Gravel Base, High Volume (6 weeks)

This is Part 1 of a complete gravel season. Your gravel year is built in three blocks that stack on each other: Base (this plan) builds the aerobic engine and the durability gravel demands, Build sharpens that engine with more sustained intensity, and Race Prep makes you race-specific for your event. Run all three back to back and you have a 24-week season. Start here.

Pick your level by the time you actually have. This plan comes in three volumes, Low, Medium, and High. Same structure, same philosophy, same workouts. The only difference is how many hours you ride, so choose the one that fits your life, not your ego. You can always drop a level in a heavy life week.

What's inside: 6 weeks, 6 days a week. A sweet-spot backbone that builds real aerobic strength, easy endurance rides that grow the engine, gravel-specific big-gear torque work for the low-cadence grind of real terrain, two long rides that double as fueling rehearsals, and a functional strength day to keep you durable over long days in the saddle. Every ride is a structured workout that syncs straight to Zwift, Wahoo, or your head unit.

The High level is for the experienced rider chasing big gravel days. Most weeks land around 13 to 14 hours, building to 16 to 17 on your long-ride weekends. On top of everything in the Medium plan, you add a second longer weekend ride, so you train the back-to-back fatigue resistance that ultra-distance gravel events like Unbound actually demand. This is a real training load. Come in with a solid aerobic base and 13 to 15 hours a week to give it.

PS... I'm Patrick McCrann, head coach and founder of Endurance Nation. I've been coaching endurance athletes for close to 20 years, and I've got the race resume to back it up: 30 Ironman finishes, a Big Buckle at Leadville, and a top 10 at Unbound 200. I've coached thousands of athletes through plans just like this one, and I build every block from the same methodology I use with my coached athletes. I know what gravel racing actually demands because I'm out there doing it. Enjoy the work!