Convict 100 km mountain bike race - yet another stage in my recovery

I knew that the attrition of age group sport from about 50 on was huge; but things are getting ridiculous now that I am in my 60's.  Its getting to be very lonely!  Read on....

The following is a brief pictorial of my latest venture, the gruelling Convict 100 mountain bike  (MTB) race.  The convict 100 is the NSW round of the Australian MTB marathon championships, attracting around 1500 riders, including the Australia's best open and age group riders.

I finished the 100km in 5hrs 4 min, just over an hour ahead of the next rider in my 60+ age category and over 2 hours ahead of 3rd place.  I was 63 rd overall.  To date, I have not lost an age group race in Australia.

There is also an analysis of what I did wrong and what can be done to do even better next time.  My goal is to be the 2016 60 years-plus MTB world champion.  I am back on track to achieve this lofty goal.

It was not long ago that I was lying on my back with what could have been a career-ending ankle injury.

Here's more about my ankle injury, if you are curious:

http://blog.garymoller.com/2015/01/first-aid-treatment-for-severe-ankle.html

While I still have some trouble walking, things are on the improve daily and function is now about 90%.  Cycling is not a problem and I have even been riding A Grade Cyclocross races that involve some running on very rough terrain while carrying a bike and there are many unplanned dismounts!

Stripped off: Bug-Eyes is ready to get the show on the road!  I'm feeling very confident despite the distance and terrain to come.

Guess who is leading?  Old guys are supposed to be slow at getting going, so what's he doing in the lead!  I slowed shortly after, then seamlessly slotted into the peloton as it whirred past.  Off to the perfect start!

Coming into the finish, feeling really stuffed!  Missed out on breaking 5hrs for 100 km by just a couple of minutes - darn!

No, I did not fall off my bike but I worried I might once I stopped.  A few minutes of restful meditation and I was up and about.  The blood is not from falls during the race; they're from hitting saplings and bushes while hurtling along narrow, overgrown trails.

There was a 3rd placegetter but he was still out on the course, over 2 hrs behind me.  By the way, never once has it been announced by the MC that I am from New Zealand, while on the podium in Australia.  So I could not resist yelling "Go the All Blacks!"  Pity they lost.

What a nice brother Gordon is to hire a limo to chauffeur me all the way from Shellharbour to Sydney Airport.

This is one way to celebrate a victory.  Now where's the bubbly?

An analysis of how I rode the race

Here are a couple of graphs recorded during the race using my Suunto watch.

Heart rate: What you can see here is I peaked at 172 beats per minute early in the race.  I was working way too hard because I had my gearing wrong for the very steep climbs.  These peaks coincided with the first of the big hills and, later, some tricky technical and rocky climbs up sandstone terracing.  It was at about 2 1/2 hours that I began to tire and slow considerably.

Note, for later, that my average pulse for the race was 141 beats per minute for the 5 hours.

The graph above shows that my energy consumption steadily reduced as the race proceeded.

In the first half hour there was a very steep hill that had me almost at a standstill and then there was a river crossing.  Both can be seen as the "stops" on the graph above.  At about 2:40 I had to stop and take a toilet stop.  You'll note that from 3:30 through to 4:30, my pace up hills dropped right off as I struggled with the gearing set up on my bike.  The final sections of the race were pretty flat and this shows in the consistent pace.

This graphically shows even better how I tired quite steadily from about the halfway mark of the race.

Lessons from the race:

I could have gone quite a lot faster.

Take a full suspension bike

I took a light hardtail to Australia.  It is a rocket in a straight line but not suited for the very rough and rocky terrain of the Blue Mountains.  The constant pounding of the rocks wore me out and gave me a raw bum.  As much as studying Youtube videos of last year's race and writing to the organisers is helpful, it can never replace actually riding the course.  The fact is the course was much rougher than I thought it would be.  All future races will have a full suspension bike as the default pony.  I reckon the bike choice might have cost me a good ten minutes.

Be conservative with the bike gearing

I got the tyre selection perfect, along with tyre pressures - Yes!  However, I chose my gearing on the basis that the average speed was going to be a brisk 20 km per hour.  What I did not know was there were numerous short pinches, including stone terraces, that required the lowest gearing possible and I had the opposite!  This meant wasted energy, with strain on the legs and excessive heart rates, especially in the first half of the race that cost me dearly later. I lost a lot of time over the last 1/3 of the race as a result of having to work to hard up the hills earlier on.

