Fitness advice

[janesssssy]

I have entered a MTB race which is 50k on January 4th 2009.
I am mediocre fit and mountain bike often with no trouble.
Was hoping for some advice for my fitness. This is what my normal diet is and my exercise routines.

Brekfast: Porrage no sugur
Lunch: Sandwich on brown bread and bottle of coke
Evening dinner: Always a good meal

Fruit in between and somtimes a bowl of porrage in the late evening.

Workouts:

Gym 2x per week running for 30min and cycling 10min warm down.
Upper body weights for 20min.

30min every night, if not down the gym at a high pace on a home exercise bike - gets me very sweaty!

What can i improve? i feel like im making all the effort i can as have other things to be getting on with etc.

Any advice?

edit - sorry really bad spelling as have just finished another 30mins at home.

 

[gareth.e]

I can't really help much..
But whats you're body stats? are you trying to loose weight too? As it seems like you arnt eating much..? I'd drop the coke and have something else

Also I would suggest doing some longer runs on you're bike? As you won't be ready to do 50k to a good standard if you've been training to do short sprints...?

 

[drunkenmaster]

yes, riding for 30mins without increasing length every few sessions isn't going to get you to 50km fitness, it will get you to, 30 mins fine, probably do a little longer easily but getting tired, but riding for a couple hours you'll be shattered.

As a general rule something akin to the running guide(i think its still there) in stickys won't do you to far wrong adjust the distances and stick to similar times. but a couple shorter fast sessions a week and a longer slower session, increasing 1/2 of the sessions a little every week. so say a fast 15 minutes , a slower 45minutes a couple days later, and a fast 20 minutes a couple days later. The next week, try 30 mins fast, 1 hour slow, 20 mins fast. next week, 30 mins fast, 1.15 slow, 35 mins fast. Its a faster increase than would be recommended but you've not got long to go. Out in the real world you'll find 30 mins on a exercise bike will translate badly to road work and you'll be tired much more easily, worse weather, could be -2 and raining, in which case you'll be going slower aswell as more tired and 50km could take hours upon hours. What kind of mountain bike race is it aswell, terraine wise?

Either way, you're going to want to bump up your numbers significantly I would think, I would also suggest eating more, and you seem to be getting very little protein in there considering you're training a lot and doing weights work. i'd suggest with a sandwich and a big meal in the evening and little protein elsewhere , the training you're doing you're over training and not gaining any muscle but leaving yourself ripe for injury.

I'd also, for cycling, be doing lower body training with more protein intake, to build up your leg muscle but thats just me.

bad terraine, awful weather, 10-15km/h might not be doable, you could be looking at a 4-5hour race in bad weather and training to ride for 30 mins. I'd seriously consider if you can realistically do it, and seriously consider talking to other people in the race if you know any, race organisers and get some advice on what they think is appropriate levels of fitness for the race.

Now, if it was a typo and its a 5km race, its completely different, but a 50km race is pretty damn big.

 

[janesssssy]

snip

Thanks for your advice! really helpful.
Its a 50k "challenge" as there is no prize - still technicaly a race as its timed and we all start on a start line.

What would you suggest I eat, I eat a lot of fruit, oats, veg and lots of meats and pasta - Weekdays im super healthy. come weekends its a semi different matter, roughly 4 -6 pints of beer per weekend and may be a take-away once.

Oh and the coke is diet..... WHAT CAN I EAT MORE OF!?

to the first reply - Wieght loss isnt a major concern, however i dont want to put on wieght... may be some muscle but i dont want to be a fatty. im 26, male, 6 ft tall and 11.4 stone.

 

[drunkenmaster]

as long as you're eating an ok amount of calories I'd up your meat/protein intake, maybe some egg's for breakfast and a little less porridge , or a protein shake here and there. I think in general, while you're more training your body for endurance than strength, you'll still be putting on muscle as you gain endurance, just not as much muscle or exactly the same type as if you were doing only weight training. With only a month to go it does sound like a tall order, tbh, eating more protein and a few calories extra in a month won't do jack in terms of making you fat. but the extra protein, if there is a lack of it which it did sound like from the first post, will just help in a long month of hard training.

