To ride long events, you need very specific, rigorous training. For that, we turned to 2004, 100-mile national champion, Lynda Wallenfels, a 1990s NORBA pro cross-country rider who now coaches endurance athletes. Wallenfels stresses that you need a ton of work off the bike, too-strength training is the key to surviving all of the stresses put on your upper body when you put so much mileage into your lower body-and, overall, she recommends a "periodized" training schedule (steady increases in effort with occasional rest) to build endurance and ramp up your system's ability to efficiently use fat as fuel. You'll also need at least once-a-week strength/stretching exercises. For the strength work, visit Wallenfels' website, lwcoaching.com. The bike workout follows.
Do one increasingly long ride per week to ramp up fitness, work on climbing technique and pacing, experiment with fueling and hydration and get used to mechanical problems Week 1: 3 hrs. Week 2: 4 hrs. Week 3: 5 hrs. Week 4: Cut back to 3 hours. Also: 1- to 2-hr. rides, 3 to 4 times each week and one rest day. Bonus work: Devote one of your days to improving weaknesses..
Do back-to-back long rides--a regime that primes your body for day-to-day recovery, necessary for TransAlp-style stage races. Do lots of climbing, especially if doing events with massive, two-hour hill climbs, like TransAlp and the Cascade Creampuff 100-miler. To teach yourself about pacing, try two identical climbs in one day-the first in 90 minutes, and the second 20 minutes faster. Week 5: 3 hrs., two consecutive days. Week 6: 4 hrs., two consecutive days. Week 7: 5 hrs., two consecutive days. Week 8: 3 hrs., one day, then 90-min. spin the next. Also: 1- to 2-hr. rides, 3 to 4 times each week, and one rest day.
What are your goals? If you want to win the TransAlp, ride for five hours, 5 or 6 straight days onWeek 9. If your goal is to merely survive, ride for five hours 3 days in a row every week of this month. For the three-day La Ruta, only 2 days a week is necessary. Begin your taper 3 weeks out from race day by keeping frequency up but reducing volume. If you rode for 25 hours on week 9, on Week 10, replace two of the 5-hour days with 30-minute rides, to allow for recovery. (Example: Tues: 5-hr. ride; Weds.: 30-min. spin; Thurs.: 5-hr. ride; Fri.: 30-min. spin; Sat/Sun.: 5-hour days.) Week 11: Drop to 10-12 hrs. total ride time, 2- to 3-hour days broken up by days of 30-minute spins. Week 12 is travel week. Spin lightly the day prior to travel. Stretch on travel day. Do an easy ride the arrival/pre-ride days (serious competitors do a few harder efforts-5x1 min. at race pace with 3 min. of recovery in between).
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