Alison Dunlap is a certified Level II USAC Coach and has been working with athletes for five years. She runs a coaching business called Alison Dunlap Coaching, and has mountain bike camps in Moab, UT through the Alison Dunlap Adventure Camps. Alison is also a two-time Olympian, MTB World Champion, and 13-time National Champion.

Question: I do a lot of races that require me to drive long distances after I race. What is the best way to maximize my recovery when I have to get in the car and drive 4-6 hours after my race?

Answer: Racing is hard enough, but to sit in a car or get on a plane immediately after your event can put a wrench in your recovery plans and wreak havoc on your legs. Fortunately there are a few simple things you can do to improve your body’s ability to recover before jumping in a car for the long drive home.

As soon as you cross the finish line you should head straight for your car. The temptation to stop and talk with friends, family, and your fellow racers is strong, but you’ve got some muscles to take care off. At your car you should immediately change clothes and put on a dry jog bra, undershirt, and cycling shorts. Even on a warm day, hanging out in wet sweaty race clothes can create an uncomfortable chill.

After you are warm and dry your next task is to have a recovery drink. A recovery drink is a high carbohydrate/protein drink mix that will help get needed carbohydrates to your fatigued muscles. Most of the good recovery drinks have a 4:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein. Protein has been shown to increase the absorption of carbohydrates. The recovery drink needs to be consumed within 30 minutes of finishing your race. This is SUPER important. When you race, your body releases an enzyme that facilitates the uptake of glucose from the blood into your muscles where it is used for muscle contraction. This enzyme is extremely active during your race and then starts to dissipate about 30 minutes post exercise. If you can get a large amount of carbohydrates into your body while this enzyme is still “hot”, you will get more carbohydrates to your muscles faster. The more carbohydrates your muscles get, the faster they will recover. Research shows that having a recovery drink as soon as you finish your race is more effective than waiting two hours and then having a large meal.

Once you have changed into dry clothes and you’ve got your recovery drink in hand, head back out on the bike for a cool down. I know this is the last thing you want to do after a race, but this can be one of the best things you do for your legs. A light spin will increase blood flow to your muscles which helps flush out the byproducts of metabolism, lactate being one of them. 20-30min is the minimum for a good cool down.

The last thing you’ll want to do before getting in the car is a 10 minute stretch. After your cool down, the muscles are nice and warm and supple which is the perfect time to stretch. Focus on the major muscle groups; quads, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, IT bands, and calves. If your stomach isn’t too upset you could also eat some kind of solid food; bagel, energy bar, fruit etc.

Now you’re ready to stuff yourself into your car for the long drive home. You’ve done the best you can to jump start your recovery, but I guarantee you will still feel pretty lousy when you get out of the car in a few hours. That’s just what happens after a hard race. It takes about 24-36hrs for your muscle glycogen stores to be fully replenished. Keep eating and drinking on the drive home! By morning you’ll still be tired, but your legs will feel a heck of a lot better.

Good luck and happy trails!

Alison

Question: Should I train and race with a heart rate monitor or a power meter? What are the pros and cons?

For mountain bike training, I recommend using a power meter, perceived exertion and a heart rate monitor. The more data you have, the more tools you have at your disposal to measure performance and improve your training.

The Bottom Line

Use a power meter extensively in training to best mimic racing demands, track measured changes in fitness, nail training objectives, and effectively calibrate perceived exertion with reality. Changes in power output give you a direct, objective measure of the effectiveness of your training plan. Heart rate will let you know you are alive.

Direct vs. Indirect

Power (Watts) is a direct measure of exercise intensity, whereas heart rate is an indirect measure of exercise intensity. Heart rate is a response to exercise and other factors (heat, humidity, altitude, diet, caffeine, stimulation, motivation, fatigue, time of day/night).

Crystal Clear vs. Crystal Ball?

Performance is accurately measured with power. Power data is crystal clear. You either produced the watts or you did not. Heart rate data requires guess work to interpret the result due to the many variables included. A crystal ball may be helpful in order to draw real conclusions from heart rate data.

Immediate vs. Time Lagged

Power has an immediate reaction to changes in exercise intensity. Heart rate has a time lag of about 30 seconds in its response to changes in exercise intensity. This makes heart rate a useless pacing tool for efforts of less than 30 seconds and for the first 30 seconds of any longer interval. Heart rate encourages athletes to over-pace at the start of an interval in order to quickly get their heart rate into the target zone. When training with power you can immediately peg the exact goal exercise intensity and train with accuracy.

Here’s an example: The goal in the following workout was to maintain a steady power of 265 Watts. The rider also wore a heart rate strap, so we have both sets of data.



Not only does heart rate lag effort by 30 seconds, it can also creep upward over time. Imagine if this rider didn’t have the benefit of the power readings, and instead attempted to drive HR up to 165bpm in the first few minutes. The result would likely have been an interval ending meltdown about 18 minutes in, and at the very least a drastic reduction in power in the 2nd half of the interval.

