Within a periodized training plan, there is usually a short block of training, right before the race, called the peak phase.  During this phase of training, workouts become more specific to the race ahead. It often includes workouts at race effort.

I am four weeks away from my next race, so as expected, my coach has started to give me some race effort workouts.  This included my long workouts this weekend.  There was certainly no time for lollygagging around on my long ride or long runs this week.  Here was my workout schedule this past weekend.

Saturday :  Long Ride – 3.5 Hours with 5 x 15 Minutes at 75-90% of FTP on 6 minutes rest.  Run Off the Bike – 20 Minutes at Zone 3 effort, followed by 15 minutes cool down pace.

Sunday :  Long Run – 2 Hours with 30 minutes easy, 45 minutes Zone 2 and 45 minutes building Zone 3 and finishing in Zone 4.

So my long ride was longer than I expect to ride at my upcoming 70.3 race, and included an hour and forty five minutes where my overall average effort was about my 70.3 effort. This effort was broken down by periods of higher effort and some recovery.  I would never ride like this in an actual race, because the higher effort intervals would burn me out for the run.  The key in a race is steady effort on the bike.

My long run today was really tough. My legs were still fatigued from Saturday, and so the high effort at the end was very challenging. It was challenging both mentally and physically.  I was glad to have a relaxing afternoon to recover.

I have some more race effort workouts on the horizon.  It means my race is getting close.