Hi,
I am planning a 100 mile unicycle charity ride. The ride is split in three days for approximately 33 miles/day. Does anyone have any good training schedule guides for this?
Thanks,
Never rode that far before, but having had trained for a few physical events before would tell me:
Start eating correctly NOW… A good diet goes a long way
Start riding 3 days a week for distance, build up to 40 miles or so…
On the days you dont ride work other areas of your body, Arms, chest, upper back, neck and so on…
You can workout your body’s core muscles every day! Uni seems (to me at least) to be very core dependant… So crunches, yoga excetra
Take up rock climbing at a local gym… Great total body work out… Will tone you in no time, AND alot of climbing is balance and center of gravity!!
Learn to walk a slack line (probably find one at the rock gym) awesome for leg strength, core, balance, and determination
Good luck on your ride!
Seat calluses
I suggest you develope some seat calluses if you don’t already have any.
There was just a thread a couple of weeks ago on distance training. Might want to search for that. Also there is a thread on “who has ridden 100 miles”
I’m just starting to train for a long ride myself. Conventional wisdom is to only add 10% mileage a week.
If you want some other good info search for 'Training for a Century" on the internet. You can read about the concept of hard days and easy days and the idea of quality training over quantity.
My personal method right now is to ride a new distance 3 times before moving up to the next mile. Right now I am giving myself a day off between rides (that is as much for getting used to the chaffing as much as anything else). Once I am riding everyday I will make each level of distance 5 days before moving up. Probably at 20 miles I will start with the 10% a week.
Having done many sports, many of them endurance sports, running, swimming, cycling, the enemy is over-training. If your legs are beat give them the day off and do some stretching or working on another uni skill. Play some B’ball, throw a frisbee, whatever blows your skirt. If your mood is getting cranky ease up until riding sounds like fun again. This is all basic endurance training stuff.
Another thing you might want to consider is a training log. I’m just putting the finishing touches on an excel spreadsheet to track mileage and there are a bunch of free web sites where you can track mileage. I like the one at www.bicycling.com.
Hi, the “Who has completed a 100 mile ride?” is more like brag thread, but still you can get some contacts there… Who has completed a 100 mile ride?
But the issue more similar to yours you can find in this “Distance Training” thread: Distance Training
Good luck 
I’m signed in for 20’something offroad ride next month, but not much time for training though so I’m getting a bit worried.
100 miler
Thanks for the great advise
Also, since your ride involves consecutive days of riding, make sure that you train on consecutive days too so your butt and legs get used to it.
33 miles a day for three days?? No problem. Just have lots of fun, ride some days of 30 to 40 miles and enjoy yourself. If you can ride 40 miles in one day and still walk up and down stairs the next day, you’ll be fine riding riding 30 miles three days in a row. Cortisol and epinephrine go a long way for endurance riding. Eat lots of protein to balance your blood sugar. Figure out a good electrolyte mix to keep your muscles from cramping. That’s really important. I prefer mixing a high quality multi-mineral formula with some magnesium taurate, Emergen-C and sea salt. Throw it all into the camel back with two liters of water and I’m good for 40 miles. You’ll do great.
Oh yeah, if you can pick up a Schlumpf while you’re at it you’ll have more fun and impress your fellow riders that much more.
Geoff
Cortisol supplements and epinephrine? Your kidding right?
Stay hydrated (with electrolytes if you wish). Eat/drink a combination of simple and complex carbohydrates). Let the wonder that is your body do it’s job and leave the ‘tricks’ the the muscle heads.
From this article: Eating practices of the best endurance athletes in the world
If you’re thinking about heading to a nutritional-supplement store to purchase some performance-enhancing supplements (or you already purchase on a regular basis), bear in mind that the Kenyan runners were not taking supplements of any kind. There were no vitamins, no minerals, no special formulations or miracle compounds, nada. The gold-medal-winning Kenyans adhered to the odd philosophy that regular foods could fuel their efforts quite nicely.