Software

There are several software applications available to crunch your power data. They will analyze, interpret and summarize. You can look at how fast and hard you are pedaling with Quadrant Analysis (QA) to see if you are mimicking the demands of racing in your training. You can get a measure of the intensity of a ride (IF), the variability of a ride (VI) and the training stress (TSS) of a ride.

Performance Manager Chart (PMC)

PMC is a valuable tool for mountain bikers. It uses ride TSS scores, averaging them over days and months. Analyzing a single ride is like looking at a single tree in a forest. You get a nice picture of that tree but don’t know where it sits in the forest. The beauty of the PMC is that it tallies up TSS over time to give a bird’s eye view of the forest – or your entire season (or even cycling career). The PMC can be used retroactively to look at scores during times you had personal best performances and during times you thought you should have but didn’t. It can be used for forward planning to target a specific set of scores known to put you in peak form and to time that peak form to land smack bang on race day. The PMC takes much of the guess work out of training, tapering and peaking.

Racing

Whether or not to race with a power meter depends on the priority of your race. In low priority training races, go for the power meter. Race data often uncovers one’s strengths and weaknesses, and can also turn up some surprising finds with regards to race demands. Race files are a powerful piece of the training puzzle.

As an example, using Quadrant Analysis (a feature of WKO+ 3.0) with power meter data from single speed mountain bike races shows a particularly high concentration of power in the VO2max range with cadences below 60. This means pedal forces are much higher on average than when riding with gears. This has led to some novel training methods for single speeders.

Goal events are different. By the time you have reached a fitness peak, all those hours of training with a power meter have worked to “calibrate” your perceived exertion (PE). PE is your best option for pacing goal events. You’ll know what you can do and for how long, and with enough experience, PE alone will guide you to your best results.

Potential drawbacks to mountain bike racing with a power meter

Power meter and heart rate monitors are not 100% reliable. How will you pace the event if your gadget malfunctions?
Power meters are heavier than race-weight wheels or cranks.

The highly variable nature of power production in mountain bike races makes it quite difficult to turn the real time power data into actionable information. Short accelerations and race starts are deep into anaerobic power levels, even for longer endurance events. It is tough to make sense of the numbers without software.
Mountain bike race starts are mayhem. The place for your eyeballs during a race start is on the trail, your surroundings and fellow racers and not on a little monitor screen.

Power meters can even make you slower in a peak race!

More importantly, pacing with a power meter may actually hold you back from a breakthrough performance! On a top priority race day your body should be in peak condition; trained, tapered, fueled, hydrated and ready to go. You should be poised to set records by producing more power and going faster than ever before. Pacing yourself using power numbers established in training may act as a governor on your peak day and could hold you back from a potential record performance.

Post Race Analysis

There is often quite a difference between what you think you did in a race (or, what you tell your coach you did) and what you actually did. Power data tells all! You can learn how to pace races more accurately and how to repeat outstanding performances from the data. Race data is useful in learning how much power you needed to win a certain race and in what pattern that power was created. This type of information is valuable in order to design better training plans and improve future performances.

Without a doubt, train with a power meter. Also, race your lower priority events with the power meter to help objectively assess your strengths and weaknesses, helping you dial in your training for the goal event(s). For peak priority races use your lightweight race equipment and rely on a well calibrated sense of PE to reach new performance heights.

Lynda Wallenfels is a USA Cycling Cat 1 certified cycling coach and pro mountain bike racer. She is owner of LWCoaching.com. She always trains and often races with a power meter.

Travis Woodruff is a USAC Level I (elite) certified coach who holds a B.S. in Kinesiology with emphasis in Exercise Science. He’s coached riders to five MTB National Championship wins and has over 10 years of personal racing experience. Since 2005 he’s competed as a pro mountain biker and has coached full-time. His business, Momentum Endurance LLC, is based out of Tucson, Arizona where he hosts wintertime training camps.

Question: I want to be fast for some early season national races but I live in a cold climate. How do I get fast when it is still so cold outside?

Racing Fast After a Tough Winter

The early start to the national-level mountain bike season creates a tough situation for riders living and training in wintery locations. Despite numerous challenges that exist, it is completely possible to have successful early season performances. In recent years the national circuit has kicked off with March races hosted in Arizona or California while Sea Otter has remained a mid-April staple. To be in race-ready condition it typically takes several months of consistent training which means that training begins long before conditions are favorable.

I started my cycling career in Wisconsin and know firsthand how brutal the winter months can be when trying to ride consistently. Memories of countless hours spent on the trainer or facing sub-freezing temperatures on messy snow covered roadways have not left even though I’ve called Tucson, Arizona home during recent winters. Many of those who I coach still embrace their winters so I continue to strategize ways to make the most of each rider’s situation as it pertains to training for the early season. It’s important to note that embracing winter is much different than dealing with it, and it’s this pro-active mindset that is extremely beneficial when a rider must make the most of their circumstances.

Two Midwest riders have had some excellent early season races that stand out in recent memory. Jenna Rinehart (Mankato, MN) placed 9th in the 2009 Sea Otter XC and Mike Phillips (Milwaukee, WI) placed 9th in the 2008 Fountain Hills, AZ NMBS XC. These racers have certainly achieved other noteworthy results, but these finishes exemplify two successful winter training programs.