Keep heart rate to 140 beats per minute

This means dropping back more within the field for the first half, having better gearing for hills and avoiding the temptation to keep with any over-the-top surges by others.  I think this means making about 150 beats the maximum for a race of that duration.  

In case you are wondering lack of energy intake and fluid were not factors.  I ate well and was hydrated (too hydrated actually!).

Get in more training kilometers or else choose shorter races

Gearing and bike selection aside: Its pretty obvious from the results that I am currently only fit enough to go hard for about 2-3 hours - not 5.  I think I will choose to do shorter races for the time-being.  I am too busy with other things to spend all day training.  The other factor, is the World Champs are July/August next year and I have yet to decide if I will contest the short course or marathon distances, or both.  There is little point in going hard out with big training with still a year to go.

Hey - no complaints at all really!  After all I won my category by a whopping hour-plus and this is after starting the year thinking my sporting days were well and truly over.

Report: My attempt to win the World Masters Mountain Bike Championships, Norway 2014

I am in the business of health and firmly believe in walking the talk. If what I am promoting is good for health, then I should surely be one of the best ambassadors. 

Walking the talk

This is especially important because people seeking my services for their own health sometimes receive contradictory advice from other health experts, including being told that "Gary Moller is a Quack". I say to these people, 

"Look at me and look at the naysayer expert, then answer the question: who is the healthier?" 

"Who do you go with - the health expert with the pot belly, the one with the puffy, ashen face, the one on various drugs for this and that disease, or the one who is trim, strong, full of energy and not in need of any drugs to get through the day?"

As we get older, the best description of a good athlete 

is a very healthy person

Please read this article which gives a little about my personal journey from burnout back to good health:
http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/06/cardiovascular-disease-arteriosclerosis.html

Last year I resolved to take the "walk the talk" to the highest level - to become the World age group mountain bike champion. Why mountain biking? Because this is a brutal sport that challenges the extremes of cardiovascular capacity, strength, endurance, reaction times, balance and - yes - the ability to heal fast and completely! These are all qualities that decline dramatically with ageing and when I turned 60 last year I thought I would put my  anti-ageing nutrition (not medicine) and health practices to the ultimate test - to win the world mountain bike championships to be held in Norway August 2014.

I began my quest for age group world domination about one year in advance with attention to refining my nutrition and preparing my muscles with constant training and massage. I also collaborated with the mechanics at Dirt Merchants of Aro Valley to build one of the fastest and lightest 29 inch wheel mountain bikes.  For this exercise I also gained sponsorship of Laufforks of Iceland which supplied the lightest suspension forks in the world.

My beautiful super fast 29'er Laufforks racer

My preparation could not have been better and I was confident that I was going to be competitive against the best 60+ year olds in the world.  Read this article for example:
http://blog.garymoller.com/2014/03/karapoti-results-are-in-more-evidence.html

Smashing the Karapoti age group record

My final result at the Norway world champs was a mix of positive and negative. 

Lost in translation - Ha!

I got a shock, on arrival at Hafjell, to discover that the course for the Masters was at a different location from that of the Open Championships.  We were on a course above the town of Lillehammer about 20 km away from the course I had prepared for, including having designed a bike!  Far from being a groomed climber's course with a rock garden or two and a drop-off here and there, which I was prepared to handle, the real one was mostly glacial rocks, roots and mud, no drainage and some near vertical drop-offs.  It was not world championship standard, it was a substandard course that the "old farts" had been relegated to.  It looked unfinished and, with 300+ riders doing practice runs over it in the rain for four days before the races, it cut up really badly.  

Worse, it was totally unsuitable for my semi-rigid hardtail with light tyres.  I needed my full suspension bike which I had left in New Zealand.  Other riders were not happy with many of them inadvertently slashing their tyres on the sharp rocks during practice laps. I did not complain but resolved to focus on the race and doing the best I could with the equipment I had, remaining confident that I had the skills and the conditioning to foot it with the best.

In my daughter's NZ race kit, ready to do battle on a very
wet course in Lillehammer, Norway

The Big Race

I began my warm up on the day feeling very confident, despite the torrential rain that had turned the course into a rocky quagmire. I felt strong and this was my first chance to size up my opponents.  I couldn't wait to get the show on the road.

