TRAINING, PREPARATION, KIT AND TOP TIPS...

Athletes’ Angels Ltd have organised the medical, physio and massage for the Maggie's Monster Bike and Hike since it started. We have collected information from over the years and can tell you in truth what works and what doesn’t. Please also see the training section on the CD, although note that the water advice has changed. We also have a discounted injury clinic in case of need for injuries or personalised /individualised training programmes This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

EVENT PROFILE

(Please note there is more information in these guidelines than the summary in the event booklet).

Recommended Kit List

You should have with you at all times:

Daypack with:

• Camelback/water bottle
• Waterproofs
• Head torch (and spare batteries).
• Energy Food
• Map
• Spare socks
• Mobile phone
• Basic First Aid (including compedes)
• Woolly hat
• Bicycle Helmet - this is essential and compulsory. Due to insurance liability you cannot continue without one. Nb if you are hiring a bike, the helmet will be provided.
• Puncture repair set (and know how to use it - practice taking your wheels on and off). 
• Aide Memoire on the back of your participant number (given at pasta party)

Kit kept with your support team:

• Spare boots/trainers
• Spare clothes
• Sunglasses & Sunhat
• Midge repellent & midge head net
• Cycle shorts
• Vaseline
• Basic first aid including compeeds
• Energy drinks – Lucozade
• Energy food – nuts, fruit, chocolate, energy bars
• 5 pairs of socks
• Towel
• Spare boot laces
• Sleeping bag
• Extra pack of compeeds (these will be put on by the first aid team but you must supply your own).
• Mobile phone
• Individual team mobile numbers
• Event emergency numbers
• Teams next of kin numbers
• Event map

TOP TIPS

1. Feet – Toughen your feet by walking as much as possible. Wear in and alternate trainers/boots. Trim toenails and ensure your alignment is correct.
2. Socks – 1,000 mile or double lined socks for cycling. Thick breathable socks for walking. Change your socks at each checkpoint.
3. Walking Boots – light Gore-Tex type boots. Make sure they fit perfectly and are well broken in.
4. Trainers – fine in dry weather on some sections and cycling only. Not recommended in the wet. Alternate with walking boots.
5. Joints – use two walking sticks throughout the entire hiking section.
6. Rubbing – wear Lycra running shorts and apply Vaseline to prevent chaffing.
7. Stretching – stretch both before and after training and at each checkpoint. Use Athletes’ Angels to massage & stretch at checkpoints.
8. Drink and hydration – drink regularly & ensure you eat salty food to absorb water. Use a Camelback/ Platypus water container. Mix energy drinks containing sodium with water. See training advice for quantities.
9. Dehydration symptoms – If you feel thirsty, are not going to the loo, have dark coloured pee and minor headaches. Seek advice if in doubt.
10. Overhydration symptoms – If you have not eaten enough salty food with too much water, feel drousy, have pale coloured pee. Seek medical advice.
11. Blisters – if you feel a potential blister forming, stop and deal with it there and then. Puncture the blister with a pinprick, drain and dress it. See first aiders at checkpoints.Give your compede to the first aider to apply. 
12. Temperature – Maintain a constant body temperature and prevent your body from sweating. Use your hat (30% of body heat lost/held here) to save taking fleeces on/off.
13. Checkpoints – keep stops at checkpoints down to a maximum of 20 mins, or else muscles seize up.
14. Kit – remember you only need a small day sack which must contain waterproofs, water, head torch and energy food with sodium.
15. Midges – wear a midge head net and midge repellent during dawn and dusk.
16. Helmet – for cycle section - compulsory
17. Aide memoire - on the back of your participant number to wear.  Gven at pasta party – please ensure all medical details are listed and if you take any medication on route, this should be recorded – compulsory.
18. Mobile - don’t rely on it and ensure you don’t waste the battery – compulsory.
19. Waterproofs – Trousers & jacket should have an attachable hood – compulsory.
20. Headtorch and spare batteries - compulsory. As you will not see your support team at checkpoint 2 and it could be getting dark before you get to Drumnadrochit - remember to collect it at Fort Augustus.

Training as a team

It is important to have a discussion before you start with the rest of your team about speed. You may decide to a) stay together no matter what speed the slowest team member is going at, or you may decide that b) the faster team members will speed on ahead. Either way it is important to have this discussion so that you are prepared for all eventualities, i.e. for scenario a) if you are fast, you will have to be prepared to go slower and not get impatient (which is much harder than going fast); equally if your team decide to go for scenario b) the slowest member must be prepared that the speedy ones will go on and leave you. It is very important that you understand how to look after yourself in the big outdoors no matter how proficient the rest of your team are.

Physical Training

As there are different disciplines to the Maggie's Monster Bike and Hike, there are some important things to consider. Below is a guide to developing fitness and strength to complete the event.