Specialized rider Jenna Rinehart knows how to train through the long winter month as she demonstrated with a top-10 at the Sea Otter Classic last year (photo by Danny Marchewka)

Set the goal and be motivated

It all starts with a lot of motivation. Only when a rider is inspired to excel, does fast racing become possible. Putting this motivation to work in the right direction is equally important. This is especially true when an athlete must work through less than desirable conditions in order to achieve their goal. With attention set on a goal, a focused athlete is more willing to do the required work than are their lesser-motivated counterparts. With high motivation it is possible to stick with a plan and embrace challenges as they come. Having a coach can help direct your efforts and a support system in place will help you keep everything on track.

When conditions are poor it’s wise not to squander training time, so a little extra organization and encouragement can certainly help. A few dedicated training partners will go a long ways to keep spirits high when the temperatures are low. Planning for early season success will allow you to achieve it.

Train hard (specifically)!

During weekdays when training time and daylight are most often limited, completing workouts that specifically address VO2Max or Lactate Threshold fitness are excellent options (indoors or out). A ride of 60-90 minutes can be highly effective this way. The ‘off season’ is an opportunity to improve by incorporating race-like intensity in your workouts. This is especially true when your training volume cannot be relatively high. With a training plan tailored to improve specific components of your race fitness during the weekdays, weekends can be dedicated to longer duration workouts. These longer workouts should be done outdoors and on the bike when possible. If riding outdoors isn’t an option you can supplement in xc skiing, snowshoeing, or just about any other aerobic winter sport.

As the races get nearer, more of your weekend training should be done on the bike, but earlier on it’s equally effective to do the snow sports instead. Starting with a couple of hours and gradually extending workouts longer each week as you adapt will allow for progression. Keep in mind that you’re doing very high quality riding during the week, so it’s okay for the weekend workouts to have less structure. As long as you’re building your aerobic endurance they’ll be doing the trick.

Keep it in perspective

Many riders adhere to the mantra that winter training needs to be low intensity training. While this might work for a rider who is able to accumulate a large training volume, it is certainly not the best option for a rider coming from a wintry environment. It is important to build intensity into the mix so that you’re always improving the components of your fitness that have the biggest impact on your racing results. In doing so, you’ll be specifically prepared for the speed and intensity of the early season races.

Training through a tough winter will never be easy, but neither is racing. With an early season goal and a lot of motivation it’s possible to show up ready to race fast despite the wintertime challenges. Just be sure to have fun with it and embrace the experience. For every one racer who trains successfully through a rough winter, there are a countless number who won’t find their form until later in the season. See what works best for you and always strive to find a healthy balance.

This week we hear from Eric Orton of TrainWithEric.com. Eric is an elite-level coach who trains some of the top MTB racers in the U.S. Eric is the former Director of Fitness at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, a certified Functional Training Specialist, a Certified Sports Hypnotist, and holds coaching certifications from both USA Triathlon and USA Cycling.

Question: When training for long endurance events of 4 hours or more, how do I train to keep my intensity high for that entire time. And how hard can I push myself during such a long event?

Answer: The majority of cyclists training for marathon events lasting 4 hours or longer have no trouble getting in miles or long rides. This is the most intuitive and specific training that usually occurs. But many riders will take this to the extreme, riding too long and too easy, thinking this will provide drastic improvements in their race performance. Long training rides are important, but what tends to be missing from marathon riders training repertoire is attacking the neuromuscular system to ‘improve’ the riders race pace endurance.

When a muscle becomes stronger in response to traditional endurance training, the gain in strength is usually attributed to an improvement in the size or quality of the muscle. The truth, however, is that strength upgrades can occur without any change in the muscle at all. Many upswings in strength are actually the result of alterations in the way the muscle is controlled by the NERVOUS SYSTEM. And this can lead to great gains in race performance at the marathon and ultra distances, not just in short, explosive events.

Riders like Pua Sawicki know how to keep the pace high during XC and 100 milers alike

Specifically, the nervous system can do a better job of recruiting muscle fibers and are more accomplished at stimulating muscles which aid the primary muscle in carrying out force production during a long endurance race, thus producing more forceful movements more efficiently, causing less fatigue. While this by itself does not upgrade force production, it allows forces to develop more rapidly, converting strength into power. To put it another way, if you are a strong 100 mile cyclist and your nerves learn to activate your leg muscles more quickly, you would have not only improved your strength to scale the various climbs on the race course but also the power to climb those hills and mountains very quickly.

The nervous system can also learn to activate motor units in a way which will produce not only the desired level of strength and power for your long endurance event but also the most energy-efficient production of strength and power. The nervous system enhances coordination (skill and efficiency during technical singletrack), thus conserving energy and allowing competitive levels of effort to be tolerated and sustained for longer periods of time, which is ultimately the goal for long races.

Typically neuromuscular efforts are very hard intervals ranging from 8-15 seconds in duration either done on hills and/or flat terrain. I like to take this concept and design workouts that are specific to marathon or ultra distance events, helping the cyclist improve race pace endurance and to give the rider an understanding of what an appropriate race pace is for their ability at their chosen distance.

