I Hope you enjoyed the weird 2×20 variation we did yesterday… I’m looking forward to getting some feedback from ya’all.
How did those feel?
Were the cadence variations a challenge for you?
How did your wattage numbers look while doing those, relative to the classic version of the 220?
Let me know, OK?
So, onwards we go.
It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s…
Skills Day!
I got an email from a reader after this weekends racing…
…one thing that bugs me. My skills were hot until I was cooked – about the last 2 laps of the race. Will it get better with repetition?
-natalie
…and we’re going to work on some things to help with the problem she describes today.
The first thing that goes away when you get tired is your “ups.”
In basketball, this means your jump shot goes to hell.
You start throwing up bricks.
In cyclocross, you start clipping barriers with your feet and nailing your saddle with your leg during your remounts
Is this happening to you?
If so, what you need to do is double-down on the fundamentals.
(well, that plus get more fit so you don’t fatigue as much/as quickly. We worked on that yesterday.)
If you start screwing up the basics when you get tired, it’s because you aren’t doing them correctly.
You’re relying on athleticism and explosive energy to get the job done for you.
This is especially clear when you start clipping barriers with your feet.
Why does this happen?
Because you’re jumping over the barriers rather than running through them.
Check out this vid –
…and take note of how very little vertical motion there is when these guys go through the barrier section.
Note how the leg flips out to the side, like a hurdler –
…as they swing it over the barrier?
Technique.
If you do it this way, you don’t need to jump over the barrier.
(yeah- ugly, right? Sorry…)
If you don’t jump over the barrier, when you start to lose your “ups” late in the race, you don’t clip the barrier with your foot.
If you don’t clip the barrier with your foot, you don’t face-plant.
That’s a good thing, and it all starts with one tiny little detail.
Worth thinking about, right?
So…..
…same deal with your remounts.
If you have to jump up onto the saddle you’re doing it wrong, and it’s going to catch up with you when you get tired.
Eventually.
So don’t do it.
Work on getting it right. Lots of babble on the topic in earlier posts.
————————————————————————————–
OK.
One last thing to work on before we get going, and that’s High-Speed remounts.
Basically, work on em.
I’ve been harping on ya’all to practice your dismounts and remounts at a low speed, and now – clearly – it’s time to work on them at high speed.
The idea is to get back on a bike that’s going fast. When you’re going slow, that usually means taking a couple of extra steps to accelerate the bike up to speed before you get back on.
go as long as you need to. This is tonight’s focus…
– Starts.
Do as many as it takes to get 5 perfect starts in a row. Focus not only on the initial acceleration off the line, but the second effort after you get up to speed. This is the effort that usually gets you the gap – or closes the gap – on that first lap.
– Practice race.
Ideally, set yourself up with a course that will include some high speed barriers
Tonight, focus on your speed. Work on coming into and out of technical sections with as much speed as you can. Think acceleration… jump out of the corners and out of the barriers. Think about that last corner in that last race on Sunday, and how a fast barrier exit combined with a guns-a-blazin’ acceleration out of that last corner could have won you the race…
Right off the bat, apologies in advance if I miss posts this week. I’m in Hawaii for the Kona IronMan, and the vagaries of travel (and no internet in my condo, and a 3g Chromebook that is, essentially, a worthless piece of crap…) may well conspire against me and make it impossible to get all the workouts up this week. I will do my best, but who knows…
…anyways, it’s Tuesday, and that means it’s…
Two By Twenty Tuesday!
I’ve been getting a ton of feedback from folks lately, and it seems like we’ve reached a critical mass of sorts, where people have been doing these workouts long enough that they’re really getting the hang of them, and that the 2x20s in particular are really starting to pay off.
This is going to be just like a standard 2×20 in a lot of ways, so all the usual concerns apply. Flat(ish) road, lots of space, blah blah blah. Honestly? This workout is really best done on the trainer… sorry, but hey – it’s raining here, perfect time to train inside!
– Launch into your first interval just as you would a standard 2×20. The basic outline of the workout is just like the classic –
– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.
– Recover for 2 minutes.
– Go again for another 20 minutes.
Here’s where things get interesting. As you begin the 2nd interval, take note of the cadence you like to ride these intervals in.
Got it?
OK.
– Ride at that cadence for five minutes.
Now bump up your cadence by ten rpm, while keeping your power output at the same level…
This is waaay easier with a wattage measuring device, but you can do it by monitoring HR (kinda/sorta) MPH, or RPE
– Hold that rpm level for 10 seconds, then up another 10 rpm.
