[Closed] Training Diary: First 24-hour solo

My weekly summary is up!

This has been my biggest week yet and completes my biggest month of training ever. I'm feeling great on the bike, now all I need to do is hold it together for last few weeks!

The summary can be found [url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/week-11-biggest-week-yet/ ]here![/url]

Ooh, I'll take a look.

For no reason in particular.

Interesting, thanks for sharing, be interested to hear how you get on.

Good luck.

If you want to finish, you equipment is equally important to your fitness. You might need a selection of 'contact' parts in case you get really sore, e.g. different shaped saddles. It's more important to stay as 'comfy' as possible and keep riding without too many breaks. Take it easy for the first 6 hours.

To start, you need comfy saddle, high volume/low pressure tyres, bar-ends so that your hands have a choice of position (not just for climbing), good padding on gloves, plasters/bandages, spare cycling shorts (lycra/padded), pot of Sudocrem, plenty of non-sweet food and drink, hi-protein energy drink like 'Winter Training Formula' from Allsports.

Thanks for the advice!

I'm about to put new grips on my bike and have been thinking about trying Ergons, but maybe it's a bit close to the race to make such a major change?

I'm all sorted for clothing and I've been working out my nutrition over the last few months.(take a look [url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/on-bike-nutrition/ ]here[/url]if you haven't already and feel free to offer and feedback).

I've never even thought about swapping saddles! Do people do that?

Again, thanks for reading and following along!

I've never swapped a saddle, stick to the same one on all my bikes, therefore my behind is shaped to fit. Spare shorts and change a few times so they remain dry and chafe free.

That's a good read. Interesting stuff.

Just come back from one, a girl won her cat after 7 months of riding bikes. Menatal attitude seems to be the key.

I run the same saddle on all my bikes as well. I don't think I'll be changing!

I think the mental side of things is the biggest unknown for me. It's hard to prepare to suffer like that! I'm lucky that I've got an experienced "crew chief". Hopefully he knows when to give me a boot up the rear and when to tell me to take it easy!

Mental approach was important for me. Had a set of goals - don't sleep, finish in top half, refuel every lap - and that seemed to help me keep driving on. Also a 24hr regular told me "however you're feeling, it won't last". Remembering that helped a lot. Hope you go well in your race.

Seems like your goals were very similar to those I've set myself! Don't sleep, top half, no broken bones!

Good stuff. A very telling thing is that I don't think you have mentioned the bike once- less blaming the bike and fannying around with new stuff = more riding and focussing on what you are actually doing on the bike 😀

Seems you have (generally) great weather and some cracking trails so no excuse for not getting the time in 😉 Of course I'm only joking, but stay safe out there with those crazy drivers and best of luck for the 24hrs of fun!

You're sport on! Keen observation skills you have 🙂 ! I decided the last thing I needed to be doing was messing with the bike. I have spent a few moments thinking about gearing, but honestly, I think the best thing to do is just LEAVE IT ALONE!!!

I am going to post up details of my bike during my taper, just so I've got something to write about!

Thanks for reading and taking the time to reply. It really gives me motivation to think some people might be interested in what I'm up to 🙂

Week 12 summary is up!

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/week-12-complete-rest/ ]Click here![/url]

It's a rest week!

Week 13 is done and in the bag, but not without some "drama". Only a few weeks to go until race day and I'm trying to hold it together!

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/week-13-sickness-and-health/ ]Here's the link![/url]

Just checking you've included some upper body stuff in there, simply doing pushups or some easy freeweights similar will help prevent your core from giving up before your legs do, riding with a back ache on a 24hour race isn't fun! Other than that you seem to have the right attitude I always approach them thinking cool I get to ride my bike for 24hours!

I haven't heard of this orthostatic heart rate thing - i'm trying to work out how practical it is. Is there a blog post where you talk more about it?

Thanks for your comments!

I have been doing "conditioning" exercises, three or four times a week, that include sit-ups, back extensions (both on a fit ball), push-ups, leg cycles/extensions and then quad and glute stretches. I really notice the difference when I [b]DON'T[/b] do them! I'm sure after 24 hours everything is going to hurt, but I did 5.5 hours on the weekend and my back and core was fine.

I outlined the heart rate testing I've been doing, including the Orthostatic Heart Rate test [url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/heart-rate-testing/ ]here![/url]

It has been useful just to confirm for me when I've been over-tired or approaching fatigue. For the week before I fell ill my results were all over the place, both high and low, which indicated something was not right. Usually my results fall in a fairly narrow range. I started with twice daily tests, to get a really broad picture of what was going on, and now I test when I need to confirm the result of training or want to get a picture on how recovered I am. I am really interested to see what my heart rate variability does over the period of my taper!

