During the 2015 Dirty Kanza 200, Amanda Nauman, a cyclocrosser from Southern California, was able to adapt her training and not only take on one of the longest gravel rides in the world, but win it as well. In today’s TechniqueTuesday, she explains the differentpreparations she took for the gravel race compared to her 45 minute cyclocross races, as well as preparing and pacing the right nutrition for a long 14-plus hour race.

by Amanda Nauman

Training for the Dirty Kanza 200:

How does one prepare for a series of gravel events as compared to a season of cyclocross? The two require very different energy systems during the race so it’s important to focus on the specific work you’re going to ask your body to perform when it comes to either type of event.

Because of my commitment to the gravel discipline, the development of training from February through May was perfectly executed to do well at the Dirty Kanza 200. There were a lot of tempo and threshold-specific workouts during the week with longer, steady power miles on the weekends. [Ed. Note: The intervals referred here are no higher intensity than the maximum effort that a rider can expend over the course of an hour (tempo is even less), which are opposed to the higher-intensity intervals, such as VO2 Max and sprint intervals].

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