The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Friday, 9.1.17. “In which we start making some (easy) choices.”
Howdy folks,
Wait, what? It’s Friday already? How the hell did that happen?
Not only is it Friday, but it’s Labor Day Weekend?
Crap.
That means CX season isn’t just on the way, up here in the Seattle area, it means it has arrived. The annual Labor Day Race is on Monday, and the first of the big local series races kicks things off bigly next weekend.
So, damn.
Better be all trained up and ready to go, right?
Well… maybe not.
Don’t forget folks, it’s a long damn season. Not ready to fly quite yet?
Breathe.
Don’t panic.
Long. Damn. Season.
If you aren’t going to be fast at the beginning of the season, take comfort from knowing that the majority of the people who will be won’t still be flying a in a few weeks – or couple of months( 🙂 ) when you are!
So, with that in mind… what are we going to do today?
Well, as always on Friday, it depends on your weekend plans.
If you aren’t racing at all this weekend, odds are it’s pretty damn close to the last weekend that won’t be the case. So you should go long this weekend. Get some miles in over the last weekend, money in the bank for the (long!) season ahead.
That means you should take it easy today. Maybe even take the day off the bike. Do some stretching, some cross-training, but keep things light. Maybe a…
Recovery Spin –
– Get on your bike. Roll out into the street – or into your living room if you’re on the turbo watching the vid – and just spin around for an hour. Or more. Or less. Whatever it takes.
– Really small gear, no hard efforts – heck, no medium effort.
– Spin. You’re looking to move your legs around in circles, almost like there is no chain on the bike.
– The idea is to get your body moving, flush the systems out, and speed your recovery.
– Just get out on the road and spin easily and aimlessly. At a certain point, your legs will start to loosen up.
– When that happens, turn around and go home.
– If you’re doing these on the trainer, same deal. Just spin. No hard efforts, just make the legs go around in circles in a small gear.
– Follow up with as much relaxation as you can. Eat, stretch, and put your legs up. Get a massage if possible.
Racing on Monday?
Well, more decisions to be made. Kinda.
If you care about the race on Monday, tomorrow is going to be an easy day for you. If you don’t care about the race on Monday, you’re going to train through it, and ride hard all weekend. What does that mean for today?
A wee bit of work either way. Perhaps some…
Sventervals –
Sometimes a picture (or a video) is worth a thousand words.
Just like in the video.
Really darn short – 10 seconds max – full gas hill sprints, ideally on pretty technical terrain.
5 reps per set, and notice how hard Sven is breathing after these?
That’s the idea.
Hit it hard. Really hard. These are super short, and super intense.
Ideally, you’re doing these on a short climb that you can barely get up, one that is at the bleeding edge of your technical ability and strength.
You can surmount the obstacle, but it forces you to give it everything you’ve got to make it happen.
But you can make it happen, despite the pain. For a couple of reps, at least.
Can’t get up the hill anymore?
Take a short rest, go again.
When you can’t get up the hill at all even when you take a short break to recover?
You’re done.
Enjoy! More choices to be made tomorrow!
M
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