James MacDonald: Fitting training for a 24hr world record around fulltime work, Don't quit at night or on top of a hill and using Supersapiens to ensure you've eaten enough in a day

The Supersapiens Podcast

James MacDonald is an ultra endurance cyclist who holds the record for the fastest solo ride from John O'Groats to Land's End AND back again, covering 2711 kilometers in 5 days, 18 hours, and 3 minutes. He has completed race across America where participants must ride 3000 miles across 12 states. By day he works as a customer engineer at Google.

03:05 – Community Shoutouts
07:23 – Insights into food events using Supersapiens
09:12 – Offseason training plan
11:15 – Xylon and Dave’s goals for 2023
16:33 – Episode Starts
17:14 – How does James fit his cycling in around his work
18:22 – How to be efficient in getting out for exercise
19:31 – What does a training week look like for James?
21:05 – What strategies does James use for nutrition given his work and training?
22:20 – How did James get into sport?
24:20 – Developing as a BMX rider and how it contributed to his current cycling
26:05 – Cycling John O’Groats to Land’s end and back
28:51 – Progressing from being a good cyclist to a very serious cyclist
31:00 – Most memorable moment from Race Across America
32:15 – What Drives James when things get hard on his events?
34:13 – The importance of support and crew in ultra-endurance events
36:32 – When you should and shouldn’t quit in ultra-endurance
37:34 – How did James his crew to join him and crew him?
43:39 – What has James’ toughest day on the bike been?
47:20 – What is “Project Kansas”?
49:19 – How does James fueling a multi-day event?
56:24 – What does nutrition leading into and during a 24hr world record attempt look like?
59:37 – What is the first meal post 24hr attempt James eats?
60:40 – When is James next attempt at the 24hr world record?
63:38 – What happened in James’ last 24hr attempt?
71:16 – What’s the worst part of a 24hr world record attempt?
72:37 – Mental approach to the 24hr attempt
77:50 – James’ favorite part of the Supersapiens app
80:25 – How James changed his fueling on the bike because of Supersapiens
81:55 – Carbohydrate intake for the 24hr attempt
82:35 – James’ approach to gut training
84:11 – Rush Round
92:50 – Wrap up“Flex Wheeler” as Dave called Xylon during the episode:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flex_Wheeler

Blog on James from Supersapiens Blog:
https://blog.supersapiens.com/ultra-cyclist-james-macdonald-reveals-the-inspiration-behind-his-records/

Link to Project Kansas website (including music)
https://www.ride24.org/