Look at this article: http://www.hammernutrition.com/hnt/1273/
Nothing about not taking enough stimulants/adrenal supplements.
Investigate training supplement if you like but the evidence for things like creatine, DHEA and cortisol are very sketchy unless you are reading a site that is promoting them.
Read up on nutrition for endurance and recovery. Stick to sites related to running and cycling they don’t tend to be as extreme as the strength trainers in trying every new fad that is marketed to them.
Personally I stick to herbs and food for natural sources of supplements. Garlic, Fish oil, Ginko, seaweed (for minerals) etc. Other super foods include dark berry fruits/juices. Spirulina, honey/bee pollen, Miso, Wheatgrass/green barley, etc. There are vitamin/mineral supplements that are derived from smashed up food sources.
As further proof of the efficacy of foods for the body, look up recovery drink and chocolate milk. Testing shows it works just as well as the high priced formulated recovery drinks.
Do you own research and come up with what works for you. That’s the beauty of the internet, we don’t have to take sketchy advice from people of unknown qualification (and that includes me).
This is probably the best advice in the thread so far. Since it’s a multi-day ride, it’s important for your body to be ready for that. So practice both days of the weekend, etc. The distance is fairly trivial unless you’re riding a 24" or something; it’s more a matter of your body being used to the idea.
Based on my experiences, you’ll want to electrolytes available. Water alone only goes so far. On long or grueling rides, I’ll carry a bottle of Powerade or similar, on the back of my Camelbak. I only ever put water in my Camelbak. Or you can use salt tablets, which weigh nothing. But make sure you have something, as if you end up with food that’s doesn’t replenish you there, you’re not going to enjoy the ride as much. Again, not huge mileage so it’s not such a big deal.
Nor is diet, though eating the right foods is never a bad thing. Supplements are for elite athletes (with doctors) and posers. For example, a Power Gel is great if you’re feeling pooped, but the effect doesn’t last that long. More useful in a race situation than on a ride that’s not about time. Just make sure you have some food with you, and more water than you think you need.
Most importantly, enjoy the ride!
This is what I do too. I only put water in the Camelbak. I freeze a bottle of Gatorade or the like and put it next to the bladder of the Camelbak to keep the water cold. Then after a few hours the Gatorade melts and makes a nice cool drink.
You added the word “supplements.” Our bodies produce cortisol and epinephrine in response to exertion, and indeed they do contribute to being able to ride long distances day after day. I rode (on one of those two-wheeled contraptions, loaded with touring gear) an average of 105 miles/day for seven days straight last summer. Each morning I woke up sore and tired, but after the first bit of riding, the (naturally produced) chemicals took away the pain and fatigue.
Follow the C.A.K.E. diet
Cake
Alcohol
Karbohydrates
Energy
Pick up Issue 2 of UNI. it has all the info you need re the C.A.K.E. diet.
But yah 33 miles a day should be no problem with some minimal training. Just enjoy yourself.
He correctly added the word supplements, due to the fact that the poster of the suggestion was suggesting to “take these”… Now if our bodies produce these chemicals, then by taking extra, are we not supplementing?
I am with Ezas here. I have had diabeties for the majority of my life. Type 1 insulin dependant. I hike rough terrain for 20+ miles as a stroll, I rock climb, I kayak with some friends, I roller blade, I unicycle again, I jog, I am an automechanic (a physical job), I work the pits for my buddies race car in the summer heat, and I am raising 3 awesome and active kids…
ONLY supplement I take is 500mg vitamin C a day and my insulin (which I would die without)… The vitamin C is because my kids go to day care and they love to bring gifts (colds) home for me so I try to stay healthy…
If you eat for whatever it is your doing, then unless your going to extremes (pro body builders for example) then theres no need for supplements like cortisol and epinephrine, or even creatine and whey protien drinks…
He correctly added the word supplements, due to the fact that the poster of the suggestion was suggesting to “take these”… Now if our bodies produce these chemicals, then by taking extra, are we not supplementing?
