain.

I headed her advice and just tried to rest up, sprinkling in some yoga and days of more walking.  1.5 months after the surgery was the August 19-20 Dash for Kids race, back at Portland International Raceways.

Our setup at Portland International Raceways

= Sub-Par Performance

During the race weekend, we decided to hit the ‘reset’ button on our suspension setup, seeking coaching and advice from the 2016 PRO3 Champion, Olivier Henrichot (a future post on that experience).  We made dramatic changes to the setup, where in the end, I was able to hit the same lap times as before, with less of an effort and more confidence in feedback from the car.

All good things except, I was beat.  On Friday, we had 4 total on-track session and I awoke on Saturday AM, full-body sore.  Saturday, was a typical day of practice, qualifying and the 1-hour race, of which this time, I was splitting seat time with Olivier. We won the race but I again felt beat, after a 30 minute stint.

The next morning, we only had qualifying in the AM and the main race in the afternoon; not a ton of physical workout time.  I qualified P2 and was ready to go for the win during the race.  But about 5 laps into the race, my lower back started hurting.  Halfway through the race, it was throbbing and I was actively thinking about it during the front and back straightaways.  Not a good.

Qualified P2 for the main PRO3 race on Sunday

Long story short, I did not perform anywhere near my full or regular potential and one big reason that I was just not physically fit enough.  Here is the race video from the weekend, of which again, isn’t all bad and 1 year ago, I would have been thrilled to finish P3.

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But How Did I Do So Well at Pacific?

I’m not entirely sure but I think that while I was in pain during the race, I still had more of my strength, stamina and was also on lots of Ibuprofen, which could have masked some of the pain.  At Portland, I think my strength, stamina and reflexes were not at the same level.  This variables resulted in a heavier mental toll and it started impacting me even worse.

At the end of the day, it’s not like I really sucked.  I still finished on the podium, against a couple of strong drivers that I’ve battled with all year.  Jeff McAffer, who overtook me for P2, had a really strong race, with the fastest lap of the race.  Olivier and I also won the 1-Hour endurance race!

The main point is that to perform at or near peak levels, you need to be mentally and physically at your peak.  I know there are drivers that aren’t into physical fitness and they are solid, if not incredible drivers.  They have other strengths, such as functional fitness and years and years of experience.  I don’t have more than a few years of racing experience, so I rely on physical fitness as a way to compete.

Moving Forward

For me personally, I am much healthier now and turning my training back up.  It will be some time before I’m as physically as fit as before but that is the goal.  And if in the future, I am injured, I am going to bite the bullet and rest/heal properly before trying to get back into the cockpit.

 

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Walk This Way! Track Walks:

Looking out the pit-lane exit at Circut of the Americas

What: Track walks, why you like them, even if you don’t know it yet

If I knew then, What I know now:  I would have studied harder on these when I was younger.  I would be a better driver and team member overall, now as a result.

Walking the track before an event is a very important part of your race or track weekend.  It spreads across all forms of motorsports, and any amount of wheels used.  Getting your feet on the same ground you will be driving your car on will give you valuable perspective regarding placement or the vehicle, surface conditions, line options and so on.  It is a great way to get the track layout in your head prior to getting into or on your machine.  There are a couple of key things to pay attention to and try to do while on a track walk.  I will try to outline some of them to help you get the most out of your next track walk.  I will start with some of my experience from the first events I went to as a young lad in high school with my buddies.

A group of friends of mine in school were also into cars.  We would set up a couple of days a year where we would all meet up the day before an auto cross event, hang out at one of the guys cabins, and then take all of our cars to the event the next day.  Auto cross was a good introduction into motorsports as a driver for me.  The first day I went to an event was with the Porsche Club (PNW Region).  I had a little old VW Jetta that had some sticky tires on it.  We got to the event, stood through the drivers meeting, then everyone set out and walked around the course that had been set up.  A course walk at an auto cross is essential.  The track will never be the same from event to event, so getting a feel for the layout is an important first step.  Auto cross does not allow for a lot of set up and testing time, so getting the most out of your runs is key.   I learned how valuable it was.  I was able to pip my friend on our first time out, and he was driving a 911.  There were more events after that, and as I grew to understand the track walk it made perfect sense to me.

