Is Ultra Racing unhealthy?

[MidnightFatty]

Hi,
I'm one of the many noobs whose imagination has been captured by this sport.   The longest I've ever ridden is a century on a road bike, many years ago.    As I have been eyeing and training for my first race, I have been increasingly concerned about potential long term injury coming out of these.   Which of course seems totally counterproductive to the underlying biking goal of increasing fitness.

It seems like there are an excessive amount of people with nerve injuries and numbness in their fingers coming out of these races, lasting weeks, months or even permanently. 

It seems there are also potential negative effects of submitting your body to the elevated cortisol levels that racers subject themselves to by the length and sleep deprivation.

This one may be crazy, but I swear that the people who do ultra endurance seem to appear older than their age.   As if the races could be taking years off life. 

I even wonder if riders may come out of these with ED issues that nobody really wants to talk about. 

All of this has me questioning if I may be signing up for something that will ultimately harm my body, despite the obvious mental and experiential benefits that would come from completing a race like this.

I'm curious how those of you who have done these events would honestly answer this question:  Is this sport bad for your health? 

[THE LONG RANGER]

Bit of nerve damage in the palms, but nothing I'm overly concerned about - sometimes they go numb during a ride. All the other plumbing is tip/top, thank you very much. I'd wager doing these events is the secret to my longevity, energy levels, etc.

[aarond]

Sleep deprivation is hard on the body, no doubt.  It is also the most common form of torture.  Some racers may blitz through without any sleep, while others sleep 4 hours a night and ride stronger the next day.  Try the latter strategy to start.  There is a HUGE difference between no sleep and 4 hours.  Make up for it by stopping less when riding. As far as nerve damage, this is a real issue.  No definitive answers.  Try to strengthen beforehand, perhaps fingertip pushups and pullups.  Simply being aware of the issue may be one of the best preventatives, causing you to frequently adjust your grip.

[the tortoise]

At the extreme it is probably unhealthy. Ask Lennard Zinn: https://www.velopress.com/books/the-haywire-heart/

There are lots of risks to this sport from sleep deprivation, to nerve damage to traffic dangers.

The above being said, if you go into with full knowledge then you can mitigate some of the dangers and risks. There is a huge attraction to the sport and you have to weigh the rewards vs. risks factor.

If you want to compete at the top levels you are going to probably have more issues than those that just want to complete an event.

A comfortable bike and gear setup, a solid sleep strategy and not pushing yourself to extremes will keep you in the sport for years. Plus a good training program along with tapering before an event is essential.

[black_labb]

Pushing yourself to hard will be detrimental. The sleep deprivation and potential nerve damage are particular issues as well as injuries that you push through and get worse. Much of these risks can be managed by preparing (bike setup, training, decent diet and of course self control).

Of course the physical and mental benefits can outweigh the unhealthy aspects. The training leading up to the event will be very healthy. The mental satisfaction of doing something like that is very beneficial. You could argue that an overall slower pace is healthier physically but ultra racing will be better than being inactive.

Really your life is there to enjoy. Make some good memories while you have the time. If ultraracing is your thing go for it. I'm not really of the racing mentality but I will probably do one someday for the group experience and happily finish in the last 30% but for now I am happy to enjoy just being out there.

[kiwidave]

I'm curious how those of you who have done these events would honestly answer this question:  Is this sport bad for your health?  

It's a good question - and being aware enough to ask it means you're in a position to be able to avoid issues.

Pre-TD:

* I had a good bike fit reviewed (by chance) by an ultraracer. His comment was to raise the aerobars 40mm - what is comfortable for 3 days is not necessarily comfy after 8. The bike fit meant I had no knee issues / position issues and dropped seat / put cleats back at Lima a little due to Achilles starting to get sore.

* Feet numbness - I got shoes 1 size larger than usual to allow for foot swelling

* Hand numbness - set your bike up for it - I rode rigid with 2.35 tubeless  at 22 / 24 psi. I had Ergon grips with mini bar ends. This set-up took out all road rumble (not the big stuff). I worked on core strength as the stronger your core the more it supports your body whilst riding and less weight is on your hands. Also too Spec BG gloves which have some gel pads in them.


Post TD:

Feet - got trench foot (hurt a lot at the time but no after effects) and slight toe numbess in little toes.

Hands - got slight numbness in left little finger. (I had a Rohloff so didn't use the left hand much whilst riding).

Body - took about 6m for my quads to recover as I failed to eat enough and my quads lost 4-5cm diameter as my body consumed itself to find fuel to burn.

