Preparing for a Hilly Century

By Gale Bernhardt
For Active.com

Century rides are one of the crowning achievements of recreational cyclists everywhere. If you've already completed more than one century (so named because they are 100 miles long. There are also metric centuries measuring 100 kilometers.), I'll bet you can vividly remember your first event. Beyond the first one, I suspect you can also recall the one with the coldest or hottest weather, fastest ride time, and the one with the most climbing.

If you're aiming to do a century ride that includes a generous serving of hills in the next few months, what can you do to ride strong from start to finish?

Build Endurance
The first order of business is building endurance for the event. Aim to complete at least a few long rides that last between 50- to 80-percent of the time you think it will take for you to complete the century.

You can also use distance rather than time when building endurance. Keep in mind, however, that if you live and train in a location that has no hills, riding 60 miles on the flats can take much less time than 60 miles in the hills.

Trim Fat
If you want to be a strong hill climber, you need to minimize the extra fluff you're carrying on your torso. This can be done by trimming a few calories (200 to 500 per day) out of each day's diet, increasing your weekly ride time or some combination of both.

Build Intensity Within the Long Ride
After building endurance at the aerobic level, start adding some intensity to your riding. Begin the process by accumulating about 20 minutes at Zone 3 intensity and building from there. A description of this intensity can be found on the "Training Intensities" document found in the free download area on this page. As you increase your time at higher riding intensities, add to your total ride time as well.

I like to begin building this accumulated ride intensity on the long rides a few weeks before beginning the structured intervals discussed next.

Lactate Threshold
A key step in your progression to building more hill strength is working on your lactate threshold (see the "Training Intensities" document linked to above for an explanation of this term).

Start by doing intervals in Zone 3, then progress to Zone 4 and 5a after three to six weeks. In both cases, begin with broken intervals to keep power and speed high. The work to rest ratio is 3 or 4 to 1. For example, do four to six intervals lasting four minutes each while holding a Zone 4 to 5a heart rate. Take one minute of easy spinning to recover between each interval.

I typically begin with around 20 minutes of total work time and build from there. The majority of athletes can handle around 40 minutes of accumulated lactate threshold work time. Depending on the individual situation, some people can handle more.

Determine the right amount of total work time for you by paying attention to the work load that brings fitness improvement. Doing more than that volume can result in overtraining and injury.

I like one workout per week to be structured intervals and a second one to be unstructured. The majority of athletes can handle at least one interval day with higher intensities during the week and a long ride with intensity on the weekend to form the cornerstones of their training plan.

Add Hills to the Intervals
After lactate threshold fitness has been built on mostly flat terrain for some three to eight weeks, it's time to add hills. Do the workouts described in the lactate threshold section on hills or do repeats up a single hill. If you don't have hills where you live, simulate them by using a harder gear or pedal into a headwind for the work bout.

Back-to-back Tough Days
After progressively building endurance and the ability to ride for longer periods of time at higher intensities (higher power outputs), do difficult workouts on back-to-back days.

For example, four to eight weeks before the event, do structured intervals with hills on Saturday for a workout in the two- to three-hour range. The next day, do a ride in the three- to four-hour range where you ride every hill as fast as you can, at the highest intensity you can muster. Do not worry about watching your heart rate on these, just go.

If you don't have hills, simulate them as previously mentioned. Another option is to make this second ride a fast group ride. Usually, other riders can help you ride faster than you would on your own.

More advanced riders can include a weekday ride with intervals above threshold, in addition to the back-to-back weekend rides. One example is to warm-up, then do 3 to 5 x 3 minutes on a hill that gets your heart rate into Zone 5b. Hold it there to the end of the interval time. Recover with easy coasting downhill and spinning for 3 minutes. This is a 1-to-1 work to rest ratio.

Rest
Be sure to peel back the training volume and keep some intensity in the week or two before your century ride. While you're busy resting, make certain your bike is in great working condition.

Plan to Finish Strong
On event day, ride the first 50 miles at a lower heart rate, power level or perceived exertion level than the second half of the event. This means you will be riding the first 50 at a pace that feels too slow to you. That's okay. For example, if you use heart rate to guide your training, ride the first 50 miles at heart rate Zones 1 to 3. Bring it home strong at heart rate Zones 3 to 5a.

At the half-way mark, ride the last 50 miles at the fastest speed you can manage. Use riders in the distance as goals or imaginary competitors. Ride fast to see if you can catch them—on a climb.