Here is a great back to back workout for a Saturday/Sunday ride I like to assign during the Specific Training phase of the riders I coach, or during the 6-8 weeks leading up to the goal race.

Saturday: After a good warm-up of 30-50 minutes, perform 10 X 30 second hill repeats where you increase your pace as you go, nearing a max effort by the end of the 30 seconds. Take plenty of recovery after each, 2-3 minutes in length. Once you have completed this set, ride 60-90 minutes at a self-perceived steady race pace, adding a 10-15 second very hard effort every 8-10 minutes. After completing this race pace effort, finish the ride with 10 X 15 second very hard efforts with the odd numbered on hills and even numbered on flats. Again, with 2-3 minute recovery between each. Then start your warm down.

Sunday: After a good warm-up that includes several short pick-ups. Ride easy for one – three hours and then finish the ride with a 20 minute steady effort at faster than self-perceived race pace.

It is important to monitor your effort by HR and perceived exertion during your race pace effort on both days, in an effort to gain valuable knowledge to establish what is an appropriate pace for you come race day and to evaluate fueling needs.

I hope this detailed explanations peaks your interest to start training your neuromuscular system.

If you have a question for our team of mountain bike coaches please email it to info@mtbracenews.com

This week our question goes to Namrita O'Dea. A licensed dietitian and member of the Topeak/Ergon racing team, O'Dea helps riders fine tune their bodies for maximum performance through her business 55 Nine Performance Nutrition.

Question: I did a couple of 100-milers last year and had trouble with bonking. Someone told me that in a race that long you need to change the kind of sugars you are ingesting because your body slows processing it if you stick to only one. Basically, you could still be eating but your stomach has shut off. Is that true? And what do you recommend for feeding during a long endurance MTB race.

Carbohydrates, electrolytes (mainly sodium), and fluid are the three most important things to replace during an endurance race. The amount and the timing of intake are important to ensure that you are digesting, absorbing, and delivering nutrients in a timely manner, without any distress on your gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

If you are using a sports drink, it should be around 6-8% carbohydrate (approximately 30-60 grams per hour, or 120-240 calories per hour). Going above 8% carbohydrate may slow the emptying of fluids from your stomach (gastric emptying). Drinks of >10% carbohydrate can cause symptoms of dehydration and GI distress. Any of these can cause the feeling of your stomach “shutting down.”

Glucose, sucrose, and complex carbohydrates (glucose polymers) are all effective, but a blend of glucose and fructose may be better utilized during exercise. Studies have shown 20-50% higher carbohydrate oxidation rates when a mixture of glucose-fructose is used, compared to glucose alone. You will find that most sports nutrition products are formulated with a blend of carbohydrates. Fructose should not be the predominant carbohydrate, though, as it can also cause GI distress.

Generally, the goal is to replace as much fluid as you can tolerate without any GI discomfort, up to the rate of your sweat loss. Rate of sweat loss can be determined by checking pre- and post- exercise body weight. One pound of weight loss = 16 oz of fluid.

There still isn’t any specific recommendation on sodium replacement as needs likely vary between individuals. So, it’s a good idea to experiment with this during training. Some people lose more salt in their sweat than others do, but it is not yet clear if these individuals need to replace more sodium to compensate for their increased losses.

During a long race, intake should be steady, every 15 to 20 minutes, to maintain nutrition without overloading your digestive system. Most people do well with 200-300 calories per hour. And, when possible, your race-specific nutrition strategy should be developed while training in similar conditions. Just as you train with specificity, you want to develop your nutrition plan with specificity.

If you have a question you would like our team of elite-level coaches to answer email it to info@mtbracenews.com

Question: Alison, throughout your career you have been great at peaking for the big races whether it's National Champions or the Worlds. How can I time my fitness to peak at just the right time?

Peaking for the Big Race

Being able to peak for the “big race” is one of the hardest things to do in cycling. Even after 20 years of racing I still had races that didn’t go well after doing everything perfectly to get ready. There are things you can do, however, to improve your chances of having that “perfect” day at the most important race of the season.

Peaking for a race begins months earlier in the off-season. This is the time when athletes sit down and plan out their entire race season. Most cyclists know that they can’t physically race at their best from March through September, so most will prioritize their races by order of importance. Once a rider has established which races are the most important, she can then build her schedule around those particular events.

Designing a training schedule that brings you to your most important race in peak form takes years of experience and a little luck. Based on what kind of race you are peaking for, you’ll want to design your training so that the month before you’re doing the most race specific training possible; workouts that are most similar to the kind of race you’re doing. For example, if you are peaking for the Cyclocross National Championships in December, it doesn’t make sense to do 4hr endurance rides the month before your race. You instead need to be doing lots of short intense anaerobic power workouts.

It is also important to reach your peak event in not only super fantastic race shape, but rested and mentally motivated. You can use something called a “taper” in the weeks leading up to your big event. A taper is a way to maintain intensity and peak race fitness, while allowing your body to rest and recover at the same time. A taper typically lasts 1-2 weeks, depending on the athlete. In a taper the intensity stays high, but the volume goes way down. You can still do high intensity workouts leading up to your big race, but don’t add any extra mileage during your taper. You are basically doing short interval workouts and nothing else other than recovery rides. And skip the big weekend group rides as well during your taper.

