I am doing the 312 and am struggling with the best taper in preparation. I do a lot of endurance (audax) rides and last weekend did a 300 (PBP qualifier) with less elevation than the 312. I have been averaging between 450 and 750 TSS for the last 6 weeks. My question is whether it is better to have a rest week and then do some shorter intense workouts prior to the race or to knock out another full week and cut back next week?
Short answer is cut the volume, keep intensity. Make sure to do short ride a day before the race with a few short hard efforts.
Long answer depends on your fitness level. That TSS is not hight at all for this type of event. More importantly is to be able to ride all day. I would do at least one 300
Km ride with similar elevation if possible to dial up nutrition.
If you want to win it (8h30min ish) I agree. But for just riding along in 12 or so hours I think 500-700 TSS for training is plenty high and a solid 3-4 days of rest with some light spinning and super short efforts the day before should be fine.
I personally always achieved the best results when I ended up being forced into more rest days than I would have wished for…granted you had a decent training load the weeks before.
IMHO it makes no difference if you ride 200 or 300km - you will be mosty in zone 2, sometimes zone 3 with peaks during climbing, but nothing changes anyway. its only a bit longer so you gotta repeat what you are doing for longer.
My hardest and most taxing rides are 120-150km with elevation, massive efforts smashing up every climb but anything after 200km with elevation is just a marathon of eating and drinking tons of calories and making sure you dont go to hard so you won’t cramp and keep going forever.
That being said, see ya at the 312 Sean 
Will be there as of Friday for a warm up ride with Rapha
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Taper? I’ll be in Mallorca from Monday and I’ll probably get 500k in before the event. Training starts Monday 
Good luck!
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you are my hero haha sa calobra PB on Monday, followed by Randa PB attempt on Tuesday and up to Sant Salvador Wednesday? Let the balearic spirit come alive…
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When I did it we flew out the 4 days before to acclimatise and rode 2x50 milers and a low intensity 38miler out to the Sineu velodrome the day before. It worked for most folk except me as unknowingly I had bowel/colon cancer. So doing the whole 312 and a solid Mallorca training camp immediately after maybe wasn’t the best idea. Then again maybe it was it kept the muscles strong enough to fight the cancer until it was found
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Thanks,
I some how managed to become the club champion the following year (admittedly the strongest rider was trying new TT’s for a fresh challenge, the 2nd strongest broke his collar bone and the 3rd strongest, who I could very occasionally beat, couldn’t be bothered by the hill climbs). I didn’t think too much about the monthly sore stomachs as I was strong in between. The next year was my real annus horribilis, the sore stomach’s got closer and closer and I was really weak in between (an 80year old would have been stronger). When it got diagnosed and whipped out (43 at the time) I was instantly better and out of hospital in a few days and a few months later mid chemo I set my fastest up to then 25miler. I’m now 47 and until now at least I’ve been recording times faster than what I did previously.
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Well you’re probably lighter? 
I was 73kg when I left school 29 years ago. Took pancreatitis 2 years lster and fell to 57kg. Lol, discovered Guiness and went up to 67kg. After discovering cycling and drinking less often I hovered around 63kg for about 10 or more years before and creep up to 65kg immediately before. Rapid weight is a symptom apparently but I had been stable and slightly increasing for 10 years prior :-/ I lost 3kg in the space of the op and during the chemo I was at times less than 54kg 
I am now about 60kg nearly 4 years later :-/
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