I am with Ezas here. I have had diabeties for the majority of my life. Type 1 insulin dependant. And at 40 years old, I hike rough terrain for 20+ miles as a stroll, I rock climb, I kayak with some friends, I roller blade, I unicycle again, I jog, I am an automechanic (a physical job), I work the pits for my buddies race car in the summer heat, and I am raising 3 awesome and active kids…
ONLY supplement I take is 500mg vitamin C a day and my insulin (which I would die without)… The vitamin C is because my kids go to day care and they love to bring gifts (colds) home for me so I try to stay healthy…
If you eat for whatever it is your doing, then unless your going to extremes (pro body builders for example) then theres no need for supplements like cortisol and epinephrine, or even creatine and whey protien drinks…
Geoff can defend himself next time he’s online, but I don’t see “take these” anywhere in his post. IIRC, Geoff is a (medical) doctor, and also IIRC, he once mentioned prescribing unicycling instead of drugs to a patient, so I doubt that he’s actually suggesting that the OP take such supplements for an easy three-day ride. Anyhow, I’ll let Geoff speak for himself.
On the topic of vitamin C supplements, you might check into the recent literature on its (in)effectiveness. Additionally, a recent article I read mentioned that a downside of taking supplementary antioxidants is that doing so can shut down the metabolic pathways that are triggered simultaneously with antioxidant production after exercise (in response to the damage caused by the free radicals from the increased metabolic activity). That is, the free radicals trigger both antioxidant production as well as other beneficiary processes, but the supplementary vitamin C can absorb the free radicals before they can trigger these processes. These other pathways benefit muscle recovery and growth, IIRC, though I read the article a while ago. Anyhow, I stopped taking vitamin C supplements over a year ago and have not experienced any increase in illness (and, unfortunately, no significant increase in muscle growth).
So are you suggesting Geoff wrote about all those supplements and doesn’t want you to take these? I think he was suggesting you find out a formula ideal for you but you can look at what he uses for inspiration if you want.
Nope. I’m suggesting that he didn’t mean supplements at all! That is, he did not mention cortisol and epinephrine as supplements but rather in the way that endurance athletes joke about (seeking) endorphin highs. In other words, he’s saying that not much in the way of anything is needed. Sure, eat some protein and supplement your salt intake if you don’t eat salty food usually. But animals (including us humans) already have the capability to handle endurance events: our bodies produce hormones that mask fatigue and boost output, allowing us to punish ourselves day after day.
Now my reading could be totally wrong. Maybe he was really suggesting (jokingly or not) to take hormone supplements. But I doubt it. A forgiving reading of what he said suggests otherwise. I suggest dropping the subject until Geoff posts again.
OOOOWEEEE! Having some fun tonight are we? My posts don’t usually warrant such vehement responses. I feel honored, guys, really.
So the questions are: “Is Geoff some whacked out drug pusher who believes in better living through chemistry? Will he try and seduce young unicyclists with promises of 100 mile races won in record time if only they take the evil cortisol? Or is he some wussy nature freak who considers Emergen-C a gateway drug?” Who is right? Inquiring unicyclists need to know.
And the winner is… TheWheelThing!!! Ding! Ding! Ding! (Cue the applause.)
Yes, TheWheelThing read my entry correctly. (My guess is that TheWheelThing has a strong background in science.) No where in my post did I state that anyone should be taking or supplementing cortisol and epinephrine. (As an aside, epinephrine isn’t available orally, and an injection of it will only last you about 15 minutes. That would be a very poor treatment for long distance race-induced fatigue. Also, epi will make you all twitchy and you’d probably crash. Cortisol, on the other hand, can be obtained in oral supplement forms, although hydrocortisone is a much more commonly available form. Both cortisol and hydrocortisone can have effects that last several hours, so you’d be better off using those.) Anyone who has adrenal fatigue and can’t produce enough of their own cortisol has no business participating in a 100 mile ride. Anyone who can make enough cortisol to ride 100 miles doesn’t need it.
