Crosssports's Weblog

Howdy folks,

Well, it’s Tuesday, and I’m pretty sure that by now you know what that means.

It’s Two by Twenty Tuesday!

We do a lot of these over the course of a season, eh?

You know what, though?

As much as we talk about these, and as many of them as people do (or try to do…) I still hear tales of woe when it comes to this workout.

That’s pretty understandable. These just ain’t easy.

This past weekend, when I was out at the WWCX event, E.A. had this to say:
“Now that I’ve upgraded to Cat 3, I can see why I need to do those 2×20’s. The extra length of the race really hurt. Too bad I can’t ever get through the second half of the 2×20!”

Ahah!

Guess what?

This is the single most common issue I hear of people having with these workouts.

They just can’t make it through the second half of the darn workout.

Let’s stop right here for a second, and check out the 2×20 workout description, just so we’re all on the same page…

Pretty simply, the 2×20 looks like this:

– Warm up.

– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.

– Recover for 5 minutes.

– Go again for another 20 minutes.

Remember, folks, the idea here is to go as hard as you can for the duration of both intervals without being forced to go easier at the end of the second interval.  

This is all about doing two intervals.

Two intervals at as close to the same level of output as you can possibly maintain.

If you’re doing this with a powermeter, you want your wattage output to be as steady and unvaried as possible.

How steady?

Can you keep it in a 10 watt range?

Probably not.

15 watts?

More likely

20 watts?

Try.

Keep it steady.

If you run out of gas before you finish the second interval, then you went too hard.

If your vision isn’t blurry at the end of the second interval, you went too easy. But guess what?
It’s way better to go too easy and finish both intervals than it is to go too hard and crater part way through the second 20.

If you’ve had trouble finishing the workout in the past?

Dial things way back on the first 20 today, and force yourself to finish the second.

Maybe next week you can bring the intensity back up a bit. 

As I always say, these take practice to do well, and the better you get at doing them, the harder they get, as you figure out how to push yourself into a deeper and deeper hole.

This is a workout that’s a natural for the turbo trainer, and that’s how I do ‘em, because I always wind up flat on my back on the floor trying not to puke after the 2nd interval.

That’s not an exaggeration. You should aspire to seeing-spots level of output on these.

Eventually.

After you get a handle on cranking through both intervals rather than just one.

 Eventually, when you learn to push through your limits – really push – you will get better and you will get better fast.

It’s gonna’ hurt, though.

The good kind of hurt.

Have fun!

M

~ by crosssports on August 26, 2014.

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