Crosssports's Weblog

Howdy folks,

Welcome to the weekend.

Unless you’re living in one of the few locales that still has racing going on, odds are that if you’re still training, you’re working towards Nationals, and trying to arrive there in some reasonable form… which is a struggle, eh?

The goal this weekend is to get some long, hard miles in.

It’s pretty much your last chance to do so, so go for it.

If you can get a couple of days long block of hard miles in, you’ll be glad you did when you find yourself in Boulder in a couple of weeks.

How should you go about doing this?

Well, maybe go for a…

Hard Group Ride…

 3, 4, 5 hours… whatever is just a little bit of a stretch 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.

Riding shorter? Ramp it up a bit.

Push your limits.

Try not to pay too much attention to your power meter or heart rate monitor, just ride hard.

Riding by yourself?

Cool.

Take your cues from the king of the solo riders, and go for…

The Jacky.

This is a good general climbing and endurance workout that will stretch you a little bit longer than anything you’re likely to see out on the cross courses.

Select a route that will enable you to hit at least 3 climbs of 10 minutes or so each, with flat to rolling terrain in between.

Warm up well, at least 20-30 minutes before you hit the first climb.

Climbs should be hard but steady.

Start medium hard (not full gas!) and try and hold it the whole climb.

Drive it over the top, and roll down the descent. Visualize a prime at the bottom of each descent, and a chase pack nipping at your heels. Don’t sit up at the top of the climbs,stay on the gas all the way down and through.

In between climbs, keep it steady.

You want to stay on top of a pretty big gear, at a level that is below threshold, but not that far below.

If you’re a power meter type, with an ftp of right around 300, you would want to try and average about 200 watts between the climbs and 300 on the climbs.

Not a PM type?

Try and go about 90% on the climbs, and just over 60% between the climbs. You’re looking to roll a pretty big gear, pretty darn hard, but steady and at a level you can sustain for the whole ride.

Barely.

Remember, 3 climbs of 10 minutes, or as close as you can get. With a warm up of 30 minutes, and a cool down of about the same, this would be just about perfect for a 2.5 -3 hour hour ride.

Got more time? Rest after the 3rd climbing effort, repeat the cycle.

It’s better to keep the intensity up than to go longer. Remember, we aren’t resting between climbs, we’re dieseling along in a big gear.

Visualize yourself driving an all-day breakaway, and you get the idea…

Have fun, and think to yourself, as you’re rolling along…

“What would Jacky do?”

~ by crosssports on December 21, 2013.

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day
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