Crosssports's Weblog

Howdy folks,

So, this is kinda-sorta a replay of yesterday’s post, so take a second to check it out, we’ll wait.

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OK, got it?

Cool.

I’d say that today we’re going to kick things up a notch…

…but that’s more or less impossible if you actually followed yesterday’s workout. The idea was to push yourself hard. And then do it again.

So today we’re doing it again.

Go out there and beat yourself up. Ride hard. Hard enough that you’re going to earn the recovery day that you get tomorrow.

Crap.

There goes the secret of what we’re doing tomorrow.

Seriously though, you’re going to take a rest day tomorrow, so ride hard enough today that you earn it.

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What’s that?

you’re looking for more?

OK. Got it.

With some folks I coach, when we’re looking to do a workout like this, I’ve found that it’s enough to just say “go kill yourself for 4 (5, 6) hours.”

They go out and do just that, mission accomplished.

Sometimes, the thing that works best is for me to be very specific, and give wattage outputs that I want to see folks hit for given periods of time, or at least average for the duration of a ride.

Sometimes, I just give them something like this…

The Jacky Ride…

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

Heck, this is about as hard and sustained as you’ll ever see in a road race.

In fact, what we’re trying to do is, essentially, simulate a day off the front of a road race.

Ouch.

Select a route that will enable you to hit at least 3 climbs of  5-10 minutes or so each, with flat to rolling terrain in between. If your local climbs aren’t that long, try and do more shorter ones. If hills are longer… well, cool. Just don’t turn this into an all-out climbing day, ok?

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 265, 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 50% between the climbs.

Remember, 3 climbs of 10 minutes, or the equivalent. With a warm up of 15-20 minutes, and a cool down of about the same, this would be just about perfect for a 2.5 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?”

Enjoy!

M

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~ by crosssports on July 16, 2016.

Posted in Cyclocross, Masochism, 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, Kannibaal Van Baal, Marymoor CX, Marymoor cyclocross, Marymoor practice, Personal Training, Physical exercise, Running, s: Aerobic exercise, Seattle, Sports, The Workout Of The Day Tags: Bicycle pedal, Van Aert, wootd, WOTD, Wout Van Aert, XC Racing