Crosssports's Weblog

Howdy folks,

Well, here it is. Race season.

Up here in Seattle, the first race of the year is upon us, as folks endeavor to destroy their Labor Day weekend by racing on a cross bike way too early, when it’s way too hot, on a course that’s way too bumpy and dusty to be all that much fun.

Yay.

Seriously though, I’ve given up fighting the (good) fight. Cyclocross now starts on Labor Day. Check.

So, that being the case? Monday is race day. That means today (Sunday, for those of you reading this when it goes up, on Saturday) we do…

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! Pay particular attention to these if tomorrow is the first race of the year for you, and/or if you haven’t gotten much start practice in so far this season.

Have questions about start technique? Check out this post.

– spin out the legs, go home, and get ready for the race.

So, hey… not racing this weekend? Still looking to ride, and not obligated to partake of some family vacation ritual?

Sweet.
Maybe go for a Gutbuster…

Check out the long form explanation here.  In short, though?

Go as long as you can, as hard as you can. The shorter you go, the harder you go.

Goal here is to be pretty much spent when you’re done.

If you can string two days of this sort of work together on a weekend, that’s great stuff… but end of second day, you should feel like you kinda maybe don’t want to wake up and do it again tomorrow.

“Epic” is an overused word, but if you can make these “epic” days? Nailed it.

To be absolutely clear, if you do these rides correctly, they ruin your weekend. When you’re done, you can’t do much more than lie on the couch and eat. Maybe you can make it to the shower.

Maybe.

Never felt that way after a training ride?

Now’s your chance…

Have fun,

M

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach help figure this stuff out for you? Check out…

~ by crosssports on September 2, 2017.

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, Masochism, openers, The Workout Of The Day, Volume!