Crosssports's Weblog

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Sorry, but I’m going to do it to you again… multiple options for today’s workout…

-If you’re beat from yesterday’s skills practice, and all the acceleration work – make today an easy day. Do a Recovery Ride. One hour easy on the bike, no hard efforts. Spin your legs out until they loosen up, then go home and rest.

– Feeling good? Want to be fast this weekend? Check out last Thursday’s workout and do a Slow Roast.

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/workout-of-the-day-for-thursday-108/

– Feeling good, but not super interested in this weekends results? Train through the race, and start today with a classic 2×20.

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/workout-of-the-day-for-922/

Have fun, and more excess verbiage tomorrow – I promise! 😮

M

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Tempo.

1 : the rate of speed of a musical piece or passage indicated by one of a series of directions (as largo, presto, or allegro) and often by an exact metronome marking

2 : rate of motion or activity : pace

3  : In the card game of bridge, tempo refers to the advantage of being on lead, thus having the initiative of developing tricks for one’s side.

The Workout Of The Day today spoke to several issues, but primary among them was the idea of acceleration as a way of setting the Tempo in a race.  I wrote:

“Those riders that can lift the tempo when they need to or want to are the ones that win; they put the screws to the competition by forcing them to match their accelerations – or not.”

In Jiu-Jitsu practice tonight, I rolled with a really good white belt. Really good. After the roll, he thanked me and asked “What can I do better?” “What do I need to work on?”

Damn.

I told him he should work on controlling the tempo of the match.

Allow me to elaborate…

I’m a fairly small guy. I weigh in at around 146. The guy in question was 100 pounds or so heavier than me.

There’s an etiquette to  this type of a size discrepancy in BJJ training; the big guy doesn’t blob-out and squash the little guy. No belly-flop to Americana nonsense. You roll to get better, and you use your skill and your knowledge.

This doesn’t mean you can’t – or shouldn’t – use your size; I for sure ain’t gonna forget about my speed and agility advantage!

So, controlling the tempo…

“What I mean,” I told him, “Is that you need to use your size and weight to freeze me. You need to dictate where the fight goes.”

“I’m a higher belt, so theoretically (at least!) I know more than you. When you go from position ‘a’ directly to position ‘c’, I can see it coming, and I get there before you. ”

“You need to take the time to stop at ‘b’.  Hold me there, think about your next step, and control the match. Don’t rush your moves. I will see them coming, and will counter you before you get there.”

“In short, you need to control the tempo.”

There’s a universality here, folks.

Control the tempo of the event and – more often than not – you win.

That’s the theme for my training this week…

M

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Wednesday means practice day around these here parts, so – surprise! Today’s workout is Cyclocross Skills Practice.

Once again, as per weeks past, those particularly ambitious folks out there might try doing a classic 2×20 in the AM, and the skills work in the evening. If that’s a bit too much, maybe try doing a single 20 minute interval in the AM… not nearly as soul-crushing as the 2×20!

The usual caveats apply to the extra-credit workouts – take a gander at last Wednesday’s post for the doom-and gloom overtraining talk 😮

So – skills practice… what the heck should you work on tonight?

Here are some recommendations:

Barriers

– Spend a good block of time working on your barrier skills. Folks tend to let this skill slide as the season drags on, and now is a good time to brush up on it.

– Work on single and double barriers, cowboy and step-through dismount techniques, and approach and exit to the barriers at odd angles; you don’t always come into and out of the barriers in a straight line in the races, so don’t practice as if you will!

Starts.

– I don’t know about you, but my starts need some serious work right now, so… I’m working on them. Practice getting into the pedal, getting up to speed, and work to develop a powerful second effort off the gun. Much of the time the rider that can accelerate a few moments after the start is the one that gets the gap; work to be that rider…

Accelerations.

– If you watch the local cross races you will see that in almost all of the races – at every level – the majority of the riders get up to speed at the start and then diesel their way around the course for the rest of the race. They’re stuck in one speed the whole way, basically pinning it as hard as they can.

