I need help with training for an event!!!!

dutchie936 said:

In may 2005,there is an 85 km race i have signed up for.Here is the dilema.
About 3/4 of the way through,there is a 14km climb with no flat spots:eek: .
The good news is,this mountain is a short 2km from my house.(I see this as a big advantage)I have done this climb a couple of times.Ouch!!
Now,should I concentrate all or most of my training on this specific climb and descent(same route as the climb).Or should I spread it out over all areas of the ride?I really want to crush the other riders,and I think that the fact I live minutes away from the climb,and can do it often,may be an advantage.

Any advice would be much apreciated.

P.S.-Any suggestions about what to eat (on bike) to keep me from bonking during the race?

Seems to me that the climb is no dilema at all for you, but for those who will not know the climb the way you will. A 14k climb is surely significant, but what is also important is knowing how this race typically plays out. You didn't mention how steep the climb is or your abilities, but for example: does everyone usually save all of their energy for the climb or does a group get away before that? Are you a natural climber or flatlander? These things will dictate your approach as much as the climb itself.
As for nutrition, a solid general scenario is to have one bottle of just water, the other with a sports drink (and a bit of added salt if it's relatively hot or >3hrs, in which case you should have 3 bottles). After the first 1hr of racing, you'll want to get 1gm of carbs for each kilo of body weight every hour. So if you weigh 75kg, and the race lasts 3 hrs, you'll want 150g of carbs (in any combination of sports drinks, gels and bars) for the last 2+hrs of the race. Do not use fruit juice - look for maltodextrin/glucose/dextrose based products.

Thanks for the tips.As for my level,I have been cycling "seriously" for about 8 months now.And have done a few charity rides.(50-80km)This race will not atract any pros or hard core cyclists,as it offers no prize money,but all the roadies from near by cities will be there.
I love to climb!!I don't know how good I am yet,but I figure I might as well be riding up hill.Maybe thats the wrong way of training,but I am just starting to pick up on the serious training,and am still a bit in the dark on the subject.
So any tips are a big help,Thanks

Smartt/RST said:

As for nutrition, a solid general scenario is to have one bottle of just water, the other with a sports drink (and a bit of added salt if it's relatively hot or >3hrs, in which case you should have 3 bottles). After the first 1hr of racing, you'll want to get 1gm of carbs for each kilo of body weight every hour. So if you weigh 75kg, and the race lasts 3 hrs, you'll want 150g of carbs (in any combination of sports drinks, gels and bars) for the last 2+hrs of the race. Do not use fruit juice - look for maltodextrin/glucose/dextrose based products.

Hi... not trying to be difficult but I'm wondering about your reasoning behind saying a few things.

1. Why not have both bottles as sports drink? And why not eat carb in the first hour? Surely if CHO availability is going to be a limiting factor in the race (which it probably will be) it is a good idea to start putting CHO in as soon as possible (unless you were thinking of using a bolus approach and filling the stomach before start to get through the first hour).

I know some people don't like drinking 'sports' enough to take two bottles, but that doesn't seem optimal - just get used to the stuff!

2. If you are taking a water only bottle why not add electrolytes no matter what - if hydration is important so is electrolyte balance, whatever the event length (from what I've seen - correct me if I'm wrong).

3. I agree that glucose/maltodextrin based products are good (maltodextrin is possibly better?), but a recent study I saw suggested some fructose (not enough to cause GI distress) and sucrose in the mix is a good idea and increases the rate of uptake of CHO.

4. Where do you get your 1g CHO/kg/hour figure from? Although the rate of metabolism of CHO observed in studies has not to my knowledge exceeded 60g/hour, the study in which that was observed (that I saw referenced, at least) had subjects ingesting CHO in excess of 100g/hour. Lower rates of ingestion saw lower rates of metabolism. I'm pretty confident that the athletes weren't >100kg! (These figures are from pulled from memory out of the nutrition section of Tim Noake's 'The Lore of Running'😉. For longer events (Half/Ironman tri, 4 hour+ road races, etc) I would suggest a higher rate of CHO consumption is needed.

I would run nutrition for this event something like this (if the athlete has a tough stomach like me):

Bolus 600-800ml full strength sports drink on start line (~10 mins before start).

Carry 2 full strength bottles of sports drink and drink progressively over the course of the event.

Carry 4 gels and eat at least one every 60 minutes, more if required.

If it's particularly hot, fewer gels and another bottle or two of sports (preferably handed off at the top of the climb).

If it's particularly cold, 1 500ml bottle as well as normal sized bottle, jettison small at base of climb if it's not going to be drunk. Eat more gels if not drinking as much.

Does that sound alright to you? I'd be interested to know the reasoning behind your approach.