How do you decide your fitness is "sufficient"

[SteveW]

Saying, ‘you know when you’re tough enough, go out and see what happens' isn't what the guy was asking. The fact is almost 50% of the field in these races think they are ready, and then reality bites after day one. You don't have to invest all that time and money to go out there and fail in an effort to learn either. Even without the experience, there are quantifiable benchmarks to use to know you'll get a finish in your first race. Training theory isn't some sort of black art; it's really very simple and a well proven science. Sure you can go out and ride, but having some structure toward your first event will make a big difference, and you don't have to be a slave to numbers. As for mental prep, that's different for everyone, but if you're sufficiently fit and pace well, it's much easier on the mind. My only words of wisdom here are that suffering only comes from self-pity or a damaged ego. Leave those two things behind and you can find enjoyment even if things hurt a bit for while.

I'm always surprised by the lack of discussions about training on here, and so much focus on gear. Fitness is your primary concern in a finish, rather than a few lbs in weight. I've had a think and I'll share how I personally break it down into training. I'm a mid-pack racer with two Divide finishes, a CTR, and an Iditraod 350 under my belt. I'm in the middle of training again to go back out to Alaska for the 350 in three weeks, and have the AZT 300 planned for April too. I've also cycled across Australia, and have not DNFed yet in these things. I work in an office Monday to Friday for 40 hours a week, sometimes more, and training is always compromised with other life stuff. My fitness varies hugely during the year, and I have to work hard to build it up again for each event. I'm sure this is a similar lifestyle to many out there considering these events.

So this advice isn't going to get you a win, I don't know what those guys do, but if you're a rookie I think you'll gain something. First I plan the number of hours I will try and ride for each day in the event, and I mean actually moving time, not the time I start in the morning and time I stop at night. I then consider my training with respect to this volume. I think 12 hours a day is the minimum you should be aiming for in these events, so let's base this example on that, which is also my aim.

Based on that 12 hour target, I base my weekly average training volume at 12 hours, and try and stick to that starting 4-5 months before the event. I don’t focus on what it is, just try and commute and get out on the weekends for a few hours. This average is based on four week blocks, where weeks 1-3 gradually increase the volume, and week 4 is more for rest. Pretty much though it stays constant.

In the last 8-12 weeks before an event I will ramp it up, building up toward 12 hours of riding over the weekend, mostly on flat routes. I'll say do 2 x 4 hrs one weekend, 2 x 5 the next weekend, then 2 x 6 the following weekend, then go mountain biking with friends the fourth weekend so I don't go insane.

Once I have a few 2 x 6 hour rides completed at the weekend, I will start building onto these rides with some intensity, and over a shorter overall time period. During this period I will rest a bit more during the week, and listen to my body. Then I will mix it up a bit and build up toward the 12 hour ride, with say a couple of 9 and 3s, still within the 12 hours a weekend.

My final phase about six weeks out from the event is to go for a few 24 hour volume weeks, doing a couple of those before I eventually go for the 2 x 12 hour ride weekend. This is the final test, and it sets me up mentally as well as physically. Finally after that I back off a couple of weeks before the event, more by life than intent as I'm so busy with gear prep.

I start any race slowly, and stick to a circadian rhythm. I know how tired I'm supposed to feel at the end of the day, and still be able to recover for the next. I learned that through training remeber, and during the event isn't a time to experiment with changes. There is no point pushing out a 16 hour ride, or 12 hours over brutal terrain if you can't recover from it by the next day. Consistency is the safest approach until you learn more about how your body responds. Don't be afraid to back off a bit to stay on top of things, especially calorie intake and hydration.

[Done]

Saying‘you know when you’re tough enough, go out and see what happens isn't what the guy was asking. The fact is almost 50% of the field in there races think they are ready, and then reality bites after day one. You don't have to invest all that time and money to go out there and fail in an effort to learn either. Even without the experience, there are quantifiable benchmarks to use to know you'll get a finish in your first race. Training theory isn't some sort of black art; it's really very simple and a well proven science. Sure you can go out and ride, but having some structure toward your first event will make a big difference, and you don't have to be a slave to numbers.

