Intermediate Marathon / 50 Mile MTB Racer - 11 Week Build / Peak / Race

This plan will help you reach your goals or set a personal record for longer Marathon type events (40-60 miles) and is recommended for riders who have experience racing XC and/or Marathons. Ideally you would have both a road and mountain bike. A heart rate monitor is required. Power is not required, but it is recommended. Typical weeks will be around 10 hours of training (sometimes more), with recovery weeks around 7 hours of training.

One of the benefits of this plan is the ability to adapt it to your needs. You have the option to do the Endurance Rides on either your road or mountain bike. Throughout the plan there are scheduled mountain bike specific rides and workouts. There are also several very long (4+ hour) workouts during this plan.

This plan will take the intermediate (Cat2/Sport) cross-country racer through the Build, Peak, and Race phases of training. This plan is designed for those who have a little it of a flexible work/school schedules as there are some longer mid-week endurance rides up to two hours. It is expected that you will start this plan with a solid base of fitness.

You will start with the 8 week build period. During this phase the emphasis will be increasing threshold power and speed. The workouts in the build period are designed to improve your starts, increase your power, and improve your ability to carry speed for longer durations. The plan concludes with a two week taper before your target Marathon event.

Throughout the plan you will perform field tests to gauge fitness and there are opportunities to incorporate other events and XC races.

As always, custom plans can be created specifically for your needs, contact Pete at www.holdfastcoaching.com