The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Wednesday, 10.23.13. “TP&DS”
Howdy folks,
Yikes.
Wednesday again already?
Wow.
Skills day. It’s skills day today.
If you’ve been playing along with us, you probably knew that, eh?
What we’re going to do today is a slight modification of the workout we did two Wednesday’s ago. (Hey… look at that… I hyperlinked to the workout I was talking about! You could can just click on the bold-ed text if you happened to want to read the article in question! Neat-o!)
On that day, we focused on improving your worst skill and on honing your best skill.
Yay, dichotomy!
Today we’re going to do basically the same thing, but even more specific.
We’re going to work on your worst skill and your best skill from your last race.
Whatever you were best at this past weekend, and whatever you were worst at this past weekend.
One of each, your high water mark and your subterranean blues from the the last race.
But “hey, ” you ask.
“What if I was great at everything this past weekend.”
“What if I sucked at everything this past weekend?”
I don’t believe you.
Be honest with yourself.
There was something in that last race you could stand to improve on.
There was something in that same race that you did better than your competition, and that you can shine up as your diamond in the rough, right?
Good.
OK, here we go. TIme to…
Turd polish & diamond shine –
– warm up for 10 minutes on the bike, then run for 5-10 minutes easy.
– Stretch out.
– 10-15 minutes drilling your best skill from your last race, whatever that is.*
You’re looking to transform a skill that you’re good at to one that’s an absolute killer, a race winner.
Good at barriers?
Stop being good, make ‘em perfect.
Become so darn good that the opposition can’t ever let you come into a barrier section first.
Good at starts?
Get great at starts.
Work it ’till you know that you’re coming off the line with a 5 bike-length lead in your next race.
You get the idea, right?
Whatever skill you choose, sharpen the heck out of it until it’s an even better weapon than it already was.
– spin for 5 minutes.
– 10-15 minutes drilling your worst technical skill from the last race, whatever that is.*
You’re looking to transform a skill that’s a liability to one that – if not a strength – is at least no longer a weakness.
Stink at barriers?
Stop that. Figure ‘em out.
Become good enough that the opposition can’t ever assume they’re going to drop you going over the planks.
Terrible at starts?
Not anymore, ok?
Work it ’till you know that you’re coming off the line right next to that guy that’s been dropping you all season.
You get the idea, right?
Whatever skill you choose, figure it the heck out. No more avoiding the painful reality of a liability.
– spin for 5 minutes.
– immediately, spend another 5 minutes drilling your best skill again. Really nail it.
– Recover for a few minutes, then Finish the night with two 5- 10 minute race-level interval efforts on relatively easy terrain.
Include a feature that will force you to use both of the skills you worked on tonight.
Spin out when you’re done, and call it a night.
Have fun,
M
* Lots of info on this here page on various ways to hone your skills, with specific drills & suggestions for the various skill elements. Best way to find ‘em is to type “Wednesday” into the search box below the Facebook plugin on the right side of the page, and read through the posts that come up. Feel free to drop me a line if you can’t find a workout for the skill you want to work on…
Crosssports's Weblog 