The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Friday, 9.30.16. “Ignite This”

•September 30, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

Well, it’s Friday, and that’s the point in the week where the multitude of different weekend schedules really wreak havoc on my ability to post up a workout that’s good for everyone. Some of you are racing tomorrow, some of you are racing on Sunday, some aren’t racing at all… yeesh. What’s a guy to do?

I’ll take a stab at it.

If you’re racing on Sunday, take today off.

Yup, you heard me. Day off. Try to get to bed early tonight so that you can stomp out some openers early tomorrow and be fully recovered and refreshed for your race the following day.

Speaking of openers, if you’re racing tomorrow, you need to do some of those today.

So how about…

Ignition – 

 

ignition

You’re going to do a series of short, hard sprints midway through a 1 – 1 1/2 hour ride. Before you head out the door, give some thought to where you can do that effectively.

A flat, straight, low-traffic section of road is what you’re looking for.

It would be great if it’s about a :45 minute ride away; that would make things nice and simple.

Hop on your bike and roll out the door.

Ride steady, at a moderate pace for 1/2 hour – 45 minutes, eventually winding up at the aforementioned stretch of road.

You’re now going to do a series of Hard out of the saddle sprints.

How hard?

Well, hard to say. You’ll start to get the hang of it pretty quickly, but figure that you’re shooting for an output level that will allow you to crank out all the sprints in the set at about the same level, but not easily.

You aren’t sprinting to failure here, and you aren’t doing a max power test.

Don’t overdo it, you’re trying to open your legs, not destroy them.

Make sense?

10 sprints, 10 seconds each.

1 minute between each sprint.

After the last sprint, roll back home spinning easily to recover.

Budget at least 15 – 20 minutes for the spin/ride back home.

when you get home, put your feet up and relax.

For some folks, this isn’t quite enough to get their legs open and ready the day before the race – or at least it doesn’t feel like it’s enough – and the importance of “feeling” ready can’t really be overestimated.

If you’re part of this club (I am) add a 10-minute effort at right about your 2×20 output level before you start the sprint sets.

Warm up, 10 minute effort, 5 minutes spinning, sprint efforts, spin down, go home.

Oh, yeah… if you’re racing Sunday – not Saturday – this week, and you just can’t make yourself take the day off, give this workout a go today. A wee bit of sprint work two days before a race works really well for some folks. You might be one of ’em.

Enjoy!

M

 

 

 

 

 

Hey folks! Go Check out…

se

If you think you might just need some more personalized coaching or training!

Posted in Cyclocross, openers, recovery, The Workout Of The Day

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Thursday, 9.29.16. “To stair, or not to…”

•September 29, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Marymoore/JBM Velodrome CX workout last night! Despite a slight glitch with the lighting, we had a great first night, and look forward to many more. A bunch of people have expressed interest in bringing back the Junior’s skills clinics, and we’re very close to making that happen. What it looks like we’re going to do is stage a special Jr rider’s session 1/2 hour before the adult rider’s clinics begin, at 6:00 pm. If you live in the Seattle – or, probably more likely, the East Side of Lake WA area – and have (or know of) any kids that might be interested in attending, drop me a line. We’re very close to the critical mass of groms necessary to make this work.

On with today’s workout!

I’ve had a few people ask me for some more running workouts, both individual coaching clients and readers of this here blog, so here you go…

Stairing – 

 

milan_stairway

 

 

– 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 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.

– 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 stair steps 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.

– Run up stairs sideways. Yup, you read that right. Sideways. Try it, it’ll make sense. More of an agility drill than anything else, but it’ll be good for you.

– Repeat 2-5 times.

Rest again, 2-5 minutes

– Repeat entire damn thing until you just can’t do it anymore, or you are going so slowly it’s ridiculous.

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

Notes –

If you can, go really damn hard. If you do this right, it’s a brutal workout.

Don’t go that hard if you haven’t got the legs for that yet. 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. That’s going to take a few sessions to build up to, though. Don’t kill yourself the first time out.

In general, I don’t think that most CX racers really need to do much running work. It’s just not that important for most of the races we see in the US these days. The running that happens organically in the races and in practice is enough to keep the legs moving, and the time needed to add extra running to the schedule is generally better spent doing something more important, like riding yer damn bike.

Having said that, if you are consistently losing ground every time you get off the bike, or if you happen to live in a part of the country where the local races have you running a lot, that’s a different story. YMMV, eh? This is exactly the sort of thing that individual coaching is useful for. I’ve got some clients who do running workouts all the way through the CX season, and others who do none at all. One size absolutely don’t fit all.

So, give today’s workout a shot, and see how it works for you. We’ll do this again next week – with an option for people who would rather do something on the bike instead – and you might decide you like it.

Or not.

 

Enjoy,

M

 

 

Hey folks! Go Check out…

se

If you think you might just need some more personalized coaching or training!

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, running

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Wednesday, 9.28.16. “Moto GP Redux”

•September 28, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

 

It’s Wednesday, and as always (almost always? mostly always? most of the time?) it’s…

Skills Day!

