Dear Joe and Dirk,
I seem to recall once reading about not going into the Red Zone too early in one’s training season.

Although I am new to mountain biking - the season I am focusing on - I do have a couple years under my belt of triathlon and cyclo-cross racing, so this won’t be my first year of following a training program.

Presently, I am in my Base 1 phase and I’m wondering about entering a “C-priority” race (or two) that fit into my Base 3 timeline (April). Will going into the red zone so early hurt my training program, which is being built around peaking in July for my “A-priority” races?
Thanks,
Erik

Dear Erik,
You should be fine with racing in your late base period, if you have had a good preparation and early base phase. We often advise riders get their first taste of racing during the late base period, so that they begin start to “sharpen up” for the build phase. You'll also have a rest period between the late base and early build so any racing (or intense group ride) fatigue can be offset if necessary.

Our point is to not aggressively prescribe Red Zone (also known as Zone 5) workouts within the base period. But a small mixture of Zone 4+ work is fine. Just be sure you have sufficiently built your force ability so your muscles and joints are prepared for the stress of racing.

Riders get into trouble when they have not put in enough prep' and base work, which should include strength and muscular endurance workouts. Hitting races before you are prepared will notably increase your risk of injury. Also, racing too early and often will require more rest, which in the end will cut into the hours you can dedicate to developing abilities such as muscular endurance.

Go for the race and have fun. Keep it in perspective and stay focused on what stage of training you are currently in.
Good luck,
Joe and Dirk Friel

Training on a (time) budget
Dear Joe and Dirk,
I've been training and racing since 1991, and using your book, "Cycling Past 50," since 1998. You say the longest rides of the season should occur in the Base 3 period, and that the longest ride in most weeks should be at least the duration of the longest race.

For the past several years I have been able to train for five or six days a week and have been averaging 500+ hours per year. I would like to focus on longer races this year, with my "A-priority" races being a 100-mile mountain-bike race at the end of July, and a NORBA marathon three weeks later.

I've done the 100-miler the two previous years, finishing between 9:30 and 10:00. I'm 55 years old, and family obligations are limiting me to four or five days of training each week. That includes one weekend day, when I can focus on a longer effort. I'm confident that by using my training time wisely I can maintain my goal of being competitive at the national level. How can I best structure my training hours?
Sincerely,
John

Dear John,
Thanks for writing us. For the most part, we do recommend that your longest training rides be the same length in time of your longest expected race. But this is not the case when we work with ultra-endurance athletes.

Your 100-mile mountain bike event is similar to the length of an Ironman-distance triathlon. Ironman athletes do not train 10+hrs during their longest workouts as the benefits do not outweigh the risks. For most of us, training sessions of more than six hours are just an invitation to injury, sickness and increased risk of over-training.

In your case, your longest training days should be around five to six hours. Remember endurance is the hardest thing to develop, but once built is the easiest to maintain. The other major factors in ultra-distance events are nutrition and muscular endurance. You'll have to experiment and determine the highest intensity level you can maintain and still ingest and process enough calories to ensure a strong finish. Many athletes ignore the nutrition aspect of ultra-endurance events and fail to prepare for the demands of race day. But you do not need to train nine or more hours to establish that. You can train your body to go at a relatively high intensity and still process food within the confines of a five- or six-hour ride. If you can successfully do six hours at race-pace and finish strong, you'll be fine on race day, when you show up fresh, rested and very motivated.

Besides your long ride per week try to concentrate on muscular endurance efforts, force and power work. Power work is fairly important for mountain biking since you need to power over short climbs quickly. Muscular endurance is of course one of the most important abilities to build for long events. Your muscular endurance ability is what will be the determining factor when it comes to making it to the podium in your event. Try to build in one workout per week which has a non-stop interval of 40-60 minutes within heart rate Zone 3 (Critical power 90 if you are using a power meter). You might start with a 10- or 20-minute effort a few times before trying anything over 30 minutes. Take it gradually and work your way up as you progress.

This gives you three workouts per week and, when you add in two rest days, you're left with two more days to plan for the week. Consider your limiters and devote some quality time to improving those. Do you need to lift to build or maintain force? Do you lack skills on the bike especially descending? If so, concentrate on that. Try and figure out what will make the biggest difference in your race times and work on those aspects.
Good luck,
Joe and Dirk