Cortisol really is great stuff, it boosts blood sugar, reduces inflammation, boosts blood pressure and gives you what you need to respond to stress without wigging out like you would if you only had epinephrine. But hey, sometimes when things get really scary, epi can help you climb that tall tree faster than you thought you ever could to escape the bear. Or maybe it’ll help you pass that unicyclist in the last hundred yards of the 11 mile hill climb (It didn’t help me. Beau Hoover beat me by about 3 minutes in the race up Mt. Diablo (Great race Beau!))
Bottom line: Cortisol and Epinephrine are our friends. We make them. Most of us make as much of them as we need. Some of my patients definitely need some supplemental cortisol due to their poorly functioning adrenal glands. These people need to sleep more, balance their blood sugars with a high protein diet and find a way to reduce their stress responses. They absolutely should not participate in endurance events.
Is a high protein diet controversial? Hmm. Some people like to have a high carb diet. I find that they tend to burn out more easily, are emotionally more labile and put on fat easily. Sure it can work for some, but I almost never recommend it.
Are electrolytes controversial? Salt? Magnesium? Potassium? I’m going out on a limb here, but I think they’re pretty important when it comes muscle contractions. You might find one or two citations in the medical literature about their function in muscle contractions.
Personally, I find that for most 10 mile rides, even if it involves 2,000’ elevation gain and loss, I don’t need supplemental electrolytes. What I get in my food is plenty. Beyond that, say 20+ mile rides, I function better if I spike my 2 liter camel back with the following recipe: 250 mg Magnesium Taurate (produced by CardioVascular Research), two capsules of Citramin II (a multimineral produced by Thorne Research), one or two packets of Emergen-C (I agree with you John that I don’t like to put flavored stuff in my camel back. The flavor lasts for weeks. But I’m training for the 104 mile Reach The Beach in May, so I’m putting in some long miles and I don’t want to mess with drinking out of bottles.) and about a quarter teaspoon of Redmond RealSalt (mined sea salt with a bezillion minerals in it). That’s my secret recipe. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone!
I find that if I drink before I get thirsty and drink frequently then I can avoid the muscle cramps.
Oh food, how I love thee. I love to eat lots and lots all the time as much as I can. Then I come back for seconds. Eric, the CAKE diet sounds very appealing to me. I’m tempted to try it, but right now I am strictly adhering to the seefood diet. If I see it, I eat it. Fortunately, I surround myself with really good organic meats, vegies, whole grains, luscious wild salmon, raw nuts, happy eggs, berries, pinot noir and just a wee dram of Balvenie single malt scotch.
So after perusing all of these mildly rancorous posts it turns out that for the most part we all agree that food is good and don’t do drugs. Am I right? Can’t we all just be friends again?
33 miles a day? No problem. Have fun, eat good food, mind your electrolytes and make sure your seat is comfortable.
Geoff
BTW “NatureQuack” is my moniker because I am a Naturopathic Physician, licensed in the state of Oregon since 2001. Some MDs think I’m a quack because they’re ignorant of my training and treatment and they think they are Medical Deities. That’s OK, I’m over it. My cell phone even quacks when it rings.
Happy trails.
I agree mostly, although what do you define to be a drug cos most food probably won’t pass. I don’t know as much about that stuff as you, but some drugs seem better than others so it isn’t that simple as don’t do any drugs. I don’t need extra adrenaline. Friends of course! One wheel one hundred mile friends. I don’t take supplements usually apart from electrolyte drinks for endurance events.
I think 100 miles in three days is an achievable goal even following the Cake diet. I did 50 miles as a training ride for my first 100 mile ride, a few weeks beforehand. Once you get past a certain saddle soreness pain threshold it seems great distances are possible. Push your own limits and you will find any relatively smaller distances are effortless!