The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Friday, 10.4.13. “Sad”
Photo by Narayan Mahon. Please click to check out more of his work.
Howdy folks,
Yesterday was an incredibly sad day for the entire cyclocross community. Amy made a lasting impression on all who knew her, met her, raced with & against her, and even those who simply watched her race from afar.
Rest in peace, Amy. You’ll be missed.
******
It’s Friday, and there’s a whole bunch of racing going on this weekend.
If you’re racing on Sunday (but not Saturday) this time around, today might be a good day to take a day off.
Depending on your fatigue level and how well you react to a day off this close to a race, of course.
Some folks just can’t take a day off two days before a race. They wind up with dead legs on race day, and can’t ever get things rolling when it counts.
Others thrive on that little extra bit of recovery, and after their day-before race openers, they can come out like a (well rested) roman candle when go time rolls around.
It takes some experimentation to figure out which camp you belong to, and these early season races are a good time for that.
The stakes probably aren’t quite as high as they’re going to be later on down the road, so if you come into the race a little bit toasty, or a little bit under done, well… you’ll get your redemption next time around.
If you’re racing on Saturday, you need to get those openers in, of course.
Guess what?
You need to experiment with your openers, too.
How much do you need to do the day before a race to be ready the next day?
How much is too much the day before?
It varies enough that I can’t really tell you.
But you know what’s been working well for a bunch of people lately?
Ignition!
This workout consists of a series of short, hard sprints midway through a 1 – 1 1/2 hour ride, so give some thought to where you can do these effectively.
A flat, straight, low-traffic section of road is what you’re looking for.
Even better if it’s about a :45 minute ride away; that will make things nice and simple.
Hop on your bike and roll out the door.
Ride steady, at a moderate pace for 1/2 hour to an hour, eventually winding up at the aforementioned stretch of road.
At the minimum, roll until your legs open up and get to feeling loose and warm.
You’re now going to do a series of Hard out of the saddle sprints.
Begin each sprint from a near standstill.
Barely rolling, coasting along at a very low speed, then…
BANG!
almost a full-gas effort, but not quite.
You need to go hard, but you’re not trying to set any personal bests here.
You need to leave some gas in the tank for tomorrow, right?
10 sprints, 10 seconds each.
1 minute between each sprint.
After the last sprint, roll back home spinning easily to recover.
Budget at least 15 minutes for the spin/ride back home.
Again, roll at least as long as it takes for your legs to feel loose, warm, and ready to go.
Put your feet up, relax, and get ready for the tomorrow’s race.
Have fun!
M
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