Hey all, Looking for advice on setting up an adaptive training plan for Lotoja (202miles, 8500ft elevation) this Sept. Goal: Setup a training program that understands that the ultimate goal is around 10 hours in the saddle, and draining absolutely everything i have.
Currently I have it set to train for a Climbing Road Race, with a “A” race (10 hours, all out effort), “demanding” training volume which set it up as a 3x hard weekly hard efforts and a “Dynamic” endurance ride once a week. (FWIW the dynamic ride only shows up if you assign the Demanding modifier.)
Dynamic endurance = 45min - 5 hour depending on what the robot overlord demands.
Since lotoja is such a big day, it seems like i am not going to be getting in the actual saddle volume needed. even doing 5hrs (80-ish miles) after 3x hard efforts, (while will make me fit for sure) doesnt feel like its training for the actual goal.
Should i keep this plan, and just like… do some big ass rides on saturdays and let the robot sort it out?
Should i just trust the robot?
Or is there a plan setup component that i am missing that i need to input.
I do t think setting the intensity at 10 is a good idea. This would equate to an Intensity Factor (IF) of 1.0, which is something you probably can’t maintain for 10 hours maybe set it at 7 or 8, instead of 10.
LOTOJA 2026 appears to be in mid-September, which is (from my POV) far enough out that selecting the Balanced option might be a better option, as it’s not going to try to push you too hard, too fast. (The Dynamic option for endurance rides should still show up in the Balanced plan; it certainly does for me.)
If you’re planning to ride this at your pace, as opposed to trying to stay with the lead group, cover attacks, etc, you might be better off with the Gran Fondo training plan. This is likely to give you more sweet spot workouts to improve your ability to keep a higher sustained power for a longer time. Whether, or not, this might be of more benefit than a plan that includes more VO2 Max and Threshold intervals is up to you, though, depending on your ride/race plans.
I feel that doing a long ride once a month, even if the plan doesn’t suggest it, is a good idea. This would probably be done at a reasonably low intensity, as TR is going to train the intensity in the other workouts. In my experience, though, TR just isn’t likely to schedule you any long days in the saddle. And, while your actual fitness may be good for the event without these long days, your butt may not be ready for that much time, and you may not have figured out your nutrition, without doing some long days
Just my thoughts. Others are likely to have some different input.
You don’t need to train under all the same conditions that your race will contain. The goal is to build the best aerobic system that you can between now and then, since a 10-hour race is highly aerobic.
That can be done really efficiently with those 3x hard workouts a week.
Getting in one longer ride a week is really all you need. During those efforts, you’re really just getting your body used to digesting and burning calories for long periods of time, getting your bike and nutrition dialed in, and topping off base fitness.
You don’t need to be fitting in 5+ hour rides, though, maybe just a few times a couple of weeks out from the A race. Trying to stick with 5-hour rides every weekend between now and September likely won’t be sustainable or productive, since the fatigue will likely spill over into your three key hard workouts.
The goal here is to find the amount of training that’s sustainable between now and September. Starting with shorter rides and pushing them out over time is likely the best option. Be patient and focus on the key work now, and you’ll be ready to throw in some of those really long rides later in the summer.
Hey thanks lots of good points to consider in here. really appreciate it.
yeah this is a pretty fundamental misunderstanding on my behalf maybe. If i view the whole activity, it will be as hard as it can get (for me). but the reality is my normalized power for it will be in the endurance zone. so considerably less. I would be curious about how others calibrate that scoring for how they would approach their A race.
balanced might be alright. im honestly just concerned about volume. which to your 4th point im in vehement agreement. I gotta figure out long day nutrition, etc…
FWIW: all of my points are based on 20/20 hindsight from what I wish I had done differently in training for past events that I have subsequently applied to more recent training plans.
^ Does this mean, i should maintain my current setup and just shoot for the Dynamic ‘long endurance’ days?
let me rephrase:
“if i recreated my training plan, what would be the recommended plan setup to account for both the volume, intensity, durability and nutritional toll of a 200 Mile race like Lotoja?”
Right now it sounds like the consensus is:
Event Training plan:
“A” race target on set date, at “Grand Fondo” (changed from Climbing Road race)
Balanced approach (changed from Demanding)
With some self selected long days between here and the event date?
If so based on vibe? (race anxiety is a vibe to be sure, which could result in me over training out of terror lol)
If no, is there a way that TR can A) identify best time to ramp up volume, and B) using the data from my rides do its thing to make them the most efficacious possible?
really appreciate the engagement on this everyone. Very cool to be able to bounce these off of folks rather than just bouncing it inside of my head
race anxiety is a vibe to be sure, which could result in me over training out of terror lol
This is the direction a lot of people go
Seriously, though, I’d pick the plan that best suits your availability and recovery abilities. Follow it as closely as possible, and if things are going well, your endurance rides will get longer as you progress into them.
As you near your event, it’s okay to extend those longer rides a little bit as long as you’re prepared well and adjusting the rest of your training to account for the extra fatigue you’re picking up.
We actually just released a podcast about this topic. It might be worthwhile to check it out!
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