It’s one thing to enter a mountain bike stage race like the Dragon Trail, but how do you truly prepare? Riding your bike more before an event is a good start, but there’s more to it than that if you want to know you’ll get through the event and have fun – or be competitive. […]
The 5 P’s of Performance in Cycling
Cycling is a sport that commands a lot of commitment to perform at a high level. The hours required to really lift the endurance capacity required for long distance events like XCM and MTB stage races dwarfs the training requirements for many other sports. Subsequently, a lot of motivation is required by the participant to […]
In the pressure cooker: Vittoria MTB Marathon
Should be a walk in the park for you. That’s the words and thoughts of others who I discuss the Vittoria MTB Marathon with. You’d think so but nothing is so simple. In my last race, World Championships, I finished seventh, and I’m the National Marathon champion, surely it’s possible to cruise to victory at […]
Livign(o) life large in Europe
It can be a lonely experience racing in Europe no matter who you are, but especially so as an Aussie or Kiwi. We travel thousands of kilometres by ourselves, to the opposite side of the world, to race usually alone, with little contact with our family and friends back home. So it’s been a great […]
The Power of Enthusiasm
I am often asked what is the most common personality trait of a successful athlete. Many attitudes come to mind that are conducive to performance but I have rarely committed to one trait to be crucial for success. It is something I have spent some hours ruminating on and researching. Recently, I had a minor […]
A sauna can help sustain performance
From ice baths to sauna training, if you’re watching the world’s top sportspeople prepare for the Olympics, you’re sure to see them engage in one or more of these extreme activities. While the debate continues over the pros and cons of ‘fire’ or ‘ice’ training techniques for Olympic hopefuls, new research at the University of […]
Goal-setting and motivation during COVID
With no foreseeable racing at a high level, it can be hard to find the motivation for training. I myself find training harder, but the usual OCD attitude towards training is slipping. Occasionally I have been taking the easy way out of intervals, or finding excuses not to complete a program, and let’s be honest, […]
Training for the Start Line Jitters
The start of a mountain bike race wether it be XCM, XCO, enduro or even downhill is the peak of nerves, excitement, intensity and fear for all riders. Training for this element of a race is often the most complex. And it is not just from the perspective of intensity and training structure but also […]
Train with MarathonMTB.com for the Convict 100
So far the year 2020 has thrown up challenges around the world. The world of sport has been upended, but in some countries events have been able to reschedule, allowing us mountain bikers to set goals for later in the year. Goal setting is a key part of motivation, and a positive goal to train […]
Zwift Haute Route Watopia 3 Day
This past weekend I should have been in France racing the first event on my 2020 calendar, instead my calendar looks like a young childs notepad with random crosses for cancellations and arrows for postponements. Roc Laissagais which would have been the first European 2020 round of the UCI World Marathon Series was going to […]