While its hard to tell by a photo, this is some of the easier parts of the
course and some of the riders are forced to run!  

Heeding former pro-elite rider, Paul Bishop's advice, I began the race conservatively, intending to pick my opponents off one by one. Unfortunately, I knocked my chain off in the mayhem over the first rock climb dismount, losing several places, then, at the next drop into a mud hole, which was marginally rideable, the Spanish rider who I was preparing to pass, suddenly stopped and I partially went over the handlebars, trapping a thigh between the frame and the handlebars! It was a struggle to get free and I lost a more few places - darn!  I've had better starts.  But the race was still young.

Things went well from there for some kilometers of bouncing over large, wet rocks and sliding off wet roots and diving into mud holes.  Good ground was made, eventually passing the Spanish rider who caused my flip and then finally catching up with the defending world champion, Linus van Onselen and quickly passing him with an impressive maneuver around a tricky corner. However, he got away on a downhill section, but no matter because were still in the first of two laps and I was settling nicely into my rhythm.  I'll get him later.

Ooh!  I really am missing my full suspension bike.
Talk about a "smash and bash" course!

Towards the end of the first lap I noticed that my rear tyre was beginning to bottom out on the rocks. I can't describe the horrible sense of impending doom!  As I entered the 2nd lap I began to lose ground on Linus, despite my feeling increasingly comfortable physically. Deflated is a very good description of what was going on with my tyre and with my brain!

Not a course designed with my minimalistic bike in mind!

Eventually I was forced to stop and put some gas into the tyre. However, the tyre continued to lose air, eventually forcing me to run. As fate would have it, this was the furthest point away from help. My race was over.

Post race and not looking happy (note even sadder rear tyre), with the only other NZ rider,
Paul McDowell of Rotorua (I think Paul finished a very pleasing 7th or 8th in the 55-59 category).

Linus went on to finish in 2nd place. The winner was Norwegian - the home advantage.

The positive side of the day is confirmation that I am competitive with the best of the oldies, for sure. If only the race had been held on the original course which I had so meticulously prepared for. I reckon I would have smoked it.  Not easily, but I reckon I would have been in with a damn good chance of the win.

Not all is lost.  I am home now and am highly motivated to give the Worlds another crack.  I have some unfinished business.  The champs are in tiny state of Andorra (Yes, I knew of Andorra but had to look it up to remind me where it is nestled).  Apart from the exorbitant cost (Anybody got a spare $10k?), the big challenge is that the race is at altitude.  I am up for that challenge because exercise physiology is my forte.  Further, the experience of the world champs this year and the training that went into it has taken my riding to a new level as evidenced in the most recent results from the local mountain bike series.

Gary Moller: Back to being a Big Fish in a small pond!  But let's not get too comfortable:
World champs 2015 here we come! (If we can afford it).

Clean, green Norway

Sorry, NZ, we are in no way the cleanest or the greenest as the advertising brochures might have us believe.  Norway beats us hands down for a pure and pristine environment.  Of course our economy is very different to theirs and much of their country is alpine in nature.  We have far more cows.

Yoiks - Yonder!  My destination beckons.

"Go this way!" (Fearless explorer).

I was told I could drink the water from any river or stream and the municipal waters are neither chlorinated or fluoridated.  This certainly seemed the case with Norwegians seen drinking from the streams and they sure look like a healthy bunch of people.  Few signs of thyroid problems which is an epidemic health issue in NZ.  I wondered if the lower exposure to toxic halides such as chlorine and fluorine might have something to do with this apparent difference in health? (Fluorine and chlorine damage the thyroid, leading to conditions like fatigue, weight gain, fibromyalgia and osteoporosis).  But I digress - Back to my travels!

Norwegian can be confusing, especially when translated into English

Norway, pristine clean and kayaker's paradise

My incognito camper: Discrete camping, I slept well each night and never got hassled
despite sleeping overnight in places like market and station car parks.
Highly recommended - http://www.nordiccampers.com/ Thanks Arna Hilmar and team at Nordic Campers.

Thanks heaps to Lauf Forks, Dirt Merchants, Leonie Reynolds, PNP Cycling Club, Andy Reid, Bike NZ - and to Air New Zealand as well for the fantastic and comfy service. Best airline.

And thank-you to my Norwegian hosts, Nina and Thor Nagell (foreground) for their incredible generosity and
hospitality (Thor was the coordinator for the very successful Hafjell World Mountain Bike Champs - not the masters xc.
This photo is of dinner with Thor and Nina's family and the management team for the Worlds.

