MORE TRAINING TIPS

A few days ago I suggested some hill work for training purposes. The workout I outlined would be good for a couple of the shorter rides in a week’s activity. Some folks are, by now, wondering what else might be done to prepare for this event. We also just finished a discussion of equipment and gear to be carried. This post is going to combine both of those concepts and answer the question.

It is inescapable that most of you will be carrying more stuff than you are accustomed to. To get ready to do this, on a long ride, we invoke an old principle of race training, i.e. “Train heavy, race light.”

First task: Lay out all the stuff you plan to carry, along with your bike. Weigh the stuff. That’s your target event weight. Now start with your routine carry weight and add just a bit on each ride. Your objective is to get to the point where you are carrying at least 20% more weight than you plan to use on the heaviest option, on ride day. You should build up to this over the next three weeks. Just a little each day.

How should you ride on the days you are not doing those hill drills? Simple. Go long and slow. Really slow. The key here is to keep yourself way down in the aerobic region. So slow it’s frustrating. So slow you make the snails yawn. Really. This will build some deep muscle tissue. The other objective is to spend time in the saddle.

Ideally you are now putting in about eight to ten hours per week. You should increase that by two hours per week for the next three weeks. The fourth week is the 65 mile Tune Up. That, plus a somewhat reduced schedule in the week before, ought to give you a good 16 hour week there too. (Remember to get plenty of rest and recovery time in those weeks too!)

The 65 miler is when we (you and I) make the go/no go decision with regard to the full Audax 200K. If you do what we’ve been discussing, it should be a cinch.

What about the last two weeks between the Tune Up and the Audax Ride? Glad you asked. Taper for one week, gradually decreasing effort. The week before the actual ride, take it very easy. Remember, it takes two weeks for your body to incorporate training loads. So all you can do in the last two weeks before an event is ruin it by working too hard.

If any of this is unclear, let me know. I’ll be glad to elaborate. (grins)