Wow. It’s been a while since I updated what was supposed to be a triptych of articles about preparing for the Marji Gesick.
As it rolls around again, maybe now isn’t such a bad time to revive them.
You need to be physically prepared for this monster. It *is* going to hurt. Therefore, your first step is to become accustomed to pain. Ride. Ride lots. Ride some more. Aim to be used to 12 hours or more in the saddle in one go. Make sure your taint is toughened up and your ham strings are elastic.
The next way to become accustomed to pain is to do intervals. Preferably hill climb intervals. Over and over again. Time yourself. Get strong.
Although some of the hills are going to seem like they last f o r e v e r in the race, they are actually relatively small as far as hills go. But they are steep and relentless. You need resilience and a good lactate threshold. Go to it.
Nutrition is something you will need to think about. Eat well leading up to the race. But critically, you need to be able to consume calorie dense fuel through the race. You will use *a lot* and it may well be humid and hot. Just keeping hydrated is going to be an issue and getting food on board when hydration is a real issue is even more difficult. I’d actually recommend doing some reading about the physical aspects of extreme exercise. Knowledge weighs nothing but is priceless when the shit hits the fan. Understand the principals and practice some different food stuffs when you are in extremis. For example, I know that turkey meat, cheese or ham rolls and some milder jerky is extremely effective and generally attractive nutrition when I am hitting the wall. When the redline is teetering a tyre width away, for me, it’s Mike n’ Ikes. But beware! once you start hitting short chain carb, you have to keep it going.
Hydration. It goes without saying you need a strategy here. Watch the weather and try to work out how you are going to resupply – you are not going to be able to carry enough, though the generosity of locals is *amazing* you can’t rely on it. If memory serves I went through 20 odd bottles worth of fluid. Without being able to refill at the aid stations and with some kind folk along the course I would have been desiccated.
The last physical thing I will talk about is comfort: that means your bike set up, clothes, shoes, gloves, trying to minimise weight on your back and then application of chamois cream through the hours you are likely to be out there.
Think about it. Visualise (maybe not the chamois cream) but know how you will want to react in certain circumstances and it will breed confidence. Practice and confidence allows action under extreme effort with considerably less requirement for thought and thinking ain’t going to be easy when you are 10 hours deep.