That's some top class geekery well done! It will be interesting to see what happens in taper because iirc according to Friel you technically get less fit (but more able to perform).

So Friel is saying you lose fitness, but you recover from any "training fatigue" that you might be carrying?

Exactly, this is the blog I was thinking of http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2013/10/more-interesting-info-on-max-heart-rate.html

And more generally http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009/08/peaking.html

The second link has given me some great ideas about how to handle my taper. Thanks for that!

Week 14 summary is up!

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/week-14-last-week-of-work-almost/ ]Here it is![/url]

Nearing the end of my program! Only a few sessions to go, including a test race!

OK, so the test race turned into a DNF!

Disaster!

Rookie mistakes are called that for a reason!

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/04/20/dnf-reprt/ ]Read the DNF-Report![/url]

Good thing I got this out of the way before the 24hr!

Ooft, that's the sort of thing I'd do!

Well done for PMA and taking it on the chin.

Cheers!

In the vid I'm uploading to Youtube you can clearly hear the absence of any PMA! NSFW! Turn it down in front of the kiddies. 🙂

But after an hour or so I realized I had to take something positive out of it or it would mess with my final two weeks, and I can't afford for that to happen.

Well done dealing with that. But remember, it's perfectly possible that you'll get a problem of this magnitude in the race. The difference between bailing and keeping going can be how you deal with it when you're exhausted/cramped/wet/hungry/readyforbed and there are still many, many hours to go of feeling the same or worse.

Maintain the sense of humour that has got you this far and you will do well.

You've put so much into this - thought, money, time, energy, effort - that bailing on the day is simply not an option.

Sorry to have cursed you with the whole "great that you never make changes to the bike" comment! 😳

Good to get it out of the way and I'm sure you'll have a corker in the 24hr race! Keep at it 😀

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I had the things with me to fix it if I'd only taken the time. It was a good lesson.

And for your entertainment, I give you the video! 8 minutes of fail! Sorry for the swearing at the end!

Week 15 Summary is up!

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/week-15-taper-and-prep/ ]Click here![/url]

If anyone is interested in getting updates of how I'm traveling throughout the race, please follow @G_B_Musketeer on Twitter. My crew will be posting pics and updates as we go along!

Good Luck. Hope you "enjoy" it more than anything else!

Cheers! The excitement is really building! I can't wait to get going and see what happens. It's not going to be all "beer and skittles" but I've put so much work in I'm going to make sure I enjoy it as much as I can!

OK, so I decided to bleed my brakes. At the last minute. Never having done it before.

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/final-run-down/ ]Here's the report![/url]

It's the night before the race, and I'm equal parts nervous and excited.

Remember, please follow @G_B_Musketeer on Twitter to get updates during the race. 🙂

Be a part of the pain and suffering!

Thanks everyone for your support and advice. Every single post or message has meant a great deal to me and has helped me in my preparation.

Again, many thanks!

The race report is done!

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/05/07/24-hour-race-report/ ]Here it is![/url]

I've been struggling to function the last few days, hence the delay!

Didn't realise you were down this way 🙂 Where was the race? Looks like nice weather. Good effort.

Weather was perfect, couldn't have been better!

Race was the Kona Dirty Weekend in Adelaide.

Looks good, need to get the bike over that way at some point again.

(Cross promotion time)
Some fun and games down here in Tassie too
http://www.hellfirecup.com/
http://wildsidemtb.com/
http://www.mtntrailshillbilly.com/

My mate did Wildside years ago and still says it's one of the best times he's had on a bike.

rumours it's the last one (possibly)

Hellfire had the advantage of not having to move everyday and an onsite bar 🙂

Fantastic, the blog is a great read, and what a result, well done.

Now the big question, would you do another?

enjoyed that 🙂

What a great effort gingerbeardmusketeer, thanks for the writeup. I know from my own experience and reading about yours where and how I can improve my longer rides/races. I really appreciate that.

Would I do another? Such a difficult question! 🙂 the answer isn't an immediate "no", so I think that means it's a "yes". But just at the moment I can't even get on a bike!

I'm happy that people have enjoyed the blog and even more pleased if some people have found it useful.

I'll post up a review of my training program and race prep in a few days. Overall I'm very pleased with how it went, but I think it's always useful to refine and improve things where possible.

Quick review of my training and race 🙂

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/24-hour-training-and-race-review/ ]click here![/url]

I'm back on the bike and back into training.

I'm starting from scratch, dialing the volume and intensity right back.

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/back-on-the-bike-and-a-new-plan/ ]Here it is![/url]

Please click on the follow button on the front page of the blog! Cheers!

Second week back on the bike!

And a surprise! (I'll give you a clue, n plus 1) 🙂

[url= https://thegingerbeardmusketeer.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/transition-week-2/ ]Here it is![/url]