The last two days before your event are the most important and can also be the most challenging. In these two days you need to make sure you are 100% rested, but also 100% opened up and ready to race. If you’ve had a few easy days leading up to your event, it is super important to get the legs “opened up” before your race. Pre-race openers can be done 1-2 days before your event and involve maybe some tempo riding and then some short, high intensity efforts. If you are doing a mountain bike or cyclocross race, your pre-race openers can be done on the course.

On race day it is super important to get a good solid warm-up before your event. I recommend doing a combination of endurance and tempo and then finish with some short high intensity efforts as close to the start as possible. In general, the longer your event, the shorter and less intense your warm-up needs to be. For example, if you are warming up for a 24hr solo race, it doesn’t make sense to do a bunch of vo2 intervals.

We all know there is a lot more that goes into having a good race than just fitness. There can be crashes, weather, and mechanicals that unfortunately affect the outcome. Coming into your most important race in peak fitness will give you the confidence to handle not only the physical stress of the race, but any unexpected bad luck that might derail your effort. When you cross the finish line you want to know that you did absolutely everything possible to have your best day. Don’t have any doubts or “what ifs”. The athlete that wins the big one is the athlete that is the most prepared.

Good luck and happy trails!

Alison

Alison Dunlap is a certified Level II USAC Coach and has been working with athletes for five years. She runs a coaching business called Alison Dunlap Coaching, and has mountain bike camps in Moab, UT through the Alison Dunlap Adventure Camps. Alison is also a two-time Olympian, MTB World Champion, and 13-time National Champion.

Question: I am doing a 24 hour solo race and am hoping to be competitive. How should I pace myself?

Answer: Oooh, this is a big thorny question! 24 hours is a long time to be racing your bike, and the answer to this question contains more than 24 hours worth of variables. The accurate pacing plan depends on race day/night weather, course profile, training and personal limiters.

For example, in a summer 24 hour race when it is hot during the day and cooler at night, it is best to put more effort into riding after sunset when the heat stress is lower. For a winter 24 hour event such as 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo this is not a variable to consider when formulating your pacing plan.

A 24 hour solo mountain bike race pacing plan is best broken down into five segments. It is easier to focus on distinct blocks of time as opposed to one full 24-hour chunk of time.

The Le Mans Start:
24 hour solo mountain bike races start with a Le Mans style run of about 800 yards to your bike. The race is never won on the run, but it definitely can be lost. Pacing the run is all about risk management.

If you haven’t run a lick in training, run at an easy pace with short frequent strides – kind of like pedaling on your feet! Taking long fast running strides and slapping your feet down without any training to do so will tear muscle fibers and create soreness in your legs. This will haunt you for the next 24 hours and may even create a DNF-causing injury. If you have been running short fast bursts in training, stage at the front and run fast.

Noon Start Time to 2 pm:
The next most crucial pacing period is the noon start time to around 2pm. You will have more than enough speed, motivation and energy on tap to over-pace. You need ‘governors’ in place – things to slow you down and keep the pace in check. The solo racer who comes in first place off the first lap is often also high up on the DNF list.

Use a power meter or heart rate monitor to pace yourself. Start the first couple of race laps in heart rate zone 2-3 (or with normalized power near 0.7 Intensity Factor (IF), or about 70% of functional threshold power). A power level and heart rate zone calculator can be found here.

Also, pace yourself by Perceived Exertion (PE). During the first 2 hours of the race, spin uphill in your granny gear, ride one gear easier than you feel you can on the flats, keep your breathing level quiet and ride with no burn in your legs.

2 pm to Sunset:
Keep your heart rate mostly in zone 2, and normalized power in the 0.7 IF range. Aim for even-paced lap splits. Chip away at the lap count at a comfortable PE.

Sunset to Dawn:
At the 6-7 hour mark in a 24 hour solo, heart rate becomes depressed with fatigue and natural circadian rhythm. Allow your heart rate to drop. Fighting to keep your heart rate up after sunset will lead to over-pacing. Lap splits and PE become the key pacing tools after sunset. Keep lap splits as tight and consistent as possible. Keep PE in a comfortable range. No drilling it yet!

Keep pit stops short to avoid cooling down and resist the temptation to crawl into your sleeping bag during the “witching hours”.

Dawn to Finish:
Dawn to finish is the time to spend what you have left. If you are in survival mode, keep it steady, manage problems that have appeared, and stay on the course for as long as possible. Placing is often determined by laps at this point. One more lap can bump you up ten places in the standings. Use the mantra “a slow lap is better than no lap”.

Ideally, you have paced and fueled the first 18 hours accurately. Dawn is the time to start spending big and pick up the pace. Ride faster, bring your heart rate back up and drop your lap split times. Push the pace a little past your comfort level and ride as fast as you can to the finish!

Below is a heart rate file from a beautifully paced 24-hour solo mountain bike race. This athlete finished on the podium.