I would honestly say your best bet is talking to someone more experienced in the race, maybe ask the organisers for advice or even contact details of someone who could help you. Give you advice on what to be eating maybe. Looking more to the last few days pre race their advice on what to be eating the days before and the morning and hours before the race starts would probably be invaluable tbh.

 

[aztechnology]

I wouldn't bother too much about diet as you seem to be eating reasonably. You really need to up the distances on a bike though. Get out on a real bike whatever the weather and put some distance in. You don't need to go race distance, but you should look to be getting out for a minimum of 2-3hours. You also need to stop the high intensity stuff and get into a low intensity regime if you don't want to blow up after 1.5 hours.

If you want to sit on the exercise bike, drop the resistance and spin at about 90-100rpm, keeping your heart rate in zone 2 (about 70-80% of max). Do it for an hour. It shouldn't really feel like hard work, you should be able to breathe normally and chat to someone without any difficulty. For me, the gym is pretty pointless for cycling, you need to spin your legs and build aerobic fitness, all that can be done on a bike. Build leg strength by going up hills or pushing a big gear. Building upper body mass is counter productive, it's extra weight to drag around for no gain (not that you have long to do this anyway).

You say you are "reasonably fit", what kind of distance are you covering on the MTB now? how much further is 50K? How fast do you want to get around the challenge? The fast lads will cover that distance in 2.5ish hours, I'd be happy at 4.5 if you haven't done it before.

Don't let us put you off though, I've done 45K-50K MTB challenges with only moderate fitness. Almost kills me, but I get round

 

[WantoN]

50K is a big distance. And to train, in the time frame you have especially, to that length is going to take a bit of work.

As far as increasing distance is concerned, above post regarding times is fine. The key will be to work towards the time and distance you'll be doing.

IE. A prolonged time, and prolonged intensity session weekly. I wouldn't worry about doing much training that doesn't mimmic the event. Endurance running and building muscle aren't the best of bed friends. Ever seen a muscluar marathon runner? You'd be better off doing some endurance resistance training once a week, with a

You need to eat more. Truly to make the gains you're hoping for its very important. I suggest you start the day with something rich in complex carbs, which is what you're doing with porridge However you've not specified the amount you're eating. Around 3 hours later I'd look at having something less substancial, but more protein rich. I'd go for chicken/turkey breast in a pita.

Your lunch is fine, but make sure it IS a protein rich food you're eating. Have another snack 2 -3 hours afterwards, again protein rich with a good portion of complex carbs for training.

Eat immediately after training! The work you're doing should be hammering your body, glycogen will be depleted well before you finish a 1.5-2 hour run, you need to get plenty of carbs and protein in you as soon as possible.

Also you need to ensure your hydration levels are excellent, I'd say 250ml in between every meal, and another 500ml before training. With another 250ml to 500ml before bed. Get water on board immediately after training.

You may also benefit from use of isotonic fluids during and post training. Google recipes, as you don't need to fork out money for them, they're easy as pie to make, and just as effective as the ones on the shelves.

aztechnology is bang on in regards to the 'zones' in which you should be training. Long distance running is all about aerobic efficiency, you need to find a stride and maintain it, getting in plenty of oxygen to maintain the all important krebs/electron cycle. High carb dosing pre-event will make a WORLD of difference, as will decent hydration

Good luck! You've got yourself into what sounds like a tough but very rewarding experience!

 

[firstborn]

Long distance running is all about aerobic efficiency

He's not training for a long distance run though...

Personally longer in the saddle at least once a week. Not sure about the emphasis on the protein intake in some of the replies (although important) I'd be looking at carbs for an endurance event.

Eggs in the morning work well follwed by a training montage..... but personally I'd stick to your porridge. I run 60+ miles a week at the mo so speak from experience and I'm hardly wasting away.

 

[LeperousDust]

Yeah you're gonna need to train at least 3+ hours once to see if you'll make it essentially. I did a 50k year before last, i'm ok fit, but it ruined me
For prep i just did 50k+ cycle runs. No special eating and this was first year at uni so we had pretty **** poor diets and a lot of drinking. Diets can be important and certainly make getting fit easier, but i'd conectrate much more on the actual activity really.
It was really fun though and i would do it again

 

[LeperousDust]

50K is a big distance. And to train, in the time frame you have especially, to that length is going to take a bit of work.