Nina serving wild moose which, I understand, her father shot while hunting in the forest.

And special thanks to my partner, Alofa, and my four children, Myra, Mary-Ann, Kelvin and Alama, for their patience and support.

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Candida and Fungal Infections? Gary Moller recommends you explore this programme: Click Here!

Karapoti results are in - More evidence that nutritional balancing works better than drugs! (Updated 08/03/2013)

Latest news:I completed the 48km race last Saturday in excellent track conditions, setting my personal best after only about 24 years of on and off trying. I finally cracked the three hour barrier!  In fact, I smashed it, slashing more than 26 minutes off my personal best!

Over the last few months I have concentrated my focus on nutritionally supporting my adrenals and thyroid, using the skills and experience I have gained as a clinician in the treatment of thyroid and adrenal disorders.  Gosh - it is so effective, especially for older athletes! 

My PB was 2hrs 12min.  Only one 60 year old has ever broken three hours in the 30 year history of the race (The legendary Peter Reynolds in 2013 in a time of 2hr 55min).  Well, I reduced the record to 2hr 46min 44s.  That's staggering.  And I did it the easiest ever- not a single cramp - Just a badly bruised knee from a wee spill down the Rock Garden (Caused by other riders putting me off my line though the rocks).  I know I can go faster.

My goal has been to be one of the fittest 60 year olds anywhere and I think I am well on the way to achieving that.  I have chosen mountain biking for a number of reasons: I really enjoy it; it is intense and brutal (especially when you fall off) and it requires skills such as precise balance and lightening fast reactions - all of which deteriorate as we get older.

60 year olds don't bounce as well as a youngster and healing sure is slower

Well, I have set out to prove that its not all downhill from 30 years - We can still bounce well at 60!

How did I manage to make such a spectacular reduction in my times despite now being in my early 60's.  Well it was not from doing more and more training - doing that is futile unless the body can handle the stress and respond in a positive, anabolic manner.  Everything we have been told about the ageing process is that the body progressively weakens along with its capacity to heal and to respond to stress.  That is true; but does it actually have to be?

How much of ageing is due to uncontrollable degradation and how much of what we think is ageing is due to things that are within our control, such as nutritional deficiencies and imbalances and reversible scarring of tissues?

I have achieved this remarkable turnaround through a patient 10 year programme of targeted nutrition and equally carefully applied body work (not consisting of furiously lifting weights in the gym!)

The end result is that my ability to train and my response to training is estimated to be on a par with where I once was in my 20's.  How can I say that -To make such an outrageous claim?  Well I don't have to: The performances say it all!  I have had at least a 30% gain in performance over the previous 10 years; despite all that we know about ageing and the inevitable decline in performance.

Better than Lance, if I may so so!

My earlier article about this topic of anti-aging and reversing heart disease here:
http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/07/more-about-reversing-cardiovascular.html

Gary
(My previous article below (pre-race comments)

For about the last 20 years, I have been trying to break the magical 3hr barrier for the Karapoti Race (Refer to the article below for more about Karapoti).  My success has been less than glorious with my best a frustrating 3hr 12min - so far.  Is time running out, since I am a lot older than when I made my first attempt?  I don't think so.

My Karapoti goal this year, as a 60 year old, is not just to break 3hrs, but to break the 60 plus record of 2hr 55m.  And I am confident that it can be done.  In fact, I will be aiming for 2hr 50.

This summer has been one of fantastic successes on the bike and in duathlon, with several victories that have me way ahead of any other 60 year old athletes - so far.  Currently, I am ranked 2nd in the 50+ age category in NZ Mountain Biking Crown and finished 4th in the NZ championships, less than 1 second behind 3rd.  Calculating the difference between myself and the overall age group champion, Ian Paintin, who also happens to hold the 50+ record for Karapoti (2hr 42), I can work out what time I should be able to do Karapoti this year.  Which works out to be about 2hr 50m or less.

However, the current 60+ record holder, the legendary Peter Reynolds, is competing again this year and he is not about to let me spoil his party.  I have heard rumours that he has been training hard and even upgraded to a new bike.  He will be aiming to be the first Old Fart to break 2hr 50, I suspect.  That will be really something!  But my plan is to have my nose in front.

