Preparing for 100 Mile Race

The National 100 is this Sunday. After a few good weeks training a while back, these last two weeks have been lighter in terms of training volume.

Last week, I felt a bit tired on the bike, so I took it relatively easy. I rode up a few hills quite quick but didn’t feel much spark so didn’t push it. I averaged about 16-17mph for these rides rather than 19 or 20 in previous weeks. As well as feeling a little tired, I had a slight twinge in the old knee, which made me think about not entering the 12 hour TT (I have to say – it’s very easy to think up of excuses to avoid a 12 hour Time trial). I’ll just see after 100 mile TT is over.

I also reduced the mileage and took an extra rest day. This week, the tiredness has gone and the legs feel good. Since I wasn’t racing this weekend, I wanted to do a private time trial around the Pool ‘triangle’ used by Otley CC. I did this triangle many years ago doing my first 10 mile tt in 29 minutes on an old Reynolds 501 road bike. This year, I averaged just over 25mph on a road bike, for a fairly hilly 12.5 course I was quite pleased. Averaging 25 mph on a road bike on a hilly course is a good measure of speed.

The 100 Mile championship is on Sunday morning. I’m starting at (6.49am) which could be worse (first rider off at 5.30am) but, could be better last rider off at 8.00am. Apart from working out how to get up so early, I feel fairly ready for race.

This week has been quite simple with no ride over 2 hours, and two short time trials of 30minutes. I will just do a few steady rides today Fri and Saturday. I’m certainly glad I wasn’t doing race last week, without some tapering and rest.

The principle of tapering is to reduce training load, in the preceding one to four weeks before the race.

If you start too early, you can lose fitness. If you keep training too much, you can enter race with tiredness in legs (like I felt last week). Making sure you are fresh is one of best ways of preparing.

Certainly an easier week last week, has helped prepare for race.

Cycling 100 miles
Training for 100 mile ride



One Response to Preparing for 100 Mile Race

  1. James July 10, 2010 at 12:05 pm #

    Good luck at the race TJ!

    I guess recovery is as important as training… ;O)

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