– Hold that rpm level for 10 seconds, then (again) up another 10.
Hold that cadence for 2 minutes, then…
– Back to baseline cadence for 2 minutes.
Repeat entire sequence going down in cadence, so…
Down 10, 10 seconds
Down 10, 10 seconds
Down 10, 2 minutes.
Back to baseline for 2 minutes, then up again.
Repeat the whole pattern, up and down until end your twenty minutes are up.
– Rest 2-5 minutes, then go again.
Remember, the key here is to vary the cadence while keeping the intensity the same. It’s harder than it sounds, trust me!
I had a rough go of it in yesterday’s race, and I’m guessing that there might be a few other folks busy getting down on themselves after a disappointing weekend.
You know what?
Everyone has days like that.
Proof?
Check out the footage at 11:10.
Niels F-ing Albert.
It’s worth bearing in mind; even Niels slides ass-backwards down the hill every once in a while.
So, today? Today, you relax a bit and go for a nice, easy…
1-2 Hour Recovery Spin –
– Get on your bike. Roll out into the street, and just spin around for an hour. Or two.
– 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.
– When you do your recovery ride -if you have the time- just get out and spin aimlessly. At a certain point, your legs suddenly feel better.
– As soon as that happens, turn around, go home, eat, stretch, and put your legs up.
Relax.
Remember, this is a good day to get some core work in if you aren’t totally spent. There’s lots of info on the topic in previous posts.
I have had a couple of requests to talk about how the he** to warm up for a race, so here you go…
First of all, don’t overdo it.
I see way, way too many people spending a ridiculous amount of time on their trainers before the race, and frankly, I think a huge number of racers leave their best effort of the day back in the tent on the Gerbil Wheel before the race.
Don’t let this be you.
If you feel like you need to spend more than an hour warming up for your race, frankly you’re doing something wrong.
There’s been a fair bit written about warming up for cycling events, and if you spend any time at all reading through some of the stuff that’s out there, you will no doubt find that the only commonality is that most everyone disagrees.
Until you start reading some of the science, and some of the warm-up protocols suggested by those who have also read the science.
During endurance events of intermediate duration (4-5 min), performance is enhanced by warm-up irrespective of warm-up intensity
Note this interesting bit in the results –
There were no differences in anaerobic power output during the trials, but aerobic power output during the first 1000 m was larger during both EWU (203 W) and HWU (208 W) versus NWU (163 W) trials.
I pretty much never warm up for road races, unless I Know the first few K are going to be pedal to the metal. When people ask how I can get away with this (and they do!) I always respond with “that’s what the first lap/loop/5k is for…”
You can’t get away with this in Cyclocross.
You need to hit that first K, hell that first hundred meters at 100%, with all guns blazing.
Warming up definitely improves your aerobic power output over the first K of a race.
End of story. You need to warm up for Cyclocross.
How much do you need to warm up?
Well, here’s where we get into interesting territory.
The study I linked to above basically showed no difference between the results of warm ups conducted at different levels of intensity and duration. The key was simply to warm up, get the legs turning over.
However you do it, warming up helps.
Nice.
Remember this the next time all hell breaks loose and you can barely get in any kind of a workout before your race. Even a little bit of a warm up helps.
OK, it’s just a study. Heck, it’s just one study.
Frankly, for Cyclocross, I think you need to warm up pretty hard, if for no other reason than that you don’t want the shock of that F-ing start effort to hit your body (and mind!) like a ton of bricks.
What you don’t need to do is warm up for a long time.
After a certain point, all a long warmup does is get you tired. And that ain’t good…
tired?
OK, so what should your warm up look like?
Something like this…
Get on your bike.
Ride at a super easy level for 5 minutes. No pressure on pedals, recovery day light.
5 minutes more at just one notch higher.
2-3 minutes at right around your 20 minute output level.
then
2-3 minutes at one notch/gear easier
30 second race pace effort.
recover for 2 minutes easy…
30 second race pace effort.
recover for 2 minutes…
2 full-gas start efforts, 2 minutes between them.
Spin for 5 minutes.
Go race.
Ok.
That’s kinda’ the “In a perfect world” warm up.
In reality, you need to figure in course preview, getting all your stuff schlepped to where it needs to be, registration, yada, yada…
Ideally, your race day would look like this:
Wake up.