It's not so big cycling, 25k is the smallest sensible one i've seen and most events do this as a light ride around really with the family over the course of they day, whereas the 50k was the "main" event and 100k was for the fit people. I wanted to do the 25k but my mates weren't letting me out of it

 

[aztechnology]

It's not so big cycling, ... cut

I agree here. 50K on a MTB is a good distance and depending on terrain it can be a long way, but you should make it if you have a reasonable level of fitness.

WantoN's advice is good, but I don't think you have the time for this level of training given that you are attempting the ride early Jan. Don't go bonkers with the level of training or you'll end up broken. I would train at distance, but I don't think i woul dlook at full distance befor the event. Long events take considerable recovery periods (maybe a full week off) and you don't have a spare week. The week before the "race" make an easy week, so you should be in top condition for the event.

For this one, train sensibly, and get round. If you like it there will be loads of "races" next year to try to hit hard.

 

[WantoN]

Massive flaw in my original post was that I thought you were running The advice remains largely unchanged, and yes I was wrong to suggest high intensity and a lack of rest prior to comp day.

Protein intake for endurance trainers is 1.2-1.4g per kg body mass, higher for those who're doing very large distances. Protein is needed for a massive amount of metabolic processes, including the carriers and digesters of all ingested food. The eight essential amino acids become even more important than usual, so a range of good protein sources is essential. As is carbs, which I've already covered Poached egg on 3 rounds of toast is a good alternative brekky, I just didn't want to start prepping the OP an entirely new diet regime.

Sorry for mix up

 

[#Chri5#]

Personally, given you've got ~4 weeks, I'd just be looking for as much time as possible in the saddle up to a week before. Steady riding pace but include a few hills. Get your legs and backside used to being on a bike for longer than 30 minutes.

Where's the ride? When I did the Dyfi Enduro (60+km), it was hard riding but the toughest bit for me was the endless climbing on fireroads (dull dull dull). The downhills made up for them though

On the ride, I'd suggest eating something every 30 minutes to keep your energy up. Mix up what you take with you - you eventually get sick of eating the same cereal/energy bars.

 

[aztechnology]

On the ride, I'd suggest eating something every 30 minutes to keep your energy up. Mix up what you take with you - you eventually get sick of eating the same cereal/energy bars.

This is fantastic advice and I'm surpised I forgot to mention it. Get a few gel packs, one or two with caffeine. After the first hour, down one every 30 minutes. If you know you have a big hill coming up, have a caffeine gel about 10 mins before you start it. I've tried butties and bananas and choccies etc. but gel packs really worked last time out for me.

 

[aztechnology]

Massive flaw in my original post was that I thought you were running The advice remains largely unchanged, and yes I was wrong to suggest high intensity and a lack of rest prior to comp day.

.....

Sorry for mix up

yikes! 50K run on a month!, the only way to survive that would be a run/walk strategy...

 

[janesssssy]

I really appriaciate all the good advice! I did a 35k 2 weeks ago, took me 2hours 45minutes and didnt really push me too much. As far as most people saying ive only got 4 weeks to do this training, ive been upping my exercise routines for the last 2 months.

My aim is to take this one easy and do it within 4 hours.
I will keep reviewing this thread to keep me on track in the coming weeks.

edit - terrain is on and around Salisbury Plain some single track but more of a distance thing.

 

[6thElement]

50km depends entirely on the terrain and weather, but as long as you cycle lots beforehand to get used to riding for long enough and then during the race remember to keep hydrated you'll be fine. In cooler weather it's tough to remember to drink enough.

One of the MTB race series I'm competing in next year is 8 races of 100miles each, now that will put hairs on your chest

 

[barkey52]

I agree with it's purely a terrain weather thing to how hard it will be, I do 30+ miles every other day around me and in summer it takes about 2-3hrs winter about 3hrs - 4hrs.

I get to France and struggle with 20miles just because of the sheer amount of steep climbing you have to do some hills take up to 30mins to climb and it’s only about mile but the 30sec of coming back down is awesome.

 

[janesssssy]

Wooo its tomorrow - and i have had a great Xmas! lots of rubbish goin in to me and i have a cold! wish me luck for a 50k

 

[WantoN]

Good luck