Discussion
I was wondering if anyone has trained for a long distance MTB event before.
I have decided to enter the Lemmings Trail in September (previous post) which is a 100 mile enduro split over 2 days, 60 miles on day one with the following 40 miles the next.
I have started my training and up to now have been completing between 8-12 miles daily, either on the bike or if the weather is too bad going to the gym and using their bikes
I have now upped it to 14-16 miles daily but, the time I now to spend on the bike is almost getting too much (as in work / family / training / hooning balance!) What is the best way to increase my fitness / endurance without having to spend hours on the bike each day.
I don’t really want to enter the enduro if there is no chance of me completing it and if I only spend 14-16 miles on the bike each day then I don’t think I will be able to do 60 miles on the South Downs Way in one day!!!
I have decided to enter the Lemmings Trail in September (previous post) which is a 100 mile enduro split over 2 days, 60 miles on day one with the following 40 miles the next.
I have started my training and up to now have been completing between 8-12 miles daily, either on the bike or if the weather is too bad going to the gym and using their bikes
I have now upped it to 14-16 miles daily but, the time I now to spend on the bike is almost getting too much (as in work / family / training / hooning balance!) What is the best way to increase my fitness / endurance without having to spend hours on the bike each day.
I don’t really want to enter the enduro if there is no chance of me completing it and if I only spend 14-16 miles on the bike each day then I don’t think I will be able to do 60 miles on the South Downs Way in one day!!!
Thanks, as always I should of Google'd before posting, just found this site: http://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/training/3.php
Rich_W said:
Have you considered a slick tyre and a turbo trainer? Would at least keep you at the house, so other issues could be attended to.
Something I had thought about, but I can already hear Mrs Spdpug98 telling me that it is making too much noise while she is trying to watch Hollyoaks or something similarspdpug98 said:
Rich_W said:
Have you considered a slick tyre and a turbo trainer? Would at least keep you at the house, so other issues could be attended to.
Something I had thought about, but I can already hear Mrs Spdpug98 telling me that it is making too much noise while she is trying to watch Hollyoaks or something similara mountain bike race is also more mentally demanding in comparison to a road race, i have competed in time trials and mtb races and the mtb races were far harder as you have to pick your lines and concentrate far more. TTs are easy in comparison, start, put it in the big ring, adopt aero position and pedal.....
you could also incorporate a weights session to build up your upper body strength which you will use on the climbs as well as the descents, it may help lung capacity too.
All good stuff, the trainer at my local gym has put together a set of upper body exercise sessions which I will now be doing on my 'rest days / cross training days'
After a lot of reading last night as per 'swerni's' post I now know I need to include rest days, I was feeling guilty if I missed a day but now realise it is important not to train everyday
After a lot of reading last night as per 'swerni's' post I now know I need to include rest days, I was feeling guilty if I missed a day but now realise it is important not to train everyday
I did the full South Downs Way with the British Heart Foundation a couple of years ago in a single day (110 miles - 13,000ft of climb, including me cycling 10 miles to the start in Winchester). I didn't really do any systematic or scientific training, except just tried to put the hours in, and get the off road miles under my belt. It was a real commitment for only a short while (a couple of months), as I woudl usually be cycling once a week during the summer anyway.
I started in earnest (if it could be called that) about 4 months before in Feb/March, doing 30-40 mile weekend off road rides, then a month or so later began to go out a couple of times a week doing similar distances when the clocks went forward. Added to this was cycling to work (about 15 miles round trip) a few times during the week. In the month or so before the ride I would still go out once or twice a week doing 30 miles or so in the evenings, but then importasntly, I woudl then try and do a very long ride at the weekend (60 miles or 8 hours+ if possible)
My training, like in road marathon training, culminated in doing a big final run out - a 12 hour "practice" ride along the Ridgeway from Streatley to Avebury then back again (a 90 mile feat I never thought I'd be able to do in one day), and then began to wind down doing gentle 20 milers a couple of times a week before I did the main ride to keep my legs turning over.
After doing the Ridgeway, I optimistically thought the South Downs would be not so bad after all.
How wrong I was! Despite completing the ride in about 13 hours, on a lovely sunny day with the wind at my back,adn a hard trail to buzz along, the climbs were endless, and the final 20 mile section, when you thought you could wind down a bit, was actually the worst. Some really fun downhill sections, and fantastic scenery though, and a great experience.
It was a great way to lose about a stone in weight but all the training and the ride itself knackered my knees which have never really been the same since sadly.
Apart from getting the miles in, what I would say for both training, and on the day, is that water and food (fuel) is really important. Keep the liquids and calories going in (think about packing enough to eat and drink every 30 mins), and you should be ok. I took along loads of energy bars, a couple of tubs of pasta, some snickers bars, a few energy gels and loads of water (too much water really, as I could have picked that up as I went along, making my 3 litre camelback a pointless dead weight)
It was grimly fascinating to find that after 40 mins or so I would feel absolutely dead, and couldn't go any further, but a 5 minute stop to look at the scenery, a gel, mars bar & a good gulp of water would magically bring me back to life.
