Generally speaking, people think of interval work as the short, intense work bouts followed by varying rest periods. However, there are times when a longer, less intense interval can really boost your abilities.

Almost every athlete I take into my coaching program, particularly the mountain bikers, reports a similar racing pattern: shorter steeper hills are easier for me, longer hills are harder, and I always get dropped on the flat, open sections of the course. They report a similar pattern in group rides. Depending on the route or the trail, that rider either has a distinct advantage or disadvantage, but often nothing in between.

The genesis of this pattern is both normal and simple. As people begin to ride more, they begin to adapt to the demands of different courses or group rides by going harder, then easier for periods of time until they finally drop off the pace. Eventually, these riders are able to hang onto the group longer, or even the whole ride, but that can take a long time, and can be discouraging. In the case of a hilly route, it can even reinforce some of the habits the rider has gotten into over time.

Hard group rides can be extremely beneficial, and can build fitness, however, the work in between the group rides can be the key to boosting your speed and basic abilities. Long intervals teach a rider to hold a specific effort for a long period of time, or as I tell my athletes “LOCK” the effort. These efforts also help build a tremendous amount of muscular endurance, and can replace a long base ride. The efforts described below are generally classified as “moderate,” but can be very challenging.

Training zones

First off, I am going to describe two training zones that are useful for long intervals:

Moderate or “tempo” training: this type of training falls just below the onset of heavy breathing. Tempo is the pace often described by road racers as being a quick clip, but submaximal. For mountain bikers, tempo is typically the pace you’ll run on the open, flat sections of a long race course.

High moderate “threshold” training: this is typically described as RIGHT at the onset of heavy breathing and is commonly described as “comfortably hard.” Lactate threshold is the theoretical point at which lactic acid production in the cell equals lactic acid clearance. This is the point at which you could time trial for exactly one hour before fatiguing. Obviously, this is a very fine point to find, and is a moving target to some extent, so establishing a threshold range is critical to this type of training.

Structuring the Training

First off, pick a flat, long route. For, for an extra boost, do long intervals on a trainer or rollers—you’ll be surprised at how difficult these can be in a controlled setting.
Start by using a tempo effort for several weeks. Find the point at which you feel uncomfortable holding the EXACT effort. If it’s 7 minutes, then the next time you do a tempo interval, try to make it for 8-10 minutes before backing down. Ride easily for ½ the time of the interval, and do it again until you have a significant drop-off in your ability to hold the interval. Ideally, your cadence will be between 80-90 RPM; don’t drop below 80 RPM. If you are riding outdoors, make sure that you are really locking on the effort by shifting gears to maintain the effort as constant as possible.

Do these intervals one to two days a week building to the point where you can hold the effort for long periods of time (10+ minutes) on a normal ride. Then, progress to the same strategy for threshold training. Threshold is a much harder zone at which to pedal. Give yourself time and start with a short interval, 5 minutes or less if that’s what you need in order to build power in this zone. This type of training is much harder than tempo, give yourself time, and don’t worry about training beyond an hour of intervals in this zone.

Sara Krause, M.Ed. is an exercise physiologist and owner of Krause Sports Performance, based in Austin, Texas.  Have a specific question or topic you’d like to see covered? Contact Krause here.

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