Century Training ~ How to Train for a Century Ride

My goal for this year is to ride a century before the cold weather hits. I’m still gearing up for BAK next year, and feel a century is a great way to build my confidence.

I’ve done some looking around for some training guides. I’ve gotten books out of the library and read them, but everything is soooo complicated. It’s like I’m training to go to the moon, not ride my bike 100 miles. I know it’s a long way, but I am a work at home mom and need something simple to get me prepared for this journey.

I recently found the Century Training Guide. It’s an ebook, so I ordered it and it came right to my computer (which I love). This training guide is very thorough, but it’s very simple.

He starts out the guide by telling you what a century is and then goes into the equipment you’ll need and how to prepare for the ride ~ the right clothes, bike equipments as well as a fantastic bike kit list ~ which I found invaluable.

He then gets into the training. He offers some high tech ways to train as well as some lower tech ways to do the same thing, which I really like because I don’t really want to spend a lot of money on high tech devices. (Well that’s not really true, I’d love to spend them money on them, but it’s not in the budget right now!)

He shows you not only training on your bike, but also weight training to get well rounded fitness and strength. I think this is really important, because I think my big foot issue last year was partially due to only working out on the bike, and not stretching/working other parts of my body. (Hoping to avoid the foot thing this year).

The on bike training is very thorough, but not too confusing. He breaks things up into “zones” which can be measured by heart rate (or perceived exertion if you don’t have a heart rate monitor). Each zone has a certain purpose and you workout in each zone on specific days for specific times. This allows your body to stretch its limits, but also have time to recover ~ which is really important.

I really like how the training is really easy to understand and it feels like something I could actually DO! What I REALLY like is at the end of the book he offers 3 workout charts. He lays out which zone you should be working out, for how long and when ~ but for 3 different fitness levels. So even if you are a super beginner (like I’m going to be after a super lazy winter) this century training will work for you as well.

After the training section he goes into nutrition ~ which is huge to make it through 100 miles on your bike. He lays out a very sound nutrition plan ~ to use through training as well as the day of your ride.  He also includes an entire section on vegetarian nutrition ~ while I’m not a vegetarian, I thought it was an excellent addition to the book.

All in all this century training guide is very thorough, but what I like best is it is simple enough as not to be so overwhelming I just put it away. This is  century training I can do! Which is great, because then I might actually do it. If you’re looking for a straight forward guide to learn how to train for a century I highly recommend it.