Scott Macrae raccing

Q.1 Why did you start racing and did you have any goals of competing to begin with
I mountain biked with friends but never really thought about racing. One of my friends who I mountain biked with convinced me to go to a small mountain bike race. I was hooked for the outset and have never looked back. The thrill of competing is just so addictive, I love it!

Q.2 What’s your current training schedule like? How does it differ between pre-race and off season?

Currently I’m in Base training, so about 20hrs a week on the bike. Lots of steady paced rides, a few medium intensity sessions with short sprint efforts and some winter track league racing in Manchester. The track league consists of 4 endurance bunch races a night at an average speed of around 30mph! Savage but great training!

Closer to my seasons racing goals my training sessions will get shorter and the intensity will go up with more high intensity interval sessions. I will also start using specific races as training sessions to get me in peak form for my target races and try out new race tactics. You can never push as hard in training as you can during a race!

Q.3 How long have you been competing?

I’ve been racing bikes for 17 year. I started off racing cross country mountain bikes in 1996, then switched to road racing in 2007 and then added track to my racing program in 2011.

I have raced road and mountain bikes for Scotland at Junior, under 23 and Senior level.

In 2009 I raced for a UCI Continental team supported my Extreme Nutrition.

Q.4 What are your main competitive achievements?

2nd Scottish Criterium Champs 2008
4th Scottish Road Race Champs 2008
4th overall – Scottish Super Six Series 2008
Overall Sprint competition winner – Scottish Super Six Series 2008
1st Meadowbank GP 40th Anniversary scratch race 2011
2nd British National Track Championships points race 2011
2nd British National Track Championships 3km pursuit 2011
3nd British National Track Championships 1km TT2011
4nd British National Track Championships Scratch 2011
3rd 46th David Bell Memorial Race – Sup6r Six Round 4 2011

Q.5 Who are your main sources of inspiration in your training and who do you most admire?

Belgian pro cyclist Philip Gilbert . He’s a really strong aggressive rider. He’s always attaking and sticking the hurt to the rest of the peloton. The Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara is also a big inspiration, he’s an animal on a bike, so strong.

I most admire the Australian Cameron Meyer. Not only is he a talented pro road racer, he’s also a multiple world champion on the track. Such a classy bike rider!

Q.6 What are your current competitive goals?

My main goal for the season is to win gold in the 3km pursuit at the British Masters Track champs in July and medal in the 1km time trial, points and scratch races.

I am also aiming for gold in the 4km pursuit at the Scottish track champs and hopefully medal in the scratch race.
Q.7 What supplements do you use?

I use Pro-6 every morning poured over my cereal. I like the banana and vanilla the best. I use build and recover after all my training sessions along with Extreme Glutamine to help maintain my immune system which tends to get heavily suppressed by all my endurance training. I also use Kr-Evolution for all my high intensity sprint and short interval training sessions. It really helps get the best out of you.

Q.8 How much do you feel supplements and sports nutrition help your training?

The supplements help my training massively! Extreme Pro-6 helps to give me all the nutrients I need first thing in the morning to get the body going and prepare for training or just the day ahead. Glutamine Complex helps keep my immune system strong. The Build & Recover helps my body repair all the damage done during training so I can train just as hard the following day. I don’t think I could train as hard or consistently without getting ill without my Extreme Nutrition supplements.

Q.9 What is it that motivates you through a hard session?

If you don’t suffer during training you will suffer at the hands of someone else when you’re racing. Pain is just weakness leaving the body! The more you suffer the stronger you get! It’s better to be dishing out the pain when you’re racing than be on the receiving end of it. This helps me to push through the pain barrier when I’m training.

Q.10 What else do you do when not training? What would you do to relax?

I’m a big fan of music and I love going to the movies. I enjoying going out for dinner and drinks with friends etc. Love to relax with a game of Call of Duty on the Playstation 2, nothing like a bit of online gaming after a hard day in the saddle.