Antiquated

I've decided to do my first century at a race in October and I'm not sure how to go about training this far out.

My current fitness level is such that I recently did 30 miles averaging 12.5mph on a relatively flat trail. I'm still new at this so I like having 18 weeks to get ready but most training plans I've found are like 8-12 week programs. This would have me peaking and tapering well before the race.

I could just wait until about 8 weeks out to begin a plan but what should I do until then to train? I like having the structure of a plan so I'm not just like, "Let's go for a ride today and see what happens."

I want to be well trained on race day but I don't want to be overtrained. Having 18 weeks to prepare is nice but it's leaving me not sure the best way to approach it. Any advice from the seasoned riders out there?

10 Wheels

Work your way up to 75 mile rides.

deex

There is nonother way to know how you are going to feel thank to ride the long distances. Also not every ride is the same. I have done three centuries and many metric centuries + and on some I have felt great while on others the last 20 miles have been extremely hard. No one can tell you what you need to do or how you are going to feel but your own body.

Good luck.

Gaelen

18 weeks is a lot of time. If you want the event to be your first century, still plenty of time to get in shape and ride one or two before-hand, I would recommend using the next few weeks to build your base aerobic fitness and leg strength, then maybe start on one of the structured training plans you've seen. These forums are a gold-mine of information regarding intervals, hydration/nutrion, and really anything else you could think of.

FBinNY 

Riding a century isn't the kind of limit of capacity event where you have to worry about peaking early and losing condition later. Once you reach the speed and distance range, it only gets better, or at least stays the same depending on what you continue doing.

As you've noticed 18 weeks is plenty of time, so follow one of the published programs, adjusting it easier or harder according to how you're progressing. Then once you've done a century, you have the option of trying to better your time or simply maintaining your condition.

The only caveat, is to relax and ride within your established limits without pushing for the week or two before the event.

Drew Eckhardt 

Your daily average is more relevant than what you can manage in one shot.

Two rules of thumb seem to apply when you're rested, pace yourself, eat, and drink appropriately:

1. You can comfortably ride your weekly total all at once (but may want a couple days off beforehand)
2. You can ride 50% farther than your longest recent ride

where the second point is more about discovering problems with fit or fueling when you're not too far from the finish line

If you know from experience your bike and shorts are still comfortable after 5-10 hours or however long a century takes you, and know how much you want to eat without bonking or discomfort, you can skip from 40-50 miles to 100.

If not, you'll suffer less and be happier discovering things get uncomfortable at the finish line of a 60 or 75 mile ride than with another 2-3 hours of riding ahead.

Add 10% to your total weekly time riding 3 out of 4 or 2 out of 3 (especially for the over-40 crowd) weeks. Ride twice as long one day. Take at least one day off a week.

If there are rest stops, it's not a race.

If you don't get a number and start at the same time as other riders, it's not a race.