11/12/2023 0 Comments Katie compton cx bikeThis 75-year-old cyclist is still bringing home medals: As a woman and an athlete, she worries about osteoporosis and loss of bone density, both issues that plague pros who spend their lives beating on their bodies and pushing beyond normal limits. (She sneaks them on occasion, admittedly.)Ĭompton also swears by a high-quality multivitamin and a fish oil supplement, especially as she gets older. To control her seasonal allergies-which are so bad they've caused her to drop out of many races over the years-she follows an “antihistamine” protocol, which again means no processed junk, but also no foods containing histamines, like wine or dark chocolate-both primary indulgences for many pro racers. (Here's your beginner's guide to ditching processed foods.) That's not the only time diet tweaks have helped her overcome physical challenges. MORE: This Last-Resort Test Saved 2 Women From Cancer-And It Could Save You, Tooīut he did: A genetic test revealed she's sensitive to folic acid, so she immediately cut enriched foods out of her diet and felt relief immediately. “He didn’t think he’d find anything,” she says. She heard someone on a podcast describing her exact symptoms as a side effect of a missing enzyme that breaks down folic acid, and asked her doctor to look into it. Around the time the cramping started, when Compton was in college, many companies began enriching processed foods with folic acid. “My legs would just lock up, and I would have absolutely no energy.” Not exactly ideal for someone who relies on her leg strength to make a living.Īfter years of inconclusive tests to find out what was causing the cramps-including a muscle biopsy that left a massive scar on her thigh-she finally discovered the culprit. “It was like having rigor mortis,” Compton says of her once-debilitating cramps. MORE: 5 Reasons Your Toes Keep Cramping-And How To Get Relief They’ve also cheered her on through 13 straight nationals wins-more than any other American racer ever-and seen her make unexpected comebacks despite health challenges like asthma, allergies, and mystery muscle cramping. Multiple years, fans have seen her this close to a World Championship win, just narrowly missing those coveted rainbow stripes on the jersey awarded to the victor. “But I’ve worked really hard, too.”īoth of those things are glaringly true to anyone who’s followed her career for the last two decades. “I’ve always had talent,” she says, without any false modesty. Beating men twice your age as a preteen will do that to you. It’s cycling’s most spectator-friendly event, since the short laps allow viewers to choose vantage points where they can see riders hop logs, run up hills with bikes slung over their shoulders, and maneuver around grueling courses.Ĭompton started racing the sport at 11 years old, and she's been in love with it ever since. Now, add mud, barriers, and bikes to the equation, and you have cyclocross-except rather than covering a set distance, it's 45 minutes of all-out racing. What is cyclocross, exactly? Imagine your toughest 10K. (Get in shape and sculpt all over with the fun, ballet-inspired workouts in Flat Belly Barre! ) Instead, the Trek-sponsored athlete is pushing herself harder than ever, heading to Europe again this season to compete in the toughest cyclocross races in the world from October through February. or, as she’s better known in the cycling community, Katie F’ing Compton.Īt 38 years old-but with a racing age of 40, thanks to some bizarre math on the part of the cycling federation-Compton isn’t anywhere near ready to retire. How does someone win 13 national cyclocross championships in a row and rack up 123 pro race wins? Just ask Katie Compton.
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