I read once (and i'll try to track down the source when i have time) that any serious effort over a few hours can't really be considered training in the same way lesser durations are. The argument goes that when you push hard for three hours or so you start requiring things from your body beyond what it's been able to physiologically adapt for. You start tearing things down. This makes sense when you take care to define what is meant by 'serious effort' - if you refer to training zones i'm using the term to mean a Zone 3 or above effort. In the language of Joel Friel, my introduction to training zones, this equates to training muscular endurance, aerobic threshold, or anaerobic endurance. In the more common language of intensity, we're talking about high intensity training (HIT), which is roughly characterized as training at between 70-95% of your maximum heart rate (MHR). Now when we're talking about a three hour workout, you're definitely going to be confined at the lower ranges (lower Zone 3, 70% MHR). Remember, these definitions are subjective, so it's really,even just based on the logic of the words, not possible to go out and do a long workout in these zones. If you're going out for a six hour ride - you're not riding in Zone 3 or 4.
Most endurance workout schedules spend lots, if not the majority of time, not doing HIT work. And this is probably smart - HIT training is brutal. if you're putting in 20 hours a week and s significant amout of that was HIT, you wouldn't have ample time to recover - you'd be overtraining and your fitness wouldn't improve. Research has shown that the physiological adaptations provided by HIT training are far greater than equal time training at lesser intensities (no surprise), but perhaps more importantly, that there are no specific adaptations provided for by long duration low intensity training that can't also be realized through HIT work. So why are people still spending hours doing low intensity work, you might ask? Well for one, HIT training is hard - really hard - both mentally and physically. some people are happy to put in 10 hours of more moderate work to get the benefits that might be afforded by 3 hours of gut busting effort - they may have the time and get something else out of the training as well - time to think, time for themselves, endorphins, comraderie, etc. In addition, there's a fairly tradition (and lots of conventional wisdom) that still suggests that the only way to prepare for a long event is to grind out the miles. Luckily for those like me who are ambitious and time crunched, i'm pretty confident that this this wisdom, like so much other conventional wisdom, is outdated and untrue.
When i've got an event on my calendar, i typically try to start a focused training cycle about 8 weeks out. Personally i've found success using any multiple of 4 week blocks, but find that to truly push the intensity and maintain my motivation for more than 8 weeks is difficult. Coming off a 'general' training phase, which will be described later - and assuming that my 'event' is on the weekend of the 8th week, i'll structure my weekly hours as follows:
- 3 hours
- 40 min workout (speed) - primary
- 1 hour workout (tempo)
- 1:20 workout (Long) - primary
- 3 hours
- 30 min workout (speed)
- 1 hour workout (tempo) - primary
- 1:30 workout (long) - primary
- 4 hours
- 30 min (speed) - primary
- 1 hour (tempo) - primary
- 30 min (speed)
- 2 hours (long) - primary
- 2 hours
- 45 (tempo)
- 30 (speed) - primary
- 45 (tempo) - primary
- 3.5 hours
- 40 speed
- 50 tempo - primary
- 2 hours (long) - primary
- 2.5 hours
- 1 hour (tempo)
- 40 (speed) - primary
- 50 (tempo) - primary
- 4.5 hours
- 3 (long) - primary
- 1 hour (tempo)
- 30 (speed) primary
- 1.5 hours
- 1 hour (tempo/easy) - early in week
- 30 min (speed/easy) - primary. half the usual number of intervals. leave one-two days before event.
- RACE/EVENT!