What have I done? Please help me (bike race - June)

[FreshTart]

About 2 months ago, I signed up for the mountain bike race in Edmonton, for Corporate Challenge. It's where the businesses get together and compete against each other.

They needed an extra woman, they knew I biked, so they asked me. I agreed. 8km race against a bunch of pencil-pushing middle managers. I can compete at that level.

Well, no.

See, I've come to find out in the last couple of weeks some of the people on my team, and the other teams (due to having friends that work at the competition businesses). Oh good god in heaven have mercy upon my flabby thighs. There are people competing in this who are doing the trail in 15-20 minutes. I did the trail - 45 minutes. It was like a revamped Hades. My legs actually cried for mercy.

Oh but it gets even worse. My bf's company is one that is competing against us, and I know the people enrolled. These are athletes. The other girl on my team is a 145lb Xena.

:wall: I can't drop out, as there arent any other women signing up and they need 2 women. And I'm not going to back out. I warned our lead, but he seemed to "there there" me; I'll be fine on June 4th.

Help.

Please help.

[sky73]

Time to start working out. :whip:

[brahmacharya]

You probably won't want to hear this, but...

I had no idea how big and how strong the quadriceps could get. I have a cruiser bike in Vancouver so I climb a lot of hills with ONE GEAR and it didn't start out very fun. To add insult to injury [not literal injury] I usually come straight from yoga class after a punishing regimen of Utkatasana variations [Sanskrit for squats].

Having said that, not only have my knee joints become much more stable and less prone to injury, but the strength in my legs is now bearing a lot of weight that I used to take in my lower back. And I can bike ANYWHERE. I have no idea how amazing I'd be if I had GEARS.

So, that's my advice. Utkatasana and 1 gear, every day, until then. I'll see you in the emergency room.

ETA: For full effect find the hilliest river ravine you can and practice the above. No cheating in the flatlands!

[FreshTart]

ETA: the hilliest river ravine

That IS the trail :cry: :cry:

I thought it was a different trail; a nice, flat, normal looking one.

I've been doing every 3 days whenever the weather's allowed (there is still snow in a lot of places, so it's hard). The last week has been the first time in a while because of the snow storm.

I used to biked and run a lot. But that was years ago. I am Miss Jello now. :sweat:

/gone to find the tiger balm

[renaissancesun]

Make massage appts for afterwards, now. :)

[brahmacharya]

Well, to hell with it then, right? Come to my place and we'll do Ned's Atomic Dustbin on the North Shore and find some big mossy pieces of wood to stick into our eyes. Good bye, cruel world! :sweat:

I'll ask my dad if he's got any quick fixes. He's a monster mtn. biker.

[FreshTart]

I can DO the trip, don't get me wrong. I can also do the 16km that the others are doing and, if one is injured I will have to fill in for them. Doing it isn't the probably.

It's being last. Very last. The volunteers have packed up and gone home last. :(

Anything your dad has to offer would be great :D

sunny - if I can find the bloody tiger balm, mister "your thighs used to be stronger then that" will be massaging me.

Oh god, I'm going to be bloody last aren't I?

As a side note, should I train every day, or every second day?

[bethanie]

You know, I think you'll be happy just to have been involved. These kinds of events are actually well...fun. Of course there are the heavy competitors...but there are also all sorts of normal people.

I wish you luck! You'll have to let us know how it went.

B

[bethanie]

I do bicycle training five days a week and alternate shorter, more challenging routes for longer, but flatter ones ;). Then I give myself two days of rest.

Do you really think you'll be last?

B

[FreshTart]

Yes, I honestly believe I will be last.

[rainbowmoon]

You still have some time to train, and I would take advantage of it. The "schedule" that bethanie proposed sounds good- two days on, one day off. I know a lot of people at the gym used to use this idea for their training.
That said, I would just write yourself up a training schedule that takes a day off every two-three days. My idea for this is similar to a running training schedule- start with smaller rides (4-5 km) and maybe do one longer ride a week, building the rides up a bit weekly. When you get close to race day, start to scale back a little bit.
If you make it fun, it might just be! You can train, get in better shape, and kick some ass on the day of your race. You've still time!!!!

