last week I’ve had my first training for the dusseldorf marathon 2012. 10 Km in 41 minutes, with an average heart frequency of 152 bpm. average speed of 14.4 km/h with a nimbus 29er. Tomorow will be the second one…
Keep it up. I’m trying to work myself up to a marathon as well, but I’m not in it to set any land speed records. Also I’ve got a 26".
I’m lucky in that in my area there’s a trail that was built on top of some old railroad tracks and it goes on for 23 miles. The nice thing about that is it is flat and straight. So my training has been:
- Go on the flat, straight trail for distance
- Go on a shorter, hilly ride.
And repeat with longer distances. So far it’s really worked for me, and I’ve been able to go up hills that would have completely winded me and forced me to stop several times in the past.
Another thing that may help… find a way to get younger. I’ve been studying up on some of Ponce de León’s notes. Maybe he would have found that fountain if he had a muni to help him along the way.
I’m faster on an ungeared 26er at least on a level road.
Start wearing gloves, knee pads, elbow pads and a helmet. That should give you a nice boost (trust me, you will be faster wearing protective gear).
Also, there’s the question of crank length. Too short cranks feel faster without being so. That’s basically because the reduced torque makes it more difficult to control your uni. I am using too short cranks to train my level of control. I’d use longer cranks if I wanted to challenge my personal speed record, though.
yesterday was my third day of training.
my speed is increasing!!!
avg speed: 15 km/h
distance: 13.3 km
max speed: 40 km
time: 0:53:00
excited for tomorow. I’ll try 16 km.
Hi Cafi,
may I suggest concentrating on distance first, speed second. You seem to be doing it the other way around and I think the first goal in any race is to finish 
Of course I am assuming you haven’t ridden the full distance… If you have you can happily ignore me 
Kamikaze’s comments are interesting, especially the added protection means added speed.
Good luck
James
thanks everybody!!!
My first goal is definetlly the distance. The speed is almost a motivation. My last training was really good, and my personal record: 15 km in 01:05:00.
I already use protection, and it’s imperative!!! specially because I’m a professional artist, so I can’t afford the risk of serious injuries.
Yesterday I talked to my phisical trainer, and she told me that long distance runners and swimmers are using a different training method: they run/ swin 5 km per week, but their training is extremely intense, combining running with push ups and other muscular exercises. they found out that athlets are having less injuries and are improving a lot their marks.
I’ll star this training next month. let’s see if it works… so far I’m trying longer distances to get used to the unconfort down there!!!
IMHO, from 20 years of running experience and 6 unicycling the only way to train for an activity is to do the activity. If you want to be a better runner you have to run a lot. A better rider you have to ride a lot. No amount of cross-training is going to help. It’s all about specificity in training. There are no shortcuts. Just put the miles in and do the hard work and you’ll reap the benefits… Good luck! I wish there was an marathon near me that was open to cyclists. Never heard of that. We have local organized rides though and tomorrow I’m doing a 50 miler on roads, should be a blast!
That’s a mental thing. It works for me. While I don’t wear any knee protection for road riding (36"), if it’s a race my knees will be covered. The security of knowing I can push my limits, with less fear of losing a bunch of skin, gives me confidence which translates into a bit of speed.
What Kamikaze was saying about cranks also has truth; basically that there is a limit to the speed advantage of shorter cranks. The specifics of this depend greatly on the terrain of the event, and the rider’s skill/efficiency riding with those cranks.
fify. There are many ways to train.
That’s B.S. Specifically, I think what was being referred to above was prevention of injuries, which is a big element of cross training. But it can also help in other ways, by stabilizing your joints (also an injury thing) improving your cardio fitness if needed, and filling in areas that may be weak from just a single type of training. I learned this from Kris Holm.
Now I need to put it into practice. My lame idea of cross training is to do MUni rides to train for road rides… 
True, but if you only have a fixed budget of time to train, the best bang for your buck is specificity training. I’m just trying to help folks avoid training traps that really don’t do much to help in what your real goal is. Eyes on the prize. I agree that if you have weaknesses in areas then some amount of cross-training will help, but you shouldn’t let the cross-training become the bulk of your training. There are no shortcuts, no magic potions, just plain old hard work and perseverance. So, ride, ride and ride some more but at the same time don’t forget to rest and recover. Down training cycles are just as important as the hard training cycles. But most of all, keep it fun!
I think it’s interesting what cafi’s saying about injury prevention, certainly injuries are very common amongst runners, due to the sheer anount of running they need to do- if shorter/intense runs can produce a similar training effect to longer ones with less wear-and-tear on the body, then that sounds a good idea.
Having said that, one of the nice things about unicycling is that there’s a lot less impact involved and it’s less stressful on the body than running.
just arriving from the park. 13 km added to my carrier!!! feeling good.
by the way, someone mantioned the main reason for me to continue riding unicycles and being a professional circus artist in brasil: having fun with it.
I started practising circus skills when I was 10. it was so funny!!! probably my best memories in life. now I’m 33 and every time I’m riding the 29" at the park I feel the same way!!!
You mention 29er in combination with Düsseldorf marathon. That makes me wonder in which class you plan to compete. There are two classes, which the Germans call Standard and Unlimited. For Standard a 29er is slightly too big, but for Unlimited it is probably too slow.