Peaking at the right time.

[Globalti]

I'm 55 and a later comer to road riding after 23 years of mountain biking. I'm on the run up to my third 110km road race on 11 March; the first year I completed the race in windy conditions in 4 hrs 29, the second year in windless conditions in 4 hrs 5. This year my target is to beat 4 hours. I reckon I'm more muscular than I was last year (evidenced by the snug fit of my trousers around thighs and bum!) and this year I have been riding a winter road bike and using a turbo trainer every three days in between weekend rides. I am avoiding carbs and trying to stick to vegetables, fruit and quality proteins only. I feel as if my body fat has reduced although my overall weight hasn't changed, probably due to the increase in leg muscle. I'm 1.82m and 72 kgs.

My worry is that for the two weeks before the race I will be on a business trip so opportunities for quality exercise will be limited. Last year I avoided carbs so successfully during the two weeks preceding the race (being in full control of menu choice) that I certainly lost weight and had a greasy taste in my mouth - something to do with ketosis, I'm told.

I accept that in 2 weeks I'm not going to lose much fitness and muscle strength but can anybody offer any words of wisdom on keeping that muscle tone going? I might have access to hotel exercise bikes, which are awfully uncomfortable (and potentially even damaging) and I might be able to get a ride in the middle weekend of the trip.

What experience do others have of this kind of situation?

 

[amaferanga]

Why on earth are you avoiding carbs if you're training? If you're doing a significant volume of training (say 10 hours a week or more) then you absolutely need a good carb intake to help you recover. Something like 60% is often recommended. And for a 4 hour race you want to be carb LOADING the day or two before it.

 

[Globalti]

Thanks. I really wouldn't glorify it with the term "training" and as for ten hours a week... ha ha! I can manage a couple of evening hours on the trainer and perhaps a 3-4 hour ride on Sunday, family duties and weather permitting. I am merely trying to get fitter than in past years while surviving the freezing weather. There are five significant hills in the race so I want to get the body weight as low as possible. I believe also that the correct technique is to accustom your body to a low-carb diet then carbo load in the 24 hours before the race, which I will be doing.

 

[Arsen Gere]

If you want to do sub 4hrs, with an improved goal in mind, I'd say you are training.
If the hotel exercise bike is not up to much I would forget training as you may do more harm than good. I've used them when there is no alternative but limited the amount I did on them. Cycling being a constrained exercise, if you are not used to running or weights you could end up injured/sore and spoil it.
One extra long easy ride the weekend before you go might be a good idea 5hrs+, I'd do it on low carbs may be even bonk. Loads of time to recover and the effect should last. Then as amaferanga says, carbs in the days before the race itself.

I'd also consider carbs directly after exercise for two reasons, it is the best time to get glycogen back in to the muscles (the longer you wait the less effective it is) and it helps prevent depletion of your immune system.

For the hills, I'd suggest getting to the front of the bunch before the climbs so you are still in touch at the top and make sure everyone who passes you has to take the windy side. Don't get suckered in to working for others on the climb ease off and make them pass you if necessary.

Ketosis is often accompanied by acetone smells, nail varnish on your breath and pee, I'm not in favour of this and it is not something to do long term.

 

[yello]

Why on earth are you avoiding carbs if you're training?

One reason I could think of off the top of my head is to get his body used to burning fat in preference to carb.

 

[Globalti]

If the hotel exercise bike is not up to much I would forget training as you may do more harm than good.

For the hills, I'd suggest getting to the front of the bunch before the climbs so you are still in touch at the top and make sure everyone who passes you has to take the windy side. Don't get suckered in to working for others on the climb ease off and make them pass you if necessary.

I agree on the hotel exercise bike; it would be awful to end up with tendonitis or some injury.

As for the hills - there are 28,000 riders in this race! However you're right about getting suckered; in almost every official race pic there's a couple of lazy sods sitting on my wheel unbeknown to me, quietly enjoying my efforts. This year I'm going to do my best to get a gang organised and disciplined so as to share the work, especially if it's windy again.

 

[kiwi-Sal]

Globalti - wondered if you fancied a ride out this Saturday? You mentioned a great place for tea and cakes!

 

[lukesdad]

I d be tapering down in the 2 weeks before the race anyway Gbi.

 

[amaferanga]

One reason I could think of off the top of my head is to get his body used to burning fat in preference to carb.

Eh. You still need carbs to recover from a hard ride. And you'll only be fuelled significantly by fat if you're pootling. I doubt he'll be spending much time pootling in a race.

 

[dan_bo]

I do more running these days than cycling 'cos i'm spending so much time on site- at least on weekdays......

 

[yello]

And you'll only be fuelled significantly by fat if you're pootling. I doubt he'll be spending much time pootling in a race.

The whole point of coaching your body to burn fat in preference to carb (and it can be done, even at higher intensity levels) is to preserve the body's carb stores for when they are needed. The body's fat stores are more plentiful than carb. There was actually an article on this very thing in Cycling somethingorother late last year if you're interested.

I know you believe in the 60% carb diet (and I have no problem with you believing that at all btw) but do keep in mind that it is not accepted by all. There is plenty of valid research out there that supports a significantly lower carb intake - even for athletes.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

You see this would all have been sorted out if God had designed us to store carbs as muscle instead of lard

 

[VamP]

Your race strategy (who and how you work with others in the pack) will have a much greater bearing on your overall time than any training/diet tweaks you may do now.

Having said that, to taper effectivelly, reduce training sessions and volume but maintain intensity. Eat enough, you're not going to make significant weight loss in a month without hurting your fitness. The time to reduce weight has now passed

Above all, rest effectivelly after your intense sessions - that does include fuelling properly. Do not try to change the way your body fuels this close to your event, it will not work.

There's a lot of nonsense written about carbo loading, just make sure you're getting enough carbs between now and the race.

 

[Enigma2008]

Being an older interested racer I was drawn to this post but I've ended up confused!! 110k road race in over 4hrs was the first anomaly, as I don't know of any road races run off at less than 17mph!! So... I've looked at 110k events on 11th March on British Cycling, TLI, LVRC websites, there's nothing there that I can find!? I suspect this is a Sportive event, not a race!? Happy to be wrong though.

Nevertheless, the issue of ensuring your energy levels are topped up remains a priority. Your last extensive or intensive ride should be at least three days before your event, from then on eat as normal and sensibly making sure your food intake is 60% carbs with a good top up the evening before the event.

 

[ColinJ]

You see this would all have been sorted out if God had designed us to store carbs as muscle instead of lard

But the reason (S)He didn't design us that way is that muscle needs more energy to maintain it than fat does. If we were designed for muscle storage of energy and if the food supply ran out, those muscle stores would burn down more quickly than lard stores do!

We are well adapted to cope with famine; the problem is that most of us are effectively taking part in a permanent feast!