The OP asked how other folks know that they are ready for something like the CTR. He's obviously a newbie like myself, so I figured that I'd share what worked for me when I finished the CTR in 2010. He didn't ask for one approach, did he? The truth is that, until I actually rode down the last hill into Durango, I really don't know if I could finish the CTR--there were so many challenges and demons out there that needed to be encountered and overcome first-hand, and I don't believe that any amount of training or "practice" would have realistically guaranteed success. It took a leap of faith for me to line up! Many better riders than me have failed when I succeeded. And in 2011, many less-experienced riders succeeded when I failed. I learned a lot from both experiences--and I tried to relate some of that knowledge to the OP. Yep, it's a little different from your approach--but that's OK, right? I don't think that I prepare with any less conviction than you, we just seem to do it a bit differently. Both seem to work, so the OP can process what he likes, and then head out for the adventure of a lifetime!

[AZTtripper]

Two completely different strategies nothing wrong with that.

Steve a quick question when you say train your body to burn fat. I assume you meant fat that you would be ingesting rather then stored fat?

Seems to me that there are lots of ways to prepare oneself for these types of events. No doubt Steve has put a lot of thought into his training program. Not saying that Toby hasn't but it seems like he is taking a simpler approach.

I think Toby has an advantage of being local. He can go out and ride the actual course or at least trails that are very similar and at similar elevations. So it seems that his simpler plan can work out for him due to this.

Steve's location says he's in England. Haven't been there myself but I am pretty sure that he is training a much lower elevations. Makes sense that he needs to have a more thought out program to overcome this obvious difference.

For myself I have used a similar approach as Toby. But the only reason I was able to win the 07 AZT 300 was because everyone else dropped out.

For the OP I think that if he rides things like Ring the Peak enough before hand he can count on at least having a fair chance to finish the CTR. Haven't done it myself, only ridden the CT from Kenosha pass west and back, I know what the RTP trail is. Seems like a person who can train on these trails should have a good chance of doing the whole CTR.

But finishing is not winning obviously. Seems like Steve's more involved training plan would be a better strategy for a more competitive outcome.

The great thing about this site is that we can all post up what works for us and others can take from each what works for them.

Tim

[SteveW]

Steve a quick question when you say train your body to burn fat. I assume you meant fat that you would be ingesting rather than stored fat?

Although I've offered up some stuff about training, forums are the last place you should seek this kind of advice, including anything I write, as I've only a slight grasp of this stuff myself. If you're really interested I suggest reading some books written by people with PhDs in sports science. Ignore anything touted by energy product manufacturers - 99% of that is absolute crap. Check out the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine http://www.jssm.org for some facts.

However... the basics. I refer to stored fat (Fatty acid metabolism). You have an abundance of it, even if you're a racing whippet. Glycogen, or carbohydrate reserves are limited to about 2000 calories stored in muscles and liver. The concept is that you race at a pace where most, if not practically all, of your power output metabolises your fat store, and only a small percentage of the power output is metabolising glycogen. The fat burns in a glycogen flame, is the best analogy. Everyone from the slowest to the fastest racer is probably using the same amount of glycogen as a percentage of power output. All the rest of the speed comes from the fat metabolising engine, so it's worth training it with those base miles.

Consider the mental demands of a two hour ride. No problem. If after several hours you bonk, that is where you’ve depleted the glycogen stores and are now solely relying on the fat metabolising engine. If this engine is untrained, the speed will drop right off, your muscles will hurt, and mentally things just got ten times worse. If you're well trained and bonk, you can still ride at a fair pace and are able to tick along replenishing just enough carbohydrate with sugary snacks to stoke the fat engine. In this case a 40 minute break for a drink of Coke and some snacks and you can be back up to speed quick. However if you’re relying predominantly on the carbohydrate engine, it can take considerably more time to replenish stores and recover to output sufficient power to travel comfortably. But carbohydrate depletion has so many other bad effects on the body, that recovery becomes a completely different process. Carbohydrate depletion is also very high risk increasing the chance of illness and injury.

I may live at sea level in the UK, but that isn’t my driver in following some kind of structured training. I’m limited by time to train, and I know I can get a lot fitter using less time by applying some proven science, rather than a roll of a dice. To me it is the simpler approach. Also I can take less holiday if I travel faster and finish the event quicker, and really enjoy my time on the route. The other advantage of a structured training plan is that it continually answers the original question - "How do you decide your fitness is sufficient?" Since every weekend is a small step, it's an assessment of present status, and the opportunity is there to do something about it before moving up to the next bigger ride.

I’m bowing out of this one now. Good luck to all, whichever way you want to approach your event.

[BigPoppa]

Although I've offered up some stuff about training, forums are the last place you should seek this kind of advice, including anything I write, as I've only a slight grasp of this stuff myself. If you're really interested I suggest reading some books written by people with PhDs in sports science. Ignore anything touted by energy product manufacturers - 99% of that is absolute crap. Check out the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine http://www.jssm.org for some facts.

