Mental prep for ultra's?

[chriskmurray]

I am toying with the idea of CTR in 2012, gonna feel it out depending on how my fitness is at the time.  I have a pretty good idea where I need to be fitness wise and how to get there, my biggest question is how do you prep for the mental side of things for multiple days alone in the woods pushing bike and body to their limits.

I am sure a lot of it comes from confidence in your fitness and gear choices which comes from training but it seems like one can not truly prepare for such circumstances without having been on the bike alone for multiple days straight.

In all the reading and watching of videos it seems mental is the biggest killer.

Thoughts from those in the know? 

Thanks in advance.

[Chad B]

is how do you prep for the mental side of things for multiple days alone in the woods pushing bike and body to their limits.

I personally focus on the surrounding and the beauty of the place I am riding in. Always enjoy what you are doing. If there is a moment where you are hating it, you might be in the wrong race.

[chriskmurray]

If there is a moment where you are hating it, you might be in the wrong race.

I used to think that until talking to some people and watching Ride the Divide.  There were some truly amazing endurance cyclists that were having a rough time with the mental aspect of the race.  20+ days of solitude for the most part, especially being away from loved ones, kids, etc.  That side of racing seems like it could be a daunting task.

[THE LONG RANGER]

That side of racing seems like it could be a daunting task.

Beats working.

[Chad B]

  20+ days of solitude for the most part, especially being away from loved ones, kids, etc.  That side of racing seems like it could be a daunting task.

That is b/c people were not created to ride that much dirt road in a given month. Imagine if it was all fun, fast singletrack, you would see their faces cringe at times, but the mental aspect would be a little easier to deal with.

[chriskmurray]

Guess I need to follow Rule #5 http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/

[Foster]

Guess I need to follow Rule #5 http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/

Haha, those are awesome.

[BigPoppa]

Mental endurance is far more important than physical endurance. Don't get me wrong, you have to show up race fit and ready. (IE your tendons and joints need to be ready for the multi-day stress.) However, the mental endurance that you develop in training will be what really carries you through.

Can you ride hard for so long that you start to cry, keep riding, cry again, keep riding, cry again, realize that you've been riding for 8 hours without eating, eat while riding, and then keep riding?

If I hadn't been able to, I would have been out by Holland Lake Lodge on the tour.

[trebor]

that's the damn truth right there. you'll think, likely like i did, there isn't a particular reason to have such large emotional swings. but they come... they come.

[BigPoppa]

that's the damn truth right there. you'll think, likely like i did, there isn't a particular reason to have such large emotional swings. but they come... they come.

Yes they do.

I just reread my post. It kinda sounds like I'm trying to be a totally bad @$$ or something. That really isn't the case. I guess it's just been my experience that most people neglect their "ST" (what Matthew Lee calls suffering threshold). They forego training their suffering ability for training their physical ability.

Don't get me wrong, I just did a 60 minute tempo session on the trainer last night. That takes some serious ability to suffer (especially in the off season!). However, the kind of suffering that occurs on a multi-day race is on an entirely different level. Yeah, your legs burn and your lungs hurt but your SOUL hurts too. You get hamburger sized saddle sores, cracked lips, half dollar sized blisters on your feet, sores on your tongue, a horribly sore throat, etc.

It just grinds and grinds and grinds on you.

The best approach is putting one foot in front of the other and making yourself smile.

[BigPoppa]

Also, it helps to have a good sense of humor. If you can make yourself laugh no matter how much it sucks, you are golden.

No joke I often did what the guy in this video does... You gotta keep it real somehow.

http://youtu.be/F4zEAPZxtBA