|   Getting Ready For Racing | GetAJoke.com
Mar 11, 2002 4:01 PM | | This summer I am going to be cross country racing for the first time. I just started doing "real" mountain biking on trails and a decent bike last summer, and I've been doing some riding this winter (but it's cold here in Canada).
What should I be doing now, so that in a few months I'll be ready to race? I'm 14 years old, around 5'4" and weigh around 135lbs. I enjoy biking and I'm competitive, but I don't want to start taking a ton of pills or really restricting myself with eating and excersise.
How many hours, kilometres, etc. should I be doing per week? Do you have any "easy" eating tips for me? Besides biking, should I be running, weight lifting, etc? Any excersises you recommend to build strength, endurance, and flexibility?
I'm just looking for some basic tips on what I should be doing, so that when spring comes around and I'm ready to race- I actually have a chance of winning and don't just fall over on the first hill. :-)
Thanks a lot,
Mike |
| Hi Mike | MAII
Mar 12, 2002 4:41 AM | | You sound like a really intelligent kid. You picked a great sport by the way.
Let me try and give you my opinion on some of your questions. #1 at your age don't even consider being as obsesive about diet, training or any similar issues you see posted here on the board. As a jr racer your peers, for the most part, will just ride a few times a week and then race on the weekend....HAVE FUN!!! If you have talent you will quickly move up through the categories ( not sure what they are in Canada ...here they are beginner, sport, expert, semi-pro and pro ) Most Jr racers do not start to "seriously train' until they are about to make the transistion to Expert and/or get picked up by a Jr. development team. If this is what happens to you, you will then have support for the training, etc.
As far as eatting...just try and eat healthy. My son Jon who is 13 use to mtb race , he is now a body builder ( his choice NOT mine!). He usually eats cereal for breakfast, salad at school and trys to get in a can of Tuna or two a day. He does drink too much soda and eat WAY to much junk food in my opinion...but that is part of being a kid. Just make sure you are getting enough protein to help your muscles develop and eat some fruits and veggies ..cause they are good for you : ) It wouldn't hurt to take a multi-vitamin.
As far as the running and lifting - racers usually do that BEFORE the racing season starts ...once the racing starts we generally just train on our bikes. Try and hook up with a club or a group of other riders to train a few times a week. Also do not take seriously all advice people give you ...some is bad advice! Try and read Joel Friels Mtb Training Bible or Skillbecks book.
Good luck with your racing!!! |
| Thanks! | GetAJoke.com
Mar 12, 2002 7:07 AM | | Thanks a lot for that information, that's very helpful. I've signed up with a bike club that has two group rides per week, and also a racing team. That should give me a better idea of what I'm up against. :-) It will also be great to take those rides, because I'm sure they know of some great trails I haven't found- plus I'll get to meet some people with the same interests. It should be much better then riding by myself, or with my friend (which doesn't allow me to challenge myself because I've got to slow down for him). :-)
Thanks for the suggestions on eating, I'm going to try and heat more fruits and vegetables, and less junk food and latenight snacks. I'll take your advice on not getting too serious about it, because I'm sure that too much change too quickly would do more harm than good.
Maybe I'll start to do some more running, especially long runs to work on my endurance. I've been riding most of this winter, but it's cold here in Canada and we're getting lots of snow, so riding is really difficult. Trying to pedal through it at around 0 degrees Fahrenheit is not exactly fun.
Thanks again for the advice! Anyone else have some more advice to offer? |
| Racing | Russ
Apr 3, 2002 1:13 PM | | Hey Mike,
I'm 15 and am racing Men's 16 and under beginner/sport in California. I recently raced at the Sea Otter Classic where I got 11th out of 83, the top 4 people were from out of state. I don't know exactly how big MTBing is up in Canada, but in California, there are a lot of racers our age, at my high school, we have a club, and there are other clubs at a lot of high schools. We are all competing in this Norcal High School Race Series, consisiting of 6 races. check it out at www.norcalhighracing.org, last time I checked, I was number 3, but I might drop down to 4th from my results from the Sea Otter. I do a lot of training, about 12 hours a week except on race weeks, and I've been consistently in the top 5, except with the Sea Otter. I have a training plan that I've been working on, without books or anything, and it seems to have been working fairly well, but I can tell that I'm missing something, so I ordered the mtb training bible. I eat fruit every day, you must have 3 complete meals a day, and I try to stay away from junk food as much as I can, I'll splurge now and again with some ice cream or whatever, but then I'm back on healthy food. I want to move up into Expert in 2 years or so, and so I'm doing my best now so I will be able to keep improving and stay at the head of the classes every time. Do a lot of your training on the road, because offroad you get beaten up more from the terrain, and on road you can concentrate on what you're trying to work on. Email me, we should talk some more. |
| |