Travis Woodruff is a USAC Level I (elite) certified coach who holds a B.S. in Kinesiology with emphasis in Exercise Science. He’s coached riders to five MTB National Championship wins and has over 10 years of personal racing experience. Since 2005 he’s competed as a pro mountain biker and has coached full-time. His business, Momentum Endurance LLC, is based out of Tucson, Arizona where he hosts wintertime training camps.

Question: I race a full mountain bike schedule as a Pro throughout season but I still have a full-time job. How do I balance training with my work responsibilities to maximize my abilities as a racer?

Optimizing Training for your Time-Limited Schedule

Most all competitive cyclists have numerous time demands which limit their ability to train at will. Even very few pros enjoy the luxury of a daily schedule, which solely revolves around training -- so time-limited training principles apply to most all of us. If training is going to be effective and enjoyable it is important do some objective planning before turning the pedals. Keep in mind that the perfect training plan isn’t so great if it means you’re neglecting work or family commitments. With less time available to train, there’s less margin for training error and its important to make the most of training opportunities. With an optimized program you’ll be challenged, always improving, and enjoying the experience. A small amount of planning, organization, and time management can bring huge dividends to your training routine.

Plan Ahead for the Big Picture (realistically)

Get a handle on your work schedule, family vacation plans, school schedule, race schedules, or any other schedules that your life might be dependant upon. With this information in front you, you can objectively plan out the bigger picture of your season. Knowing which blocks of time will be great for training, when your riding schedule might be tight, and when it might be best to take a short break will help you to define the season’s goals. Chances are good you’ll be riding your best after periods of consistent training and relatively fewer demands otherwise. Try to choose goal races that coincide with when you’ll best be able to prepare for them.

Woodruff puts his expertise to use on and off the dirt

Break it into Smaller Cycles and Set the Course of Action

With the bigger picture outlined it’s helpful to break down the season overview into smaller cycles. It works well to let overload and recovery do its trick within a block of three or four weeks. Two to three weeks of challenging riding should be followed up by four to seven days of lesser workload. For each of these cycles it’s critical to have a clear goal for the training. This could be overloading a specific energy system such as your Lactate Threshold or tallying up a lot of singletrack miles. Moving from the development of one specific focus onto the next is progression towards your goals.

Be Consistent

With the focus clearly defined for the three or four week cycle it’s time to plan weekly rides. If weekends are a good opportunity for training, try to also incorporate two high quality workouts during the work week. With four days where you’re achieving a training overload the other days can then be of lesser intensity and/or duration – a chance for recovery. The body thrives on consistency so if possible, keep your rides to a similar time of day. In doing so the training becomes a natural part of your day rather than something that’s incorporated haphazardly. The better your body can detect a pattern, the more likely it is that you’ll benefit from the specific overload that you’re placing upon it.

Make Note of your Progress

Most riders will thrive with just a little more organization than they’re currently used to. Keep a training log with objective data (power, HR, or otherwise) and also your subjective notes or comments. Over the long term you can review the log and better fine tune your training while you seek the perfect balance with your busy schedule. Plan for your successes, be consistent with your training and you’ll come through a stronger rider in the end.

Get Optimized

Check out MomentumEndurance.com for more information and some helpful season planning tools so that you can make the most of your time-limited training schedule. With a balanced plan put into action all that’s left to do is accomplish your goals. Related questions or comments can be sent to TJ @ twoodruff@MomentumEndurance.com. Enjoy the ride!

This week we hear from Eric Orton of TrainWithEric.com. Eric is an elite-level coach who trains some of the top MTB racers in the U.S. Eric is the former Director of Fitness and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, a certified Functional Training Specialist, a Certified Sports Hypnotist, and holds coaching certifications from both USA Triathlon and USA Cycling.

Question: You coach Amanda Carey, who has great success racing in cross country, cyclocross, and ultra endurance MTB races. How does she train to be successful at such varied racing distances in the same year?

Every December, Amanda Carey and I meet at the local coffee shop for our yearly chat. We discuss how the past year went, perceived strengths and weaknesses, what worked and more importantly what didn’t. You know, all the usual coach and athlete stuff. Once we start to hammer out the seasonal race and training plan, the inevitable question always surfaces, “So, what are we going to focus on this year, cross country races or marathon-endurance races?” And for the last four years, the answer has been – both.

As we pull out the calendar and dive into planning the specific races for the season, Amanda always gets very excited and sometimes I need to remind her why we prioritize races and have purposeful training. I tell her, the goal in training is to improve your raw ability or power, and not just continue to enhance your ability to sustain your race pace. The latter usually comes in the form of building an endurance base first and then applying some intensity to this base. The key to Amanda’s success at both cross country distance and the marathon distance races - and now cyclo cross races - is to employ just the opposite approach. This means we have to continually build and improve her engine at the start of each year. So instead of long rides in January to improve the engine, she is pumping out intervals to help improve her power at VO2max (pVO2max), neuromuscular power, and economy.

