- The Maratona dles Dolomites is 138 km long
and over that distance,
you will be covering seven major climbs.
- [Matthew] They are Passo Campolongo,
- [Dan] the Passo Pordoi,
- [Matthew] Passo Sella,
- [Dan] the Passo Gardena,
- [Matthew] Passo Campolongo, again,
- [Dan] the Passo Giau,
- and finally, the Passo Falzarego.
The long route of the Maratona
is not to be taken lightly.
- No, so if you want to get around
this stunningly beautiful,
yet brutal course,
you're going to need to give yourself
several months for preparation
and the same applies, in fact,
to any long distance sport heat
you're planning on doing this year.
So, coming up are some hints and tips
to make sure that you're headed in the right direction.
- Riding the Maratona is an ultimate test
of your fitness and endurance,
both physically and mentally,
and when you bare in mind it's gonna take competitors
from between four and a half and ten hours,
you'll know what we mean.
- Yeah and that is exactly why you need a structured plan.
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- If you're relatively new to the sport,
it's important that you build up your training gradually
and don't rush into things.
It's very easy to get too keen too early
and to overtrain.
So, try and focus this enthusiasm
on getting structure and routine into your training.
So, make a plan that's realistic
and that you're confident you can achieve.
- Yes, that's right.
Consistency really is the key.
We've said this before and I'm about to say it again,
but doing five one hour rides per week
is far more beneficial than getting in
one five hour ride at the weekend
and that consistency,
that regularity,
also makes cycling a habit,
which in turn makes it easier
to get out on your bike in the first place each day.
Once you've got that consistency in place,
you can then start to build in the longer rides
and the intensity.
So, coming up is a guide,
a form of training guide,
which you can use as a template.
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- Month number one,
establish your routine.
So, that's five riding days per week
and that's five rides of one hour each,
with then two easy days
and that's for three weeks.
And then the forth week is an easy week
to help you recover
and that includes three one hour rides,
but remember there is a bit of flexibility built into that.
You can do a little bit more or a little bit less.
It's good idea to use your commute to train,
breaking down the hours riding
into two half hour sessions.
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- In month two,
we are going to build up the duration of your rides
and, therefore, distance as well
and also incorporate some climbs.
So, again, do five rides per week,
three of them still remain at one hour,
but you want to do one two hour ride
and you also want to do one three hour ride
where you try and incorporate some climbs.
The longer the climb, the better.
You're still taking two easy days
and you're gonna do that for three weeks.
And then the forth week,
once again, take it slightly easier,
incorporating four one hour rides.
Your bonus tip for month two
is simply to keep an eye on the weather forecast.
That way, you can plan your longer ride
on the day when it's gonna be very nice to ride your bike.
Being flexible like this is gonna allow you
to do the same amount of work, but make it more enjoyable.
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- Month number three you need to look at
incorporating a fair degree of intensity.
So, still five days riding and two days of rest.
Now, three of the rides will be one hour in duration,
but incorporate into those ride four or five
flat out ten second sprints.
Now, one of the rides is gonna be two hours,
but incorporate into that particular session
three or four ten second, sustainable, hard efforts,
like a time travel sort of pace.
Now, then in your four hour ride,
really focus on riding any hills that you climb
at a sustainable, yet difficult effort level
and then do that for three weeks
and then, as before,
week four is nice and easy.
So, three one hour rides and a two hour ride.
Break up your training and add a nice bit of intensity
by using, once or twice a week,
a home trainer.
You get a fantastic workout
and it's really, really time effective,
which is cool if you're short on time.
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- And finally, month four,
where we're still continuing to build up
both the distance and the intensity.
So, five days per week of training, still.
We're going to have three days where you're doing one hour
and you want to include some sustained efforts
of five minutes each,
one ride of two hours with some slightly longer,
ten minute sustained efforts at a higher intensity,
and then one much longer ride,
which could be around about four hours
when the weather is nice.
And again, you want to include some effort,
preferably on the climbs.
Now, this final month's preparation will finish
with around two weeks to go until your event
and so at some point during this month,
you want to try and incorporate a much longer ride,
which is coming up towards the duration
you're expecting your event to take you.
Our bonus tip for month number four
is to make sure that your body is used to the fuel
that you're planning on having on the day of the event
and you can do this simply by eating or consuming it
during your training rides in the run up.
The last thing that you want to do
is try a new plan or new products when it comes to nutrition
on the day of the event.
- The same principles of graduated training
apply to all levels of ability,
whether you're a beginner, intermediate,
or you're very experienced.
- Yeah and that effectively is gonna relate
through the duration and volume each week
and also to the intensity.
So, if you are more of an intermediate rider,
so you've been riding your bike for a year or two,
you might want to now put a couple of extra hours a week
and also incorporate a couple of shorter events
on the run up to your goal.
Almost acting like dry runs.
And if you're an advanced rider
that's been riding for a few years
and you want to take things to the next level,
again, you can increase the volume and the intensity,
include a couple of events pre-event, pre-goal,
and also maybe pin some numbers on
and do a couple of races as well.
- Yeah, but the one thing that is crucial,
regardless of your capabilities
is that you taper in the last seven to ten days
before the Maratona
and by that we mean reducing your training intensity
and volume by around a half,
with the objective being to leave you fresh
both mentally and physically.
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Keeping a training diary or journal
won't just allow you to check progress that you've made
over the previous weeks,
but also act as a great motivator
as you're far likely to actually do
what you've actually written down in the first place.
So, use your diary or journal to plan
and then note down what you've achieved
and also how you feel.
- You'll also then be able to retrospectively
look back through what you've been doing,
analyse what works best for you.
- Dan, that's not my training diary.
- Let's hope not.
There's nothing in it.
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There are many benefits to riding on your own.
You'll be able to concentrate fully
on what you want to achieve out of a training session
and the quality is generally higher
and you might not have any choice
if you're incorporating a commute, for example,
into your training,
but when it comes to longer rides
at the weekend, for example,
there's nothing quite like riding with a friend
or a group to help pass the time quicker
and also, arrange to meet somebody or some people
at a certain place at a certain time.
It's probably going to prevent you from procrastinating.
- And also, riding with friends or a friend
who may be a little fitter
is a really good way to test yourself
because generally you can actually dig that bit deeper
and go harder than when you're riding solo.
Or if you end up running in a bigger group,
that's an ideal opportunity
to hone your group riding skills.
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- It is vitally important that you allow yourself
enough rest in order for your body
to make the necessary physiological adaptations
because, essentially, when you're out training
and you are breaking your muscles down,
and it is during rest that your body repairs those muscles,
which will hopefully make you fitter and faster.
Don't get enough rest and what you risk is over-training or,
even worse, getting ill.
- Now, if at any point during your training period
you feel overly fatigued and your
motivation is at a low ebb,
like Dan's clearly is today,
it's important that you take a day off.
Listen to your body
and that's especially important if you're training
around a full time job, study, and a family.
Fancy a nut?
- I'd love one, mate. Cheers.
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So, have a plan in place,
gradually increase the workload,
and make sure that you are consistent,
but also that you're flexible
and that you listen to your body.
- And taper.
Don't forget to taper
and we think you'll be as ready
as you can possibly be.
Now, GCN is your one stop shop for everything cycling.
If you haven't subscribed,
you can do so by clicking on the globe.
- And now, you can watch the following two videos,
the first of which you might remember
from the intro to this video.
It is is the Passo Pordoi,
the second climb that you
will be completing on the Maratona,
whichever route you do.
Climb along to it with me and Lassie
in this training session.
- Or you could click just down here
for how to get fit in 30 minutes.
- 30 minutes? - 30 minutes.