[nikkiwaud offline]

Hi I am currently training for a 60k enduro, my first ever event. I have increased my rides to three off road per week each time riding for approx 3 hrs. I ride in north Wales, good hilly terrain and technical trails. My last few rides have been awful, very hard breathing even on the downhill descents and bits that I would usually find pretty easy. Any advice? Could it be my diet, not giving myself enough time to recover? Any advice on diet, what else I could be doing to build strength/stamina such as light sessions in gym?? I'd be very grateful as feeling v frustrated and feel like I'm not improving like I should!! Thanks nikki

[mtbgreg1 offline]

Hey man,

This is tough to answer, as I'm sure there are a lot of different factors that could be affecting you. Perhaps diet, or perhaps it's hydration, posture on the bike, general fatigue (lack of recovery time), general unfitness (unless this hasn't been the case recently)...

Tough to say.

[Fitch offline]

Agreed, VERY hard to say here - so many factors can fit in here. One I often get that I forget about with breathing is allergies! Spring booms here in New England and out of nowhere, I'm suddenly huffing and puffing when I wasn't two weeks ago.... just par for the bike course.

[jtorlando25 offline]

I've battled asthma and I've been fat my whole life so the breathing has always been a struggle. The best advice I can give is to go run. It is hard, boring, and all around lame exercise compared to mountain biking but it helps all aspects of our sport. I recently turned up my workout plan a notch and I've been running as well as mountain biking a few times a week and I've noticed huge improvements in my breathing.

When running, I push myself to run for longer periods of time and I can feel my lungs getting stronger after only a few weeks of doing it.

[Terrier offline]

I feel your pain. I'm currently trying not to overtrain for a duathlon this weekend. this mornings times were slower than last week, so tomorrows training will consist of walking my dogs. 3 hours of mountain biking probably burns around 3000 calories. The average American consumes 2600 per day. I try to eat like a bodybuilder, start and end the day with egg white omelets. I get most carbs from oats, sweet potatoes, and rice. Fats from nuts and fish. I eat 6 to 8 times a day to get the calories I need for my training, be it cardio or in the gym. I use supplements like vitamins and protein and Omega 3s too.
I read a little about marathon training. Those guys do one long (18 mile) run per week and 3 or 4 days of 6 to 8 miles to perpare for the big event. Three hour rides might be too much. Maybe 2 1 and a half hour rides and 1 4 hour?
I'm no pro trainer, but I have hurt myself over training before.

[Bubblehead10MM offline]

Have you ruled out medical stuff like cardiac and asthma conditions,(and age how old are you?) It sounds wierd to me. I always find it remarkable how quickly my respiration rate rises if I try to take a hill in too high a gear, or even in the granny gear spinning fast, but the downhill, unless you don't take time to recover is scary. There's a short Wikipedia article on "respiration rate." Not much there really. I think respiration rate responds to CO2 and O2 levels(not a med professional.) It could be your just pushing too hard without recovery time before pushing down hill. It could also be serious medical stuff that I'm not qualified to even speculate on. Good luck