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Can anyone suggest good turbo trainer workouts (or tell me what features are necessary) for training for a long distance cycling event (Vätternrundan ~300 km)?
I need to be fit enough to cycle that distance but also need to get my raw pace up because of a tough target time (8 hours requiring about 40 km/h [in a group of 28 riders]) - what sort of drills should I be doing (or what should I avoid) to increase stamina and power efficiently?
Turbos are great for short interval work, brutal power workouts (cf. the comment above citing sufferfest.com) where you can monitor your output and heart rate more accurately. But they are dull, mind (and body) sappingly dull.
I'd save the long workouts for the road, it's more interesting and you've got mates to chat to and spend time with.
Use the turbo for working on the raw pace, short (60-90 minute) pieces with shorter, harder threshold pace intervals.
The next Vätternrundan is in approx eight months. My suggestion is - get mileage in. 300km isn't so hard to ride if you're okay with say 150km, i.e. can ride that two days in a row without excruciating pain or soreness.
The speed you mention is a whole different matter. If you haven't ridden these kinds of speed on shorter distances yet, it will get tough to get up to par. My suggestion would be to not go for the Sub9 group on your first Vätternrundan. It's simple as that. Nothing is more frustrating than falling out of the time frame 25km from the finish line. The Vätternrundan for "normal people" has far, far bigger timeframes; I believe the slowest group needn't ride faster than 25km/h on average, which is no problem for most amateur riders, especially in a group.