Eat breakfast.
Ride for an hour.
Snack, take a nap.
Eat lunch (3 hours before race.)
Course preview
(while mechanic preps bikes, team staff handles everything else.)
Snack, electrolyte drink, change into race clothing.
Warm up.
Race.
Yeah, right.
Oh well, we try.
Get as close to that as you can, and remember – the science shows that any warm up is better than none!
I’ve managed to do really well in races where the only warm up I got was a 1 or 2 lap preview of the course.
If you are forced to choose, always pre-ride rather than warm up.
You get a less than perfect course preview, and a less than perfect warm up, but part of each is better than none of one!
Ok, after all that, are you ready for the reality-based warm up?
Quite frankly, this is what I wind up doing most of the time, and almost always if I wind up stuck on the Gerbil Machine. It’s the –
R.S.W.O. – The Rock Stupid Warm-up and Opener –
First, get everything you need to do before the race done. Sign up, course preview, etc., etc. More questions you probably didn’t even have on the topic of race day routine answered here –
– Ride 30 seconds in this gear, then shift up one cog.
– Ride 30 seconds in this gear, then shift up one cog.
– Repeat until you hit the hardest gear you’ve got, or can handle.
– Ride 30 seconds in that gear, and then shift all the way back down to the Big/big combo.
– Ride 30 seconds in that gear, then immediately shift to hardest gear you can handle.
– Full gas sprint, out of the saddle, for 30 seconds.
Back to big/big combo.
– Spin for two minutes.
Repeat The entire sequence (Usually minus the 2nd “20 minute level” effort.)
Phew.
Enough of that, eh?
Have fun,
M
* If you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about when I say “20 minute level”, enter “2×20″ in the search box on the right side of the page…
** The Warm Up routines I describe here are actually pretty hard, and believe it or not, are likely to be too damn hard and too long for non-elite racers. You will need to experiment and figure out what works for you. Don’t be afraid to cut the warm up short, or go easier. You don’t get a prize for winning the damn warmup…
I’m guessing that most of you are going to, in fact, be racing this weekend, so for you folks the workout today is pretty obvious.
Racing today?
You know the drill. Go Race.
Racing tomorrow? Yup. You guessed right, today you’re doing…
Can Openers –
– Warm up for 1/2 hour or so.
Follow with several short attacking efforts, IE 30 seconds at 80% of your max, or pretty damn hard.
Back off and spin for 5 minutes.
Follow with 10-15 minute effort at AT level, or CP30, 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 full gas 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 legs, go home and rest. Get ready to race tomorrow.
Not racing?
Well, you don’t need to do it today, but if you don’t it’s on tap for tomorrow. It’s pretty damn brutal. It’s…
Yikes… this has been quite a week, and I’m pretty sure you’re all a little bit tired today.
So, today you’re going to chill out a little bit.
If you’re not racing on Saturday, that is.
If you are racing on Saturday?
You’re doing…
Can Openers –
Warm up for 1/2 hour or so.
Follow with several short attacking efforts, IE 30 seconds at 80% of your max, or pretty damn hard.
Back off and spin for 5 minutes.
Follow with 10-15 minute effort at AT level, or CP30, 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 full gas 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 legs, go home and rest. Get ready to race tomorrow.
Not racing tomorrow, but racing on Sunday?
You’re doing a…
2 Hour Moderate Ride –
Get on your bike.
Go ride for 2 hours.
No hard efforts, but do throw in a couple of moderate ones. By moderate, I mean just that. You can sprint for the town line, but you should be laughing while you do it.
You’re not doing a recovery spin, so you need to put a little bit of gas into the pedals… just don’t go out and kill yourself.
Check out the view, smell the flowers, just do it while you’re putting a little bit of effort into the pedals.
After yesterday’s ridiculous entry, I’m going to keep it short(er) today.
The blog entry, that is… not the workout. We’re actually going to go a little bit longer today – duration-wise – on the workout.
Today, we’re going to go back to a classic and do…
the Slow Roast –
– first of all, this one is a little bit longer than most of the workouts we do – you’re looking to budget 2-2 1/2 hours.
– No real warm up effort required for this one, either. You can pretty much hop on the bike and go…
So, hop on the bike.
– Ramp up to a level that’s roughly 20 beats below your zone 5 heart rate level or a wattage that’s 25% below your “Classic 2×20″ average, or just at the limit of comfortable conversation. You can talk comfortably, but any harder and you couldn’t.