However... the basics. I refer to stored fat (Fatty acid metabolism). You have an abundance of it, even if you're a racing whippet. Glycogen, or carbohydrate reserves are limited to about 2000 calories stored in muscles and liver. The concept is that you race at a pace where most, if not practically all, of your power output metabolises your fat store, and only a small percentage of the power output is metabolising glycogen. The fat burns in a glycogen flame, is the best analogy. Everyone from the slowest to the fastest racer is probably using the same amount of glycogen as a percentage of power output. All the rest of the speed comes from the fat metabolising engine, so it's worth training it with those base miles.

Consider the mental demands of a two hour ride. No problem. If after several hours you bonk, that is where you’ve depleted the glycogen stores and are now solely relying on the fat metabolising engine. If this engine is untrained, the speed will drop right off, your muscles will hurt, and mentally things just got ten times worse. If you're well trained and bonk, you can still ride at a fair pace and are able to tick along replenishing just enough carbohydrate with sugary snacks to stoke the fat engine. In this case a 40 minute break for a drink of Coke and some snacks and you can be back up to speed quick. However if you’re relying predominantly on the carbohydrate engine, it can take considerably more time to replenish stores and recover to output sufficient power to travel comfortably. But carbohydrate depletion has so many other bad effects on the body, that recovery becomes a completely different process. Carbohydrate depletion is also very high risk increasing the chance of illness and injury.

I may live at sea level in the UK, but that isn’t my driver in following some kind of structured training. I’m limited by time to train, and I know I can get a lot fitter using less time by applying some proven science, rather than a roll of a dice. To me it is the simpler approach. Also I can take less holiday if I travel faster and finish the event quicker, and really enjoy my time on the route. The other advantage of a structured training plan is that it continually answers the original question - "How do you decide your fitness is sufficient?" Since every weekend is a small step, it's an assessment of present status, and the opportunity is there to do something about it before moving up to the next bigger ride.

I’m bowing out of this one now. Good luck to all, whichever way you want to approach your event.

It is very true that the body relies on stored fat for energy in these types of events. During the tour divide I rarely ingested more than 10,000 calories in a day. (It's just IMPOSSIBLE to eat more. Your body just can't make enough stomach acid and pancreatic digestive enzymes to keep up with the requisite degradation requirements for fuel intake metabolism.)

On the other hand, I was burning roughly 20-25,000 calories a day.

Wonder where the excess calories came from?

Answer, My Fat @$$.


You train your body to burn stored body fat by doing exactly what Steve outlines.

[Done]

I'm certainly not advocating that anyone "roll the dice" for their training, Steve. Far from it! As I said earlier, it's important to put a lot of variety into a good CTR training program. Yes, that includes long rides, which address your well-articulated explanation of fatty acid metabolism. There are many different training programs out there, each with a different focus--and all with lots of research and proven results. They all have one common thread though: none of them come with a set of dice. Certainly not yours; certainly not mine.

But I believe that, no matter which training approach is followed, there's really no way for someone to line up their first big CTR-type race and know for certain that they are ready. It's a leap of faith, largely because an event like this is such a huge learning experience. The OP is asking how he'll know if he's ready, and I'm encouraging him to come up with his own answer to that question. He could be the strongest guy in the field, with the most structured training program ever devised--and still fail because he didn't adjust his performance to match the reality of the trail. Or he could be poorly trained and inexperienced--and still finish because he adapted along the way. Or the exact opposite could occur. But in both instances, he will emerge wiser and more experienced--and able to determine whether he's ready the next time around.

So, for a newbie I offer this advice: Stop worrying about whether you're ready or not. Instead, ride your bike a lot. Long rides, short rides, hard rides, easy rides. Crank hills. Cruise the flats. Ride at night. Hike. Review what gear has worked for others, and tweak it to suit you. Follow a regimented training program if it helps motivate you and gives you confidence--or seek variety and spontaneity if it better suits your personality. Bring enough gear to be safe and warm if you implode or crash (but not so much that it crushes you). Then line up, with butterflies the size of eagles in your stomach, and head into the unknown. Don't push too hard. Eat every hour. Enjoy the fact that you've got nothing to do for the next week but ride your bike in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Eat and sleep. Relish in the smell of the tundra up high, and bathe in the warmth of the forests below. But, above all, pay attention to what's happening to your gear, body and mind--and ADAPT. If something's not working, change it before it beats you down. If you're in a funk--hang in there, it'll pass. If you're in nirvana, capture a little to push away the darkness later on. Change is a constant. Enjoy the good luck that comes your way, and try to work around the bad.