The pVO2max reveals both the magnitude of aerobic capability and the efficiency with which power is applied to the pedals, and it is one of the most powerful predictors of endurance capabilities. Neuromuscular power works in tandem with Amanda’s pVO2max training to improve her maximal velocity and economy. Once we established this training effect, I apply this improved power, efficiency, and maximal speed to her cross-country specific endurance training phase. This way she is faster, more powerful, and more efficient during the most important training phase as she prepares for the cross- country race season. Her specific cross-country training and races then, in effect, continue to improve her strength endurance and threshold simply by the nature of the energy systems at work during the races.

Amanda Carey has finished on the podium at the Breckenridge and Leadville 100, US Cup races, and UCI-level Cyclocross events

As Amanda nears the end of her high priority cross-country races, we shift gears and spend about 6-8 weeks focusing on specific endurance training for her 100ers. Now that she is extremely fit from the cross-country race circuit and early season power development, she has the ability to ride with more power and speed. Our next key chore is to train in a manner that maximally extends the time over which she can sustain that fast riding. The overall principle is to apply her improved power and strength from the early season to her specific race pace endurance training rides. This creates a faster race pace and an improved tolerance for holding this pace. It's no longer enough for her to ride long miles and focus only on her aerobic development . In fact, it never was enough.

Whether I am preparing Amanda for cross country, marathon, or cyclo cross races or Cary Smith for his second place finish at the World’s 24 Hour Championship, the good news is that power factors can be improved by all level of riders. By training in the early season to improve power in a progressive and systematic way and then applying these gains to race specific training, eventually anaerobic and aerobic characteristics should fuse to produce the best-possible race times - from short course all the way up to the ultra distances.

If you have a question for our team of mountain bike coaches please email it to info@mtbracenews.com

This week our question goes to Namrita O'Dea. A licensed dietician and member of the Topeak/Ergon racing team, O'Dea helps riders fine tune their bodies for maximum performance through her business 55 Nine Performance Nutrition.

Question: My body fat hovers around 10-12 percent and I would like to get it down a few points. What's a safe way to bring my body fat down without negatively impacting my winter training?

Namrita O'Dea: Winter is a good time to really focus on changing your body composition. Losing body fat while building fitness is a fine line to ride, though, and extra care should be taken to adequately fuel and recover from all training sessions. As you will read below, a multi-pronged approach will be most effective. A detailed training and a nutrition log, if you have time, are also very useful throughout the process.

DXA, hydrostatic weighing, and the Bod Pod are the more accurate methods of measuring body composition. However, if you only have skinfold or BIA, use them as relative measurements to gauge your progress. Just keep in mind, the error percentage is higher when using the latter methods. A regular weight scale won’t tell the whole story when you want to differentiate percent fat from lean mass.

In order to preserve your metabolism and lean body mass while losing fat, create a slight energy deficit of approximately 250 to 400 calories per day. You can do this by eating slightly less at your larger meals, eating more nutrient-dense rather than energy-dense foods, increasing the amount of fresh foods in your diet, and reducing extra calories such as those from salty snacks, desserts, sodas, or alcohol.

Protein will keep you satiated longer and, when consumed with carbohydrates, will help to slow the insulin response. Aim for just under 2 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight, per day. When race season comes around, you can slightly decrease protein and increase your carbohydrate intake again.

Aim for around 20% of total calories from fat per day, with the majority of fat coming from unsaturated sources. Animal fats are higher in saturated fats and should be limited. If you can’t successfully moderate your dessert intake it is probably best to cut it out all together and substitute it with lower-calorie options. One square of dark chocolate can go a long way in satisfying a sweet craving!

As an athlete, carbohydrates should comprise at least 50% of your macronutrient intake. Because refined sugars are less satiating and cause more rapid insulin spikes, most of the carbohydrates should come from higher-fiber complex carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables. When possible, combine carbohydrates with protein. Once higher intensity training and racing ramps up, you will want to increase the daily percentage of calories from carbohydrates to approximately 65% of total calories.

The timing of your energy intake is equally important as what you eat. Scale your energy intake so you are taking in more calories when you are more active (i.e. in the first half of the day versus right before bed). Don’t skip meals or snacks and try to go no more than 3 hours at a time without energy intake. Avoid consuming mass amounts of calories at one time, as is often done at a post-ride recovery meal.

Never skip the recovery drink or snack. Immediately after a training session, use a 250 to 400 calorie recovery drink (or equivalent food with additional fluid). Then consume smaller 250-600 calorie snacks or meals every 1-2 hours to maximize recovery and minimize excess fat storage.

Incorporate strength training into your regimen, if you have not already. Not only will it help your performance, it will help you reach your fat loss goals more quickly.

Finally, green tea catechins have shown some promise in fat metabolism. So, brewing some hot green tea might be a good way to keep warm in the winter!

Question: After racing an entire cyclocross season how do I make the transition back mountain bike training?

Alison: Making the transition from the cyclocross to the mountain bike season can be fairly easy if you follow a few simple rules; rest, rest, rest!

