Century Training Plans

bsexton3

It has been a few years since I have ridden a century. I signed up for one in 12 weeks. What training plans or advice do you have?

jillyian

personally i think the best thing you could do is to google

'12 weeks to a century training plans'

and find one that will work best with your schedule.

heres a suggestion

start riding say 2 days a week do 10-15 miles
then on saturday or sunday do 25 miles.

following week maybe do 2 rides again of 15-20 miles each, and on the weekend do 30

the 3rd week would be 2 more rides of 15-20 miles and on the weekend again do 30

each week do 2 moderate length rides, and on the weekend go up by 5-10 miles every other weekend

so the 1st weekend is 25
the 2nd and 3rd weekend would be 30
the 4th and 5th weekend could be 40 miles,
6th and 7th weekend 50
8th and 9th 60
10th weekend do 70 miles,
then back off on the 11th weekend do 60 again
and on the 12th weekend your ready to do 100

of course if its going to be hilly you'll want to train on hills- just train for the type of event your going to be riding

Jakess1971

Basically go with what you can do and steadily increase it to the target date, doing the big ride at the weekend and sticking a few smaller sessions in the week, mix it up to keep it interesting while trying to hit a weekly target of KMs, I'm doing a similar thing training for a Lands End to John O' Groats in September.

http://jasonssavage.blogspot.co.uk/p/initial-planning-is-under-way-with.html

My example weekly targets are in the training section, as the weeks go on your mileage increases, it's more a guide and gives you decent attainable targets to hit each week, of course you can have the odd low week which is recommended every three weeks and rest days are just as important *if not more so* then the training days.

Granted this is for 100-150 miles a day over several days I'm training for but you can apply the same approach to any distance.

m1xm0d3

Agreed with the above. Find a starting point and gradually increase your distances. Do some research on the course so you know what to expect. Figure out how much climbing will there be and acclimate yourself to those conditions. If it's not too far away, even ride some of it. Take note of the rest stop locations so you can plan your fuel and recovery time.

TheBigYin

I could actually be a bit flippant and say "you've done one (or more) before... 100 miles isn't all that big and scary - worst case it's a miserable slow 8 hours of riding. You should already understand what fuelling/hydration strategies work for you, so that's not really a problem either.

Just gradually build up your saddle time, and try to have a pretty easy last 4-5 days before the event. And try and enjoy the ride...

matsprt1984

TheBigYin wrote: »

I could actually be a bit flippant and say "you've done one (or more) before... 100 miles isn't all that big and scary - worst case it's a miserable slow 8 hours of riding. You should already understand what fuelling/hydration strategies work for you, so that's not really a problem either.

Just gradually build up your saddle time, and try to have a pretty easy last 4-5 days before the event. And try and enjoy the ride...

^^^^^ Yup.

m1xm0d3

TheBigYin wrote: »

I could actually be a bit flippant and say "you've done one (or more) before... 100 miles isn't all that big and scary - worst case it's a miserable slow 8 hours of riding. You should already understand what fuelling/hydration strategies work for you, so that's not really a problem either.

Just gradually build up your saddle time, and try to have a pretty easy last 4-5 days before the event. And try and enjoy the ride...

Mark, flippant? NEVAAAR!

I would agree though. I made a huge production over my first century, the second was with much less concern. Now, I am like whatever, as long as it doesn't include a long, steep Alpe d'Huez climbing section, I'll manage....

bsexton3

Thanks for the input. Yep. I am not too worried and know it is saddle time, but any insights are helpful. But, as I get to the mid-50's and not late 40's, 100 miles looks a bit further.

cloggsy71

I'm using the century training plan on Zwift at the moment... So far, so good. Nearly finished my first week - 11 more to go

sijomial

The British Heart Foundation have a variety of plans - I followed (as best as other commitments allowed...) their "advanced" training plan ahead of a 113 mile event and it worked pretty well despite me having to dive straight into week 3 to meet the event deadline.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/events/training-zone/cycling-training-zone/cycling-training-schedule


I'm training for an Audax in a couple of weeks and having to jump from 60 miles to 100 miles in a three week period. I'm more middle fifties than you but that doesn't mean we have to be sensible - where's the fun in that?!

It'll be fine!!

R4SNik

I just dropped a double down to 65 a day, but it's more saddle time that will get me as I haven't been riding much in the last 6 months. Like they said I could still do the century, and go back the next day, but my *kitten* would pay and I'd be much slower that in previous years.

Goal right now is to actually ride this one with friends instead of being racy. Such a huge change for me... we'll see how long I can ride at 13-15mph without going nuts.

Cheers!

bsexton3

I have taken a couple weeks of little riding due to weddings, conferences and traveling. Three weeks away, and too much training to do. Longest has been 40. Will try to get some long rides in this weekend and next. Goal will be simply to finish.

Thanks for the info regarding British Heart Foundation. It is based on time in the saddle verses distance. Good to have both.