[DannyKass]

Don't lose sleep over it, or stress about it.. if you train etc all you can do on the day is your best, and that's all that matters.

Even if you are last.. ok.. well someone has to be don't they! I know its a race, but being the fastest isnt everything.... if you finish and you've done your best.. even if you are last.. that doesnt matter. Itsa fact of life.. some people are faster then others at particular things, and there's nothing you can do to change how fast they are, but you can just do your best! AND HAVE FUN!

[CaptainSwab]

Even if you are last, you are still ahead of all the people who don't ever get off their couches. :)

[buddhadragon]

Go find some hills..ride them..low gears..try to build up to 70-80 rpm Same on the flats..try to push the biggest gear you can and maintain that 80rpm mark. You can do this! Learn to rest on the down hills. Learn how to ride the corners to save energy and cut distance. Ride your pace!!!! Race yourself..not the other riders.

[FreshTart]

Thanks for the support.

I was feeling pretty low after trying the trail. I barely got over 14kph because the trail was challenging. I really struggled.

[rainbowmoon]

Don't worry. You really can do this, and not be last.
I also want to say...I ran cross country for a year when I was a sophomore and I was very, very terrible. I was always almost last, and absolutely ready to die. But, I went out there every time, gave it all I had, and did my best. No one ever looked down on me, and everyone always was encouraging.

[FreshTart]

I'm hoping Xena will be as nice as you. :worried:

[rainbowmoon]

Ohh yeah....;)

[clickman]

This is a different type of event than I'm used to. But, it should follow the same principle: Get your speed up by sprints. I'd suggest asking on the Bicycling.com forums, I'm not really a mountain biker.

[LadyFaile]

stretch before and after every ride. work out your lower back, trust me. if you don't have access to a gym or equipment for it just lie down on your belly, arms at your sides, totally straight, and raise your upper body as far as you possibly can, hold, lower, repeat as many times as you can. like every day.
and yeah work those legs.

if you don't already have biking gloves pick some up, they help tremendously. i went without gloves once and had blisters like you wouldn't believe on my palms. been out since then with gloves and it's just such a difference.

do as much cardio as you can handle, it'll help build up your endurance.

and most importantly stay hydrated and make sure you eat properly before and after the race. nothing heavy or greasy beforehand, lots of carbs and no dairy. pasta works well, and use veg ground instead of beef (or if you must use meat use chicken or something, no beef trust me)

as for how often you should train, i'm not a biker by any means but if i were you i would go out for a ride every other day and on alternate days do your strength training, squats lower back and cardio.
for the first few rides i would concentrate on technical and not on speed, get your technique down and then when you're pretty confident work at slowly increasing your speed.

don't rush but don't hesitate. pick a line and stick with it.

god i sound like a biker, what the hell's happening to me ;)

[brahmacharya]

Okay, between dad and my uncle I've got some people/books to check out:

Chris Carmichael is Lance Armstrong's trainer, so you know there's gotta be something there...he's got a website but it keeps trying to sell me seminars so I guess it depends on how Involved you want to get

The Cyclist's Training Bible by Joe Friel

Cambiatta is apparently "the ultimate training tool"...I don't know what that means, but go nuts!

Good luck!

[FreshTart]

Thanks for all the tips :)

I'm at 5.33km in 20 min. :vebo: That's way up from 4.0 km in 20 min!!

[ForestGlade34]

Go FreshTart..
check this funny smiley... Its a bit inconsiderate to run over someones head though I think :lol:

[LadyFaile]

great time :eek:
if you can build up your stamina enough to be able to maintain that speed you'll be blowing them away.
my boyfriend usually does a lap in about an hour, laps are generally between 17 and 20 km
if you can beat his time you're laughin'

[FreshTart]

Go FreshTart..
check this funny smiley... Its a bit inconsiderate to run over someones head though I think :lol:

:sunny: