90-Minute Long Endurance Ride

Session Overview

This 90-minute endurance ride is designed to build your aerobic base and improve fat-burning efficiency. Perfect for intermediate triathletes preparing for Olympic or 70.3 distance events, you’ll spend most of the session in Zone 2, building the miles in your legs without accumulating excessive fatigue.

What You’ll Need

• Road bike or TT bike
• Heart rate monitor or power meter (optional but recommended)
• Water bottles (at least 750ml)
• Energy gel or bar for mid-ride fuelling
• Safe outdoor route with minimal traffic interruptions

Warm-Up (15 minutes)

Start with 15 minutes of easy spinning in Zone 1–2. Keep your cadence above 85rpm and gradually increase effort until you’re comfortably settled into a conversational pace. Include 3 x 30-second bursts at Zone 3 intensity (with 90 seconds easy between each) to open up the legs and prepare your cardiovascular system for sustained effort.

Main Set

The main set is 65 minutes of steady Zone 2 riding. Your heart rate should sit at around 65–75% of your max HR, or 56–75% of FTP if you’re riding to power. This is conversational effort—you should be able to speak in short sentences, but not hold a full conversation comfortably.

• Focus on maintaining a smooth, consistent cadence between 85–95rpm
• Keep your upper body relaxed—tension in your shoulders wastes energy
• Practise aero position if you’re on a TT bike, but don’t force it if you’re fatiguing
• Take on 150–200ml of water every 15 minutes, and consume a gel or energy bar around the 45-minute mark

Cool-Down (10 minutes)

Finish with 10 minutes of easy Zone 1 spinning to flush your legs and begin the recovery process. Drop your cadence to 75–80rpm and let your heart rate gradually drift back down. Use this time to reflect on how the session felt and whether your pacing was sustainable throughout.

Coaching Notes

• The goal is aerobic development, not heroic efforts. If you’re breathing hard or struggling to speak, you’ve gone too hard—dial it back.
• Common mistake: starting too fast. The first 20 minutes should feel almost too easy. You’ll thank yourself later when you’re still feeling strong at 70 minutes.
• To make it harder: Add 4 x 3-minute tempo intervals (Zone 3) during the main set, with 5 minutes easy between each.
• To make it easier: Reduce total time to 75 minutes, or break the main set into 2 x 30-minute blocks with a 5-minute soft-pedal break in between.
• RPE should sit around 5–6 out of 10. Heart rate Zone 2. Power Zone 2 (56–75% FTP).