Racing a full season of cross is grueling and takes a toll on the body

The biggest mistake cyclists make is not taking enough rest at the end of the cyclocross season. Most riders will transition into their cyclocross season directly from their road or mountain bike season. It is easier to maintain race fitness and fine tune it for cross racing, then to take a few weeks off after your road/MTB season, and then try and play catch up once you do start racing cross. This means that at the end of your cross season, it is crucial that you take a few weeks off the bike for some rest and recovery.

When your cross season is over, take a good 3-4 weeks off from structured training. I still recommend riding at least 4 days a week. But don’t do any intervals or group rides. Instead, do rides you enjoy and rides that are fun. This is your one chance to take not only a physical break from training, but also a mental break. If you finish your cross season with Nationals in mid-December, you won’t have a lot of time before the start of the mountain bike or road season. It is super important to take full advantage of the few weeks right after the cross season ends to rest, relax, and recover.

Once you’re ready to start training again, I suggest taking two weeks to work in some long endurance rides to get your fitness level back up before starting any intensity. After two weeks of endurance rides you can start into your interval training and shift your focus to the upcoming season. Failing to take time off will lead to a meltdown part way through the summer, and I guarantee it will happen at the most inopportune time.

Remember that with training it is better to focus on quality than quantity. And don’t be afraid to rest. Rest does a body good!

Happy trails!

Alison

Alison Dunlap is a certified Level II USAC Coach and has been working with athletes for five years. She runs a coaching business called Alison Dunlap Coaching, and has mountain bike camps in Moab, UT through the Alison Dunlap Adventure Camps. Alison is also a two-time Olympian, MTB World Champion, and 13-time National Champion.

MTB Race News is starting a weekly feature. Our weekly "Coach's Column" answers your most pressing training questions. We have brought together some of the greatest minds in mountain bike training to put you on track to being your very best. The weekly column will include coaches Lynda Wallenfels, Alison Dunlap, Namrita O'Dea, Eric Orton, and Travis Woodruff. We start this week with Lynda Wallenfels.
Question: When training for a 100 miler what are the differences between training to finish and training to win or set a personal best?

Response: The first time I signed up for a 100 mile mountain bike race I had a hard time wrapping my head around the distance. I wasn’t sure I could ride that far off-road! I’d never even ridden 100 miles on the road. Finishing was a huge personal challenge. After the finishing glow wore off I wanted to do it again and go faster the next time.

When training for a 100 mile mountain bike race, training to finish it, and training to go faster or to set a personal record time are two distinctly different training plans. The first thing you need to decide is your goal. Next, train that goal, and last, race that goal. It sounds simple but many racers slip up the last step by setting a goal to finish, training on the Finisher Plan, then going out on race day and attempting to execute the (personal record) PR race Plan. Before you start, define your goal (make a decision which plan you are on), train the plan, race the plan, and follow it though to the finish line.

Whatever you choose, training for a 100-miler means lots of riding

The Finisher Plan

On a Finisher Plan the goal is to finish the race happy and within the cut off time. Most hundie races have cut off times. Usually it is 12 hours at the finish line. The important aspects to train on the Finisher Plan are endurance and race execution. Race execution involves fueling, pacing, keeping yourself mentally happy and your bike mechanically working.

Here is a link to the race execution plan for the 100 mile Finisher

The Finisher Plan is a simple endurance volume build plan until 2-3 weeks prior to race day. In the final 2-3 weeks, volume tapers down in order to be fresh on race day. The majority of training is paced within heart rate zones 1-3 (or power levels 1-3) which are aerobic training zones. A focus on fueling practice and endurance pacing are part of every long ride.

The Personal Record Plan

The PR Plan comes into play when a racer wants to go faster. With the PR Plan, it is assumed that a racer has already finished a hundie and has practiced race execution skills. With endurance and race execution skills established, the PR racer can focus on fitness physiology: increasing VO2max, threshold power, and extending the ability to ride near threshold pace for extended durations. You know, the stuff that makes you faster.

Race pace in a PR hundie depends on course profile but consists of mostly upper tempo to threshold pace (power levels 3-4, or heart rate zones 3-4). These are the most important (or most race specific) training zones. Any training plan should progress from general to specific abilities.



To design a 100 mile PR training plan, schedule backwards from your 100 mile mountain bike race day. Follow a 2-3 week taper (race week plus 1-2 taper weeks) before the race to arrive at the start line fresh and ready to execute your PR race plan. The training block prior to the taper is the race specific training block and should predominantly focus on the most race specific abilities. This is threshold and tempo pace (or power Level 3-4, or heart rate zones 3-4) work. The 3-4 weeks prior to the race specific training block should be structured around VO2max work, which is heart rate zone 5 or power Level 5. Cross country racing fits nicely into the VO2max training block. Prior to this, block 3-4 weeks with a mix of neuromuscular power work and endurance work to kick off your PR 100 mile training plan.

Lynda Wallenfels is an endurance mountain bike coach and pro racer. She is owner of LWCoaching.com and current US 24 Hour Solo Single Speed National Champion.

Next Wednesday we will hear from Cross Country World Champion Alison Dunlap about making the transition from cyclocross racing back to the dirt.

If you have training questions you would like answered send them to info@mtbracenews.com