How do weekend warriors know if they are adequately prepared to run a marathon, tackle a triathlon or safely attempt an ultra?
Most marathoners never will run more than 20 miles until the day of the 26.2-mile race. Cyclists don’t train for century events by cranking out 100- mile rides. Ultra-runners don’t go on ultra-long training runs.
Therein lies part of the attraction for endurance events.
“You are going into that unknown,” said Neal Henderson, a sports physiologist at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. “It’s not a given that you’re going to get to the finish line.”
“That’s why the first one is so stinking scary,” said Steve Krebs, a Wheat Ridge physician and sub-three hour marathoner.
Endurance athletes risk more than failure. At the Boulder Peak Triathlon in July, a 76-year-old man died of a heart attack during the swim and two men suffered bad bike crashes.
The first step should be consulting a physician, especially for people who have risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Most young people who die of heart attacks while competing have a congenital defect that was previously undetected. Older people who suffer heart attacks during exertion usually have coronary artery disease.
When an older patient tells Krebs he wants to start training for an endurance event, Krebs says: “The No. 1 risk of death in America is cardiovascular disease. I think it’s a fantastic thing you want to start exercising, but don’t you think I should make sure your heart will tolerate this before we begin?”
Longtime runners and cyclists need to understand their sports do not make them immune to coronary disease, even if they are otherwise extremely fit. Krebs once knew an extraordinary cyclist who suffered a heart attack and died while riding up Lookout Mountain. He’d had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and ignored symptoms before the fatal attack.
Long-term experience and training may be a hedge against death in endurance events, though. Krebs points to the Boston Marathon, which has stringent qualification standards and has had only three fatalities in 109 years. The Chicago Marathon, which has no qualification criteria, had four fatalities from 2000 to 2004.
Following training programs from books or coaches takes away some of the mystery. Marathoners typically build up over 12-16 weeks to do three long runs between 18 and 22 miles. Training for ultras, Henderson recommends maximum runs of 30 to 35 miles with walk breaks. In training for a 24-hour bike race last year, Henderson did a six-hour ride one week, an eight- hour ride another week and one weekend with two rides of 10 hours and six hours.
Training isn’t just a matter of physical preparation.
“When you are getting into these ultra-distance competitions, your training is often to prepare you to access what your mind can do – take your body to a place you haven’t been,” Henderson said. “A lot of times it’s preparing to push yourself, put yourself out of your comfort zone.”
Inexperienced cyclists need to remember there’s more to it than pedaling, lest they learn otherwise with a nasty crash.
“There’s a lot more technique to it that you actually have to learn,” said Jon Tarkington, a professional rider and coach.
“You have to develop a lot of balance, not just side-to-side, which is what most people can do to keep a bike upright, but also fore and aft.”
Inexperienced riders can learn from coaches or by joining a racing club.
“There’s lots of different skill drills you can do to learn how to balance on a bicycle,” Tarkington said.
“There are things you can do with other people to make yourself comfortable riding around others. There are different ways to train those skill sets. A lot of people ignore that completely.”