We will know the result by tomorrow midday.  As with most of my previous Karapoti races, I just hope the course does not have the final say - crashes, punctures, mechanical failures, or simply disappearing in one of its infamous bogs!

February 27, 2014 at 6:07 PM

The Race of Champions

A who’s-who of New Zealand mountain biking will go head to head in Upper Hutt on Saturday as more than 700 riders from eight countries line up for the Scott Karapoti Classic.
Twenty eight years ago 45 hardy souls lined up in Upper Hutt’s Akatarawa Ranges for New Zealand’s first annual mountain bike race. Almost 30 years later, more than 700 riders from eight countries and all ends of New Zealand will line up for what has become the Southern Hemisphere’s longest running mountain bike event.
Established in 1986,
Rest of article here:  http://www.sportzhub.com/news/karapoti-race-champions/

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Candida and Fungal Infections? Gary Moller recommends you explore this programme: Click Here!

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Candida and Fungal Infections? Gary Moller recommends you explore this programme: Click Here!

Getting faster and moving up the national rankings as I get older (updated 2/12/2013)

Huka Challenge 2013 (Photo: Bernard Fletcher)

Last weekend was a huge victory: I won the 60+ category of the prestigious 85km Taupo Huka Challenge mountain bike race by a country mile.  What's more, I rode a conservative race, literally sprinting the last 5km.  Provisional results have me in 20th place overall.

To give you an idea of my improvements of recent months, the rider who easily beat me at the NZ Masters Games in February, was almost 30 minutes behind, while the person who beat me by a few minutes for the 60+ title in the 83 km Taniwha, a few weeks ago, was about 20 minutes behind this time (bearing in mind that he suffered a puncture, so lost a lot with doing repairs).

I put this latest gain in performance mostly down to getting the iodine and related factors under better control.  Athletes appear to be the worst performers on the iodine test.  Swimmers and triathletes are shockers (which means they have the most "performance potential").

Have a look at this string of articles and read carefully:
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=gary+moller+iodine&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&gfe_rd=cr&ei=hJGbUvqwFaaN8QfZ9oGwDg

The new Thyroidine test for assessing one's iodine status and the possible involvement of exposure to toxic halides (fluorine, chlorine and bromine) is proving to be a great hit.  You will note, in the articles I have written, of its importance for healthy, strong cardiac function and any ailments to do with "lumps, bumps and hard things" - tendons and bones that don't heal, for example.


This begs the question: 

"How much of the slowing down which we attribute to uncontrollable ageing is really due to controllable factors, such as nutrition?"


 

My plan was to celebrate turning 60 years by feeling healthier and fitter than I was when I depressingly turned 50.  My 60th was October this year and it was a celebration indeed!

The morning of my 60th year was celebrated with winning the 50+ age group in the Wellington mountain bike series, elevating me to overall leader in the points series.  Furthermore it had me on the top of the vet 3 age group rankings for the NZ Mountain Bike Crown.  A few weeks earlier, I competed in my first roadie duathlon in almost 30 years and managed to finish in 3rd place.

This weekend, my partner, Alofa, and I competed in the 83 Km Taniwha which is a mountain bike race the length of the Waikato River Trail.  I came 6th overall which was an astonishing delight.  It was a tough race.  Highlights, other than the exciting nature of the trail (no time for sight-seeing though!) were:

• My average for the 83km of mostly gravel and single track was more than 19km/hr.
• I was hoping to break 5hr 20 min but ended up doing it an hour faster.
• My race tactics worked perfectly:  I managed to get in with the chasing bunch and we worked well over the road section.  At the end of the road I timed it perfectly to get to the front just as we entered the longest and most technical of the downhills.  I got a good break on the bunch which broke up from there.  I then concentrated on riding my own race - trying to settle into a rhythm, hydrating and getting lots of energy into me for later.  Several riders passed me over the next 10 or so km.  At about 60km my patience paid off as I found a second wind and several riders were passed.  Although I was tired by the last 5km, I finished strongly.
• My bike (Canondale Scalpel) took a hammering; but never missed a beat.  Thanks to James Duncan of Dirt Merchants for the top quality servicing.  
• Only problem was feeling a little too loose on the gravel and the many off-camber hairpins.  I lost time slowing right down going into corners I would normally hammer.  Maybe need a more grippy front tyre?
• I had no cramping.  The nutrition balancing (aided by testing) and deep tissue massage continue to work their magic.
• Although I have sore knees, a raw bottom and bruised hands the day after, I am delighted with the recovery.  Hardly a single sore muscle!
• Alofa finished in 3rd place for her age group - Congratulations for taking on such a tough challenge and doing so well!

