Gran Fondo Training Plan

I have just finished the Gran Fondo training plan on Zwift. This is my second training plan I have followed on Zwift; the other being the FTP Builder that you can read more about here.

So what is the Gran Fondo plan intended for? Well the objective is to build strength and endurance, whilst including high intensity interval training. When I was looking into the plans available the following appealed to me:

‘You’ll come away ready for long climbs, sustained efforts, and everything else a course might throw at you, thanks to this plan’s proven framework for success over long-distance rides.’

It was 8 weeks and each week had 4 sessions, which included the following:

• long tempo intervals: intervals at 90% FTP intended to get you used to sustained power
• low cadence intervals: now these I found so tough! I train using cadence and low cadence is not something I feel comfortable with. These intervals were as high as 97% FTP and as low as 55 RPM, when I usually sit at around 80-85 RPM so quite a difference and total leg burner!
• progressive ramps: pretty self explanatory with intervals that progressively get harder and in addition each block of intervals getting harder than the one before
• breaks: intervals that build to top speed and above threshold power with those breakaway sprints in mind
• extended tempo: again with the focus on endurance and sustained efforts
• sweet spot training: these always sound like they should be nice and comfortable and yet I find can be some of the harder sessions with most of your time being spent in 85% to 95% of FTP
• tempo accelerations: steady endurance with sprint efforts
• maximal aerobic power: intervals that are high power output, longer than a sprint but good recovery time in between efforts
• over unders: my nemesis! I hate these sessions with a passion as they are always a killer. Unders at 80% FTP and overs up to 95% FTP, constant between these levels really test you mentally and physically.
• long ride: these differed every week with each getting progressively longer in duration (the longest being 3 hours and 15 minutes). Each week had a different focus but each were intended to build endurance and included efforts to simulate conditions you may encounter when out on the road.
• endurance free ride: I did my first two sessions of the week on a Monday and Tuesday and then used this ride as recovery to spin the legs ahead of the long ride at the weekend. You can also do this ride outside.

As I noted with the FTP Builder plan the Zwift companion app made it very easy to see how my plan was scheduled for the week and each session says when it will be available and you can click in to each to see what is in the session.

Every session completed then gets ticked off and you work your way through the weeks. I am one of those sad people who love to get my stars in a workout and so liked seeing the green tick when I completed a session too! Here are my stats from the end of the training plan:

So how did I get on? The longer sessions built up and that gradual increase definitely helped getting used to longer sessions in the saddle. With no natural movement on a turbo the longer sessions can be tough. My final session was 3 hours and 15 minutes and I managed to tick off my 25 volcano lap badge. Yes, 25 laps is as boring as it sounds but the efforts made it interesting. I also got my 100km badge too so triple win with final long ride ticked off and two badges!

I would definitely recommend this training plan if you are looking to work on your strength and endurance.