By Coach John Hughes Turning 50 can be hard for a roadie — you start to slow down just a little and you don’t recover quite as quickly. I remember when I turned 50 in 1999, almost 20 years ago. I rode some big events before then: 40 y.o. 1989 Won the first Furnace Creek 508 through Death Valley 508 miles & 30,000’ of climbing in 30H 54M. 43 y.o. 1992 Course record … [Read more...] about Anti-Aging: Growing Older in Your 50s
Coach John Hughes
Ask the Coach: Lessons from a Did Not Finish
By Coach John Hughes I started coaching my client Pete last March for the Hoodoo 500 in August 2018 in Utah. Hoodoo is a qualifier for the Race Across AMerica (RAAM). Pete had to finish in 48:45 hours including both riding time and time off the bike. He DNF’d in Panguitch at mile 380 after 38 hours of racing. How long is an ultra event? Longer than you’re used to riding. If … [Read more...] about Ask the Coach: Lessons from a Did Not Finish
Ask the Coach: Best Recovery Food and Drink
By Coach John Hughes My client, Ben, is 69 and rides about 3,000 miles a year. He’s training to do a 12-hour race in June 2019. He also rides his age on his birthday. Later this month his goal is to ride 70 miles (113 km) in less than 4:30 hours (15.6 mph / 9 km/h). Ben’s Training I divided his training into three phases: Base Training phase to build his endurance to ride 70 … [Read more...] about Ask the Coach: Best Recovery Food and Drink
Ask the Coach: Should I Be Riding More Miles? Part 2
By Coach John Hughes The Case of Walt Last week I described the case of my client Walt. Walt is an experienced ultra athlete and is training for a 500-mile race in October, longer than he’s ever ridden. Although you probably aren’t a long-distance rider you can learn from Walt’s experience. August 18-19 Walt raced the Mid-Atlantic 24-Hour. When the race was stopped at 16:37 … [Read more...] about Ask the Coach: Should I Be Riding More Miles? Part 2
Ask the Coach: Should I Ride More Miles? Part 1
By Coach John Hughes My client Walt is training for a 500-mile race. He had an excellent race at the Mid-Atlantic 24 Hour on August 18-19. The race was stopped at 16 hours 37 minutes. Our plan was for him to cover about 286 miles by then. He actually rode 307.05 miles and averaged 18.5 mph. He was on pace for ~ 434 miles - 20 miles more than planned, which would have been a … [Read more...] about Ask the Coach: Should I Ride More Miles? Part 1