If you’ve ever been to one of my cyclocross skills clinics, you know that I talk a fair bit about Moto GP racing as a source of inspiration and knowledge in RE: bike handling on the Cross bike.

Stuff like this –

…can offer a lot of insight into what is possible when driving a bike, even if it’s a puny 1-human power CX rig.

No, you can’t ever do everything these guys do.

64 degree lean angles? Yikes!

On a bike, you simply don’t have the horsepower and the down force that these bikes have, but the basic physics of the bike remain more or less the same –

…so steal liberally.

There’s more to it than just bike handling, though.

Want to work on your starts?

Check this out –

Overtaking?
Bam!

If you watch a whole race, I defy you to not come away with little bits and pieces that will help your racing!

So, homework.

Watch these guys – the best bike handlers in the world – and learn from them.

You won’t regret it.

***********

Today’s workout?

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 (We’ve talked about stretching on here in the past, check out the search function if you want/need some more info.)

3 – Dismount/remount  skills for 5-10-15 minutes

– Start at literally a walking pace, and slowly increase speed until you can mount and dismount the bike smoothly and perfectly at full speed. Do not jump on and off the bike, you are looking to smoothly slide yourself on and off.

Need a refresher on the basics? Check out this old post…

Do just the most  basic dismount/remount as per above until you have it down cold, smooth as silk.

When you’re perfect (hah!) throw some barriers into the mix.

4 – Figure eight drill.

Set up 2 cones or 2 rocks or two… somethings. Doesn’t much matter what it is.

Ride in a figure eight pattern around the cones…

– first pedaling the entire time.

No coasting.

Pedal all the way around the figure 8, including the turns.

Practice using the brakes while still pedaling. This is one of those secret techniques that – once you figure it out – makes a huge difference. When you stop pedaling you lose traction, so don’t stop pedaling!

Experiment with this, it’s a game-changer.

– Same drill, not pedaling through the turns.

– Same drill, alternate styles.

Now move the figure 8 to the side of a slight hill.

One cone up hill, one down, about 5-8 meters apart and staggered, IE: not directly below each other on the slope.

 – Same drill(s) as before. Go.

Good?

Next, pilot around those corners – uphill and downhill – with the inside foot out.

Having trouble making the turn at the top of the figure 8? Put your foot down and push off with it to make the turn.

Don’t be afraid to use the foot that’s unclipped to push off or “paddle” around a turn, or to keep yourself driving forward on an off-camber section.

This can be another game changer, so work on it, eh?

 – Alternate both of these styles around the figure-eight.

Experiment.

Try different speeds, different lines, different angles.

See when/how/why each style works, and figure out how they can work for you.

6 – Recover for a few minutes, then Finish the night with two interval efforts on relatively easy terrain, but make sure to include the figure – 8 in it.

– “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, and your exits from turns & technical features.

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.

– 6-8 minutes full gas, rest for 2 minutes, then go again.

Spin down for a few minutes, then head home and finish up your day.

Have fun!

M

 

What’s that you say? You’d kinda’ like to have a cycling coach of your very own? Check out…

se

Posted in Cyclocross, skills, The Workout Of The Day

Marymoor Cyclocross Workout sessions start tomorrow!

•September 27, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Marymoor Cyclocross Workouts begin tomorrow night at 6:30! If you’re in the area, come on out and join us!

 

 

Posted in Cyclocross
Tags: , , , , , ,

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Tuesday, 9.27.16. “Are you up for this?”

•September 27, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

Sorry this is going up a bit late today, had a crazy busy morning. Still catching up from the week away!

Speaking of being away, guess what workout we haven’t done in a while?

Yup.

You know it.

Today we’re hitting it hard, because it’s…

Two By Twenty Tuesday!

(We’re doing ’em get-up style today)

 

As we’ve talked about in previous posts, at it’s most basic the 2×20 looks like this:

– Warm up.

– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.

– Recover for 5 minutes.

– Go again for another 20 minutes.

The idea 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.

It’s all about doing two intervals.

Two intervals at as close to the same level of consistent, steady power output as you can manage.

If you’re doing this with a power meter, you want your wattage output to be as constant and unvaried as possible.

For both intervals.

Both.

How steady?

Can you keep it in a 10 watt range?

Probably not.

15 watts?

More likely

20 watts?

Try.

Keep it steady.

If you run out of gas before you finish the second interval, then you went too hard.

If your vision isn’t blurry at the end of the second interval, you went too easy. But guess what?
It’s way better to go too easy and finish both intervals than it is to go too hard and crater part way through the second 20.

That’s the basic version (and if you’re new to all this, it’s probably the version you should do.) Today, though?

Today we’re doing the get-up version, so…

Start your 20-minute 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 keep your level of output consistent.

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 next 20 minute interval.

Remember, 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’re doing this with a power meter, you want your wattage output to be as close to constant as possible, and the out of the saddle time we’re throwing in makes this even more challenging.

Keep it steady.

These take practice to do well, and the better you get, the harder they get, as your output level gets closer and closer to the absolute max you’re capable of doing for an interval of this duration.

Add in the constant standing and sitting component, and you’re going to know you did some work when you’re through.