Bike

It is not enough to train in a gym, you want to practice on rough terrain and with a mountain bike to understand how the gears and brakes work on different gradients. Many gears and brakes can be damaged due to technique and to avoid waiting on the course for a bike engineer to make their way to you - practice before you come and reduce this risk.  Remember that if you are hiring a bike, it can still get a puncture - and with rough paths, uneven, undulating 30 miles infront of you - you need to know how to fix a pucture.  Ensure that your training routes involve up and down hill. If you are not used to cycling, you may want to buy a padded seat or padded shorts.  It is compulsory to wear a helmet within the event and we recommend that you use one while training. Below is a grid to some training distances by building up over the next few months.

Hike

Train with walking poles, this will build up your arm muscles and relieve your hip joints. Like the bike section, you must to ensure that your training involves walking up and down hills. It is easy to see the participants who train in a gym as their feet are unprepared and result in blisters, leading to mal-alignment, limping and injury. You will need to buy your footwear at least 2 months before the event and wear them in properly. Practice walking in different clothing and find the right solution for you. See our kit and equipment guide above. For example, it is vital that you walk in a waterproof with an attachable hood so that you do not get rain down your back as this can lead to hypothermia.

Potential Injuries

The most likely problem or injury that participants have during training is from mal-alignment from the feet, knees or hips. Mal-alignment can be caused from a previous injury that has not healed correctly or from slightly different shaped feet. Doing repeated movements (like cycling or hiking) in the wrong alignment, will cause micro-trauma of your joints resulting in tears. If you want a complete health check where your alignment can be assessed and your muscles/joints examined for potential injuries with a guide to injury avoidance, please contact http://www.athletesangels.com/”mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Nutrition

For all your information on nutrition both before, during and after the event, please click here.

Note that you should get used to eating on the go, little and often, through your bike and hike sections. Your food intake should include salty foods (look on the back labels of foods and sports drinks for sodium) in order to absorb water. Please see examples of  nutritional meals and foods to use during training.

Hydration

For all information on keeping well hydrated, please click here.

Note that for the Maggie's Monster Bike and Hike, we recommend 300-400mls (half to one pint) of water per hour for smaller people (unless it is hot, when you can take up to 600mls of water per hour) and up to 800mls (1 pint and a half) per hour for bigger people who may sweat more. Combining this with salty foods such as salted peanuts, chicken noodle soup, pot noodles, instant mashed potato with sliced salami, tomato juice and use tuna based in brine instead of spring water.

Please alse read the section on dehydration and hyponatremia.

Stretching & Muscle conditioning

Stretching your muscles before and after training will help keep them conditioned and also prevent mal-alignment. It is important to only stretch a warmed up muscle and not to bounce on it. Keep a gentle sustained stretch for 20 seconds. You want to stretch your quads (front of thighs) hamstrings (back of thighs), calf, Iliotibial bands (side of thighs) and your back as a minimum. Many participants find that going to a weekly class of yoga is an excellent way to keep their muscles in the correct state and help prevent injury. By adding in other sports such as swimming or pilates, you will strengthen your core stability muscles (muscles around your stomach, pelvis and back) this really helps in endurance events.  Regular massage also helps with flexibility and injury prevention.

Training Schedule

It is important to combine both the biking with the hiking at least once per week. Obviously individual fitness levels and time for training vary greatly, so we have put down the minimum training sessions with a view to finishing the event within 24 hours. We have also aimed to guide you in days/distances, so that you can train with your team members no matter which distance you are aiming for. For very approximate times, allow 6-10 miles an hour (depending on hills/speed) for biking and 3 miles an hour for hiking. For more information on individualised specific training schedules please email http://www.athletesangels.com/”mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ”

Nb. The below schedule is refined by feeback from participants since the event started.  The main feedback from 2009 was that participants found the cycling harder than they had anticipanted, with difficulty on the hills.  As previous feedback was not to include gym workouts, we have increased the cycling mileage. Dont forget to include hills in your training routes.  (And dont forget to stretch and condition your body during training too..!).

Medical Information

Below is some essential medical information to be aware of.   Any of you or your team members may be vulnerable to getting ill and we have listed the 5 medical conditions most commonly seen on the Maggie's Bike and Hike in the past. 

Your continuous assessment and knowledge of these signs and sypmtops and what to do may be vital.   The potential is high - please take responsibility. 

Hyponatremia

Dehydration

Hypothermia

Hypoglycaemia

Heat exhaustion

Safety

“Any fool can be cold…” Dr Hallam, ex-Royal Marines. Being safe in the hills includes responsibility in:

• Wearing and carrying the right kit (see recommended kit list above)
• Being prepared for your target distance (see schedule above)
• Eat foods with nutritional value (see nutritional advice above)
• Keep hydrated and not over hydrated (see hydration advice above)
• Know your route (map and compass)
• knowing weather structures (check night before departure)
• Be prepared for medical complications (See Medical section above).
• Telling someone where you are going and your expected time of finishing.

If you are a past or present participant and would like to offer advice to other participants, please let us know at http://www.athletesangels.com/”mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ”

Training Summary:

Start training early in the year and build up slowly. Ensure you have rest days, eat properly while training and wear in / try out all equipment. Replicate the event terrain and profile of the event, i.e. training on hills and over a long distance. Do not rely on a gym to get you fit – you need to mountain bike and walk distances to train the correct muscles and your feet.

Any sign of injury – get checked out http://www.athletesangels.com/mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ”