How to train with 3 weeks till event



Ed_Roche

New Member
Feb 7, 2010
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Hi Folks,

There’s a 40km gallop in Singapore in 3 and a half weeks and just wondering how best to prepare for it. Last year I got back on the bike after 12 years and to my surprise did pretty well in last year’s event. I used to race in my teens for about 6 years competitively and made Irish national team plus national silver before I packed it in due to over training. Anyhow I usually do a 60km spin at least once a week for the past year and wondering how best to prepare for the race in terms of on the bike training, intensities, distances etc. Im pretty sure I have a descent level of fitness that the weekly spins and with the right training in the next weeks I can be competitive. Im not sure what to focus on in the short time available. On the basis of being able to train 2 or 3 times a week for the next 3 weeks, what sort of training should I be doing? I presume that 60km is too long now and that rides should shorter and get faster. What about the likes of intervals and the like?

Thanks guys

Ed
 
Ed, are you saying that you ride once a week for 60 km? If so, that's a bit low in terms of training load...even if you're going as hard as you can for that session.

Regarding your event in three weeks, it's kind of late to build a lot of fitness before then. What you can do is work on specific skills and intensities that you'll be racing at. How was the race last year? Was there a lot of attacking? Hill climbing? Bridging? Solo efforts? Sprinting?

I don't think you can go too wrong with 1 min. intervals (several, like 8-10of them at 150% FTP) for a workout. 5-min. intervals would be good too. (anywhere between 3-6 X 5 min. at 110-120% FTP for a workout). And do some sprints in your workouts, 4 or 5 at least...up to 10 or so.

If you don't have a big fitness base, you might not be able to do several repeats of these efforts. But do what you can. Don't do the workouts every day. Every other day would work, with some middle intensity aerobic rides on the days in between.

I'm not really sure what your training load has been, so be careful with my recommendations. You don't want to raise your training load too dramatically leading up to your race, especially the last 2 or 3 days before it begins. You want to be at the start fresh and as prepared for the requirements of the race as you can.


Ed_Roche said:
Hi Folks,

There’s a 40km gallop in Singapore in 3 and a half weeks and just wondering how best to prepare for it. Last year I got back on the bike after 12 years and to my surprise did pretty well in last year’s event. I used to race in my teens for about 6 years competitively and made Irish national team plus national silver before I packed it in due to over training. Anyhow I usually do a 60km spin at least once a week for the past year and wondering how best to prepare for the race in terms of on the bike training, intensities, distances etc. Im pretty sure I have a descent level of fitness that the weekly spins and with the right training in the next weeks I can be competitive. Im not sure what to focus on in the short time available. On the basis of being able to train 2 or 3 times a week for the next 3 weeks, what sort of training should I be doing? I presume that 60km is too long now and that rides should shorter and get faster. What about the likes of intervals and the like?

Thanks guys

Ed
 
Hi Bailsibub,

Thanks for the reply. Yes 60km just once a week, sometimes twice. Usually id be between 70% and 90% heart rate rather than leisure cycling. I'm nowhere near racing fit but objective is to beat personal best last year rather than really compete with these guys.

The route is the same as last years, very flat/no hills at all. My 60km route covers most if not all of the 40km race route as it happens. It’s a timed event with a bunch of diff categories. Bunches of 300 or so will be let go at a time so last year’s event meant chasing and bridging which made it easier. There was little action but good up and over riding together as a group. Little attacking, sprints or the like. Just hard continuous riding.

I’m going out on bike tonight, should I reduce the 60km and do some intervals? I’ll see how it goes, won’t go overboard.

Thanks!

 
So no powermeter, eh? :D Well, FTP is a power term. It's the maximum power you can hold for an entire hour.

As I said, I wouldn't increase my overall training load all that much if I were you at this point before the race. So if you are doing 60 km 1 or 2 days a week and recovering from it well, then do that like you've been doing. Throwing in an extra day or two and some interval training could just end up making you weak for your race.

But if you wanted to do some interval training, then your ride would probably end up being shorter (in both time and distance). For example, that 1-min. interval ride I described earlier for me is a 30-min. warmup and 1-min. interval with 3 or 4 min. recovery. And I just repeat the intervals until a) I have done about 10 or b) my lungs have spontaneously combusted. I'm not really concerned about how much distance I cover as that workout is already pretty stressful.

In terms of difficulty and stress, I'd MUCH rather do 60 km at 70-90% than 1-min. intervals.

By the way Ed, we're 'kind of' neighbors. I'm in Seoul.
 
Oh cool, was wondering who was awake at this hour in the west.

Powermeter? No chance. Too old!

Thanks for the tips. Will try a few intervals and see how it goes this evening. Need to clear the cobwebs in terms of speed. Might chase a few buses or mopeds. See how.

Thanks again,

Ed.
 
Ed_Roche said:
Hi Folks,

There’s a 40km gallop in Singapore in 3 and a half weeks and just wondering how best to prepare for it. Last year I got back on the bike after 12 years and to my surprise did pretty well in last year’s event. I used to race in my teens for about 6 years competitively and made Irish national team plus national silver before I packed it in due to over training. Anyhow I usually do a 60km spin at least once a week for the past year and wondering how best to prepare for the race in terms of on the bike training, intensities, distances etc. Im pretty sure I have a descent level of fitness that the weekly spins and with the right training in the next weeks I can be competitive. Im not sure what to focus on in the short time available. On the basis of being able to train 2 or 3 times a week for the next 3 weeks, what sort of training should I be doing? I presume that 60km is too long now and that rides should shorter and get faster. What about the likes of intervals and the like?

Thanks guys

Ed
That name is very familiar, you're not related to a certain Steven or Nicholas Roche are you? I think you've got to hit Vo2max intervals twice weekly(these will hopefull raise your overall fitness levels). After a warm up, (10-15mins) ride hard for 4/5 mins and then rest for 4/5 mins and repeat up to 6 times. It should feel just a notch above TT pace a bit like taking long hard turns in a two man breakway. Good luck, Bro
 
Maybe a little late for this thread, but i'd say just do lots interval work. Try to ride 4-5 times a week until your event.
 
wheelerw said:
Maybe a little late for this thread, but i'd say just do lots interval work. Try to ride 4-5 times a week until your event.


Intervals, ok, yes. But don't overdo it. As in, don't do intervals 5X/week! You'll absolutely die!!!! Most training plans would schedule in a taper period before your event. As your event is so soon, I wouldn't taper too much, but maybe forgo the intervals in the last week. You don't want dead legs at the start.