Hi I recently entered an xc race and was around an hour long. Normally my training is pretty intense do 1hour to an 1hour and half flat out then a long endurance ride on the weekends.
I found that leading up to the race I felt fine but for some resin on that day I could not perform as well as normal and has anoyed me! I was wondering if it’s to do with the foods I’m eating during and up to the race day? Has anyone got some sort of diet plan?
Also I was wondering whether I am training right:
I go on my bike 3-4 times a week
Go to the gym 2-3 times a week
And also do martial arts 1-2 week

…do I need to cut down on what I’m doing? Is the gym going to help?

All of this is simply because I would love to be able to get sponsored and do well!
Amy help appreciated, cheers,
Jamie

You’ve not said what you eat.

If you want to do well focus on cycling. Buy a book on training, do intervals etc.

race conditions are unique to races.
riding around on your own “flat out” isn’t quite the same thing.
most mtb racers also train on the road.
and there’s nothing quite like HIT intervals on a turbo trainer.

I just eat whatever there is, if you know what I mean…but am willing to adapt or change if people tell me what because I am unsure.

do you rest at all during the week? one day when you do no exercise

One race is a very small sample size to pin down what you did right and wrong re diet, training, rest, pre-riding the course etc.

It might just have been a chance off-day, maybe the course didn’t play to your strengths, or maybe you really did perform well but you just don’t know how a good performance feels under race conditions (it hurts a lot, but you can keep the pace going).

Do a few races before you analyse too much.

Overtraining?

Offthebrakes and Cynic-Al +1

If its only an hour it must have been relatively low level, do a few more before you start Looking to change things too much!

There are a wide variety of things which can affect performance.
Focus on your diet and training initially.
Research the principles of training.
Plan your training program around these principles and you won’t go far wrong.

At this time of year, I’d cut out the gym. Don’t wanna gain too much muscle for racing. Also riding your bike is the best way to get race fit. Martial arts 1-2 a week is probably ok as it helps flexibily I imagine.

Also you need a good taper a few weeks before a race if you want to do well in it.

do any of you have a base training/diet plan i could follow?

Too late for base training!

Usual theory is (I think) a few months of base training then 4-weekly cycles of increasing intensity work, timed for target events. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a decent amount fo info online.

Diet – anything sensible with enough energy in it for you, ideally slow release carbs (or protein if you are wanting to lose weight).

Just riding for an hour or so, no matter how hard, isn’t actually that useful in terms of specific XC training.

The standard answer for training needs seems to be read either a Joe Friel or Chris Carmichael book, as these give a good introduction to the basics of training, creating a balanced schedule, suggested sessions and their intensities, stretching, and weight training.

Four questions Jamie:

1) How old are you?
2) What category were you riding? (Fun/Open/Sport)
3) How many hours a week can you devote to training?
4) When is your next race?

Also, “getting sponsored” follows “doing well” rather than the other way round 😉

I’m 15 nearly 16 riding in youth and can devote up to 5 times a week to train 🙂

Just riding for an hour or so, no matter how hard, isn’t actually that useful in terms of specific XC training.

Here we go again :roll:. So your not advising any workout under an hour long??? Rubbish..

Different types of workouts work for different people, theres no magic formula. A lot of my workouts are around an hour long or shorter.

So your not advising any workout under an hour long

Wow, was that the wrong conclusion to draw.

No what I was say was simply riding for an hour or so, no matter how hard, isn’t actually that useful in terms of specific XC training.

The two most critical sessions in my schedule are riding 2 * 20 at a set power level with 5 minutes rest in-between each interval, and 4 * 4 minutes, again at a set power level, with 2 minutes rest in-between each interval. Both sessions are way less then one hour.

Massive gains can be had from Tabata sessions which are 15 minutes or so.

Anyway at 15 I’d say join a club.

What’s the age limit in your races? curious to know what you’re up against.
I started at just under 15, I think that was classed as ‘schoolboy’. The moves up to junior and senior were steep learning curves.
Or to put it into context. I won road races and TTs as a schoolboy, but never won another race once I got older and moved up the catagories.

Boothspeedmini – In the words of the great Eddy Merckx, “Ride lots.” However, please ignore his other famous quote, “I won! I won! I don’t have to go to school anymore.”… after winning his first bike race.

do you rest at all during the week? one day when you do no exercise

What he said. Did you rest the day before or were you walking about/riding the bike

I’d cut out the gym. Don’t wanna gain too much muscle for racing.

