# Which type of plan for a 255km 5000m road race? **URL:** \ **Category:** Training\ **Created:** [January 27, 2020, 9:12am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708 "2020-01-27T09:12:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DanePropoggia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/danepropoggia/32/11731_2.png) [@DanePropoggia](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/DanePropoggia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:12am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/1 "2020-01-27T09:12:48Z")
I have a road race in October this year that I want to prioritize. I’m going to be using Plan Builder for the training block but I’m undecided about which discipline I should select: - Gran Fondo - Climbing Road Race - Rolling Road Race There are 3 main climbs; Below is a PDF of the course 76km = 2.6km @10.5% 130km = 9.1km @4.5% 180km = 11.1km @4.8% My goal is sub 9.5 hours. Currently 29 years of age, been riding since December 2017. 2019 was my first year with intervals and some structure. Coming from a professional sporting background. Current FTP - 315 Current Weight - 74kg Current FTP/kg - 4.26 [Fitz Challenge 2020.pdf](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/uploads/short-url/pgxYWkfwxtqc0S1jCbPixIbIWqr.pdf) (2.1 MB) ---
**Author:** ![Amnesty](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/amnesty/32/18994_2.png) [@Amnesty](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Amnesty)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 9:30am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/2 "2020-01-27T09:30:11Z")
Coach Chad once recommended in a similar case: If the goal is to finish the race as a bucket list achievement: century/gran fondo plan. If you want to race it: climbing road race. ---
**Author:** ![SSaldanha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/ssaldanha/32/17730_2.png) [@SSaldanha](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/SSaldanha)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 10:01am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/3 "2020-01-27T10:01:31Z")
On such a distance (over 250km) those 3 climbs aren’t that big of a deal once they are either too short (1st one) or don’t have a big climbing percentage. Have you tried plan Builder? ---
**Author:** ![DanePropoggia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/danepropoggia/32/11731_2.png) [@DanePropoggia](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/DanePropoggia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 10:49am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/4 "2020-01-27T10:49:27Z")
I have played around with it, just trying to work out what specialty plan would be best. ---
**Author:** ![SSaldanha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/ssaldanha/32/17730_2.png) [@SSaldanha](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/SSaldanha)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2020, 11:18am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/5 "2020-01-27T11:18:59Z")
But what does plan Builder prescribe when you set your training conditions? ---
**Author:** ![DanePropoggia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/danepropoggia/32/11731_2.png) [@DanePropoggia](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/DanePropoggia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 6:28am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/7 "2020-01-28T06:28:04Z")
Don’t understand what you mean by that… ---
**Author:** ![SSaldanha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/ssaldanha/32/17730_2.png) [@SSaldanha](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/SSaldanha)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/8 "2020-01-28T18:35:35Z")
Did you use plan Builder to the end? What was prescribed (suggested) by plan Builder? ---
**Author:** ![DanePropoggia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/danepropoggia/32/11731_2.png) [@DanePropoggia](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/DanePropoggia)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/9 "2020-01-28T23:06:11Z")
I did do plan builder, but it asks me which type of discipline I want to choose… ---
**Author:** ![SSaldanha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/ssaldanha/32/17730_2.png) [@SSaldanha](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/SSaldanha)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 8:48am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/10 "2020-01-29T08:48:28Z")
[https://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/plans/category/18-road](https://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/plans/category/18-road) Read the description on each type and watch coach Chad video “How to Choose a Road Racing Training Plan”. I’d go for century. ---
**Author:** ![mcalista](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/mcalista/32/92377_2.png) [@mcalista](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/mcalista)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 4:17am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/11 "2020-01-30T04:17:37Z")
With that amount of climbing over that distance, you would be looking to keep things under threshold virtually all the way. In this case, Century is a better speciality for Fitz’s. Climbing Road Race is generally for shorter punchier climbs, where you may go over threshold for short periods of time to stick with the bunch. ---
**Author:** ![bmcd](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/bmcd/32/20016_2.png) [@bmcd](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/bmcd)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 6:03am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/which-type-of-plan-for-a-255km-5000m-road-race/28708/12 "2020-01-30T06:03:38Z")
Do the plan builder, but I’d reckon you basically want to do heaps, and heaps, and heaps of sweet spot. My best result was 2002 and I had 10.40 riding time, according to Strava. From memory the course was a little bit different that year, we went out to Tidbinbilla Tracking Station because there was a land slip at Corin??? Strava says 5245m of climbing and weighted power (NP?) of 188w. At the time I was probably about 68kg. There’s lots of climbing (duh) with a stack of pinchy bits in there. Add in the dead roads and it’s a long, long day out. Not a single flat metre the entire ride. This is from somebody who did the shorter version. > **[Guest post: Fitz's Challenge 2012 (205km edition) - The Climbing Cyclist](https://theclimbingcyclist.com/guest-post-fitzs-challenge-2012-205km-edition/)** > > Victorian cyclists are blessed with a number of great, hilly challenge rides to choose from, not least the Audax Alpine Classic and the 3 Peaks Challenge. But, of course, there are other great rides elsewhere in Australia that are well worth...