The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Wednesday, 8.16.11 – “Skillit”

•August 16, 2011 • 1 Comment

Howdy folks,

If you’ve been playing along with us, odds are you’re just a little bit gassed from yesterday’s interval session… 2×20’s are hard, eh?

No sweat. We’re taking that into account.

Today we’re going to back things down just a little bit, dust off the Cross bike, and make complete idiots out of ourselves trying to remember some of the technical skills we had so wired last season.

Yeah, I know… ouch. Today is Wednesday, and that means it’s…

Skills Day!

Here’s the program:

– Warm up on the cross bike.

– Stop and stretch for a while, paying particular attention to all those muscles you use in ‘cross but don’t even send signals to the rest of the year.

– Start with some suuuuper basic dismount skills…

At a slow speed, unclip your right leg,  swing it back over the saddle, and down behind the leg that is still clipped in.

– Don’t dismount, just coast with the leg hanging behind you.

– Swing the leg back over the saddle, clip back in, pedal a few strokes, and repeat.

– Repeat the whole cycle a dozen times or so, at varying speeds. Work on your balance and control coasting with one leg clipped in.

Next, repeat the last sequence, but rather than swinging the leg back over the saddle, dismount the bike. Think about what you are doing, and how you are doing this super basic skill!

– here’s the secret… Don’t step down to the ground!


– From your coasting position, simply unclip your left foot, and drop to the ground. No step, just drop. Make sense?

– Repeat this a lot, until you’ve got it wired.

OK, now that you’re getting the hang of getting off the bike, time to get back on… with style.

– From a dead stop standstill, take 3 steps (I’m assuming you are re-mounting from the left side of the bike, btw…)

Left foot steps.

Right foot steps.

Left foot steps again, and as you plant your left foot, drive forward off of it, swinging your right leg over the saddle.

DO NOT JUMP, HOP, SKIP, OR OTHERWISE LAUNCH YOURSELF INTO THE AIR!!


What you are trying to do is very, very slowly step over the saddle.

You aren’t landing on the saddle, you’re sliiiiding over, and on to it.

Try not to focus on the saddle, rather think about the pedal on the far side of the bike, and try to step on to (and into) it as you walk over the bike.

Repeat a lot. Super slowly. Walking pace is too fast. Get this so wired that you can do it in your sleep.

Combine the last two excercises. Repeat until bored.

Stop and spin around for a few minutes.

Now, you’re going to repeat the dismount/remount sequence we just did, starting slow and gradually getting faster.

Stop when you bobble, and immediately do 5 of the sequence excruciatinglyslowly.

Repeat.

Spin out your legs, stretch, and go home.

More hard stuff tomorrow, and more advanced skills next week…

G’night,

M

 

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The Cyclocross Workout of the day for Tuesday, 8.15.11 – “Two-bye”

•August 15, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

For those of you that are returning from previous seasons, you probably know what’s on tap for today!

Beer and wine on tap

New to the Workout Of The Day?

Before we get started, please read this:

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/cross-workout-of-the-day/

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No, seriously, read it…

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OK? Make sense?

Great. Here we go…

It’s Tuesday, and yup… that means today is…

Two By Twenty Tuesday!

– We’re going to start things out with the first Classic 2×20 of the season, and here’s the description of the workout, lazily cribbed from a post last year:

The 2×20 is one of the primary building blocks of your fitness, and is a great default workout. Short on time? Not sure what to do? Do one of these.

So, what the heck is it?

Pretty simply, the 2×20 looks like this:

– 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. Success on this is,  however,  all in the details.

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 to 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 powermeter, 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 you will get better fast.

(…but, yeah, it will hurt.)

(…a lot.)

(…but, you know, the good kind of hurt…)

That’s the workout, and while I’m sure you can’t wait to run right out and get going on it, here are some thoughts before you leave…

– In the Seattle area, where I live, Tuesday nights are a local weekday circuit race, and that’s what I’m doing tonight. Take advantage of local racing when you have it, while you have it, there probably aren’t all that many road racing opportunities available as the season winds down.

– The 2×20 isn’t just a staple workout, it also doubles as a test session, a regular, oft-repeated metric of your fitness. Keep track of your performance in this, and all of the 2×20′s you do!

It doesn’t matter how you do it – wattage, heart rate, what gear you’re pushing on the trainer – just figure out some way of measuring your performance during the workout, and write it down.

Every time.

We will be referring to these metrics throughout the season, and your level of output in the 2×20 will form the basis for measuring your output in most of the workouts we do this season.

Have fun! :)

– M

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The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Monday, August 14, 2011 – “Some serious rest.”

•August 14, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Howdy Folks!

I hope ya’all had a good weekend, and you’re ready to get after it, and put in a hard week of training.

You are?

Great… we’re going to start things off with a…

One Hour Recovery Spin.

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 just suddenly feel better.

As soon as that happens, turn around, go home, eat, stretch, and put your legs up.

…or, you know, go to work.

Or School.

Or whatever real-world hassle you have to deal with. :)

Gotcha, eh?

Here’s the lesson…

Good training always begins with good recovery. You can’t train hard if you’re too gassed to make gains. Set your self up for success this season by taking your rest days seriously.

