The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Tuesday, 8.16.16. “Don’t even touch it”

Howdy folks,

It’s Tuesday, and if you’ve been following along, you know that generally means we’re doing something intervallic. As often as not, something 2×20-ish.

If you’ve been grooving along to the 2×20 vibe the last couple of weeks, you might want to consider sticking with that again this week. It isn’t a bad idea to keep grinding away on those, keep pushing up your number, especially if you’re finding yourself to be extremely time limited, or if you feel like you’re starting to make some real progress.

If you’re ready to kick things up a notch though,

…today we give you…

Over/Under Intervals!

So, what the heck is an over/under interval?

– “Over-under” means that you are going to be working right around the level of your threshold, both above and below.

– What is your threshold? Well, for our purposes, we are going to reference the Classic 2×20 workout. Whatever wattage, heart rate, or gear ratio you use for that interval will serve as your threshold baseline.

Get a solid idea of the wattage, heart rate, or tempo you ride your 20 minute intervals in, and keep it firmly stuck in your mind. This is important; you are going to bounce above and below this level for the rest of the workout.

Get a stopwatch. Put it on your bars.

Start the stopwatch.

Begin today’s workout by doing a 5 minute effort at your 2×20 level.

After the 20 minute-style baseline effort, spin easy for 2 -5 minutes.

When you are ready, begin the 10 minute Over/under thusly:

– Ride for one minute at your baseline/20 minute intensity level.

– At the end of that minute, ride 10 seconds at 25 watts, 10 beats, or 1 gear higher than the baseline level.

– After the 10 seconds, ride 20 seconds at 25 watts, 10 beats, or 1 gear lower than the baseline.

– After the 20 seconds, you go back to the ten (over,) followed again by the 20 (under,) etc., etc.

Got it? 1 minute baseline, 10 up, 20 down, 10 up, 20 down. Repeat the up/down efforts to the end of the interval.

– Rest 2-5 minutes.

– Do it again for 10 minutes.

– Rest again for 2 minutes.

– Pile sets on until you’ve reached the duration of your typical race, or you’re starting to see a precipitous drop in your output level. You’ll know when that happens, even if you aren’t using a power meter. The odds of being able to do these properly for race duration the first (or second, or third, or fourth…) time out are pretty slim, so don’t be too upset when that doesn’t happen. 2, 3 sets is pretty darn good for mere mortals.

Have fun!

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