how do you guys train for competitions im working on getting into nationals not this year but next and i want to know what the trials guys and gurls do to train up for this and i want to know how the muni guys and gurls do and the freestyle ppl 
Normally you would just practice the events that are being offered. This works well with track races, artistic events, basketball and hockey. It’s harder to do for Trials and MUni, which are going to be very different from year to year.
For Trials, probably the best thing you can do is build your own obstacles and practice on them. Work on increasing your jump height, gap width, and ability to ride skinnies, both level and slanted.
For MUni, ride rough terrain, fast. Expect a cross country race to be in the range of roughly 1.5 - 3 miles. See how fast you can cover that distance on various trails. Remember, dismounts will slow you down, so the highest possible speed is not necessarily the answer.
For Uphill racing, practice riding up hills of various length and steepness. We don’t know what the course will be yet. For last year’s NAUCC, we didn’t know until the day of the event.
For Downhill, same thing. Course is unknown, and details may change.
In addition, bug the organizers to provide course information when it becomes available. I think they finally have a location for this year, but I don’t think the trails will be worked out until the snow melts. Next year is an even bigger question mark, as I don’t know for sure if it will be in Illinois (Unicycle Uni-Versity) or elsewhere. Expect Illinois to be relatively flat. 
Plus, consider the political angle. MUni and Trials are growing fast, but they are not required events at USA or IUF competitions. This needs to change, or at least the list of required events needs to be reduced to make time. Everybody make a lot of noise about this so you get heard, and a change in the rules gets addressed. MUni and Trials are going to surpass track and artistic in numbers of participants, if they haven’t already.
We’re working on a skill progression that will help you train for trials events. Send me an email if you want to hear more.
cettermclean at hotmail dot com
Also, I have heard that NAUCC 2005 will be in Pennsylvania.
Carol
practice