All of that said, my advice certainly isn't right for everyone. Ignore what you don't like, all or in part. Whether or not you make it to Durango, you'll learn what really matters. Happy trails!

[mikepro]

I’m bowing out of this one now. Good luck to all, whichever way you want to approach your event.

Thanks for putting the info out on the table and providing simple links to jssm and so-forth.  Regardless of whether or not to trust what you say, I appreciate what you've had to say on this topic.  Speaks to me.

[AZTtripper]

Steve thanks for the clarification. I certainly didn't mean to put down living at a lower elevation hope it didn't come off that way.

Like I said a great thing about this site is that anyone can post up and everyone can take what they want from it.

I really like the part about the energy product manufacturers.

[chriskmurray]

Enjoy the fact that you've got nothing to do for the next week but ride your bike in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Eat and sleep. Relish in the smell of the tundra up high, and bathe in the warmth of the forests below.

Very glad I asked this question, lots of good and varying advise, all which seems sound.  The input is greatly appreciated.

Toby I like your style, you seem to have taken your "training" advise from the famous Eddy Merckx quote, "Ride Lots"  I also think you nailed it on dealing with the mental side of the race with what I quoted above.  That is one thing I always think to myself on long bike rides when it starts to hurt a bit.

On a side note, I might have some new training ground opened up here in the springs.  They are talking about opening the Pikes Peak Hwy to cyclist year round!  One single climb with 8k feet of elevation gain up to 14k feet should get me into shape real quick!  http://www.outtherecolorado.com/201202099197/Colorado-14ers/changes-coming-to-the-pikes-peak-highway.html

[Done]

Hi Chris,

After finishing the CTR in 2010, I posted an entry on my blog that described what I thought it took to ride the CTR. Not to win it, mind you, but to get from Denver to Durango in (mostly) one piece.

http://tobygadd.blogspot.com/2010/09/can-anyone-ride-colorado-trail-race.html

I also wrote a piece on what I thought were the biggest challenges were, and how I dealt with them:

http://tobygadd.blogspot.com/2010/08/ive-been-asked-by-few-people-how-i.html

The CTR was a pretty big deal for me, so I wrote a lot about it--maybe too much! But I wanted to get some words down while the experience was still fresh.

I'm really looking forward to riding it again this year. 2011 was a bit of a bummer, even if I did learn a lot by failing. I wish that I had time to do several events like this every year. I'm going to ride Kokopelli's again this year, since it's quick. In some ways, it's a pretty good test piece for the CTR, so let me know if you want to join us. A few of us are starting on the same day, although it is definitively NOT a race!

The Pike's Peak ride looks awesome. I may need to head down there this summer. Thanks for the heads-up!

[chriskmurray]

Hey Toby, I have actually read all of your CTR blogs (along with just about every other CTR and TD blog out there)  It certainly helps reading first hand about what worked and what did not.  Now to do some real test rides to find out what works for me.  Fitness is my biggest concern which is what promoted this question, I once was very fit and could impulsively ride a 100 miler with no real worries but a stress full job, lots of time on the road (along with the food that goes with it) and having a kid, I have lost a lot of what I had.  I now get to ride 5ish times a week, mostly commuting (only 7 miles RT though) and a longer ride or two thrown in for good measure.  I plan on stepping that up though.

I would love to meet up to ride Kokopelli but chances are my days off (wed, thurs) will not line up with the start date, I have always wanted to ITT that trail.  If you are ever near the Springs we should certainly meet up for a ride, or at least a beer or two though.  I do not come near Fort Collins often but might be able to make the trip to explore some new trails one day.

[Done]

Hey Chris,

Ring the Peak looks like fun--I can definitely see getting down to the Springs to give it a go! I went to Colorado College, and absolutely love the area. But we'll have to hit La Casita after!

Let me know if you're heading up north. Lots of great riding in Fort Collins.

Good luck with your training. Commuting is good--I ride about 34 miles RT to work, and that got me ready fir the CTR in 2010. I've added more variety the last year or so, which has certainly been helpful.

[chriskmurray]

Sounds like a plan Toby, I will let you know when I plan to do RTP and after such a ride, lots and lots of mexican food and beer will be required so I am down for La Casita as well.

The best shape I was ever in was when I decided to sell my car to buy another bicycle which left me car free and a 40 mile RT commute, the first few weeks of doing it hurt but man did I develop some fitness quickly.