The 6 Hour – Getting Ready

Warwick Nowland: With just over 3 weeks to go until the Bel-Ray 6 Hour race, I thought I should let you in on a few Endurance secrets! Here’s one to start with...

Getting ready for anything in life is not that hard, all you need is discipline! I’ve spoken to a few people about getting ready for an Endurance race and everybody is worried about physical fitness.

It’s something to be considered without any doubt. Oran Park is a physical circuit and if you are competing with only two riders in your team, that means you will ride at least 3, possibly 4 times. I would expect fuel to last about 1 hour so that means you are going to do approximately 3 hours riding. If you are pushing hard, it will be very physical.

Before any exercise plan starts, or even if you are already fit, what you put into your body to run it will make or break you. Food is just as important as going running or going to the gym, probably more so.

It is common sense really, and the saying ‘what you don’t use, you will lose’ is very true. But at the same time, we still have our arms and legs and the muscles wrapped inside them. Imagine if you ask those muscles to work and they have no fuel or the wrong fuel in them. They won’t even want to start!

Changing your diet to help you get through an Endurance race will make a big difference, even if it’s the day of the race and you start with good clean fuel... topping up with easily digestible fuel during the event. Hydration is vital. Using some form of energy drink is essential. It doesn’t matter so much which brand, the difference between the good and not so good energy drinks is how you feel that night and the next day. Generally they all get you through the activity but some give better recovery than others.

Of course, putting the right fuel in your body and going to the gym or doing other forms of exercise is the best bet but don’t over look how important the fuel is that needs to start the fire!

I’ll have a few more tricks shortly.

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