The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Friday, 10.17.14. “Every golden drop of it…”
Howdy folks,
How the heck did it get to be Friday already?
Craziness.
But you know what Friday means, right?
It means that before you know it, you’ll be pinning up and lining up and racing yer’ asses off.
In fact, this weekend it looks like a lot of us will be racing a double weekend, drilling it on Saturday and then trying to step up again on Sunday.
Phew.
That makes for a loooong weekend.
There are some things you can do to make it easier for you.
– have a food plan in place.
Figure out what you’re doing for dinner on Saturday night today. If it isn’t eating out, try and cook it up (or do the prep work) today – Friday – so you don’t stack an extra 1/2 hour – hour onto your already busy schedule.
Have Water bottles for Saturday and Sunday laid out on Friday so you don’t have to clean & prep Saturday night.
Make sure you’re going to have enough food for the weekend today so you don’t have to run to the market tomorrow night or even Sunday morning.
– Get your kit(s) sorted.
Two days of racing means two days of kit. If you’re not going to have to wash your clothing tomorrow night so you can wear it again on Sunday, get the entire weekend’s allotment of clothing sorted, bagged, and ready to go today.
If you’re gonna’ have to wear your kit two days in a row, make sure you’re set up to wash it after the race.
In a hotel? Find out what hoops you’re going to have to jump through in advance. Make sure you’ve got quarters if you’re going to be using coin-op machines. I have coin-op machines in my apartment building, and got myself in a bind last year when I found myself totally out of coin, too late at night to get any easily, with an early morning roll-out to get to the next day’s race. Dumb.
– rain changes things, so be prepared for it.
If it’s wet & muddy, be prepared to wash your bikes and kit post-race, and to do other basic maintenance tasks. Have extra brake pads in your kit so you don’t have to go searching for them Sunday morning when you suddenly realize that you ate through a set plowing through that mud bog on Saturday. Have an extra chain on hand as well… sooner or later you’re going to break one.
I mentioned muddy kits, and here’s a tip: after a muddy race throw everything you wore – shoes, helmet, skinsuit, warm-up clothing – everything that’s wet into a mesh laundry bag or plastic bag.
When you get home, dump the entire contents of the bag on the ground, spray them with dishwashing detergent, and then blast them with the same hose you use to clean your bikes. After you get everything as clean as you can this way, then you throw the clothing in the washing machine, put newspaper in your shoes, and hang your helmet up to dry.
– Get gas the night before
It only takes a couple of minutes extra on the way home from the race to top off your gas tank, but how many times have you wished for an extra few minutes on race morning? Every little bit helps…
Well, enough of that.
How about some training?
Tomorrow is a race day, so today we’re doing…
Can Openers –
– Warm up for 1/2 hour or so.
– Follow with several short attacking efforts, IE 30 seconds at 80% of your max, or pretty damn hard.
– Back off and spin for 5 minutes.
– Follow with 10-15 minute effort at AT level, or CP30, or “I could talk to you if I had to, but I don’t want to” level.
– Spin for several minutes.
– Follow with 5-6 full gas start efforts on a straight section of paved road, level or slightly uphill.
You want to begin these from a dead stop, with one foot unclipped.
Do not stop until you get at least 3 perfect starts in a row, and I mean perfect; this is the cross equivalent of practicing free throws. make ‘em count.
… spin out the legs, go home, and get ready for the race.
Enjoy!
M
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M
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