One of the surprises was the performance of vet rider, Rob Garden, who is around 63.  Gosh was he good!  He got away from me at about the 30km mark, although it appears I made up some of the ground lost later on.  He was only a couple of minutes in front by the finish.  It is good to have some competition in the 60+ group which is looking very depleted right now.  Secretly, I reckon I have the edge over him on the more technical stuff, but who knows for now?  What I do know is I am still getting faster.

Since I turned 50 years of age, I estimate that my physical work output has increased by about 25%.  That's a huge gain as one gets older because the natural course of events is to get slower with age - not faster - and definitely not 25% faster!  And that gain has been 100% without performance enhancing drugs. 

Now that's better than Lance, if you ask me!

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Candida and Fungal Infections? Gary Moller recommends you explore this programme: Click Here!

Some pleasing duathlon results

Last Saturday I competed in my first duathlon in about 28 years, the Iron Maori in Trentham, Upper
Hutt.

It had a very good turnout, although I have no idea how many people there were, other than to say there were a lot.

Being my first race in a long time and, knowing I had a tough mountain bike race Sunday morning, I opted for the sprint race.

The opening run was tough mainly because I have done very little running over recent years and I finished in about 20th place.  The cycle was a different story: I managed to catch my bother in law, Ioasa, and we worked well together to pull in every body else, other than the two leaders, although we did pass him at one point.  Where we really made it up was on the hills.  Being light we hammered the hills.

Ioasa and I finished in 3rd equal but he slacked around, as per usual, in the transition, giving me a good enough lead to just hold him off for 3rd.

I'm very happy about that result because I am just a few weeks away from my 60th, still getting faster, and the only duathletes that beat me were two of the best and they are much younger. 

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Candida and Fungal Infections? Gary Moller recommends you explore this programme: Click Here!

2012 Upper Murray Multisports Challenge Results - Its official - We have the records!

Its taken me a while, folks: The results of the Upper Murray Challenge are now out and its official: The Moller Brothers hold the event record and my brother, Gordon, the record for the run section of the race.  

Source: http://www.uppermurraychallenge.com.au/

Gordon Moller setting a course record
despite appalling conditions

Now, here's the facts:

• These records were set during the worst conditions of the 10 year history of the race.  The wet, cold conditions with mud and slush underfoot made for tough going.
• I can never recall a team of amateurs winning one of these races outright.  These races are always dominated by the young, hardened professionals who train and race full time.  My brother Gordon is an over-worked dentist, Bruce is a full time engineer.  All three of us are over 50 years old.  I am in my 60th year.
• In order of the relay: I finished fourth in the mountain bike, Bruce fourth in the paddle and Gordon ran a real burner to bring us home in first place.
• In this race, we got our noses in front of Australia's two best multisports athletes - Jarad Kohlar and Luke Haines.

How did three ageing amateurs manage to do it?  Well, I will not speak directly about Gordon and Bruce, but here is a clue: http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/07/more-about-reversing-cardiovascular.html

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Gary Moller gets to pose with a Gold Medalist

Alofa Kosena: Age group winner at NZ Masters Games

(I came 2nd in my age group, btw)

The medals were delivered and presented today by Special Envoy: Rhys Lyall.

The  formal Medal Ceremony was conducted at the Wellington offices of Alofa Kosena and Gary Moller.

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Moller Brothers dominate 2012 Upper Murray Multisports Race

Jarad Kohlar, winner of the individual race
and 2nd overall. He did it the hard way.
We shared the load - So good one
Jarad!
Photo: Tara Ashworth

Gordon Moller taking out the 2012 race in
 record time despite the horrific weather.
Way ahead with nobody else in sight.
Photo: Tara Ashworth

If you ever wanted proof that most of what we regard as being the inevitable consequences of getting old is simply not true, it is the performance of the Moller Brothers (Gordon, Bruce and Gary) in this year's Upper Murray Challenge (Snowy Mountains Australia).

We won the race outright, beating the two best individual Australian multisporters of recent years (Jarad Kohlar and Luke Haines) into 2nd and 3rd placings respectively.

