Crosssports's Weblog

Howdy folks,

Thursday is here, and Thursday is a very good day.

We’re one day closer to the end of the week than to the start of the week, Cyclocross racing is just about to kick off, and to put a cherry on top…

..it’s raining!

Well, at least here in Seattle it is.

Is it so wrong to feel just a little bit of joy when there’s rain in the forecast?

Not if it’s Cyclocross season!

…………

On with the workout!

Here in Seattle, we have a season opener/pre season race every year on Labor Day… do they do that anywhere else?

That means, of course, that a bunch of folks will be flogging themselves for real this weekend.

I generally recommend that people train through this first race, coming in with a little bit more riding over the few days before it than they ordinarily would for a race that (ahem) matters.

So, even if you’re racing on Monday – unless it’s really important for you to do super well right out of the gate – we’re going to train as if there weren’t any race this weekend.

With that in mind,

You could do a little bit of running today. Wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.

You could also head on out and do some…

Short Hill Repeats…

Ideally, these are done on a climb that is big-ringable, but just at the edge of being a small ring climb.

You’re going to perform a series of  7-10 second sprints on that climb.

 Keep that in mind when selecting a venue for the workout.

Warm up for approx. 1/2 hour, ideally while riding out to the area you’re going to use for the workout.

Roll into the base of the hill at a moderate speed, just rolling the gear over.

Begin the interval with an out of the saddle, full race-pace effort.

ATTACK the climb.

You’re going to really throw down, 7-10 seconds full gas.

It’s OK to sit down 1/2 -3/4 pf the way through the effort.

Try to maintain your intensity/wattage output for the duration of the  interval.

5 reps.

5 sets, or continue until there’s a profound drop in the wattage level you can put out for the intervals.

30 seconds rest between efforts, 5 minutes between sets.

Be sure to spin out your legs and warm down after the last set.

Have fun!

M

~ by crosssports on August 29, 2013.

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: Bicycle pedal, Bicycle racing, bike racing, cx classes, cx handling drills, cx intervals, cx skills, CXWOTD, Cycling, Cyclo-cross, Cyclocross, cyclocross classes, cyclocross handling drills, cyclocross instruction, cyclocross intervals, cyclocross skills, Fitness, Health, Heart rate, Personal Training, Physical exercise, Running, s: Aerobic exercise, Seattle, Sports, wootd, WOTD, XC Racing