Incredible.

5 day week:

1: 1 long ride 2hr+ (maybe through some intervals in there and concentrate on working on one skill each time)

2: Turbo session 1hr- if no turbo do interval session on the road, choose sessions which work on your weaknesses

3: Roller session 1hour- work on your speed (cadence), do some core exercises as well.

4: Skills session 2-3 hours work on bike skills, concentrate on what your not good at. Do some core exercises as well

5: Race- you need to race to learn your racecraft, tactics etc (rest the day before)

You should rest 2 days of the week, could replace core exercises with your martial arts

And forget heart rate monitors etc. turbo and roller sessions need to be all out

A lot of my workouts are around an hour long or shorter.

Are you any good though? 😉

Incredible

Why? Two schools of thought on gym work, and whilst a bit of core and upper body strength is essential there’s no point packing on bulky muscle needlessly, you’re just lugging it up the climbs.

Not that sure about Justy’s plan… ‘intervals’ is a very broad term, and not really that helpful. I’d also not do 2-3 hours the day before an important race, but I’d not want a full rest day either. An hour’s recovery with a few hard efforts would be better prep IMO.

thanks guys, il try put these into practise.

my youth races go up to the age of 16 so when i turn 17 i go into juniors 🙂

njee20: yes you are right intervals is a broad term, but without coaching him properly I can’t really suggest what he does, the above plan is a rough guide to what elements he should have. It’s also in no particular order, I would not suggest doing 2-3 hours before a race. In fact i suggest resting the day before.

I can’t see how you can give him specific turbo/roller/interval sessions without coaching him on a 1 to 1 basis.

I would not suggest doing 2-3 hours before a race. In fact i suggest resting the day before.

As above, I disagree, gentle ride the day before with a few hard efforts. Your plan could be misconstrued as recommending session ‘4’ the day before.

you need to join a BC club with a decent coaching setup.

As you are only 15/16 you probably shouldn’t be getting too much 1:1 coaching it should be about group training and general improvements etc

working with other riders and a decent club coach setup will do all you need.

HTH

my youth races go up to the age of 16 so when i turn 17 i go into juniors

you go into the juniors the year you turn 17, lucky if you have a Jan birthday, unlucky if it’s December

Always thought that – potentially a 1 year disadvantage, which at that age could be quite significant!

I have a coach/ personal trainer and I have a specific training plan structured around me for this seasons xc. A lot of it is based on intervals, threshold and power.

Just riding hard for an hour maybe good for threshold work but it might not necessarily help for the demands for xc racing as a lot of it will be about high power maximum output when punching out of corners or with the mixed tempo of riding through technical sections so recovery is important.

I do a lot of 1 minute intervals in Z4/5 with 1 minutes rest as well as 4 minutes intervals. Also do block threshold runs of 20 to 25 minutes and a lot of HIIT too, oh and not forgetting hill work. Mixed in with that will be Z2 efficiency rides. Generally train between 10 – 15 a week.

As said this is taylored around me and might not benefit everyone.

As above, I disagree, gentle ride the day before with a few hard efforts.

Agrees too. I always ride for about 90 minutes the day before a race with sprint speeders of power revs every 5 minutes of the ride. Did a hard 2 1/2 hour ride the day before my last race and got my best every result/

Jamie – At 15 I wouldn’t worry too much about training – just ride lots. Your recovery is going to be pretty good so don’t worry about any of this tapering stuff. Like oldgit says – natural ability counts for a lot in Youth category.

The main thing you should do is join a club. Where are you based?

Coming back to the race itself.. did you warm up properly beforehand? If I’m riding from cold it often seems to take 30-40 minutes before my legs start working properly.. and for a short race, well, it’s virtually over by then..

Wow, was that the wrong conclusion to draw.

No what I was say was simply riding for an hour or so, no matter how hard, isn’t actually that useful in terms of specific XC training.

The two most critical sessions in my schedule are riding 2 * 20 at a set power level with 5 minutes rest in-between each interval, and 4 * 4 minutes, again at a set power level, with 2 minutes rest in-between each interval. Both sessions are way less then one hour.

Oh right yeah if you mean an hour just farting along then yeah you wouldn’t get much benefit from that, unless your on a high volume week and need to get in an hour or two whenever possible.

A lot of my workouts are around an hour long or shorter.

Are you any good though?

Yep!!! 🙂