Seriously!

 

Have fun,

M

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The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Sunday, August 14, 2011 – “Summer Days…”

•August 13, 2011 • Leave a Comment

 

Howdy folks,

It’s Sunday, and that means that the workout for many of you is pretty obvious (well, for the road race crew anyways…)

Option #1 for today is – Race Your Ass Off!

Whatever local racing is on tap for today, do it. Take full advantage of the few remaining road and MTB races, and get some hard efforts in.

Workout option #2? Hard Group Ride –

Get out there and kick some A** on the local roadie ride, or on the trails with your buddies.

Push the pace if and when you can, try and go hard – harder than usual – and see how you recover from some stiff efforts on a course or in a group you know pretty well.

Duration? 3 hours or so. OK to go long today, but better to go kinda long and really damn hard.

You want to finish up the ride  tired, sore, and needing to rest a bit tomorrow; basically, if you aren’t racing today, go hard enough that when you’re done, you feel like you did.

Have fun, ride hard, and remember: easy day tomorrow, leave it all on the road/trail today…

 

If you rode hard yesterday, though? Maybe take it a little easy today, and just go out and cruise for a while. Get some fun, unstructured miles in and enjoy your time on the bike.

You’re going to be doing a bunch of hard riding over the next couple of weeks… so go on out there, and enjoy the summer day; it’s going to drift away before you know it!

M

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The Workout Of The Day for Saturday, 8.13.11, “Fleetwood Max.”

•August 12, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Howdy Folks,

Yesterday I threw a bunch of options at you, and, well… today is going to be pretty similar. What you do for a workout today pretty much depends on your plans for the rest of the weekend.

So, without further ado, The Workout Of The Day for today is

Go Your Own Way –

Are you racing tomorrow (Sunday)? If you are, 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 sprint efforts on a straight section of paved road, level or slightly uphill.

Do half of these from a near standstill, and for 1/2 of them, get going at a pretty good clip before you start the sprint.

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

Not racing tomorrow? Have some free time on your hands? Sweet! Have some fun today, and go for a…

Long Road or Mountain Bike Ride –

Look, I know I always say you don’t ever need to ride more than about two hours at a stretch to get ready for Cyclocross, but note the emphasis on the word need.

Sometimes it’s just great to get out and get some miles in, and live on your bike for a day.

Damnit, it’s the summer, and if the weather in your area is anything like it is here, you owe it to yourself to get out and spend the better part of the day on your bike. It doesn’t matter if its on the road, on your cross bike, or hittin’ the trails on your mountain bike, get out there and ride a bucket full of miles, and have some fun while the fun is easy to get.

If you can’t do it today, do it tomorrow.

If you have free time both days, get another long, fun ride in tomorrow, and tell yourself you’re doing it in loving trust for some poor schmuck who is stuck behind a desk on this glorious weekend.

If you need something a little bit more concrete, plan-wise, how about this; Ride 3, 4, or 5 plus hours. Push the pace when you can, try to extend your comfort zone both fitness-wise and skill-wise.

Have more fun than you can stand, and get mentally psyched for the hard work you will be putting in the rest of the summer, work that will make these fun days even more fun…

G’night,

M


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The Cyclocross Workout of The Day for Friday, 8.12.11, “Pick ’em.”

•August 11, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks!

I hope the workout went well for you yesterday, and if it was your first day of running this season… I’m guessing you’re pretty darn sore today. If you are, that makes today’s workout a no-brainer.

Take it easy.

For you folks, today’s workout is…

Easy Rider –

Hop on your bike. Spin around a flat, easy circuit for an hour or two.

No sharp or hard efforts, just take it slow and easy.

Enjoy the day.

Stop to smell the flowers and stretch at some point during the ride, maybe about 1/2 way through.

Have fun!

If you are still finishing off the road season, and you have a race on Saturday, your workout today is…

Can Openers –

Here’s the drill:

– 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 sprint efforts on a straight section of paved road, level or slightly uphill.

Do half of these from a near standstill, and for 1/2 of them, get going at a pretty good clip before you start the sprint.

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

If you aren’t racing on Saturday, but you are racing on Sunday, do the Easy Rider today, and the Can Openers tomorrow.

Not racing at all this weekend? Didn’t do the running yesterday?

Well, tomorrow I’m going to have you do something long-ish and pretty moderate, so maybe – if you’re feeling really motivated – jump ahead a couple of days, and give a go at a workout you’re going to see a lot of this season,

The Classic 2×20 –

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2010/07/26/the-cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-7-26-10-testing-testing/

 

I think that’s just about something for everyone, so – enjoy.

More fun coming this weekend. Enjoy your Friday!

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The Workout Of The Day for 8.11.11 – “Stairing for the first time”

•August 10, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

If you actually managed to read the Wednesday workout, I hope that  it made sense after you got into it… I hope? If you’ve got any questions, drop me a line…

Today, we’re going to do some (gulp!) running…

So, a few words about running for cyclocross before we get going…

First of all, don’t get yourself all twisted up with this running thing. Cyclocross is aCycling event, not a running race. There is absolutely no reason to train for ‘cross by doing long runs!

