Pre-Race Build Outdoor Ride: 75 Minutes from Zone 2 to Race Pace

Session Overview

This session is designed for race week: it stimulates your neuromuscular system and tops up race-specific fitness without accumulating fatigue. Starting in Zone 2 and building to short race-pace efforts, it primes your legs for performance while keeping overall training stress low. Use it 3–4 days before your race.

What You’ll Need

• Road or triathlon bike — this session works best outdoors on flat or gently rolling roads
• Bike computer with power meter or heart rate (optional but useful for keeping intensity honest)
• Water only — no gels needed for this duration

Warm-Up (20 minutes)

20 minutes easy Zone 2 riding. Pedal at 90+ RPM, comfortable conversational effort. Let your body settle into the ride before adding any intensity. This extended warm-up matters in race week when your legs may feel heavy from taper.

Main Set

Three short race-pace efforts separated by easy recovery. These are controlled and crisp — not all-out. Target the power or heart rate zone appropriate for your race distance.

• 3 × 5 minutes at race pace (sprint: Zone 4–5; Olympic: Zone 4; 70.3: upper Zone 3), 5 minutes easy Zone 2 between each
• Focus: feel crisp and light on the pedals — you’re waking your legs up, not testing their limits

Cool-Down (20 minutes)

20 minutes easy Zone 2 spin, dropping to high cadence (100+ RPM) in the final 10 minutes. The goal is to arrive home feeling loose and fresher than when you left, not depleted.

Coaching Notes

• Use this session 3–4 days before your race — not the day before, which should be a pure easy shake-out spin
• If you feel flat during the race-pace efforts, stop and go easy — this isn’t a fitness session, it’s activation
• To make it easier: reduce to 2 × 5 minutes at race pace; to make it harder: add one 8-minute block at race pace as a fourth effort
• Eat a small carb-containing snack 60–90 minutes before — practise your race-morning fuelling routine