Training & Nutrition - endurance race training.

I'm getting ready to do an endurance race in another month, and was wondering if there is anything that you guys would reccommend as to training, and how you prep as in nutrition. I usually run about 3500 calories per day, and am currently cycling about 7-10 miles per day. ( my window of opportunity is very small) Should I try to increase the length of the ride to build my endurance? BTW I'm not trying to win the race, just to keep going for all 12 hours. and I'm doing it with a 2 man team. thanx
Joel

I dont know what your diet breaks down to but Ive read that eating a higher fat diet, not burgers and fries but rather nuts and olive oil, will help you go longer before exhaustion. You still need carbs, make sure they are good whole wheat/grain carbs so you dont get a sugar rush and then bonk. How longs the race distance wise?

the course is only 10.48 miles and is relatively flat. I go there to ride pretty much every day. I'm very familiar with the terrain, so no falls hopefully. There will be one factor...heat. It's in the Heat of August, and it's a day race

Without knowing the distance of the race, I can feel comfortable telling you that you need to up your mileage significantly. If it's a 12 hour race, I'm assuming you'll be going more than 10 miles in that 12 hour period, even if you're alternating with your friend.

You only have a month, so you've got to work on getting in more mileage. If you can get up to doing 50 miles a day, I would feel better about you doing this race.

Also, you need to work on doing interval training and tempo training- the interval training will bring up your speed significantly, and the tempo training will help you keep your speed up with the longer distances.

If you have extra weight, you'll be able to drop a bit of it when you bring up the level of your training, so that will help (assuming you're trying to shed a bit of weight to get your speed up).

If you live in a place with hills, spend 2- 3 days a week training on hills. The same muscle fibers you use to go faster speeds are the muscle fibers you use to climb hills. Hills are a tremendously great opportunity to work on those fast twitch fibers.

How long is the race, and what's your strategy with your partner? And what is your partner doing to train for the race?

Koffee

Plan Plan Plan!!! Plan your snacks and rest breaks and your meals which should be light. You can probably go 12 hrs with no real meal but just energy snacks that include a small amount of proteins as well as carbs.

You will obviously need to be religious about drinking water and sports drinks for electrolytes and such.

I think you are in deep s... if you plan to split a 12hr ride with another person in 4-6weeks. You need to go out and see what it feels like to ride 30miles, then 50miles and then 80miles. I suspect 80mi is about as far as you can expect to go in your theoretical 6hrs on the bike. Hydration and eating will be extremely important to maintaining your ability to ride. You will need to drink enough to be urinating every 60-90minutes. Caloric intake will be important after about 35 miles as muscle glycogen reserves deplete between 40-60mi and you will need to be eating in advance of this. If your capabilities exceed 100miles in the time you are on the bike, eating will be even more important.
Unfortunately your short rides will give you no insight into the distinction between fatigue and the bonk ( caloric and hydration limited physical ability).
Aches and pains in the crotch, feet, wrists and neck become a problem as time on bike exceeds 2-3hrs. A bit of lube (noxzema type liberally smeared in the crotch before donning your shorts is advisable. There is much more. Get out there and ride to avoid a death march. Steve

Get out there and ride to avoid a death march. Steve

Steve, too funny... although that's a pretty accurate description of what he needs to do in order to get to where he'll last the full 12 hours.

Get out there and ride, ride, RIDE!

Koff

Well if you're in any kind of shape, you aren't going to improve that much in 4 weeks. Less than that if you were to taper before the event.

After you ride, ride, ride, plan, plan, plan, and eat and drink by the clock, also pace your ride carefully.

Good Luck!

come on guys, This is supposed to be fun, you make it seem like it's torture. The race isn't going to cost anything, and it's for fun, I guess I shouldn't have used the word race in there. It's more of a ride. not a race. There's going to be a raffle for all kinds of different stuff. So, I'm basically just going to go out there, have a good time and just enjoy the ride. I guess I was more wanting to know what types of stuff to take. Any suggestions on quick little meals or anything? Would beer be a good carb?? J/K. It's a 12 hour FUN race/ride. No trophys, or cash, just a lot of people getting together to do something they like.

For someone used to riding 8-10 miles to contemplate 5-10x that distance requires some injection of reality. If you can spend huge amounts of time resting you will do ok, but I don't think you have any idea what it is like sitting on a bike for 6hrs, even spread out over 12hrs. If this is a picnic with occasional laps on the course, you should do fine. If you really have any intention of spending 4-6 hrs on the bike I felt you should be forewarned. Steve

Ok maybe I go a little bit farther than I thought. I just got a comp for the bike and I logged 17 miles on my regular loop. I guess it doesn't feel that fer once you're used to it. There have been days when I make a day of doing all my errands by bike, and beieve me sometimes it takes all day. I guess I'm in better shape than I thought.

Well, if you're fairly confident of your abilities, train as described above and go for it! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Really, the very worst that's likely to happen is that you bonk really really hard and just have to lay down and die for a while. It's something every serious cyclist should experience ONCE. For real dumb@sses (like, um, er, this guy I know) it may take more than once to drive the lesson home.

Chamois Butter is way better than smearing that other junk all over yourself. Click here for Chamois Buttr Website (http://www.hubbub.com/chamois_buttr_page.htm) :eek: