Enticement

Physiologically the EPOC/training impact will be the same in all 3 scenarios as they are all done at max effort for the same duration with equal rest - no matter the surface. The crux is to create a training session that will suit your personal lifestyle and conditions and that will give you maximum results - some times you are restricted to an indoor trainer ...

Puncheur, I have a pretty good knowledge base of the things happening in your body when you start using it - I read medical journals on the latest empirical research findings and follow interesting blogs of some scientists, and then apply them on my own training as I'm a competitive XCO rider (will try and do my thing on the UCI XCO Master Champs 2013). I apply those things that work on my athletes and ALL (but one) of my Epic athletes to date have achieved their personal goals - one had a very bad crash this year and was DQed by the doctor as he had a very bad concussion. Now that we're asking questions and you have the wealth of Epic experience - which work-out is the best of doing 5 x 2min intervals at max effort with 1min rest against a 60km/h south-eastern on sandy road doing 5 x 2min intervals at max effort with 1min rest against a 15% incline on a smooth gravel road doing 5 x 2min intervals at max effort with 1min rest on a flat smooth gravel road Will be interesting to hear from you ...

Now is the right time to start with it as your training should now be migrated from the "off-peak" period to the "pre-peak" period, hoping you have done enough of the long slow distance (that's the LSD) stuff up to now. This type of training should take you right through to March, however, the duration and intensity should be tweaked as you progress and for the "peak" period which should be introduced by beginning to middle Jan 13. Intensity and duration should be based on personal progress but work towards making these 2-hour session. It is more fun to use this fartlek and also more applicable for mountain biking apposed to riding a stretch up-and-down for intervals, but it does require a bit more willpower and is nice to do with a riding buddy. It also teaches you to retain your effort over variable terrain - we are often used to stop pedaling on descents ...

Are you qualified to ask the question?

Hi boosted gp In short, improving your level of conditioning requires 2 types of adaptations in your body: 1) peripheral changes (that is getting a well established transport system established in your body - arteries, veins and capillaries); and 2) in-cell changes to process the oxygen, nutrients and whatever is needed in the muscle cells to make them contract. The 1st happens through LSD-type training (long slow distance), but the 2nd best happens through high intensity training, also referred to as interval training. The proper sequence for conditioning is therefore to 1st look after (1) and then do (2). Typically marathon riders prepare by doing lots and lots of LSD, but unfortunately, with the manner in which the Epic's route is designed, athletes need to incorporate high intensity training in their training programs as the route forces you to operate for long periods very close to your max exertion levels. If you have not prepared for that, it becomes a nightmare! So, how do you start incorporating high intensity training in your program? Best is to use an activity many moons ago Swedish athletes started to use, which was dubbed Polish fartlek training. Use your normal training ride and use the 1st 20 minutes as warm-up. After warm-up you vary your speed between race pace (about 80-90% of max) to sprint (about 90-100% of max) to your absolute fastest (about 110% of max) with rest periods in-between. The idea is to make it fun-filled and to constantly switch pace, but when you go hard you must "gooi-die-kole"! The last 20 minutes again is a cool-down period. But don't "time" your high intensity parts - make it flat-out (90%) from "this lamp post to that tree" and then slow (65%/recover) to "that gate" and then a brisk pace (80%) "to that rock", etc ... Start with 1 session per week, which you increase to 2 within 3 weeks and 3 in 6 weeks. Make sure you rest well in-between these sessions as you should be very cautious not to over-train. What you actually do through this type of training is to condition your body to use the energy systems available best!

Little reference to the price quoted

You're cheap ...

A program for conditioning is actually a project plan to ensure you cover every base, thereby ensuring you achieve your goal! It therefore constitutes certain things that must be achieved within certain time constraints, as we work towards March 2013. In order to manage your preparation progress (if you are unsure whether you're on track), take the total time you have for preparation (even if you have started 6 month ago) and divide it into an off-peak, pre-peak and peak period. This is because the focus on the respective elements of conditioning within each respective period differs. For the 2013 Epic, make sure your peak period starts at least 15 Jan 13 and your pre-peak period at least middle Nov 12.

Looking at the Epic route, again it spells out the need for proper preparation! Either that or you are a sucker for pain and the constant risk of riding on the verge of cut-off all the time. It's a South African syndrome that riders often boast about what marvelous achievements they piled up with the least amount of training! Don't believe them - make sure YOU are prepared to complete it with the least amount of suffering ... you see that at races like the 94.7 and Argus: when they look down they only see belly instead of bb!

The route has been unveiled and many Epic athletes have done lots and lots of TIS (time in saddle). Many says you must also do intervals, but when should I really start with that and what should a typical interval session look like?

Hi, I was very interested to attend and contacted you a while back via the mail facility on your website but got no feedback to date. There is NO contact number on your website!?

Map to venue http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?vps=8&hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=206953015808692190418.0004cd5d5e29a34af74f9

Enter for FREE ... read below

Event Name: XCOSA.CO.ZA Grand Finale & XCO Endurance Team Relay When: 24 November 2012 Where: Central Park Trails, Modderfontein, Gauteng Category: MTB XCO SERIES GRAND FINALE: ENTRIES: R150 PER RIDER ON-LINE AT www.itickets.co.za UNTIL 24H00 THU, 22 NOV 12. LATEENTRIES ON RACE DAY (R50 LATE ENTRY FEE);RACE TRACK: CENTRAL PARK TRAILS XCO TRACK,MODDERFONTEIN – OPEN FOR PRACTICE 9H00-16H00 ON FRI, 23 NOV 12;FREE SKILLS WORKSHOP ON 17NOV 12RACE REGISTRATION: 6H30-9h00 ON RACE DAY ATCENTRAL PARK TRAILS XCO TRACK XCO ENDURANCE RELAY: ENTRIES: R400 PER 2-RIDER TEAM & R800 PER4-RIDER TEAM ON-LINE AT www.itickets.co.zaUNTIL 24H00 THU, 22 NOV 12. LATE ENTRIES ON RACE DAY (R50 PER RIDER LATE ENTRYFEE);RACE TRACK: CENTRAL PARK TRAILS XCO TRACK,MODDERFONTEIN – OPEN FOR PRACTICE 9H00-16H00 ON FRI, 23 NOV 12;FREE SKILLS WORKSHOP ON 17 NOV 12RACE REGISTRATION: 12H00-13H00 ON RACEDAY AT CENTRAL PARK TRAILS XCO TRACK;RACE TYPE: XCO ENDURANCE TEAM RELAY (2- AND 4RIDER MALE/FEMALE/MIXED TEAMS)More information on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/XCOSA.CO.ZA Map2Venue http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?vps=8&hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=206953015808692190418.0004cd5d5e29a34af74f9 Go to Event Page

This event is really aimed at also adding bike skills to your training, hence the inclusion of a 4 hour XCO endurance team relay from the next race on 24 Nov 12. Teams of 2 or 4 can participate. Get your Epic buddy and come test yourself against our new XCO track ...

Had a great event - weather played along nicely! Next event 24 Nov, inclusive of a XCO team relay ...

Program for race day and map to venue ...

Come learn to ride brand new course built by Trail Flow - FREE skills workshop on race track, 09h00 Sat 6 Oct 12.

Its a great invention, especially for road cyclists. Mountain biking (especially when technical) forces you to pedal equally hard with both legs. That is why mtb makes for good preparation for road cycling as well. I have been using the Trixters (mountain bike simulators) for a while, equally novel. I used the mechanical ones and the moment you add the arms you HR rockets. The electronic one is even more fancy - they host XCO world champs on it. Last one was won by Greg Minnaar, and the beauty is each rider can participate from his own country. Its more like a XCO time trail.

Pretty good advice!

Unfortunately the availability of real race preparation for XCO is very limited in our country! The XCOSA.CO.ZA Race Series is, apart from the provincial race series, the only XCO series in Gauteng. That is why our Olympians used the 1ste few races in the series for their preparation. Master riders wishing for REAL XCO race experience can enter on-line and get a 50% discount at https://www.itickets...der/new/275746?. More detail under Events (see menu) or see attached.

The chemical reactions taking place within your muscle cells, whether going flat-out on a level road, forcing your way up an ascend or forcing the pace against a head wind, are the same if the level of exertion is the same. If going at the exact same level of exertion within these 3 scenarios, they will require exactly the same amount of "fuel" delivered at the same rate. When you change the intensity, it requires a different rate of delivery, and the rate is determined by the level of development of the transport system of your body (blood). Different coaches distinguish between various ways to expose our bodies to endurance-type training (speed endurance, muscle endurance, endurance, etc) but they all have the same goal in mind: develop endurance for coping with a constantly changing demand for "fuel". Speed on the other hand, is the ability of these cells to operate as a unit on demand. Speed requires a well programmed neurological track for providing the impulses to various cells the exact moment absolute simultaneous contraction is required. Because your brain always retain a certain number of muscle cells for emergency purposes and do not make them part of normal contraction, the process of speed conditioning convinces your brain to retain less cells, and you "develop" speed.

It is critical important to define whether the back pain is only on one side or both sides. If only on one side, it could be as a result of a too narrow saddle, meaning that you constantly shift around to get rid of the "wedgy" effect - you will then also experience chafing on one side. There are also numerous other causes, like leg length discrepancy (if so, tibia/fibula or femur), natural back arch, saddle height, saddle position, etc. The best solution is to have a proper biometric analysis done by a biometric technician that will use that information to do a proper body-bike set-up. Furthermore, this should be a dynamic process because your body continually adapts regarding pedal strength, flexibility etc.

The XCO race distance varies according to the technical demands of the track. According to UCI/CSA regulations tracks should be designed to keep you busy for around 90 minutes (at high intensity) for the full race. That's why the London Olympic track was less than 5km - it was very technical. Our track has not been finalized yet but it will be around 5.8km, with 105m ascend per lap. But don't be mislead by the distance, we guarantee a good work-out. Remember, Sat 6 Oct from 9h00 we host a skills workshop on the actual track, showing you how to tackle each obstacle. And its free!

There is nobody as blind as the person that doesn't want to see! If you have set your goals, there will often be many to tell you why they believe it won't work. Distinguish between validated advice and opinions - everyone has a right to an opinion but many lack empirical substance! Its easy to criticize but adding to that a better solution makes for constructive criticism. For the Epic, first make sure you have a clearly defined goal, then its easy to define your "project plan" to achieve that!