Workout of the Day for 9/18
Howdy!
Well… options galore today. It turns out I’m not all that good at giving just one workout.
Sigh.
So, here’s what’s on tap:
– If you’re racing on Sunday, today you should do the “Can Openers” workout. I wrote that up for you last week – here’s the link:
https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2009/09/12/cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-912/
– If you’re racing today, well… go race. Have fun!
– If you aren’t racing, today you’re going running. That means we need to talk about running…
Here’s the first thing to remember about running for cyclocross: Most cyclists suck at running. Bad form, big legs, huge lungs, overambitious… it’s a recipe for injury.
I’m not going to try to teach you how to run in a single blog entry. What I am going to do is tell you how not to run (for Cyclocross…)
Put simply, don’t run a lot.
The Knapp Time run up at The Rad Cup outside Seattle is one of the longest ‘cross runs on the planet. People spend the entire season bitching or raving about it.
It’s 80 meters long (give or take.) If you run it 8 times in the race, you’re running about 1/3 of a mile.
1/3 of a mile.
So, why the hell do people do 5k runs training for Cyclocross?
Beats me.
They shouldn’t.
Look, I like to run.
I do it for fun, and I do it for hours. I just don’t pretend that that helps me with my running in cyclocross. Do you want to be fast off the bike in ‘cross? Practice running like you do in ‘cross. Short, sharp, fast efforts, mostly up hill.
So, today’s effort:
First, figure out where you’re going to do this. Ideally, you’re looking for a short steep-ish grass hill, or a flight of stairs. You are going to do a series of 10 second intervals, so you want a slope/set of stairs of appropriate length.
You want this to be a place you can bike to (and back from,) or some place really close to home base.
Ride your bike for 1/2 hour or so to warm up. Ideally, ride to the site of the workout with your running shoes in a backpack. Park your bike, put your shoes on, and get psyched.
Sprint up the hill/stairs. Full Gas.
Walk down.
Repeat 10 times.
Get on bike. Spin out your legs.
Do it again.
Repeat as fitness and common sense dictate.
Get back on bike, and roll home.
Notes:
– Look, seriously, don’t hurt yourself. If you haven’t been doing any running, don’t like to run, can’t run – take it really easy. Do a set of 5. Skip the workout entirely. Be smart.
– Think speed. It’s better to do sets of 5 fast than sets of ten glacially. Work on short, fast steps. Don’t over-stride. Blah blah blah… form advice, not going to go there, go waste 10-12 years on a running forum if you’re curious…
– Running can be fun. Repeat this to yourself as you do these…
M
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