Those riders that can lift the tempo when they need to or want to are the ones that win; they put the screws to the competition by forcing them to match their accelerations – or not. Work on this tonight.

How?

– Do an acceleration drill.

On a short loop of slightly technical terrain, ride until you get a feel for your comfortable race-level tempo.

Rest for a minute.

Ride the loop again, starting with your baseline tempo.

Attack Hard, lifting the tempo as much as you can. Go for about 5 seconds, and then back down to your baseline tempo.

Lather, rinse, repeat…

Finish the night with a Race Simulation…

…and work on your acceleration throughout. Ride tonight with a lap on/lap off format, and practice pushing the pace. Attack and back down. Drive it for 5 seconds, then 10 seconds. Go faster than you ever could or would in a race, and learn where your limits are. Go too hard and blow. Learn where that line is so that you can ride right up to it (but not over!) in the races.

Have Fun!

M

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In honor of VDB –

May he finally find peace…

We are going to work on Steep Hill Accelerations today.

Here’s the drill:

– warm up well, 15 – 20 minutes or so.

– Find a hill that takes you 2-5 minutes to climb at full gas.

– The hill should be rideable in the big ring, but better done in the small ring.

– You are going to do a continuous series of accelerations on the hill. Like this:

Start climbing seated, at a comfortable pace.

After 10 seconds or so, get out of the saddle and accelerate hard. Punch it for 5 pedal strokes.

Sit back down for 5 pedal strokes.

Attack again for 5

Repeat to top of hill, 2-5 minutes, depending on your gas tank.

– Recover by coasting back down the hill.

– Do a set of 5-10, rest for 10 minutes, and repeat.

– Say “ouch,”  spin out, go home, and lie down…

Notes:

– Accelerate as hard as you can, while still being able to complete the interval.

– Vary the gear throughout the intervals; attack in a big gear, then a small gear. Mix it up. Figure out what works best for you, and work on what doesn’t.

– Don’t just coast when you sit down after the attack; you are working on your ability to respond to and initiate attacks, so you need to attack from a fairly stiff tempo, and then settle back down to that, and then go again.

– Ouch.

– You will probably find this to be very frustrating if it’s your first time doing an interval session of this type. Don’t worry about it – it gets better, I promise.

M

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OK, ouch.

Today (Sunday) hurt, so I know I’m making Monday a recovery day.

You should too…

Get on your bike. Roll around for about an hour. Very light on the pedals, no efforts, just spin. High RPM.

Ride until you start to feel better than when you started.

Yeah, I know this is super-vague, but you will know the sensation when it happens. All of a sudden, you just kind of realize that your legs feel lighter than they did when you started. When this happens, go home.

If it doesn’t happen…. you just might be starting to get overtrained.

One of the big signs of overtraining is that you just can’t seem to recover. I use the weekly recovery ride as a kind-of early warning system. Keep track of how long it takes for you to feel better. Big changes in the time it takes to get to the “recovery sensation,” or a complete inability to get there can indicate that it’s time to back off, or take another day (like Tuesday…) easy.

So, just be aware, and keep track. OK?

On another topic, how did your racing go this weekend? I know that I’m starting to feel at least a little bit of strength in the legs, but my speed is, well… not there. I can diesel along, but I can’t lift the pace.

Time to work on the speed…

M

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Go Race.

No race locally?

Go kill it for an hour, simulate a race, or do a Classic 2×20.

Raced yesterday? Gassed?

Go spin for an hour. Super light on the pedals, no hard efforts, just spin.

See ya’all tomorrow…

M

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m

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First, register for Nationals.

If you’re in the US…

…and you haven’t already…

…and you’re going, or thinking of going.

OK. Got that out of the way? Good :0

If you’re racing today… well, that’s the workout! Full effort time. No holding back. Kill it. We’re hitting the meat of the season, and it’s time to get the foot off the clutch and on the gas. That’s right folks – mix the hell out of all the metaphors. It’s GO time…

Not racing today? Racing tomorrow? You’re doing “Can Openers.”

New to the site? OK . Here’s the protocol:

– 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.

M

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