Last week, I discussed choosing a race, and setting up a calendar to help map your training.  This week, I will go deeper into the training plan and help you break down the race into its basic components.  For purposes of these articles, we’re focusing on one race. Thus, the training will be focused on the specific nature of that race as opposed to a season of races.

You should have gathered as much information as you can about your race and have a general idea about what the course looks like.  You might have information about the venue, lodging, start times, etc, but for the time being, focus  only on the physical requirements such as steep climbs versus long climbs,  or technical terrain (including descents)  versus long-open stretches of road.  Each aspect of the course has its own physical requirement and how you prepare for those requirements will determine your success.

Then, think about your own abilities and determine what your strengths and weaknesses are on the course.  Are you tentative on descents?  Do you hate long flat stretches of trail? Are you happiest when there are no roots and rocks? Be honest with yourself, because you’ll want to take advantage of everything you are good at in training while bringing your weaknesses up to snuff.   In your mind, you should be starting to think of the course from a good racer’s perspective, “the climbs early in the race ought to give me an advantage, but the rock gardens later are going to hound me.”

Go back to your calendar and look at how many weeks you have to the event.    The most traditional model of 3 weeks on-1 week rest is often the most effective for the working athlete.  So, you’ll want to break out your training into 4 week phases, ending with a rest week the week of your event.   How you distribute your training amongst those 4 weeks is a process of working both forwards and backwards as you flesh out your training plan.

As I mentioned in last week’s installment, building a training plan is a detailed process that is best done by a professional.  What I am offering here is simple, logical advice to help map out your program.

1. Establish your peak volume.  If you are planning on increasing your volume, do so in the early phases of training.  Every person is different- and every person has a different training history and injury history.  Be reasonable with respect to your volume increases. If you are trying to go from 7 hours a week to 17, then you’ll probably just run yourself into the ground.  Instead of jumping up your hours in the saddle, go back and evaulate where you can substitute quality (and therefore speed) for time.
2. Working backwards from your race date, start to drop your volume back 6-8 weeks before the race, make a note to begin increasing the intensity at this time.
3. Working towards your race date, drop in the key elements that you need to work on for the race 2-3 days a week.  Think about it this way: if you have a course with a lot of short, steep climbing, then you need to begin working on climbing skills early.  Again, you are looking to get an edge climbing, so you’ll want to ride a little bit faster than you normally do in order to better your fitness.
4. Concentrate skill training (i.e. hill work) in a 4-6 week time frame, utilizing a rest week to allow your body to adapt to the training demands.
5. Use moderate and easy rides to fill in around your harder days. For example, on an easier day, you might practice technical skills.  Be careful here:  technical riding has a high power demand. You will want to work on flat elements, such as riding rock gardens on easy to low-moderate days. Work on descending skills on a hill repeat day- and only on days when you feel really focused.
6. As you begin to reduce your volume, add higher intensity. You won’t need to train a sprint, but you will need to train at very high intensities. One of the top mistakes an endurance racer makes is to constantly push the mileage, but ignore the intensity.  Intense workouts will not only build your fitness, but they will prepare you for the intense moments of the endurance race.  You will recover faster, and you will be able to cope with the demands of a tough day if you focus on the intensity. Intense workouts are also where you build speed.  Remember: if you can ride really fast for 2 hours, then you can ride pretty fast for 3-4 hours!
7. Focus on specificity throughout your program.  You should always have an eye towards the course you will be riding.  If you are a mountain biker, then ride your mountain bike on the road, and do many of your workouts on the mountain bike.  Mountain biking produces a very specific power demand that is exhausting over long durations. You will need to be able to repeat very short, hard efforts in order to cope with that demand.  Where possible, ride courses that mimic your chosen race and repeat elements similar to your race—such as a long climb with steep switchbacks.
8. Focus on one thing in a workout. If you are working on hill repeats, focus on just hill repeats, don’t try to stack 5 hours of riding around those hill repeats, else you won’t get the full advantage of the primary workout.
9. Race to race!  Use cross-country racing to help build endurance.  Cross-country racing will make you ride faster than you would in a training ride, and it will also sharpen your technical skills.  Take advantage of the race environment to further your goals.  Racing also reminds you how to prepare for a race- all of those little details will serve you well later on. You can also use  group rides with riders that challenge you.
10. Always err on the side of recovery.  Program too tough? Dial it back.  Bad legs? Take a recovery day.  Your body needs to adapt to the demands you are placing on it. If you don’t allow that process to run its course, then you’ll lose the benefits for which you have worked so hard.

Now that you have these basics, start to fill in your calendar. When in doubt, default to specific training for your race. Remember what you are after, and let that guide your program.

In two weeks, I will go into more details about how to manage longer workouts and what the relative benefits are.  Future articles will discuss the logistics of the race and how to manage various endurance races.

Sara Krause holds a master’s degree in sports science and nutrition and has been coaching athletes to numerous state championships and top national results since 2005.  Krause has won multiple solo victories at 6 & 12 hour races, and has placed 5th in the women’s solo category at the prestigious 24 hours of the Old Pueblo. She has also won the 24 Hours of Rocky Hill where her performance netted her a 2nd place amongst all solo men as well.  Krause will focus on ultra-distance racing for 2010, with appearances at the National Ultra Endurance Series.   She is the owner of Krause Sports Performance.