Help, 1st long distance race

keith.kim

I am taking part in my first endurance event in September the 25th, its the Macmillan Afan Monster (my daughter had cancer), I am looking for advice and tips for training and what sort of preparation i should do for this event, I currently ride to work 3 times a week at 16 miles a time and general get out on the weekend in Afan forest and do about 20-30 km.

timpop

I am also doing the Afan Monster in September! It'll be my first big event in many years. It's good you get to ride in Afan regularly, I'm in Dorset but will be up on Aug 21 for the weekend to get a bit more of a feel of the place.
As for training, I commute to work everyday and do a 40km evening ride over at Purbeck. If I don't get out on the weekend I'll do another evening ride but I do try to do 40+ km on the weekend. It's important not to overdo it though as you don't want to get an injury. Over the next month I will be increasing the intensity and distance of my riding; if I don't get more km I'll be riding what I do get to do a little faster. Get some climbing in as that's where you'll notice it later on. I believe I won't be getting up to 100km before the event but will try many shorter rides instead and work my way up, a bit like a runner would train for a marathon.
Make sure you warm up gently and stretch after your ride. You want to make sure your muscles recover after each session so make sure you get some protein shortly after you finish. I've got a shake mix that gives me a quick carb n protein hit. I also use a carb mix during the ride to help things tick a long.
Cross training is also valuable; swimming or light gym work will help. Don't neglect your upper body as you do a lot of pulling about when you're climbing and navigating tricky sections.

That's it for now, I'm rambling a bit.

See you there!

miss notax

I don't have anything useful to add i'm afraid, but I just wanted to wish you both lots of luck for this

I am running in the Great South Run this year (24 October) which is 10 miles - I hate running and would much rather be riding it, but figured this would be a good challenge! I am raising money for Cancer Research UK. Got to 8Km a few nights ago which is only half way :shock: :roll: