Back in 2016, pro cyclist Mathew Hayman won Paris-Roubaix only six weeks after crashing his bike breaking his right arm. Wasn’t willing to let his dream of Paris-Roubaix go, Mat set up a indoor training system and joined Zwift with the recommendation from former teammate Bobby Julich.

Mat would train twice a day riding Zwift with 90min in the morning and 90min in the afternoon. With a combination of intervals and group rides on Zwift, his training would be two days of intervals and one easy recovery day.

Some Data of Mat during Paris-Roubaix 2016

• CTL for Paris-Roubaix – 131
• ATL for Paris-Roubaix – 128
• TSS weekly average in lead up – 850 (121 daily average)

In 2011 Mat finished 10th at Paris-Roubaix, His data for this race was

• CTL for Paris-Roubaix – 145
• ATL for Paris-Roubaix – 152
• TSS weekly average in lead up: 1050 (150 daily average)

A session Mat would do was in his garage:

Warm Up:

• 10min easy
• 10sec hard @ 105 rpm
• 1min easy @ 85 rpm
• 10sec hard @ 105 rpm
• 1min easy @ 85 rpm
• 10sec hard @ 105 rpm
• 3min easy @ 85 rpm

Main Set:

• 4x 3min moderate effort (85% of FTP) @ 95 rpm, 2min same effort @ 65 rpm
• 5min easy @ 85 rpm
• 6x 2min hovering under threshold @ 85 rpm with 20sec surges between each 2min
• 1min @ 95 rpm @ VO2
• 5min easy @ 85 rpm
• 6 x 2min hovering under threshold @ 85 rpm with 20sec surges between each 2min
• 30sec @ 95 rpm @ VO2
• 20sec anaerobic
• 10sec MAX

Cool Down:

• 10min easy

Recently retired pro cyclists and turned pro triathlete Adam Hansen has been a pro cyclist since 2004 and has completed in 29 Grand Tours and completed 26 of them with a record of competing in all three grand tours six years in a row.

Adam’s Four day training cycle

• Day One: Speed day (short high intense intervals)
• Day Two: Strength day (over gearing on hills)
• Day Three: Long endurance day
• Day Four: Complete rest day

Adam will sometimes add an extra strength day or an extra endurance day before the rest day but it always follows this pattern of Speed / Strength / Endurance / Recover.

Nutrition:

Adam really focusses on in training to burn fats as fuel however he races on high carbs with the goal to intake between 90-120 grams of carbs per hour. This needs to be trained. Adam uses his speed days to use high carb intakes and the strength and endurance days burning more fats.

In a recent post, I have an overview on Dr. Ferrari’s training method. In this, I thought I would cover a number of training sessions that I found when researching Dr. Ferrari.

Please note that I translated these sessions to a percentage of Functional Threshold Power (FTP).

When building up threshold volume

Before the athlete starts to building threshold volume, the athlete must spend a considerable amount of volume and become efficient at Medio (81-91% of FTP).

• Week One: 10x 4min @ 98% of FTP, 2min @ 72-75% of FTP
• Week Two: 5x 8min @ 95% of FTP, 4min @ 82-85% of FTP)
• Week Three: 3x 12min @ 98% of FTP, 4min @ 72-75% of FTP

For Ironman Training

Starting off at 2x 30min and building to 4x 45min at @82-91% of FTP with 6min @ 75% of FTP

Increasing FTP

• 4x 12min @ 100% of FTP with 2-3min @ 72-75% of FTP twice a week.

Getting good on long climbs

• Week One: Twice a week ride the climb with the first half of climb 6x 6min @95-100% of FTP with 2min @ 72-75% of FTP
• Week Two: First ride, the climb with the first half of climb 7x 6min @95-100% of FTP with 2min @ 72-75% of FTP, Second ride on the climb is a time trial.
• Week Three: Twice a week ride the climb with the first half of climb 8x 6min @95-100% of FTP with 2min @ 72-75% of FTP

To read about Dr. Ferrari’s coaching methods – CLICK HERE

It is very easy to get into the habit doing the same kind of long run each week. That moderate effort for a long period of time. I am guilty of this myself as I like to do my long runs with a small group of runners. However, by making some changes to your weekly long run in the lead up to your race can not only have a massive impact from a physical prospective but also from a psychological point of view as well.

Here are some great options for mixing up your weekly long run.

Building Miles:
Adding walking within your long run is the best way to increase volume each week and lower the risk of injury. Simple things like adding 30sec every 10min of running, run 9min and walk 1min. every 5min of running add 20sec of walking.

You can mix and match this to fit in with where your fitness is at.

Depleted Long Run
Not having any carbs before or during the run and keeping the pace moderate. This is a great session if you are training for a marathon, Ironman or longer. I would however recommend bringing some nutrition with you. Best to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Medium/Moderate/Medium
Breaking your long run into three parts and running medium effort, back the effort off into a moderate effort and increasing it again into a medium effort. For example if I had a Ironman athlete do this sessions maybe three or four times in a twelve week lead up to their race, the session would look like 10 miles medium effort, 10 miles moderate effort, 10 miles medium effort. The medium efforts should be uncomfortable but manageable.

Three rounds of 5x 1min effort
Adding 5x 1min medium effort (uncomfortable but manageable), 1min easy in the early part of your long run, again somewhere in the middle and again towards the end. The rest of the long run is done at a moderate effort.

Fast Finish
Long run with a fast finish could be from 20 minutes through to 10km. The effort could be from race effort through to an uncomfortable but manageable effort. Unless you really know your body, no efforts on the long run should be completed at a MAD state (as fast as possible without compromising your technique)

Ten Push Ups every Ten Minutes of Running
This isn’t the best session if you suffer from back pains but is a great session to do in the off season and even better to do with friends. 10 push ups every 10 minutes of running. If you do this with your friends, you can have some fun and do one or two extra push ups each time so by the end, you can say you did more push ups.

1min on, 1min off – Focus on Focusing
Chopping between 1min at race effort and 1min easy is a great way to get your body use to the demands of race day without the damage of doing a race. To me it is a greater session to help with focus. The difference between a good race and an average race is often focus.

Effort vs Pace

Note that I don’t mention pace.  I don’t really care about pace. I care about the effort.  What does it feel like for you.