In doing so, we set new course records in the Open Team and Veteran Team divisions and Gordon broke the run section record which was astonishing given the slippery and muddy conditions.  Gordon, was the only runner to break two hours for the grueling mountain run. He hammered that leg of the race finishing in record time way ahead of the next runner!

We were about an hour ahead of the next Veteran Team and about 40 minutes ahead of the first Open Team.

I finished the mountain bike section in 4th place overall, Bruce brought us up to 2nd place with an impressive paddling performance and then Gordon astonished every one by mowing down Jarad during the mountain run.  I think this is the first time that a team has won the event outright.  The pros, like Jarad and Luke have always dominated the race.  Until now, that is.

Lining up for a wet, cold start.

What the results don't tell you is this:  

A very wet, cold and muddy Moller!

We set these course records in the worst conditions of the ten year history of the event.  It rained all day, making the mountain bike and run a treacherously slippery slog and there was the possibility of the kayak section being cancelled for safety reasons.  Thankfully it was not.

When you look at the results below, you will note that Luke had a bad day.  It was tough out there and Luke looked hypothermic by the end of the paddle leg.  It is to his credit that he hung in there to the end to take 3rd place overall.  Jarad ran a phenomenal race when you consider the conditions.

Now, here's the interesting thing:

The best photo of Bruce - Sorry Bruce, we weren't
going to hang around in the rain just for you!

As we get older, we are getting faster

All three of us are over 50.  I am 59 next week.  My own aerobic performance has improved by about 20% over the last five years.  Despite the atrocious weather, Gordon and Bruce smashed their times as compared to last year, or the year before.  These should be declining.

A good athlete is a healthy person

From about age 28 there begins a gradual decline in aerobic power by the factor of 0.001 per year.  So, by age 50 the average person has about half the aerobic potential that they had in their 20's.  The faster this decline, the sooner we start falling to pieces and the sooner we die.  Sounds depressing eh?

The big question is this:

How much of this decline in performance is due to uncontrollable ageing 

and how much is due to controllable factors?

What the Moller Brothers are demonstrating is this:

Most of the decline that we attribute to uncontrollable ageing is, in fact, controllable

For more about this fascinating topic, please take a few minutes to read this article and the others that are linked to it.
http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/06/cardiovascular-disease-arteriosclerosis.html

Here are some screen shots from the Upper Murray Challenge results pages:

http://www.uppermurraychallenge.com.au/

Here are some of the race records as at 2011 (2012 yet to be
updated).  We did it in 5:32 this year.  Not too bad
when you consider the weather!

_______________________________________

About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Results from the latest cyclo cross race are in!

Photo by Mike Moloney
More at Google Photos

Men
Placing Number Name            Laps   Overall Placing
1            Alex Revell                   13   1
2            Tim Wilding                  13   2
3            Ken Feist                      12   4
4             Martin van Barneveld   12   5
5             Gary Moller                 12   6

Third overall was Kim Hamer-Hurst who is going like a rocket, finishing 2 laps ahead of the next woman - wow!  While I had her in my sights for half the race, she steadily pulled away towards the end.  She rides a CX bike so well.  She is the NZ champion in the making I reckon.  She will hard to beat.

I am over the moon with how I am riding with my 59th birthday just a few months away.  There is still more gas in the tank.  I have never stopped exercising since age 14 and peaked, as all good athletes do, in my late 20's.  From 30 it was a steady decline in performance with each birthday.  By 50 years, I had as good as given most competitive sport away because I was slow and it hurt.  For the last 5 years, however, this process of decline has been reversed and I have knocked at least 20 minutes off what used to take 2 hours on a bike.  How have I done this?  Its all laid out in black and white here: http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/07/more-about-reversing-cardiovascular.html

In last weekend's race I am pretty sure I was the first mountain bike across the line this time and might have lapped the next 40 year old - not sure about that.  While some may argue that a mountain bike has some advantages, such as improved traction on the mud, much of this is negated by the extra weight of the bike and general extra drag of the tyres.  I noticed that I really lose out badly when it comes to acceleration out of corners, hill climbing, straight line speed, running over the jumps and carrying the bike up slopes.

Cyclo cross has to be the safest form of bike racing yet.  If you want to test your fitness and skills out in a safe environment, give it a go.  Start with the easier 30 minute race.  They even have races for the kids!

More information here: http://wgtncx.org/

_______________________________________

About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.