Flash forward 15 years and now we are doing track walks every week we go to the track.  I went out and rode a new Motocross track a few weeks back – I did not get a chance to walk it, but I took 4-5 laps at just above a walking pace just to feel the place out – 2 laps later I was ripping around just fine.   We will often times end our first night at the track with a track walk.  It is a great way to wind down after a work day, and also a good way to walk some miles if you did not get a chance to before!  My first race back after a couple of years of just crew work, I ended up racing at the Ridge in Shelton.  It is a place I had driven before, but it had been a while.  We took the time the night before the race to walk the track, twice actually.  It was great.  I had one of the instructors at the track walking with us and they provided great insight to where to place the car due to seems in the blacktop in braking zones.  Entry and exit lines were discussed.  Gear selection (which can depend a lot on your equipment) was discussed.  I felt a lot better after walking the track to just jump in the next day and go.  Everything was fresh in my mind again.

Elevated view of the turn 17-18 complex at Circut of the Americas

Gama asked me to do a track walk with him this weekend at Pacific Raceways in Kent.  We have a race this weekend in the Pro3 car and he will be the only driver for the team this weekend as Manu’s car had a mechanical issue we found during a post-race inspection (more on that later).  I was quick to agree, as I have had many track days there, and 2 school days at that track, but had never actually walked a full lap in all of my years.  I had been to points of the track, but not all of the way around on foot.  We will be walking the track tonight and I am going to make notes, and take pictures to share our experience with the walk!

We try to track walk every weekend.  it is good exercise, knowledge, and you will have a great feel for the layout the first time you are behind the wheel at speed.  Be prepared for a walk, and be prepared for weather as well!  Some tracks are large, and weather can be different from one side to the other.  One of the other things that will help you a lot with our track walk, is walking with someone with lots of knowledge of that track for insight.  Most racers are instructors also, so their points of view are sound usually!  Just walking the track can gain you a lot, but having someone there to compare notes and tips with is very beneficial.   Having someone that drives a similar vehicle is even better!

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Burn 1,000 calories in an hour, lower back pain, kidneys and dehydration

What: A small addendum to the cardio training post, let’s expand on it with a real world experience that happened just a few weeks ago at Pacific Raceways.

If I knew then what I know now: Hydration, hydration, hydration – start it at least 5 days prior the first day on track and keep it up while you are on track.  Simply drinking lots of water the weekend of, is not enough.

Check out: 

1 Hour Mini Enduro’s as a Workout

Most of my racing is a sprint format, but each Saturday afternoon, there is a 1 Hour Mini-Endurance race (referred to as Enduro’s but spell check hates this word). During the May 20th 1-Hour Enduro at Pacific Raceways, I decided to start a ‘workout’ using my Apple Watch to track my heart rate and calories burned, more accurately.  In this mode, the watch samples movement, skin temperature, heart rate, etc. at least 1x per second, versus about 1x per minute, while generally going about your day.

So what happened?

First, Pacific Raceways is already a physically demanding race track – super old school, banked turns, big time elevation change and even catching air on all 4 wheels.  Before I even looked at the data, this is how I felt:

Thank Goodness for the Dead Pedal: While you probably aren’t going to be able to tell from the video, the combination of braking, lateral g-forces, camber in the road and downhill ascent of 3a and 3b complex, make it super grueling as you are carrying a good amount of speed.  I found myself hanging on for dear life, thanking my OMP seat, Schroth harnesses and most importantly – the dead pedal.  After each session I found myself thinking – “man, if it weren’t for the dead pedal – I think I would have fallen out of the seat.”

Oh dead pedal, how I love thee!

Dehydration: That day was warm but not ‘hot’ with a high of 72 degrees Fahrenheit.  I have a helmet blower system hooked up to my Stilo ST5 GT Wide Composite SA2015 Helmet with Noise Attenuating Ear Muffs (Large), of which after experiencing this – I don’t know how everyone doesn’t have one.  And we were planning to run the Cool Shirt CS-12 Club System but we forgot to pickup ice.  No worries, we went on regardless.  Well after a day of two qualifying sessions, one 20 minute race and an hour race, I felt drained and truly dehydrated – with my lips feeling chapped, which is a rare occurrence for me.  I’ve probably used chap-stick or lip balm maybe a half-dozen times in my life.  I have a rule that 7 days prior to stepping into a race car, I don’t drink any alcohol (usually wine) and that week, I bent the rules and I think that didn’t help.  While I only had a couple glasses with dinner, I could feel the difference.

Lower-Back Pain: Yeah – even this!  WTF!?!?!  I climbed out of the car with my lower back, not throbbing, but sure as crap not feeling great.  During the race I felt sharp pains and while I’ve had back issues the past few years – a combination of physical therapy, cross-training, plyometrics, stretching and chiropractor visits have my back in pretty good shape. Even still, I had back pain.  One theory, was that this was actually kidney related as it is common to have lower back pain, from your kidneys, when you’re too dehydrated and I felt it.

As an aside, the following morning I was pretty sore – especially on my right foot, calf, lower back, right shoulder, forearm and hand.  These PRO3 cars don’t have power-steering or ABS, so they are quite the analog animal to manhandle.

The data says… holy crap!

Calories burned during an auto race
This is the health data from throughout the day. You can see the spike when I logged a workout during the 1-hour endurance race. I didn’t log a workout during the earlier three sessions (two qualifying sessions and one non-points race)
Here is an hour by hour breakdown of my heart rate – note that during the 1-hour endurance race, my heart rate reached around 160-165 beats per minute.

 

Think about this – when was the last time you did a workout and burned (approximately) 1,000+ calories?  I am talking about just the logged ‘workout’ because in the previous three sessions, I didn’t have the Apple Watch Nike+ 42mm logging calories or else the full day of calories burned would have been 2,000+.  That is a TON of calories and physical effort.

Conclusion

Competitive racing is a legit, physical sport that is incredibly demanding.  We are using our hand-foot-eye coordination, reflexes, core-strength, neck-strength, arm-strength, leg-strength, cardio stamina and mental stamina, just like happens in many other ‘high intensity sports’.

If you are and an avid racer, actually competing and on a regular basis – I highly encourage you to have a regular training program and eat well at minimum to avoid injury and really, to help improve your performance.  Yes, you need to know what to do with your driver inputs to go fast but you also need to be able to physically do this, consistently and over long periods of time – especially for all those endurance racers.  If you aren’t exhausted when you get out of a race car – you’re just not driving hard/fast enough.

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Training the Body – Cardio for Drivers

What: Motorsports is exactly that, a sport that revolves around motors.  It is a sport, thus health and fitness is important.  Road racing works your heart (and lungs) like if you were running a marathon.  A healthy heart is critical!

If I knew then, what I know now: Have a healthy mix of aerobic, anaerobic and strength training to your work out program.  Too much of anything is not good.  I’ll cover this in a separate post.

Products that can make running easier: 

Foundational truths

Before we dive into what should be done, let’s all get on the same page about what happens when you’re driving and especially when you’re competing.

  1. Your heart is important:  This is not a question or an opinion. It is important for you to not only live but to handle stressful situations.  While most of us enjoy putting a car, motorcycle, kart or boat through it’s paces, the fact that your heart rate goes up, means that it is a stressful situation, where your body and heart (and lungs) specifically, work harder.
  2. Aging doesn’t help our cause: Generally speaking, as we get older, our hearts are not able to work as well and our maximum heart rate slowly goes down over time. Here is a good article on Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) from Runners World.
  3. Oh yeah, the lungs: The lungs are the things that bring oxygen into the bloodstream, of which then the heart pumps all that good, nutrient and oxygen rich goodness all over the body.  Then the various body parts use that goodness to power themselves, such as the brain, eyes, muscles, literally everything in your body.

Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)

Per above, as we get older, this goes down.  See below and find your age.

Find your age and see what the estimated ranges are for you.

I am currently 33 (less than a month from 34) and what this says is that my maximum heart rate is around 185 Beats Per Minute (bpm).  If I were to get my heart going above that OR near that level for too long, I’d probably end up in a hospital unless I explicitly trained my heart for those situations.

It’s been documented in several articles, studies and my own personal data collection (below) that for a racing car driver, the heart rate can range from 120 – 160bpm, throughout a race.

Below is an example from a race, in August this past summer as I was wearing an Apple Watch and collected  heart rate data (note – I did not start a workout session and thus why it didn’t collect data every 1 second).  Note that you can see when I started doing warm up exercises before getting into the car and my heart rate picking up as we got into the thick of the race.  If I remember correctly, the race started ~4:35pm and was a 1-hour race.

Heart Rate data from my Apple Watch during a 1-hour endurance race.
Heart Rate data from my Apple Watch during a 1-hour endurance race.

