prudentialridelondon.co.uk PRUDENTIAL RIDELONDON // 51

PRL // Training

If you ride regularly – even over short distances – and want to improve your fitness level to

be able to cope with the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 later this year, then the intermediate programme is for you. It will take you from short commuter or pleasure rides to a level where you can cope with, and enjoy, the longer challenge to be experienced when taking on a century ride.

The gradual increase in speed and distance will provide confidence to ride more efficiently in group situations, thereby saving energy. Following this progressive plan will allow you to ride comfortably, ensuring you enjoy the ride.

ProgressionProgression is key to your training, without it you will be putting in a lot of work to ‘stand still’. You’ll see from the plan that each week is a little harder than the previous one; it’s the same for each four-week block. Don’t think too far ahead, take it a week at a time.

RecoveryGood recovery is the key to improving

your fitness. As you can see, each fourth week is an easy one – a recovery week. You will also need to get used to post-ride recovery, maybe a bit more sleep, perhaps a bit of planning about your lifestyle. This will become more important as the rides get longer as your training progresses.

TestRegular testing will show you how you are improving. So you will complete an initial test at the end of week one to set a benchmark and then the same test again at the end of each ‘recovery’ week. This should be a ride of around 60 minutes, on a route without too many stops like traffic lights or right turns, something that you can easily repeat each time.

Take your exact time for each test ride and compare them. Bear in mind this is not a race. You should ride at your normal pace, after all, that’s what we are trying to improve. If you are using power or heart rate that’s fine but remember this is about your improvements over 16 weeks not absolute numbers.

Sweet SpotsThe idea of ‘sweet spots’ is to help add a

bit of speed to your riding. So on Tuesdays (where indicated) put in a one-minute ‘burst’ every 30 minutes, this should be close to a flat-out effort but not quite a sprint. On Thursdays it’s five minutes every 30 minutes, this time a little above normal effort, enough to make you breathe hard. Try riding these sweet spots one gear harder with the same cadence, or ride a gradual climb without changing gear. Doing these at set times means that the terrain will vary, which is also important – don’t only do them on the ‘easy bits’.

Nutrition: the two-hour ruleYou can ride for approximately two hours on glycogen, which is the fuel stored in your blood. After that your body will make the switch to breaking down fuel from other sources.

This means two things. Firstly, if you are not used to this it can create a low point, a quite deep feeling of fatigue. So when you ride for more than two hours you will be training your body (and your mind) to cope with this changeover. Secondly, it highlights the importance of eating and drinking little and often and starting to do so before you feel hungry or thirsty.

INTERMEDIATE PLAN

MO

ND

AY

TU

ES

DA

YW

ED

NE

SD

AY

TH

UR

SD

AY

FR

IDA

YS

AT

UR

DA

YS

UN

DA

YW

EE

KLY

TOTA

L

Wee

k 1

-1 h

r-

1 hr

-1 h

r2

hrs

5 h

rs

Wee

k on

e is

abo

ut ri

ding

to a

sch

edul

e an

d co

nser

ving

ene

rgy.

S

atur

day’

s te

st is

to s

et a

ben

chm

ark

to re

fer b

ack

to –

sel

ect

som

ethi

ng y

ou c

an re

peat

, eve

n sc

ore

how

you

feel

out

of 1

0 an

d w

rite

dow

n al

l the

info

rmat

ion.

If y

ou a

re a

lread

y do

ing

mor

e ho

urs

than

this

, stic

k to

the

sche

dule

but

incr

ease

you

r spe

ed/

inte

nsity

, and

kee

p th

at le

vel t

hrou

ghou

t the

pro

gres

sion

.

Wee

k 2

-1 h

r-

1.5

hrs

-1.

5 h

rs2

hrs

6 h

rsM

ake

sure

ther

e ar

e a

few

hill

s in

you

r lon

ger w

eeke

nd ri

de

this

wee

k.

Wee

k 3

-1.

5 h

rs-

1.5

hrs

-1.

5 h

rs2

.5 h

rs7

hrs

The

long

er ri

des

are

a go

od ti

me

to c

heck

that

you

r pos

ition

is

com

fort

able

and

all

your

clo

thin

g is

fit f

or p

urpo

se. N

ow is

the

time

to m

ake

chan

ges

or b

uy n

ew g

ear,

not j

ust b

efor

e th

e ev

ent.

Wee

k 4

-1 h

r-

1 hr

-1 h

r2

hrs

5 h

rsTh

is is

you

r firs

t rec

over

y w

eek

so ta

ke s

tock

, enj

oy y

our r

idin

g an

d do

you

r sec

ond

test

.

Wee

k 5

-1.

5 h

rs-

1.5

hrs

-2

.5 h

rs3

hrs

8.5

hrs

This

wee

k yo

u’ll

intr

oduc

e so

me

swee

t spo

ts o

n Tu

esda

y (o

ne

min

ute)

and

Thu

rsda

y (fi

ve m

inut

es).

Che

ck th

e gu

idan

ce n

otes

in

the

intr

o on

pag

e 51

for d

etai

ls.