– Hold at this level for the duration of the ride – ideally for 2-2 1/2 hours.
– Go home, eat, relax, recover.
Notes:
– Yeah, this exercise is just as simple as it sounds. Nice not to have to use the stopwatch, eh?
– Yeah, this is a “Dead Zone” exercise. Don’t worry about it – there’s method to the madness, I promise…
– If you’re hammered from yesterday, take it easy today instead, and do an hour long recovery ride
Here’s the general outline of what you’re doing tonight…
1 – warm up for 10 minutes.
2 – Stretch out after you’re warm. . Pay special attention to all the muscles used in those movements you make hopping on and off the bike that are different from what you usually do.
3 – Dismount/remount skills for…. well, for a long damn time. Read on…
4 – turning and handling skills for 1o minutes.
– work on tight, high speed turns as well as super tight low speed turns. Roll some off camber slopes, and learn to turn on them as well.
– Put two traffic cones about 10 feet apart from each other, and ride a figure eight around them, pedaling the entire time.
Make the turns tighter and tighter until you can’t hold the line and you fall down. Learn where the break point is between riding a tight line and falling on your ass, and push that line until you are definitively over it.
– Finish the night with two 15 minute efforts on relatively easy terrain.
– “Easy” as in a loop on grass with some tight-ish turns on it, or some pretty buffed double-track.
– Go hard, and work on accelerations out of the turns.
– Every time you slow down entering a turn, get on the gas on the way out of it, ass out of the saddle, working hard.
– 10 minutes full gas, rest for 5 minutes, then go for 10 again.
Warm down, go home, relax.
That’s the outline, but we need to fill in the details, right? Today we’re going to focus on a question I get all the time, and heard a bunch of times at the clinics the last couple of weeks:
“Why do I hop when I I get back on the bike, and how can I stop this from happening….?”
This is one of those questions that is as simple as can be in the asking, and as deep as we care to make it in the answering.
We’re going to go fairly deep here, because perfecting the remount is one of those little things that can gain you a lot of time. Today’s workout, then, is –
A Little Dab’ll Do ‘Ya –
We’re going to start with the basics.
First of all, Don’t jump on your bike!
Let me repeat that. It’s important. Don’t jump on your bike!
Why?
Makes sense, right?
If you jump onto your bike, you are out of balance, out of control, and you’re losing speed (even if you don’t nut-shot yourself.)
Don’t do it.
Well, OK. What should you do?
When you execute a proper cyclocross remount, you should look like you are simply stepping over and on to the saddle of your bike.
Like this –
Not this. (sorry!)
Click on that picture of Niels Albert, and keep it open in another screen. We’re going to come back to it.
Let’s break this whole “stepping on to the bike” thing down a bit, shall we?
Here’s the basic cyclocross remount, step by step. You’re going to practice it exactly like this, one step at a time, at a walking pace, until you’ve got it wired.
– Hands on hoods, you should be looking forward, not down.
– you’re on the hoods so you can get out of the saddle & on the gas as soon as you remount.
– you’re looking forward so you can see where you’re going.
– Take one large step forward with your right foot.
– Begin to take a second step, with your left foot, and as you do –
– Bend your elbows, lowering your upper body and closing your hip angle.
Why are you doing this?
– Check out this picture –
– and now this one –
When you bend your elbows and lean forward during the remount, it allows you to raise your leg higher in the rear. If you’re having trouble clearing the saddle with your leg when you remount, this will cure ‘ya.
– As your left foot hits the ground, you are going to slightly externally rotate your right hip.
– go look at that picture of Niels. He’s doing this beautifully. Notice how he is flaring his right hip towards the bike? That’s external rotation.
– Your left foot hits the ground, and you are going to drive off of it as you swing your right leg over and on to the saddle.
– OK. A couple of important things here.
1 – You’re driving off your left leg, not jumping. Think forward momentum into the handlebars, not vertical motion into the sky.
2 – Swing your leg over the saddle…
– as you do it, you will make contact with your inner thigh, and then slide into a seated position. Don’t try to jump and land your butt on the saddle. That’s nut-shot territory, remember?
– The combination of the leaning forward and the external rotation will make it so much easier to clear the saddle with your right leg that you will wonder why you never thought of doing it this way before.
– As your right leg swings over and onto the saddle, don’t focus on the saddle, concentrate on hitting the pedal with your right foot.
