If you've been following this training guide or have been putting together your own 12 week training program, congratulations! We are over the half way mark. I say that because I'm not really including the week leading into the event itself as this will be a special week known as a taper week where we back off our training gradually to ensure we are fresh and ready to tackle the challenging event on the Sunday. The bad news is, our training gets much harder between this point and the beginning of our taper.
If you happened to complete the Mount Street repeats this week, then well done, but you're in for some more this week and we are going to finish the week with some serious work to help build up our ability to go the distance in the hills. Nutrition and hydration on these harder efforts will be more important then ever. The forecast is for some warmer weather so ensuring you take enough fluid with you on your ride is recommended or at least factor in some food and water stops along the way to refill and re-energise.
This will be our last week before taking in another recovery week to ensure we give our bodies a chance to rest and build our fitness. Recovery between efforts is strongly important as we have lifted the intensity of the intervals and strength exercises as well as completing more Mount Street climbs. The programs below illustrate when to complete recovery and for how long so please take them seriously and ensure you recover for the full time suggested.
This week, our volume will come in the form of hours AND kilometres. These need to be quality efforts where our pace is up enough to make use work quite hard. The distance you complete during this phase is a little more relevant as we need to begin working toward the 150 & 240 km distances respectively. We need to make sure we work at a reasonable level during these efforts to ensure we build our ability through the phase leading into the next recovery week.
| Week #7 - 3 Dams (Novice & Experienced) | |
| Mon | RE riding, no hills (1-2 hrs, easy riding) |
| Tue | Intervals. Complete 6x30s sprints up Forrest Drive in Kings Park. Start just out of the corner leading into the climb. Go as hard as you can for the 30 seconds (you will fatigue). 3mins recovery between efforts. |
| Wed | Strength. Complete 5 efforts up Lovekin Drive starting at Zamia Cafe but this week go through to the second roundabout behind Frasers and return via May Drive. Do these efforts in a low cadence gear (~60-65rpm) near 53/14 and stay in the saddle. 5-6mins recovery between efforts. |
| Thu | Mount Street. Complete 2 sets of 4 Mount Street climbs. Be absolutely sure to take 5 minutes recovery between the sets. Complete 1 set of 4, recover for 5 mins then complete a second set of 4. Complete the climbs at a pace you are comfortable with. |
| Fri | RE riding, no hills (1-2 hrs, easy riding) |
| Sat | Hills. This week, try to ride 80kms with as much time in the hills as your can. You should not be able to hold a conversation whilst on the bike as your breathing should be high enough to prevent it. |
| Sun | More hills. We are looking for around 600-700 metres of vertical climbing so you can either do this around the suburban hills (e.g., Kings Park, Reabold Hills or Mosman Park) or get out to the foothills up Welshpool Rd and into Kalamunda. Try for a minimum 2 hours here. |
| Week #7 - 5 Dams (Novice) | |
| Mon | RE riding, no hills (1-2 hrs, easy riding) |
| Tue | Intervals. Complete 8x30s sprints up Forrest Drive in Kings Park. Start just out of the corner leading into the climb. Go as hard as you can for the 30 seconds. 3mins recovery between efforts. |
| Wed | Strength. Complete 5 efforts up Lovekin Drive starting at Zamia Cafe but this week go through to the second roundabout behind Frasers and return via May Drive. Do these efforts in a low cadence gear (~60-65rpm) near 53/14 and stay in the saddle. 5mins recovery between efforts. |
| Thu | Mount Street. Complete 3 sets of 3 Mount Street climbs. Be absolutely sure to take 4 minutes then 3 minutes recovery between the sets. Complete 1 set of 3, recover for 4 mins then complete a second set of 3 followed by 3 mins recovery before completing the final set of 3. Complete the climbs at a pace you are comfortable with. |
| Fri | RE riding, no hills (1-2 hrs, easy riding) |
| Sat | Hills. This week, try to ride 100kms with as much time in the hills as your can. You should not be able to hold a conversation whilst on the bike as your breathing should be high enough to prevent it. |
| Sun | More hills. We are looking for around 800-900 metres of vertical climbing so you should get out to the foothills up Welshpool Rd and into Kalamunda. Try for about 2.5 hours here. |
| Week #7 - 5 Dams (Experienced) | |
| Mon | RE riding, no hills (1-2 hrs, easy riding) |
| Tue | Intervals. Complete 6x45s sprints up Forrest Drive in Kings Park (a bit further up the climb). Start just out of the corner leading into the climb. Go as hard as you can for the 45 seconds which should take you up around the first bend. 3mins recovery between efforts. |
| Wed | Strength. Complete 6 efforts up Lovekin Drive starting at Zamia Cafe but this week go through to the second roundabout behind Frasers and return via May Drive. Do these efforts in a low cadence gear (~60-65rpm) near 53/14 and stay in the saddle for the climbs. 5mins recovery between efforts. |
| Thu | Mount Street. Complete 3 sets of 4 Mount Street climbs. Be absolutely sure to take 4 minutes then 3 minutes recovery between the sets. Complete 1 set of 4, recover for 4 mins then complete a second set of 4, recover for 3 minutes then complete the final set of 4. Complete the climbs at a pace you are comfortable with. |
| Fri | RE riding, no hills (1-2 hrs, easy riding) |
| Sat | Hills. This week, try to ride 110-120kms with as much time in the hills as your can. You should not be able to hold a conversation whilst on the bike as your breathing should be high enough to prevent it. |
| Sun | More hills. We are looking for more than 1000 metres of vertical climbing so you should get out to the foothills up Welshpool Rd, Pickering Brook (Patterson Rd) and into Kalamunda. Try for at least 3 hours here. |
Be sure to perform some stretching before and after your rides to ensure muscles are appropriately warmed up prior to riding and relaxed afterwards. Take sufficient fluid with you on the bike for the expected duration of your rides. For example, longer rides may require two bidons while just one might suffice for shorter, less difficult rides. For the hills ride, take some food with you to ensure you keep you energy levels up more than what a sports drink will give you. A banana or a sports gel or two will help here. If you like them, take a 55g Fry's Turkish Delight or a 150g Power Pulp with you. These provide a great source of energy that the body can utilise fairly quickly.
Regards, Charlie.
Ride Ambassador
IMPORTANT: The above advice and guide ("the advice") is provided to you, the reader, free of restriction and encumbrances, in the hope that it will be useful but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are free to do with the advice as you so please, but understand that by reading and/or using the advice, you acknowledge that you RELEASE THE AUTHOR and any of his related parties, including, but not limited to, Bicycling Western Australia, the Unicorn-Specialized Cycing Team, and any of their previous and/or currently engaged sponsors and related third-parties, including, but not limited to, Hall Cycle Training, of ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the advice or the use, inability to use, or other dealings in the advice.
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