The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Saturday, 11.12.16. “Hit it, quit it, open it like a can.”
Howdy folks,
Thanks for following along.
As you’ve probably noticed, there’s been a “begging for money” bit attached to the beginning of this page for a couple of weeks now.
I’d like to thank everyone who has chipped in this season – and the past couple of seasons – when I’ve asked you to. It’s made a difference.
How much of a difference?
Well, let’s put it this way; the small donations from you folks have kept the lights on on this page.
There’s a certain (small) amount of money that has to come out of my pocket to pay for this page, and there’s a certain (larger) amount of money that, as a self-employed person, I need to write off based on the time spent on writing, posting, and – yes – giving training advice away that other people charge for.
So, once again, thanks to those who have contributed.
As much as I hate to say it, though, the contributions this season are way down compared to the last two years, and I don’t know if I can keep this going unless more people contribute.
Yeah. That sucks. I hate to have to write it, but I just looked at my bank balance, and the bills sitting on my desk, and the paying work that I’m putting off while I sit here writing this, and… well… crap.
So, that’s where we’re at.
I don’t know what the future of the CXWOTD looks like. Maybe there’s a paywall, maybe I try to pursue some corporate sponsorship, maybe I just bag the whole thing, maybe I scale things down and post less often… heck, maybe I just decide that I don’t care what the numbers say, and keep going anyways.
I dunno.
Nothing is going to happen in the short term. At minimum, I’m going to play things out through the end of this season before making any decisions.
Just wanted to let ya’all know what was what.
Thanks!
On with the workout!
If you’re racing today, have fun! I’ve been getting a lot of questions about race strategy recently, and I’m working on a post on the topic. There isn’t much out there about race tactics for cyclocross, and much of what is out there is geared towards people fighting it out for podium places in some theoretical all-galaxy type category. Fat lot of good that does the rest of us.
So, stay tuned. There are some good, practical strategies and tactics for normal folk racing in normal cats to maximize their chances of success.
Coming soon…
Today, though, if you aren’t racing, you need to get your openers in.
Yesterday we talked about doing them on the trainer. Honestly, odds are that’s what I’ll be doing today, or some variation on the theme.
In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that’s what I’ll be doing, probably while watching this –
That’s just me, though. In general, I like to do my openers sessions on the trainer. It’s just easier, both logistically and in terms of the strain on my aging, messed up body.
Which is something worth thinking about.
As we get older and/or more beaten down, we need to remember that the goal of an openers workout is to do just enough to prime the pump for the next day’s performance. No more, no less. You shouldn’t finish up this type of a workout feeling gassed, depleted; you should feel energized.
Do not overdo it on these things. It’s one of the more common mistakes I see in people’s weekly routine.
Hit it, quit it…
Do just enough work to get yourself open, and call it good.
Make sense?
Cool.
Today is the same idea in terms of how much (or how little) work we’re looking to do, but we’re back out in the fresh air, with an old favorite…
Can Openers –
Here’s the drill:
– Warm up for 1/2 hour or so, spinning easy with a couple of short bursts thrown in.
– Follow with several short attacking efforts, IE 30 seconds at 80% of your max, or pretty damn hard. 2 – 3 of ’em.
– Back off and spin for 5 minutes.
– Follow with 10-15 minute effort at right about your 2×20 output level, 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 hard 10 second efforts, ideally on CX type variable terrain, level or slightly uphill.
– Finish with 5-6 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
Thanks for following my blog!
I’m not trying to get rich off this thing… or really even make any money from it at all.
It’d just make my life a fair bit easier if I didn’t lose money doing this.
Heck, allow me to rephrase that; I can’t keep doing this if I lose money on it.
So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.
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Thanks for the consideration!
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