If repeating:

* same bike setup (would try Lauf fork with 2.35's but AC too high for me)

* hands - same bar setup

* feet - oversized shoes again but more breathable

* nutrition - is a challange but I'd actually measure intake somehow to keep on top of it.

From recollection, trench foot can be a long term issue if it is bad - so watch feet and know what to do if you get it. Hand numbness seems to go away after some time (weeks to months).

However, there are some researchers looking at long term impacts on the heart of long term endurance sports athlets which is worth considering .... one paper is here
  ... http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(12)00473-9/fulltext and an article by a cardiologist with good references is here ...http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/extreme-exercise-and-the-heart

[Bob]

Any sport (or sporting endeavour) has the potential for injury. In some cases the rules of the sport have been modified/extended to take account of this - in Rugby Union for example there are certain playing positions that may only be played by individuals who are recognised players at that position. As with anything, push it too far and you'll get problems. It takes time to recover from these big rides, in some cases several months, so if you head out on another hard ride before you've recovered then you are more susceptible to injury.

I think anyone would look older than their years if you took a photo immediately after they'd ridden the TDR or similar. Look at police mug-shots, usually taken after the suspect has been questioned overnight and had little sleep so they look tired and less trustworthy. Might be worth checking out what they (the riders not the suspects) look like once recovered.

Things like nerve damage in the contact areas can be lessened/avoided with good bike set up. The problem being that what's good for a ten hour ride might not work for a multi-day ride, it takes time to figure it out.

Bad for your health? Remember that humans as a species evolved as pursuit predators - we basically ran our prey into the ground - so long steady efforts over multiple days are what we have evolved to do. These days we aren't hunting down impala but trying to get to Pie Town before it shuts for the night!

[dream4est]

I am in bad shape after TD. I can't really do the Ctr as my left hand and neck are messed up from going too hard. I couldn't stop myself as I wanted a decent finish. At 47 I feel pretty good but I need months of recovery it seems to be 100%. The night riding can be too much for most bodies.

Mark

[MikeC]

Is this sport bad for your health? 

Only if you let it be. 

Position on the bike is up to you, and dialing it in to the Nth degree will ensure no nerve damage or ED issues.

I think sleep deprivation takes care of itself -- when your body truly needs that sleep it shuts down and gets it.

I think the larger concern is riding in or near traffic when a bit out of it.  I can function in the woods for days in this state, but not at all when many-ton vehicles with inattentive drivers are present.

[dream4est]

Mike is pretty much correct.

1. All damage my fault bars too low.
2. I slept when body said no mas.
3. The trucks whizzing by is scary when not in the woods and bonky. 

[the tortoise]

I really doubt one can dial in a position where you will never experience pain or nerve issues when you are hitting it hard for weeks on end. The human body wasn't designed (created?) to bicycle 14 plus hours per day for days and weeks on end.

I have much fewer problems than most others (almost 65 years old) but there is no getting around the fact that you have pressure points on your butt, hands and feet that are not typical plus with a regular bike you have your back bent over and you do have to point your head up to see regardless of how high your bars are. If you take pressure off your hands then you distribute the weight to your butt. Some people are less prone to problems than others but no one is immune to them.

You can certainly minimize the problems by core work, bike position, higher bars with some sweep (in my experience) etc. but I don't believe that you can totally mitigate the issues of long days in the saddle day after day after day.

Sleep deprivation is dangerous in a lot of ways. During the TD there was a day where I couldn't stay awake even on fast somewhat scary descents. At that point I had to take a nap. If you look at the statistics on these endurance racers vehicles are the number one killer of participants so being on top of your mental game is imperative. I run a rear view mirror at all times when I bike even on techy off road excursions. Even tough races like the AZT and CTR have sections where you share the roads with vehicles.

[Unai]

(sorry of my English)
The first thing is to define what is healthy and what not. This can become a philosophical discussion. We had accepted that drinking alcohol, smoking... is not healthy. Nowadays the sugar is the public enemy... Others, normally, people that don´t like too much the sports, say that the marathon is not healthy, or ultras are not healthy... And like this we can continue making more restriction to our lifes.... But for what? At this moment of the discussion I usually think: "Unfortunately live cause death" ("Vivir causa la muerte"). Then I get a little bit hedonistic and I think what you get happy it is healthy for you.
But accepting that it is unhealthy any permanent or long injuries, I will answer to your question "Yes, it could be unhealthy". Some risks we can minimize, but others are difficult to know until you ride an ultra. For example, riding more that 15 hours (real pedalling time, 18 hours with stops) during more than 7 days, normally you are going to do that for the first time in a long ultra (Tour divide, TranAm,...). Then you can experience things that you have never experience... Then the most important is to react correctly and the most difficult thing (when your adrenalin and endorphins are on top), to stop, to "throw the towel".
There are other risks (tour divide) like hypothermia or dehydration, the traffic,... these are not normally unhealthy in the sense that they don´t have sequels (if you overcome them, if not they could cause death...)
Risk 0 doesn´t exist. But if you like the adventure, the competition,... Do it! My two recommendation: Exercise ALL your body (Core exercise). A good bike fit.    