Even if you’re racing a course like Seattle’s Steilacoom, with it’s legendary run up, you still spend a very small amount of each race running. As a really good point of reference, the total distance of all the running in the Pro race at Steilacoom is something in the neighborhood of 1/3 of a mile.

1/3 of a mile! Total! That’s it!

OK, granted – you’re running pretty damn hard for that short distance, but still… tell me again why you think you need to do 5k runs in practice?

I like to run, and I like to run pretty long distances.

I do it for fun.

I don’t do it during the cross season.

Any running I do in-season is short, sharp, and focused on speed. Some of the athletes I coach don’t do any running at all during the season, and it hasn’t stopped them from winning new jerseys in December.

If you’re a runner by inclination and disposition, and you really enjoy those endurance runs… well, get them out of your system now.

Ok, on with the workout… today we are Stairing At The Sun

– First, figure out where you can do the workout. We’re going to be running stairs today, so you need some stairs…

…or a small hill, or a grassy knoll – something you can run up. Stairs are best, but whatever you can come up with will work.

You don’t need NFL stadium stairs or anything crazy like that for this workout. Look for something that’s long enough to give you 10 seconds of running at a full sprint; That’ll be plenty long enough. We’re doing speed work, here. Short, sharp efforts.

On with the workout.

– get on your bike (huh?!) and warm up for 15 minutes or so.

(we’re going to warm up for any running efforts we do, all season, with some time on the bike. )

– Mosey on over to your stairs/knoll/whatever, and get set. Stretch, have a sip of water, turn up the volume on your Ipod.

– Jog up the stairs. Walk down.

Get a sense for the spacing and “feel” of the stairs. You’re going to be flying up these things in a full-on lactic acid bath shortly, so you want to get comfortable with the terrain…

So you don’t have any… problems…

– Repeat x5

– Sprint! up stairs, fast, using whatever stride is most comfortable. Walk down.

– Repeat x5

Rest for 1 minute, walking slowly up and down stairs.

– Sprint up stairs, this time using quick, tiny strides, 1 stairstep at a time. Walk down.

– Repeat x5

Rest again, same as before.

– Sprint up stairs, this time using long strides, several stairsteps at a time. Walk down.

– Repeat x 5

Rest again.

– Sprint up stairs, combining the previous two exercises – 1st time up, long strides; next time up, short strides, etc. Walk down.

Rest again, 2-5 minutes.

*If this is your first time running this season, that’s it. You’re done. Feel free – heck, feel obligated to stop early if you have any tweaks, twinges, or strange feelings in your legs.*

– If you’ve got some running miles in ya’ already, repeat the entire damn thing until you just can’t do it anymore, or  until you are going so slowly it’s ridiculous.

Get back on bike, spin out your legs, go home.

Notes –

The idea here is to get good enough at this to go really damn hard. If you do this right, it’s a brutal workout.

Don’t go that hard if it’s your first (or nearly first) time running this season. Keep it under control. You want to build up to the point where you are going up the stairs in a dead sprint, and are completely gassed at the end of each set.

We’re going to do this exercise – or a variation of it – every week for a while, so be patient. You will get better at it, and I will throw in some variations that will keep it fun and challenging, including some agility and lateral stability drills. Stay tuned!

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Yup. It’s that time of year. We’re back…

•August 10, 2011 • 2 Comments

Howdy folks!

Welcome back to yet another year of Cyclocross training.

People have started bugging me to get this whole thing started again, so – without further ado – here it is…

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day – 

If you’ve been following along with this blog the past couple of years, you have probably gotten used to the basic format of things…

– Monday is a Recovery Day…

– Tuesday is 2×20 Tuesday or some variation on the theme…

– Wednesday is Skills Day…

– Thursday is kind of a wildcard…

– Friday is Can Openers if you’re racing on Saturday…

– Saturday is Race Day or Can Openers if you’re racing on Sunday..

Pretty simple, right?

We’ll see…

Today is Wednesday, so it’s…

Cyclocross Skills Practice!

– we’re going to start by going back in time to one of last season’s wordier posts –

https://crosssports.net/2010/08/18/the-cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-wednesday-8-17-the-hokey-pokey/

This should give you more than enough to think about as you start brushing up on those dormant dismount & remount skills today!

Have fun!

M

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Best damn lap you will see all year…

•February 7, 2011 • 1 Comment

‘Nuff said.

M

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Blecch….

•December 10, 2010 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

My apologies for the lack of postings this week. It turns out that my hotel room in Bend has internet service… occasionally. Like, for 5 minutes every 3 or 4 hours.

Needless to say, this is making it pretty hard to get anything up on here – especially when I need to cram work-related activities into those same little tiny windows of Internet access.

I hope that the racing has been going well for you, and I promise I will have lots to blather about when I get back home. I’ve been getting lots of suggestions from readers I have run into down here, and will do my best to follow up for them.

If you happen to be down in Bend, Please stop by the LeMond Fitness warm-up area and say “Hi.” It’s been great to meet the folks who read all my blathering, and – as always – the feedback I get from these meetings makes my work on here much, much easier.

 

G’night,

M

 

 

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