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For Endurance Mountain Bike Races and similar events, such as the Karapoti Classic, Crazy Man, Colville Classic and the Rainbow Rage
By
Gary Moller
DipPhEd PGDipRehab PGDipSportMed (Otago) FCE Certified, Nutra-Life & Kordels Certified Natural Health Consultant
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Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Max Telford was one of seven (fool?) hardy runners .............................................................3 Lorraine Moller was voted NZ Marathoner of the..................................................................4 The Karapoti Challenge, no matter how you try to do it, requires extremes of endurance and power.......................................................................................................................................4 The Karapoti Classic Race how it usually pans out .............................................................5 Train your fat metabolism ............................................................................................................... 6 Have a nutrient-dense diet...............................................................................................6 Reduce sugars and refined carbohydrates .......................................................................6 Cut the caffeine and other stimulants..............................................................................7 Throw out the carbohydrate supplements .......................................................................7 Do the three long rides each week on an empty stomach ...............................................7 Drink only water during training..................................................................................... 8 Eat heaps between training sessions................................................................................8 Do two shorter rides per week.........................................................................................8 Train at the time of day you intend to race .....................................................................8 Karapoti Race Day .......................................................................................................................... 9 Peaking ............................................................................................................................9 The pre-race meal and during the race ............................................................................9 Lighten your load ............................................................................................................9 Start slow finish fast...................................................................................................10 1972 Auckland to Wellington Road Race..................................................................................... 12
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1. Introduction
For cycling great, Brian Lambert of
Masterton, a Sunday ride was to head off over to Palmerston North, down to Paraparaumu, a leisurely climb over the Akatarawas to Upper Hutt and then a steady grunt over the Rimutaka ranges to get back to Masterton. It is little wonder that, in 1980, or thereabouts, he broke his own Auckland to Wellington non-stop cycling record, completing the distance in less than 20 hours with the assistance of a few cold pies along the way. This record is all the more astonishing because he rode almost the entire distance into a cold Southerly wind and he wiped out on the wet railway lines just 800 meters from the finish line. I entered a 10k grass track race in Masterton the following day and who should turn up for the race? None other than Brian Lambert, looking rather bleary-eyed from his exploits less than 12 hours earlier! He thrashed the field, lapping me in the process; his final lap being a demonstration of withering power. Nobody has ever attempted to break his Auckland to Wellington record; this despite the road being shorter, smoother and less hilly; and despite the vast improvements in cycling technology.
Swimming phenomenon, Phillip Rush, trained up to 18km per day in a pool, under the
watchful eye of his coach, the late Tony Keenan. This was during the 1980s when Phillip reigned supreme as the Prince of Marathon Swimming. Phillip would meet with me 3 times a week for additional training sessions in the Poneke RFC gym. These workouts were so intensely gruelling we would fog the windows with sweat and I sometimes crawled out of the gym on my hands and knees at the end in a state of rubbery exhaustion. Phillip always relished the occasions when an unsuspecting upstart athlete joined in. I always made sure there was a large bucket strategically positioned for them as their youthful complexions turned a pale green. Two regulars for punishment were brothers Marcus and Matthias Hubrich who both performed with distinction at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics (1984) and became NZs first professional slalom skiers. They were fit boys. Phillip set numerous marathon swimming records, including being the only person to swim the length of lake Taupo and then back (Of course!). He had a prior booking in Taupo hospital, but was more interested in cracking the champagne at the finish than a warm hospital bed and IV line. Phillips crowning achievement was setting 5 records during the single swim when he became the only person to complete a triple non-stop crossing of the English Channel. His main problem during that swim was dodging large ships, assorted debris and oil slicks. Most of Phillips swimming records remain unchallenged today. Phillip is regarded as the greatest ever marathon swimmer because of his combination of speed and unstoppable endurance.
Max Telford was one of seven (fool?) hardy runners who, in 1972, set out from the
Auckland Post Office to run to Wellington Post Office (refer my notes on this race here). Max completed the distance in just 6 days (I cannot recall the exact time). He later set records for
running the length of Death Valley there and back (of course!) and running down and back up the Grand Canyon. Death Valley was so hot they kept a supply of frozen running shoes in a freezer in the camper van and swapped shoes every mile. To finish off his American Excursion, he merely ran from Ankara to Nova Scotia! Apart from the divorce, he finished that run in good health. I understand that he now lives in contented retirement on a Hawaiian island with a beautiful Island babe. Max is legendary because, like Brian and Phillip, he had speed to burn as well as remarkable endurance.
Lorraine Moller was voted NZ Marathoner of the Millennium for good reason. Besides, shes my sister, so
she cannot escape mention when I am recounting personal experiences of athletes who displayed awesome combinations of speed and endurance. Lorraine held many NZ records over distances from 800m to the marathon and had an international running career spanning a record 28 years. She still holds the NZ womens 50 mile road running record that she set some 25 years ago in Auckland during what was a training run as part of her track racing build-up. Her time was about 5 hours. In the tradition of super athletes, like the great Peter Snell, these athletes produced astonishing performances of extreme endurance and they covered these long distances at speed. Moreover, they demonstrated an amazing consistency at producing world class performances time and again. They all had something in common which will become apparent as you read on.
No matter how you try to do it, mountain bike racing requires extremes of endurance and power. Any event that goes for longer than 2-3 hours is an extreme test of
power and endurance. Take the Karapoti Classic for example: Throw in the extra weight of a bike, the copious sticky mud, many technical sections and several massive Karapoti hills that take a slow tortured grind/plod to the top of each one at maxed-out heart rates and the Karapoti Challenge exceeds every criteria as a test of power and endurance. When you enter the Karapoti you need the power and endurance of a Max, Brian, Phillip or Lorraine plus the refinements of what we have since learned over the years through the sports sciences.
The common denominator of these great endurance athletes is the late Arthur Lydiard. All were influenced,
one way or another, by Arthur Lydiard the greatest athletics conditioning coach of all time. Without the aid of modern exercise physiology, Lydiard orchestrated the perfect symphony of speed, power and endurance. He is regarded as the most successful middle and long distance running coach in history and his system is as valid today as it was 50 years ago. Done properly, his system guarantees personal bests and peak performances on the day. To properly apply the Lydiard Method you require a reasonable understanding of the theory and how to apply it. Regardless of how much time and effort you put into training, the biggest challenge is maintaining energy supply. This is because the big hills on the course, including the Devils Staircase, force long periods of extreme exertion. These long periods of exertion are a drain on critical energy stores and, no matter what you eat and drink during the race, depletion is probably inevitable.
The main problem facing riders during these events is muscle glycogen depletion, with dehydration and mineral depletion possibly adding to the problem. Working muscles use a mix of fat and glycogen. Glycogen is how carbohydrate is stored in the muscles and elsewhere in the body like the liver. There is only from 1.5 2.5 hours supply of glycogen, depending on the athlete and the intensity of effort. As exercise intensity increases, so does the use of glycogen in relation to fat; so as we hit peak heart rates, such as during the Deadwood climb, we use nearly 100% glycogen. Nobody can keep that up for long. As we near glycogen depletion, our wheels begin to fall off: muscles cramp, the brain fails, we make bad decisions and performance dies. This is because we have to rely increasingly on fat, plus the little sugar we get from what we eat as we go for ongoing energy production. The body does not like this. It is not used to this and it responds by gradually slowing energy production. The point at which this happens during intense exercise can be quite sudden, as well as dramatic. When this happens, the term is hitting the wall. Here is what you can do to at least avoid the worst of glycogen depletion and soften the wall so that when you do hit it, as you will, it does not do as much damage:
they are very good at getting you to part with your cash! There is a common misconception in sport that a high carbohydrate diet is necessary for performance. This is simply not true and definitely not true if you have trained the way I am recommending here. A balanced diet that consists of mostly natural, unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods is the key to athletic consistency as well as good health. A diet that is saturated in simple sugars and refined carbohydrates prevents your body from shifting into fat metabolism and learning to do so efficiently. Matters become complicated with time because these refined foods lack essential nutrients like trace minerals and can, for example, set the athlete up for problems with muscle cramps years later.
home knows where you are going. You should schedule a couple of practice rides over the course as part of your preparation for the real thing. As the weeks pass and your body adapts, you will notice that the distances you cover before the carbo carvings set in is steadily increasing and your steady state speed is increasing all of the time and without the usual aching and burning muscles. You will eventually find that you can comfortably complete three or more hours of steady riding with your only sustenance being a bottle or two of water. You will have a ravenous appetite by the time you finish, of course, and thats great!
5. Race Day
Peaking
Unless you are Lance Armstrong, do not do any strenuous or lengthy or excessively intense training sessions during the last 2-4 days before the race. Eat lots of nutritious food during the last few days. There is no great need to carbo load, if you have had a nutrient dense diet, including the Super Smoothie and a few key supplements for the past few months and if you have properly trained your fat metabolism.
the race organisers. If you worry about contaminated water, carry a few water purification tablets add one to your bottle of river water and wait 15-20 minutes before consuming it. The few minutes you lose filling up along the way will be regained many times over later on in the race. Reconnoitre your water stops during your practice rides over the course and note the fastflowing streams. If you are in wilderness areas of New Zealand, the water should be quite safe to drink, although there is a theoretical risk of giardia. I have been drinking out of NZs wild rivers and streams for decades and have yet to suffer an upset. Besides; if you are going to catch anything, it will be a day or two after the race, so who cares its the race that counts! Avoid bogs, streams that flow through farmland and always gather your water upstream of your mates.
be a gentle one that pushes the blood back to the heart. There is no place for a deep tissue massage immediately after a punishing event. The skin should be clean; otherwise the rubbing of the massage may cause a bad skin infection, depending on what you have been rolling about in earlier on. If you are going to stretch, make it gentle and do not overdo it. Your muscles are already exhausted and strained and they need a good rest and definitely not more stress and strain. Avoid standing because the heart is tired and you may be dehydrated and low in circulating blood sugar. The blood may drop to the legs, leaving nothing up top for the brain. The result could be that you feel nauseous and you may faint and hurt yourself. It has been a long hard season and this has been the big one. It is now important to take several days off. During this rest, keep up the nutrient rich diet, including a few key supplements. Keep your basic fitness by doing some exercise; but have a break. This means doing something other than cycling, although it might include your usual commuting to and from work. This can be an active recovery: Take a holiday; go climb a mountain, hike a trail or simply go to a tropical island resort and chill out. The main thing is to do something different. Once your recovery is complete (mental as well as physical) then it is time to commence your next build up over a period of three months or so.