-The idea here is to step completely over the bike and onto the pedal on the far side.
– As your right foot hits the pedal, start pedaling.
– Note that I didn’t say “clip in.” Don’t wait to clip in. Start pedaling. You will clip in after a couple of pedal strokes if you have pedals that are worth using.
– Get out of the saddle immediately and punch it.
– Seriously, practice this. Every time you remount, as soon as you are on the pedals, you should be standing up and hitting the gas. it should become so automatic that you need to force yourself to remain seated after a remount. This is where those little race-winning gaps after the barriers come from…
– A couple of little tiny points…
– You shouldn’t need to look down at any point during this whole process. Your pedals are attached to a set of cranks that define a very finite range of positional variance, all points of which lie in circle whose midpoint is defined by the bottom bracket.
In english?
If you miss the pedal on your remount, start moving your legs in a pedaling motion, and your foot will run into a pedal pretty damn soon. Step on it and go.
– If you are consistently having trouble finding the pedal as you remount…
– take some time to work on your dismount. It’s pretty likely you’re doing something wrong here, and leaving the pedal in a weird position when you get off the bike.
– Sneak a peak at your pedals just before you remount. Real quick-like, just look down, note where the damn things are, look back up and forward, and keep on going.
Phew.
That’s the basic remount. Practice it. Tonight.
Want some more?
OK.
Here are some drills to really make sure you’ve got this nailed…
– The One-Step ReMount –
– From a total stand still, hands on bars, no forward momentum at all, take one step with your left foot, and remount your bike.
Not hard enough?
– The Quicksand One-Step –
– Same thing, but no pedaling at all. Concentrate on driving so hard off the left foot that you can coast on the bike after the remount, from a standstill, with no pedaling.
This whole monstrosity of a post started with a question about dabbing the left foot on the remount, and this is killer for getting rid of a stutter-step.
Why?
Dabbing/stutter-stepping is all due to a lack of commitment.
If you’re doing this, it’s because you aren’t committed enough to driving off your left foot/leg as you remount. The simple key to resolving this problem is to focus on the drive off of your left foot.
This simple drill will force you to do that, and – bonus – it’s essentially impossible to do with a stutter.
—- even more?——
OK.
– Uphill Quicksand –
Same drill, up hill.
– Find a shallow, grassy hill and do the one-step remount on it. Talk about commitment…
—- still not enough?—-
– The On/Off –
– Begin from a standing start, exactly as above.
Take one step, then mount the bike.
Take one pedal stroke, then dismount.
One step, then remount.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Start this at a walking pace, and go really, really damn slowly until you have it wired. Gradually increase speed until you start to mess up, then back it on down and do it perfectly again.
—-Not hard enough?—-
– The No-Pedal, Non-Stop On/Off –
Yeah, you’re going to start this the same as all the others, we’re working on a theme, here, OK? Give me a break…
– Remount the bike just like you’ve been doing in all of these drills.
– As soon as your ass hits the saddle, dismount.
– As soon as your feet hit the ground, remount.
No pedaling, you don’t even touch the pedal with your right leg (literally.) You’re essentially gliding on and off the seat. This is easier to show than to describe, but it goes something like…
– Big step with left leg, drive off left leg as right swings over saddle.
– Left foot hits pedal, and…
– Right leg immediately swings back over saddle, left unclips…
– drop to the ground, big step with left leg…
Repeat. Repeat. Etc.
Enough already, right?!?
I hope you’ve found this helpful. Please drop me a line with the inevitable questions…
M
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Here’s a bonus.
When I first started teaching Cross skills, years and years ago, there were two races I watched over and over again to glean technique from.
This one –
And this one –
Even better, someone’s done what I did with the VCR all those years ago, and slo-moed all the dismounts/remounts from the ’96 race –
Just. Freaking. Awesome. Stuff.
Watch how these guys get it done, and then go and nail it yourself.
Well it’s Tuesday and most of you probably know what that means, right? It’s…
Two By Twenty Tuesday!
Last Tuesday we did the Get-up Style 2×20, and Scott had a great question:
Hey Matt,
Nasty workout. Maybe I was tired from a double race weekend this past weekend but would you generally expect the average power of the get-up style to be lower than a standard 2 X 20? This was my first time doing the get-up style and my averages were lower. Not a concern I guess, just curious would that be expected.
Thanks.
Scott
To which I replied…
Thanks for the message, and great question!
First of all, yup. This stuff is hard, and if you’re going into it after the double weekend? It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see a drop in the numbers. Keep an eye on that, though… you want to be careful, and if you see a *steady* decline in the #’s, you might be due for a rest.
First time doing the Get-up style, though?
Well, it’s different from the standard 2×20, and it takes a little bit of time to get it wired, and for the numbers to line up with the “normal” 2×20. That’s kind of the point, right? This might just be a good indication that we’ve identified a weak spot, and that you’re doing exactly the right thing, rounding off a rough edge & getting one little bit closer to a complete cyclocross tool kit.
Keep me posted, and let me know what the numbers look like next week!
Which brings us right to what we’re doing today. It is, of course the…
2×20 Get-Up Style
Here’s how it goes…
– Warm up.
– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.
– Recover for 2 minutes.
– Go again for another 20 minutes.
That’s the basic version. This is the get-up version, though, so…
Start the first interval out of the saddle, and stand for the first 30 seconds.
After those 30 seconds are up, sit down. Keep the effort going, and consistent. Don’t surge, don’t go harder when you get out of the saddle.
Stay seated for the next 1:30, then stand for 30 seconds.
Repeat to the end of the interval, and follow this format for the successive interval.
The idea here is to go as hard as you can for the duration of both intervals without being forced to go easier at the end of the second interval. If you run out of gas before you finish the second interval, you went too hard. If your vision isn’t blurry at the end of the second interval, you went too easy.
If you’re doing this with a power meter, you want your wattage output to be as close to constant as possible. We’re talking 10 watt variance at the most. Keep it steady.
These take practice to do well, and the better you get, the harder they get. This is another workout that works great on the trainer, and that’s how I do ‘em, which is a good thing… because I always wind up flat on my back on the floor trying not to puke after the 2nd interval.
I’m really not kidding about the seeing spots thing. If you can learn to push through your limits when you do these, you will get better and well… you will get better.
Tips:
– I do these on the trainer, with a stopwatch on the bars and an Ipod blaring in my ears. Start the stopwatch at the beginning of the interval, and the format is really easy to follow; you stand up for :30 at the 2:oo, 4:00, 6:00, etc. mark(s). Get it? It’s easy!
– A power meter will help you to keep the level of intensity constant. You want the power output to be as steady as possible with these. If you don’t have a PM, do these on the trainer, choose a gear ratio and a cadence, and stick to that for the duration of the excercise – instant home made ergometer.
Yup, that’s right, we’re doing the same workout as last Tuesday.
We’re going to make a special point of comparing the numbers/metrics this week to last week, so pay attention to those OK? Re-read the note back to Scott, and check out the link to last Tuesday’s post, and try to think about these things as you’re working up a lather on your trainer.
First of all, thanks to the people who said “hi” at the races this weekend, and gave me feedback on the blog. It’s always great to hear from you and meet you in person. Your kind words keep this thing going..
A special word of congratulations to Zach McDonald who bounced back from a rough finish on Saturday to win the U-23 race at the Planet Bike Cup on Sunday, and to Beth Griffith, who won the Elite race in the Seattle-metro series on Sunday, proving that us old folks can still put the hurt on the kids every once in a while…
Anyways…
…on with today’s workout.
It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for a…
Recovery Ride –
– Get on your bike. Roll out into the street, and just spin around for an hour.
– 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.
– When you do your recovery ride -if you have the time- just get out and spin aimlessly. At a certain point, your legs suddenly feel better.
– As soon as that happens, turn around, go home, eat, stretch, and put your legs up.
Relax.
Or, well…try to.
Work/life/etc. have a tendency to make that difficult, eh?
Hey… maybe get some core work in today, too. Check out this and this here…
Yes, I know I’ve been promising a full length article on core work for ages now (and thanks to the people who reminded me about that this week!) I will get to it, I promise.
You betcha. I do the personal coaching/trainer thing. Clients have included multiple National and even World Champions, and 2/3 of My Cyclocross athletes made the podium at Nationals in 2009, with one taking home the Stars and Stripes. Interested? Drop me a line at: crosssports@gmail.com
Yeah, that's right... if you have completely lost control of all sense of fiscal responsibility, you can now purchase silly articles of clothing with my blog address on them.
How cool is that?
Just go to - http://crosssports.spreadshirt.com/
and think "conspicuous consumption... mmm... feels so good..."
…as they swing it over the barrier?
(yeah- ugly, right? Sorry…)
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