Adding more hours to trainingplan

Training
1

Hi,

I have signed up for an event next year in june (The Ride).
I will cycle 8 days (no resting days), total of 1300km and 20.000 altitude meters.

I also did this event this year, and want to be better prepared for next year…

For this year’s event i did 95% Z2 work, starting from 6-7h per week building up to 12-15h in the weeks before the event… Most of them were 2-3h sessions, 4-5x a week…

I had zero experience with climbing mountains, but the people were telling me that Zone 2 training should be enough to complete the event.

I indeed completed the event, but had some real difficulties when climbing those mountains…
Climbing steady at 80-90% of FTP for 1-2 hours was something different than riding zone 2 at 65-70% of FTP…

I have been using TR now for 6-7 weeks, almost completed base 2 block.
3 hard sessions per week (SST, Threshold and some Vo2Max) and 1 longer endurance ride in the weekend to increase my overal fitness/FTP.

I believe this will help me until end of this year and maybe into january to build a better base and maybe also increase FTP.
But from januari until end of May I need to ramp up the hours and be ready to ride this event…
8 days, around 55-60 hours on the bike is no joke…

Current schedule:
Mo: 1,5h Hard interval
Tu: Rest
Wo: 1,5h Hard interval
Th: Rest
Fr: 1,5h Hard interval
Sa or Su: 2h endurance (depending on family agenda :slight_smile: ).

I really like the hard sessions, but that is not enough to build endurance…

How would you approach the trainingplan from january to the start of the event?, maybe cut down the hard sessions to 2 per week and add more Z2?

For example:

Mo: 2h hard interval
Tu: 2h Endurance
We: 2h Endurance
Th: Rest
Fr: 2h hard interval
Sa: 4h Endurance (or a single day cycle event on endurance level)
Su: Rest

And how to put the extra hours into the schedule? Just start at 50-60% and add 30-45 minutes every week to get to the 12 or maybe even 15 hours per week?

2

Nice work on getting through the event this first time – it sounds like a real challenge!

And it sounds like you have a good goal to improve for next season when you do it again. :muscle:

I think focusing on Tempo and Sweet Spot will really help you out with those long climbs. You’re totally right that hitting those intensities for long durations feels much different than riding along at Z2.

While your event will be long, and extra volume can certainly help, I don’t think it should be your number one priority overall. You mentioned that you struggled the most in the mountains, which means you should focus more on that limiter.

I think working on your Tempo and Sweet Spot zones will be most beneficial for you. Try to work into longer and longer efforts so that you’re eventually accumulating 1-2hrs of time in zone during your workouts. If you progress to really high-level workouts, you may even be doing 1-2hrs straight like you did in your event.

Prioritizing those hard sessions is also more likely to contribute to FTP growth, which means you can get over those mountains faster. :wink:

This article has some more info on prepping for longer events that you may find useful:

That said, I don’t think adding in some more volume is a bad idea if you have the time to slot it in! It sounds like you’re on the right track with adding it in as well – start slowly and build up your volume gradually over time. Here’s another training article we have that might help you out with planning that:

Feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions!

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3

Absent any qualifications to advise, I would say

  1. You are right to make your long ride(s) longer.
  2. Consider some 2h tempo rides instead of the 2h endurance ones. Baxter +2, Perkins and even Gammon. The additional work isn’t massive and the benefit is noticeable after just a few weeks IME
  3. If you can ditch the Thursday rest and do another ride, consider doing so.
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4

@ZackeryWeimer True, hard work could pay off more into a higher FTP, yesterday I got another bump from the AI with +6 watts :partying_face:
But as the event comes closer in February/March i need to be able to sustain longer intervals/sessions (60-120 minutes at 80-90% FTP) so I could climb the Stelvio and many other mountains that will cross my path during this event…

But also for this event I need my endurance levels up…
8 days straight with avg. of 6-7 hours on the bike is pretty demanding for mind and body.

From January on i will do longer weekend rides up to 4 hours in Z2 with maybe a few tempo intervals in Z3/Z4 (something like 3x 10min in the middle of the ride). Longer rides are not really necessary for extra adaptation and only causes more fatigue.

I will try to stick with 3 Hard interval days per week, But I prefer to stick to 5 sessions per week. I have also a family that needs my attention. :slight_smile:

So a new schedule could be something like this:
Mo: 2h Hard interval
Tu: 2h Endurance/Tempo
We: 2h Hard interval
Th: Rest
Fr: 2h Hard interval
Sa: 4h Endurance (or a single day cycle event of 130-200km on endurance level)
Su: Rest

And as @ivegotabike also recommended, I also can slip in a Thursday workout on Endurance/Tempo level, but that depends on my schedule with the family.
Preferrable I keep Thursday and Sunday for family time.

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5

It is a good approach.

One other thing to consider, which I think is already implied in your previous posts. You have until June. It seems to make sense to reassess your training a few times between now and then.

You have now until the year end in hand and you have a plan for January. Depending on how that goes, you might, of course, change your regime for Feb and then for March etc. etc.

For me that would likely be swapping out one of the hard intervals for a decent tempo ride, but you know your needs better. I also wonder if there is a possibility (or requirement) to ever do two workouts per day for you, to push the volume up for a period prior to the event?

Getting used to those long days in the saddle is the time eater and it isn’t easy to replace it with anything else other than doing long rides really.

6

True,

Earlier this year I did a lot of 2h sessions on workdays, weekends were for longer rides, from March the organized events will start again with routes up to 200km, I really liked them in my traininplan this year, and i will certainly implement those rides next year.
2 Rides on 1 day is possible during workdays… I could do an endurance/tempo ride in the morning to work (1,5h) and do another in the evening (Tempo/SST).

As you said, plan will adapt on time/schedule and also progression…
Until January/February the focus is on strenght building and getting my FTP up, and also working on long sustained efforts on SST level.
My current base is pretty decent so Z2 work will not be my main focus (did 15,000km last 18 months), but in the 4 months before the event I will try to flip it around, work more on Z2 and try to maintain (or maybe increase) sustained high output efforts…

Just wanted more input/suggestions about implementing more hours/work to be prepared for the event.

If I look at the workouts that TR has, McGinnis will be the goal that I am striving for, and also to feel pretty “fresh” after the workout, because during the event I will have days to conquer up to 3-4 cols per day (4h off climbing)

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7

Check out Alpine Cols for advice on training for this type of event if you haven’t already, I think they give really good training frameworks. I personally wouldn’t use a TR plan for your event but you can definitely use TR to find appropriate workouts to plug in to your weeks. Note that I am not associated with AC in any way, I just like their recommendations.

Training plan guidelines for Marmotte
You can also look at the “Training guidelines for…” posts on the Alpine Cols blog for other guides.

8

There are multiple roads to Rome.
The event is not extreme hard, it is not a race, people do it at their own pace and effort.

This year my endurance level was good, I completed every stage, but due lack of sustained power, I needed a few breaks when climbing big cols.
I was not over my FTP, but had difficulties to sustain 1-2h at 90% of FTP.

My goal now is get a higher FTP number, and more sustained power at higher intensity to have less difficulties on those longer climbs.

Meanwhile i will keep doing low intensity workouts to maintain my endurance.
And start increasing those hours from January up to the event.

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9

AMAZING!!! Great work!! That’s some really solid and consistent progress. Keep it up.

I think your Plan going forward sounds solid, as long as you are able to adapt it when necessary. Pay attention to Red Light Green Light and let that help inform your rate of progression.

This is great advice. A successful Training Plan is one that works around your life (which will likely change between now and your race)!

Good luck! If you have questions between now and then, let us know!

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