The Workout Of The Day for Saturday, 7.20.13. “Toast”
Howdy folks,
Welcome to the weekend!
If you’ve been reading along with the posts this week, you know that I got things rolling by telling you that it just might be a good idea to take some time off.
I’m sticking with that.
If you’re racing an entire cyclocross season, you need to think long-term in your training, and long-term thinking means you need to schedule in some rest. Now’s a good time for that, eh?
It’s interesting… I’ve been talking to a fair number of prospective new training clients over the last week or so, and by far the number one thing I’ve heard is “I need help with making sure I don’t flame out after the first couple/few races of the season.”
Step one towards making sure that doesn’t happen is not turning yourself into burnt toast before the season even starts.
‘Nough said, eh? I’m starting to sound like a broken record here!
Soooooo…
You’re rested & ready to get things going in earnest for the upcoming Cross season. What should you do this weekend?
Well, there are several options…
Go Race!
Got a good road race, crit, or Mtb. event going on locally this weekend? Maybe an event at the local Velodrome?
Give one of ’em a shot.
Good fun, and good training.
Ride hard and have a blast!
Nothing on the local race calendar that’s appealing? Still feeling like you want to take advantage of the great weather to get yer ya-ya’s out?
Cool.
Go for a…
Hard Group Ride…
3, 4, 5 hours… whatever is just a little bit hard for you.
Try to ride a bit over your head.
Either ride with a group of riders that are just slightly better than you – and ride defensively – or push the tempo at the front with a group that you’re comfortable in.
The idea is to ride just outside your comfort zone all day.
Push your limits.
Try not to pay to much attention to your power meter or heart rate monitor, just ride hard.
Does all that sound like it’s just a little bit too much right now?
No problem.
Something more sensible is probably… well, way more sensible.
Be the smart one in the group, and go for a…
One to Two Hour Moderate Ride –
Get on your bike.
Go ride for an hour or two.
No hard efforts, but do throw in a couple of moderate ones. By moderate, I mean just that. You can sprint for the town line, but you should be laughing while you do it.
You’re not doing a recovery spin, so you need to put a little bit of gas into the pedals… just don’t go out and kill yourself.
Check out the view, smell the flowers, just do it while you’re putting a little bit of effort into the pedals.
1 notch above a recovery ride.
Make sense?
Whatever you do this weekend, don’t forget to have some fun!
M
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