Multi day and endurance cycling events can be daunting.  Long periods of time in the saddle and overall distance can easily become overwhelming.  This could be an event that starts on one day and finishes on another in one stage or could be multiple days over a certain time like on a training camp, cycling holiday, personal challenge or multi stage event.

Training Plan

From my experience training correctly is key and this should be structured with your specific goals in mind.  My training plan would be varied and include rides that are:

• endurance – flat or rolling course, boost muscular endurance, aerobic fitness and fat burning zone.  These rides will also build up your experience of spending multiple hours in the saddle.
• interval work – short periods of high intensity.  Turbo sessions lend themselves better for interval sets too with no interruptions or obstacles found when out on the road.  Turbo trainer sessions are great for following structured plans.  I use Zwift and complete the dreaded FTP test.  An FTP test scores your functional threshold power and this determines your ability to sustain the highest possible power output.  Once you have completed this it means sessions you follow will then be geared around your FTP and more tailored for your ability.
• hill climbing – to get better at hills you must practice on hills, it really is that simple (and I am saying this as much to myself as everyone reading this).  Hill climbing on the bike also helps with improving muscular endurance and strength.
• recovery rides – recovery is part of the process and allows muscles to repair.  A recovery ride would be otherwise known as active recovery but should be done so at an easy pace.  If you use training zones think zone 1 or 2, super easy, more than comfortable and conversational pace.  I have written a blog post on this in more detail that you can read here.
• strength and conditioning with a focus on leg and core strength, essential when on the bike.
• yoga to ensure stretching – it really helps!
• sleep – I always try and get 8 hours per night, key time for your body to rest and repair and make you feel more energised.
• I train off cadence though many others train using heart rate or power, and this is personal preference.  Cadence is the number of revolutions per minute of the crank arm and gives a natural feel when riding to indicate when gear changes are required if cadence is too high or low.

Other Considerations

Multi-day riding is different to a single ride regardless of length as you will need to get back on and do the same in a sequence of days.  Riding on back to back days will help to build stamina.  If an event is over more than one day you should absolutely be training for this and simulating the same sort of scenario in your training.  If you find after one long day in the saddle you struggle to ride the following day this would be an area to focus on for multi day riding.

Building up mileage gradually over time is important because a sudden increase in mileage can not only increase risk of injury but you will probably see less progression also.  Build a strong base and then build on that gradually.  I wrote a post when I was training for a 300km bike ride that you can read here.

When spending many hours in the saddle you want to ensure some comfort and I cannot personally vouch for the importance of a bike fit enough.  The smallest of changes can make the biggest of differences.  I have written a blog post with more detail on this that can be read here.  Don’t let the overall goal overwhelm you.  Break it down ie rest stop to rest stop as necessary, work out food stops as an example.

Fuel correctly as this really can make the biggest difference when riding! Don’t try anything new on event day(s) and instead stick with what you have tried and tested during your training.  You should know by then what works for you and stick with that.  The key is what works for you – people will try and be helpful and they very well might be but what works for one will not necessarily work for another so be selfish and do what is right for you.  I have a timer on my bike computer and every 20 minutes it will alert me to eat and drink and I have found little and often works for me.  Being properly hydrated is essential and a carbohydrate/electrolyte drink is great for endurance events and performance.  The only thing I might change relating to fuelling would be depending on the weather for example if I knew my ride would be in hot weather, I would ensure my fuel was nothing that would melt and could withstand the heat.  I would also take extra sachets of my energy drink and possibly salt tablets to replace salt lost through sweating (nice I know but this can really help).

Recovery at the end of the day will help, if an event with massages then a short rub down of muscles will be beneficial and if not stretch with a focus on areas you will have worked on the bike like hamstrings, quads, glutes, hips, back and groin.  Recovery shake to rehydrate and rebuild and repair muscle fibres ideally within 30 minutes of completing your ride for the day, and enough sleep ready for the following day.

I will always maintain you should trust your training – train smart with your goals in mind and when completing your event trust the work you have done to get you to that point and enjoy the ride!

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.

Ah the dreaded FTP test! Lets start with what they are – an FTP test is a measure of your functional threshold power and can be used to determine increase/decrease in fitness but more importantly for training plans so you can be more efficient in your workouts and get the most from them. If you use an app, like Zwift, for training it will colour the intervals of a workout so you can see at a glance and they are as follows:

• Grey – zone 1/recovery
• Blue – zone 2/endurance
• Green – zone 3/tempo
• Yellow – zone 4/threshold
• Red – zone 5/vo2 max, which is basically the maximum rate that the heart/lungs/muscles can effectively use oxygen during exercise

You know those workouts with all the red are the hard ones!