Wee

k 6

-1.

5 h

rs-

1.5

hrs

-2

.5 h

rs3

hrs

8.5

hrs

You

are

now

doi

ng s

light

ly lo

nger

ride

s at

the

wee

kend

s so

it’s

tim

e to

sta

rt th

inki

ng a

bout

food

and

drin

k. A

lway

s ta

ke a

bo

ttle

and

som

e fo

od, t

he c

hoic

e is

you

rs, b

ut tr

y a

few

diff

eren

t ba

rs, g

els

and

drin

ks to

see

wha

t sui

ts y

ou o

ut o

n th

e bi

ke. D

on’t

forg

et y

our r

egul

ar s

wee

t spo

t day

s.

Wee

k 7

-1.

5 h

rs-

1.5

hrs

-2

.5 h

rs3

.5 h

rs9

hrs

May

be m

ake

up s

ome

‘favo

urite

’ foo

d of

you

r ow

n to

try,

wra

p it

in k

itche

n fo

il bu

t mak

e su

re y

ou c

an u

nwra

p it

on th

e m

ove.

A

litt

le ‘f

ood

trea

t’ ca

n do

won

ders

for y

our m

oral

e if

you

are

havi

ng a

bad

day

.

INTE

RMED

IATE

PLA

N K

EY

: SW

EE

T S

PO

T

T

ES

T

PRL // TrainingM

ON

DA

YT

UE

SD

AY

WE

DN

ES

DA

YT

HU

RS

DA

YF

RID

AY

SA

TU

RD

AY

SU

ND

AY

WE

EK

LYTO

TAL

Wee

k 8

-1.

5 h

rs-

1.5

hrs

-1 h

r3

hrs

7 h

rsTh

e se

cond

eas

y w

eek

and

test

– e

njoy

!

Wee

k 9

-2

hrs

-1.

5 h

rs-

3 h

rs3

.5 h

rs10

hrs

You

are

now

hal

fway

thro

ugh

the

prog

ram

me,

so

it’s

time

to

intr

oduc

e so

me

mor

e ch

alle

ngin

g te

rrai

n. P

ut in

one

hill

y rid

e

each

wee

k, a

nd d

on’t

forg

et y

our s

wee

t spo

ts.

Wee

k 10

-2

hrs

-2

hrs

-3

hrs

4 h

rs11

hrs

On

the

hilli

er d

ays

try

som

e di

ffer

ent c

limbi

ng s

tyle

s, s

eate

d or

st

andi

ng, h

igh

or lo

w c

aden

ce. D

o yo

u ch

ange

the

met

hod

for

shor

t or l

ong

clim

bs?

Rem

embe

r, yo

u ar

e tr

ying

to s

ave

ener

gy.

Wee

k 11

-2

hrs

-2

hrs

-3

hrs

4.5

hrs

11.5

hrs

On

the

long

er ri

des

real

ly s

tart

to th

ink

abou

t eat

ing

and

drin

king

; thi

s is

a g

reat

tim

e to

exp

erim

ent a

nd g

et th

ings

so

rted

. Rem

embe

r the

rule

: nev

er tr

y an

ythi

ng n

ew o

n th

e da

y

of a

n ev

ent.

Wee

k 12

-2

hrs

-1.

5 h

rs-

1 hr

3 h

rs7.

5 h

rs

This

is a

reco

very

wee

k so

it’s

a g

ood

time

to ta

ke s

tock

: are

you

ha

ppy

with

the

bike

, foo

d an

d dr

ink,

clo

thin

g fo

r all

wea

ther

s?

Com

plet

e yo

ur la

st te

st b

efor

e th

e ev

ent –

you

sho

uld

be s

eein

g re

al p

rogr

ess

by n

ow.

Wee

k 13

-2

hrs

-2

hrs

-3

.5 h

rs4

.5 h

rs12

hrs

This

wee

k is

the

last

pus

h be

fore

the

even

t. Yo

u sh

ould

be

usin

g a

mix

of t

erra

in a

nd p

lent

y of

sw

eet s

pots

. May

be lo

ok fo

r a fe

w

mor

e gr

oup

rides

at t

he w

eeke

nd.

Wee

k 14

-2

hrs

-2

hrs

-4

hrs

4.5

hrs

12.5

hrs

It’s

gett

ing

hard

now

– m

ake

sure

you

get

ple

nty

of re

st a

nd e

at

prop

er m

eals

.

Wee

k 15

-2

hrs

-2

hrs

-4

hrs

5 h

rs13

hrs

This

is y

our l

ast t

rain

ing

wee

k so

do

a st

ock

chec

k: b

ike,

spa

res,

cl

othi

ng, f

ood.

Are

you

pre

pare

d on

all

fron

ts?

Wee

k 16

-1 h

r-

1 hr

-1 h

rR

IDE

DA

Y!

Eas

y re

cove

ry w

eek

befo

re th

e bi

g da

y –

hav

e a

grea

t rid

e at

the

Pru

dent

ial R

ideL

ondo

n-S

urre

y 10

0 an

d en

joy

the

expe

rienc

e!