Update: When I was originally writing this post, I looked everywhere for this screenshot below.  This was taken using a Fitbit Surge, during a day of three races and near 100 degree heat.  That is some serious heat, sweat and elevated heart rate.  Racing is no joke!

Heart rate logs using Fitbit Surge during a race day.
Heart rate logs from one day of intense racing in nearly 100F.

Now, here is a screenshot from a 4+ mile run I did recently as well at a ~9:00 minute mile pace.  Not super fast but not a slouch by most measures.

August 2017 ~6 mile run using Endomondo and a Polar Heart Rate monitor

What does this tell us?  Driving at even 7/10’s in a track day or racing session for ~20 minutes is the equivalent, cardiovascularly, as going for a relatively intense run.  So you are sitting in a hot race car, covered head to toe with fire-resistant material and your heart and lungs are working like if you were running a half-marathon.

Ok, healthy heart and lungs are important, but why again?

Like everything else on this site, it’s about helping you be a better driver.  A driver who makes good decisions, usually, ends up being a faster and more consistent driver than someone who doesn’t make good decisions.  Several things can lead to someone making bad decisions behind the wheel (on-track that is):

  • Being nervous or confused (which usually elevates the heart rate)
  • Being scared (which usually elevates the heart rate)
  • Being angry aka the red mist! (also elevates the heart rate)
  • Being tired (I won’t repeat again)

It gets more difficult to make good decisions, quickly, when you are tired, sweaty and out of breath.  So the goal here is to condition your heart and lungs in a way, that you’re comfortable being in the stamina & endurance zones, and can make good decisions.

I personally felt like my overall athletic and aerobic endurance was and is a competitive advantage in most races, as I felt just as fresh at the start of a race, as I did at the beginning.  Start strong and finish just as strong!  This was even more pronounced on the 1 hour or longer races and especially when it was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

What should you do?

Disclaimer: We are not doctors, nor play them on TV.  Consider consulting your doctor before taking on a new exercise program.

We will cover other types of exercise for different benefits in future posts but for here, we will focus on cardio health.  The goal is to do exercises, that have you for the most part, in the stamina & endurance zones. It’s ok to peak every once in a while into the conditioning zone or drop momentarily into the weigh loss zone.

Most of my driving sessions are 20 or 30 minutes and sometimes 60 minutes long.  So I target conditioning myself to be able to easily handle 30 minutes by exercising for 45-60 minutes and having regular (about every other week) 60-75 minute workout sessions, usually 6+ mile runs.  This is grounded in a theory from playing football and Taekwondo.  Practice should be harder than the actual competition (most of the time) so that at least from a conditioning standpoint, the competition will be a relative breeze or you at least have plenty of reserves to go harder.

Here are some top exercises and plans to consider:

  • Running: It’s pretty much free.  I found it the best to sign up for a race that forces you to build up to a goal, set a schedule and stick to it.  Better yet, do a race with a friend or two, so you have support and accountability for when you’re too lazy to run in the rain.
    • Highly suggest downloading an app like Endomondo, Nike Run Club or MyRunKeeper.  They all have some kind of functionality where you can state your goal (like run a 10k), the pace you want to have and when your race will be held.  They come up with a personalized training program to build up your performance, you just run!  Sometimes these are in premium memberships but you can easily find training plans online and just track them manually.

  • Cycling: One downside to running is the repetitive joint impact throughout the body, especially toes, ankles, knees, hips and back.  Cycling is a great alternative to running for cardiovascular performance.  I personally bought a used Bianchi road bike and over the past few years have used it off and on as an alternative to running.
    • Here is a link to my Strava profile – it’s been sparse lately because it’s cold and rainy in Seattle.  🙁
    • Same plan though – whatever time you were planning to run, get on a bike in the gym or on a trail and cycle up a storm.
  • Swimming: Admittedly, I am the least experienced here as I rarely get in a pool but I know it is great for aerobic exercise, working the body overall, core development and joint relief.  If you have access to a pool, get on it!

Conclusion

Cardiovascular health and performance are not just important to live but they can give you a significant performance edge in driving.  There is a reason you see several top professional drivers all over the world, also spend significant amounts of time doing the exercises above and in examples like Jenson Button, competing in Iron Man and Triathlon competitions.

Consider regular cardiovascular exercise to be part of keeping yourself healthier and it has a big potential upside to your driving.