But there are different versions of FTP tests out there just to add a little confusion and what one should you use? Well I use Zwift and with that you have the option of the following:

Long FTP – starts with a warm up followed by three sets of short ramp ups to 130% and in between two easier leg spins a 5 minute effort before starting your 20 minute effort before finishing with the cool down. The power is measured by the average power from your 20 minute effort and then 5% is deducted for a more realistic result.

Short FTP – starts by getting your warmed up and slowly ramping in two sets of intervals up to 130% of your FTP, the first ramp being shorter and the second slightly longer but only from seconds to minutes. This is then followed by a lower effort leg spin and then your 20 minute effort and cool down. The power is measured by the average power from your 20 minute effort and then 5% is deducted for a more realistic result.

Ramp Test – 5 minute free ride and then you pedal at 1 minute intervals, increasing effort by 20 watts per minute basically until you cannot pedal any longer. The power is measured by your best 1 minute power and then 25% is deducted for a more realistic result.

Ramp Test Lite – basically the above but for those who weight under 60kg or who are newer to riding and has a slightly different structure with a longer warm up period and each 1 minute interval increases by 10 watts. The power is measured by your best 1 minute power and then 25% is deducted for a more realistic result.

I completed the long FTP for my first test and since then always stuck to the short but more recently I was advised by many to try the ramp test. I was also seeing a lot of commentary about the ramp test online with what seemed to be two camps – those who felt it was more efficient and less stressful on the body and those who still remained keen on the 20 minute effort. Anyhow, I had just completed a 6 week FTP Builder training plan and to measure the improvement I needed to complete a test and figured I would try the ramp test. Now I know I cannot do a direct comparison as the last was in a different format but it does still give a good marker.

I have always dreaded the FTP test so was actually keen to see how I felt after the ramp test and if it was the same. Yes it is a very intense short workout but the recovery is absolutely so much quicker! I was surprised how it started so low and so easy to getting a little tougher and then within 90 seconds I would say moving to oh no don’t think I can hold on much longer to not being able to move the pedals. It is definitely a test where cadence is key – find a good rhythm and try and stick with it – the second your cadence drops too much you will almost certainly not be able to continue! I actually laughed when I got a text box asking if I was done and I definitely was so was happy to click the ‘I’m toast’ button and it then gives your result.

The downside of an increase in FTP? All the new workouts are based on your higher FTP levels so in turn are tougher! Let’s finish on a fun fact to end on a lighter note though – my first FTP test (the long one) almost killed me and I was so ruined by the end of it I couldn’t unclip so stood up and lent forward and lost my balance and fell off my turbo. Yep I basically fell off a stationary bike!

Other top tips from me:

• take a couple of days complete rest before completing your FTP – it is threshold after all so if you are fatigued then you will be putting your body under further unnecessary stress and this will affect the result also
• make sure you are hydrated
• keep up the cadence as it really does help
• stay seated – these tests are designed to record power from a seated effort and although you will be able to get more power from standing you will also fatigue quicker and this will not help the result
• remember it is all relative – we are all different heights, weight and have different strengths and weaknesses so don’t compare your FTP result with someone else as it is personal to you
• lastly (and not really a tip from me but from a close friend) is that races help – I know a few people who race online and you will have a message displayed on screen if your FTP increases during the race so it is not just the tests that measure the power output and some do not test well but perform better when racing so that is also an option and helps increase the power too.

I am someone who likes/needs a bit of structure and so despite no events going ahead I wanted to continuing with my training and decided to do the Zwift FTP Builder plan. Now there are many training plans available on Zwift and you should take the time to look at what your end goal is a pick a plan to suit. I opted for the FTP Builder to focus on power and whilst it does say for those new to structured workouts, which is not me, the sessions looked to be in line with what I wanted. It is a 6 week plan and has 4 sessions a week with 2 of the weeks having an optional 5th session if you want. The sessions cover the following:

• foundation: relatively low intensity ride with goal of spending a large proportion of the ride into endurance zone 2
• strength: repeats of short and max efforts with the goal to increase muscle use and max strength
• tempo: most time spent in zone 3 to help increases muscle glycogen storages that improves performance by being able to maintain the intensity
• intermittent: includes short high intensity intervals with short recovery
• threshold development: the toughest one that targets the increase in FTP with short intervals at intensity of zone 4
• optional: 2 of these sessions where you can choose how hard or easy you ride

On my Zwift companion app it was 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 (I bloody love a bit of data):

Yes i know it shows 33/31 which makes no sense but that is because of the 2 optional sessions that I completed.

So how did I get on? Well obviously the only way to measure if it was effective is to compare my FTP result from before the plan to after and whilst the first test was the shorter FTP test and the second a ramp test so not a direct comparison there was a significant increase from 207 watts to 222 watts, that I was absolutely chuffed with!

If you are looking to work on your power I would definitely recommend this training plan – now I am taking an easy week and will start another plan next week – just need to decide now what one I do.