The 8-Week Training Plan to Ride a Century

Train for a 100-mile race with just three rides per week

This eight-week plan for a century ride will have any determined cyclist ready to hit 100 with just three rides per week: one long, one steady and one speedy. On rest days, remember to do something to keep your body moving.

Long Ride: The Meat.
In your first week, you'll want to ride 1.5 to 2 hours, or about 20 miles, and build from there. (If you're already comfortable with a longer ride than Week 1 prescribes, start with 2.5 to 3 hours and follow the same guidelines for mileage building, topping off at about 85 miles.) Do your long rides at a steady, but not taxing, pace--about 70 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. Though most cyclists find that Saturdays or Sundays work best for their long rides, it doesn't matter which day you choose as long as you get it done.

Steady Ride: The Bread and Butter.
During these rides, aim for two to four longer efforts (15 to 30 minutes in length; 15 minutes easy pedaling in between) that increase your breathing and elevate your heart rate to around 80 to 85 percent of your MHR. Ride at threshold, as if you're pedaling with someone slightly faster than you. These rides will simulate your goal for your century and train your body to ride more briskly while maintaining comfort, so you can finish 100 miles faster and fresher.

Speed Ride: The Secret Sauce.
Distance riders often skip speed work because they think they need volume, not intensity, to go long. But riding fast improves your endurance by raising your lactate threshold, the point at which your muscles scream "Slow down!" When you raise this ceiling, you can ride faster and farther before your body hits the brakes. Aim to do four to six very hard or max efforts ranging from 30 seconds to two minutes; in between, spin easy for twice the length of the interval. Do these on a challenging stretch of road, such as a hill or into a headwind.

Tips

• At 25 miles for your regular ride and 50 for your long ride you can enjoy a century provided you pace yourself, hydrate, and stay fueled. 2–3 days off the bike so you're fresh is good.
   
• Don't forget to taper leading up to the ride. For example your longest training ride should be 2-3 weeks prior to the event.
   
• Ride at your own pace which is conversational and you don't feel lactate in your legs.
   
• Drink at the rate required for you to finish at the same weight you start.
   
• Eat a little (I like half a Clif bar at 125 Calories) every hour - at an endurance pace most of your energy comes from fat which doesn't need to be replenished, and regardless you can't digest more than 200-300 Calories per hour.
   
• For a century, you need to sort out your energy and hydration way in advance. That gets sorted out on your 50, 60, 70+ mile rides where your basic two bottles and Clif bar don't cut it anymore. My experience is that I hate Gatorade by mile 85 - especially obvious on humid 98* days in August where I am drinking and sweating a ton. I have to change things up so I don't stop drinking altogether. I also have to remember to eat ahead of time, not just in the final hour or two. Being well hydrated the night before helps too.
  Essentially, riding a ton of miles but only in the 20-50mile range won't demonstrate what your body needs to "comfortably" complete a century. I could grit out a ride with no water, but it would suck, so, the sooner you know the what, when, and how much of food and drink on a long ride - gained through experience and experimentation - the better.
   
• Keep stops for water bottle refills and restroom visits under 5-10 minutes so your muscles don't cool off.
   
• 15 MPH is about a 6.5 hour finish time which is fairly fast for a first timer, especially on a hilly course. So work in those hills in training!