I’m in a similar position, planning to ride a few local centuries, local XC riding and a big Alpine sportive event in the summer. My initial thought was to do the All-Purpose Road plan, followed by the Hilly Gran Fondo plan. Since my main target event is going to be a 7+ hour endurance slog I’ll probably just extend the length of my weekend endurance rides in the lead up to that event - mainly to test my fuelling strategy and bike kit close to the full distance. I’m confident that my stamina will come naturally from following these plans.
I have the all purposes road plan queued up for next week with strength training. I might just stick to that.
I can decided on the century plans in February. My biggest issue with the century plan(S) is living in an area that is snow covered until the end of April or early May. Four hour trainer rides are pretty brutal.
I also have a family with 2 kids under 5. This makes getting time to ride 3-4 hours is tough.
I can supplement with an hour on my lunch or xc skiing but that does not prepare your body for long hours in the saddle.
The all-purpose plan sounds like a good starting point and then it all comes down to being realistic about your available training time.
I’m not sure what to suggest as a viable alternative to those 3-4 hour endurance sessions, given the aim of improving your stamina. But I find Zwift group rides/races work best for long Indoor enduro sessions. So I’m planning to use those in place of 4 hour Suff sessions whenever I can’t get outside - which is quite often in the winter.
Welcome back to training! One of the keys to your success is to have a true and honest picture of your strengths and weaknesses, goals and hours to train. You have identified your weaknesses and goals so now you must be honest with how much time and energy you have to train for your goals. In order to build the endurance to meet your goals you will need to get in a few 3-4 hours a week. But there is time to build up to that.
Stress on the body is external and internal and if you are trying to rush to get workouts in or stressed for missing workouts your body will be impacted negatively. Pick a plan that suits you best and do what you can. Don’t try to make up workouts and enjoy the process. Fit in what works for you and adjust your goals and events based on your progress.
The next plan in the progression would be a Transition Plan. Transition Up plans are for those who have been doing little training and are ready to ramp it up. This plan also includes functional strength and body mechanics which would be a great addition to help with injury prevention as you add duration and intensity. After finishing the Transition Up plan I would start the All Purpose Road Plan followed by a Building Blocks plan ( 3 week plan) to bolster that FTP. This progression mixes it up a bit for you and gives you some variety while working on your weaknesses. After completing these plans I would start the Metric Century plan and it may take you to the weeks you could get outside more. Very important is that you take a week of recovery in between each plan. Your body will need the time to grow and adapt before starting the next plan. A mental break is also a tremendous asset going into a new training commitment. Don’t forget to work on those nutrition strategies along the way!
Hi, I have the same problem with the 4 hours endurance ride. Not abel to do those outdoors since the fondo is early in the season.
Is the weekly plan ride time more benefit than the actual longride ? Can I add endurance ride time in others workouts to reduce the total time of the long ride but keep the weekly ride tome to the closest to the prescribed target.
@Yanick. I don’t personally think there’s much benefit in splitting endurance rides. It feels very different doing a single 4 hour endurance ride vs 2x 2 hour rides. Even more so if you go into the 5th hour and above. It’s the build-up of fatigue and how well you fuel for it that counts and you lose both of those factors when you split up the session.
I would think adding 30 mins “endurance” to a 1 hour interval session just to hit the total volume would be a waste of your time. Be interesting to see what others think about this.
Thought I would add a few suggestions to address the questions above.
The Half Monty is considered a sub maximal effort as a test. If you are referring to the HM being part of your plan I would do the test as scheduled as it will be used to adjust your power numbers and targets. If you are thinking of completing the HM as a stand alone test you will be okay to do that as long as it is 5 days after doing the 4DP test.
If you split up your long endurance rides into 2 rides you will lose the endurance/fatigue and nutritional demand components of the ride. That said, to try to fit in workouts or rush them and not have proper training readiness will not give you the desired results either. The key is to be honest with your goals and time that you have available to train. Another suggestion would ,be if you can, to do a SUF workout such as The Cure and then add an hour of endurance afterwards. The SUF workout will give you the training stimulus you need and then to add the endurance afterwards will give your body the endurance stimulus. You can pick the SUF workouts that work on your particular weaknesses and then add the endurance. Although this may not be the “Hour” total the plan has listed you will still get benefit. The additional endurance training time will also give you time to practice your nutrition strategies.
When combining plans always be sure to take a recovery week in between the plans. Your recovery/adaptation time is just as important as your actual training stimulus time.
@Yanick I agree with @Peteski. Part of the reason for the 3-4 hours rides is to build the endurance but also to learn about the nutrition and pacing strategies for longer rides. Sometimes you do not have issues with your lower back on a short ride but 4 hours in your lower back is sore and you didn’t drink enough so you start cramping. Or you find a bike fit issue.
Good luck I hope you find time for the longer rides. I will have to get up early on the weekends if I want to have a chance to ride big miles.