Secondly - I'm not a genetically modified Tour de France climb specialist and can't maintain 175 bpm for 4 hours on end. And also for me this wasn't a race. So when training, and during the ride, I used a heart rate monitor (a Garmin 205 - small, multi-function, very useful!) to make sure I wasn't going into the red zone too often and too long (for me this would be over over c150 bpm for any great amount of time). This did mean that on some hills I would be reduced to a slow plod, but it saved me from burning out too early and meant I would last the day. A really gratifying thing was that as I put the miles in, I could see that my speed up hills was increasing, but my heart rate stayed the same.
Lastly, my advice is for both training and the ride itself, is get some decent puncture resistant tyres, liners, slime, whatever, because I lost count of the frutrating times and time wasted repairing, patching and replacing inner tubes after a visit from the puncture fairy.
Good luck! This pic is of me just before Devil's Dyke. I remember I was reasonably happy at this point because I could see Brighton and the sea, and thought I was on the home straight. However I checked the map at the next stop and in reality I was less than half way with the worst (longest) climbs to come!
I think if you are riding this supported, over two days, you should not worry too much as long as you can train to cover 50 miles over a couple of consecutive days. Then pray you get good weather because I would not like to do this when it is muddy or wet (add at least 30% more time & effort to complete in the rain)!
I started in earnest (if it could be called that) about 4 months before in Feb/March, doing 30-40 mile weekend off road rides, then a month or so later began to go out a couple of times a week doing similar distances when the clocks went forward. Added to this was cycling to work (about 15 miles round trip) a few times during the week. In the month or so before the ride I would still go out once or twice a week doing 30 miles or so in the evenings, but then importasntly, I woudl then try and do a very long ride at the weekend (60 miles or 8 hours+ if possible)
My training, like in road marathon training, culminated in doing a big final run out - a 12 hour "practice" ride along the Ridgeway from Streatley to Avebury then back again (a 90 mile feat I never thought I'd be able to do in one day), and then began to wind down doing gentle 20 milers a couple of times a week before I did the main ride to keep my legs turning over.
After doing the Ridgeway, I optimistically thought the South Downs would be not so bad after all.
How wrong I was! Despite completing the ride in about 13 hours, on a lovely sunny day with the wind at my back,adn a hard trail to buzz along, the climbs were endless, and the final 20 mile section, when you thought you could wind down a bit, was actually the worst. Some really fun downhill sections, and fantastic scenery though, and a great experience.
It was a great way to lose about a stone in weight but all the training and the ride itself knackered my knees which have never really been the same since sadly.
Apart from getting the miles in, what I would say for both training, and on the day, is that water and food (fuel) is really important. Keep the liquids and calories going in (think about packing enough to eat and drink every 30 mins), and you should be ok. I took along loads of energy bars, a couple of tubs of pasta, some snickers bars, a few energy gels and loads of water (too much water really, as I could have picked that up as I went along, making my 3 litre camelback a pointless dead weight)
It was grimly fascinating to find that after 40 mins or so I would feel absolutely dead, and couldn't go any further, but a 5 minute stop to look at the scenery, a gel, mars bar & a good gulp of water would magically bring me back to life.
Secondly - I'm not a genetically modified Tour de France climb specialist and can't maintain 175 bpm for 4 hours on end. And also for me this wasn't a race. So when training, and during the ride, I used a heart rate monitor (a Garmin 205 - small, multi-function, very useful!) to make sure I wasn't going into the red zone too often and too long (for me this would be over over c150 bpm for any great amount of time). This did mean that on some hills I would be reduced to a slow plod, but it saved me from burning out too early and meant I would last the day. A really gratifying thing was that as I put the miles in, I could see that my speed up hills was increasing, but my heart rate stayed the same.
Lastly, my advice is for both training and the ride itself, is get some decent puncture resistant tyres, liners, slime, whatever, because I lost count of the frutrating times and time wasted repairing, patching and replacing inner tubes after a visit from the puncture fairy.
Good luck! This pic is of me just before Devil's Dyke. I remember I was reasonably happy at this point because I could see Brighton and the sea, and thought I was on the home straight. However I checked the map at the next stop and in reality I was less than half way with the worst (longest) climbs to come!
I think if you are riding this supported, over two days, you should not worry too much as long as you can train to cover 50 miles over a couple of consecutive days. Then pray you get good weather because I would not like to do this when it is muddy or wet (add at least 30% more time & effort to complete in the rain)!
Edited by prand on Tuesday 23 March 14:23
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