[windowace]

I believe the actual events AZT, CTR, TD, etc. (ridden at something more than a touring pace, for 18-20+ hrs a day), are physically detrimental to your health.  However most preparation and training is beneficial.

[bfmiller]

Hi - last year I attempted the CTR. Because I am a scientist, I pitched the idea to my lab (http://www.tracd.chhs.colostate.edu) to do a study on me during the race.  I don't think there are many people that would like to have their race complicated by what we did, but I was willing and able because of my own curiosity.  Also, since the rules say no help during the race, it took someone that knew what the scientific objectives were and how the methods worked to have the proper control during the study.  The study we did was related to the interests of our lab in that we study muscle and mitochondria remodeling.  We do this mostly related to aging and disease, but in this case we were wondering if the muscle could remodel to keep up with the demands of the race.  We did a muscle biopsy before and after the race, and then another set of biopsies before and after a period of equal length in which I was doing normal training as a control period.  Here is a link to a blog that is for general consumption:https://ispyphysiology.com/2017/10/12/muscle-rebuilding-on-the-colorado-trail/
In that blog is a link to the published paper (http://jap.physiology.org/content/early/2017/09/07/japplphysiol.00457.2017).  The paper is still in its pre-print form because it has been accepted and is available online but has not gone to print yet.  Anyway, I encourage you to read the blog if you'd like, but more importantly the paper if you are scientifically inclined.  It is an actual science, rather than an opinion (albeit an n of 1), on one aspect of the demands of the race. 
Enjoy

[MikeI]

Yeah, some fingers hurt, and it took a few weeks for the soreness in a couple of toes and my butt to dissipate, but what's the alternative ?  you get out there and you put yourself to the test ... some of us finish and some ride parts, but all end up doing something that is pretty much head and shoulders above normal exertion, and I think it's good for the spirit, for your mental health. My mind's eye drifts back to the Basin, to New Mexico, to those piles of grizzly poop in Canada when I was by myself ... it's a time when I was truly alive ... I remember everything about that ride. I may not be able to tell you what I did last month, but I remember that ride. Seems like a net positive.

[eec]

Yeah, some fingers hurt, and it took a few weeks for the soreness in a couple of toes and my butt to dissipate, but what's the alternative ?  you get out there and you put yourself to the test ... some of us finish and some ride parts, but all end up doing something that is pretty much head and shoulders above normal exertion, and I think it's good for the spirit, for your mental health. My mind's eye drifts back to the Basin, to New Mexico, to those piles of grizzly poop in Canada when I was by myself ... it's a time when I was truly alive ... I remember everything about that ride. I may not be able to tell you what I did last month, but I remember that ride. Seems like a net positive.

very well said.

[Jeff Z]

Which of course seems totally counterproductive to the underlying biking goal of increasing fitness.

So, there is the problem. If your goal is fitness, this is probably not the optimal way to get there. I felt like I was in top shape after the 750, then proceeded to hardly ride all summer.

If you goal is pushing your boundaries, seeing what your mind and body can do, going beyond your expectations of what you are capable of - then these "events" can get you there. As has been pointed out, these things can definitely put the hurt on you physically (and mentally).

However, I find that the overall experience to be amazingly rewarding. When you look back at the pain you endured, the times you refused to give in when you really just wanted to, the psychological demons you conquered, the weird mechanical issues you McGuyvered around, that time you stared down a mountain lion at dusk in the middle of nowhere, running out of water in the AZ desert, the sunrises and sunsets you pedaled through - well, it is worth losing a toenail or not being able to feel your fingers for a couple of weeks or whatever. The journey is truly the reward. 

BTW, I recommend that you start with a smaller event - like the AZT300.

[Duem12]

well, if occasional adrenaline is considered unhealthy then yes, otherwise i wouldn't call it unhealthy. there are a lot of other things that are a lot much more unhealthier, at least in my opinion.