I know I’m repeating myself, but do try to avoid the temptation to up the output level when you get out of the saddle, OK?

That’s an entirely different workout, and we’ll get there soon enough, I promise.

One of the things we’re learning with this workout is how to calibrate our out of the saddle efforts. We’re getting a better handle on what we’re actually doing when we stand up on the bike.

You need to know – really know – when you’re going harder and when you’re not.

What most people find when doing this workout is that every time they get out of the saddle their power output takes a big jump.

Which isn’t a huge surprise, because we largely train our bodies to correlate out of the saddle with “go time.”

The thing is, though?

Cyclocross ain’t road racing.

A lot of the time you’re getting out of the saddle not to accelerate, but due to a bike handling challenge.

Heck, in Cross if you get out of the saddle in a super sketchy tech section and really put the power down, pretty often that’s going to result in rear wheel slip and lack of traction, with the expected bad results.

Here’s a little secret:
One of the keys to good bike handling is having a really good understanding of how much power you’re producing, and the effect that has on your traction.

Step one to developing that understanding is getting a real feel for how your power output can change when you get out of the saddle.

Nothing will give you a better feel for that than this workout.

Make sense?

Especially since we’re trying to work on perception, not just output, this is a workout that works great on the trainer, and that’s how you should do ’em, if you can stand it. If not, really try to find the most vacant, flat, soulless terrain possible. The fewer the distractions the 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 exercise – instant home made ergometer.

Enjoy!

M

 

Hey folks! Go Check out…

se

 

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Monday, 9.26.16. “Back from Vegas. Thankfully.”

•September 26, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

We’re back!

Vegas was… well, it was Vegas. Interbike seems to be kind of on it’s last legs, and of all the shows I’ve been to (a lot of them) this one had the lowest energy, and what looked to be the lowest turnout.

If you’ve been thinking that you’d like to go to the bike industry trade show someday, make it soon. I honestly don’t know how much longer the event will have any relevancy, or even exist in the form we know it. Seems a bit like a dinosaur looking for a tar pit to lay in.

Having said that, there were definitely some things worth seeing, and some events worth attending over the course of the week, and CX Vegas was almost certainly the highlight.

Great racing in the women’s race, and an amazing performance in the mens. Wout is an extraterrestrial.

Hopefully I’ll get some more content from the Vegas trip up here in the near future, and if I can find a YouTube link to the races, I’ll post that as well. If you happen to have one, please post it in the comments!

In the meantime, how about some of the action from the Trek Cup?

 

 

 

 

 

If you happen to be trainer-bound today, perhaps you can watch (part of) it while you do today’s…

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.

Enjoy!

M

 

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

se

Posted in Blather, Cyclocross, recovery, The Workout Of The Day

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Monday, 9.19.16. “Wheeling and dealing”

•September 19, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

Happy Monday!

A quick word before today’s workout; this is the week of the annual Interbike bicycle industry trade show, and the CX Vegas race.

 

 

 

 

I will be down in Vegas most of this week, starting tomorrow, and that’s likely to have a marked effect on my ability to get posts up. I’ll do what I can, but it’s likely that there will be some content free days this week.

If you’re in need of a workout, and don’t see anything posted up on here, take a gander over at the right side of the page…

arrow_styled

 

There’s a convenient little search box down there. Simply type in the day of the week, press “enter” and you’ll get a list of all the previous posts for that day of the week. There will be a lot of them to choose from.

We’ll return to our normal program as soon as I get back.

Today, though? Today we’re going to salve the wounds of the weekend past by going for a nice, relaxing…

 

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.

Enjoy!

M

 

 

Posted in Cyclocross, recovery, The Workout Of The Day

Go Race!

•September 18, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Go Race!

 

M

 

 

(Sorry for the brevity. More tomorrow.)

Posted in Cyclocross

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Saturday, 9.17.16. “Canned Response”

•September 17, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

It’s Saturday, which means some of you are racing today. If you are, have fun, go fast. Kick some… well, you decide what you want to kick.

If you’re not racing today, you’re probably racing tomorrow, in which case today you get to do some…

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!

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

Not racing tomorrow?

Well, if you’re planning on riding pretty hard tomorrow, that same openers workout isn’t a bad idea for you, either.

Like just about everything, it takes practice to get your day-before-racing openers routine dialed in. It’s a good idea to do that dialing in early in the season – or even before racing starts up – so that there’s no mystery to the process when there’s something on the line.

Stuff like “how long does it take me to get this routine cranked out” and “where the hell do I do this, and do I have to drive somewhere to get it done, and how long is that going to take” are things you want to have well sorted, well in advance. And that’s kinda’ the least of it.

How much volume/intensity do you need to put in the day before a race to be ready to race?

How much volume/intensity is too damn much, and will result in your leaving your legs out on the road the day before the race?

I dunno.

Do you?

If you don’t, maybe it’s a good time to figure that out.

Hit those Can Openers hard today, then see how you feel in your workout tomorrow.

Next week, do the openers session a wee bit differently.

See how you feel.

Take notes.

Experiment.

Figure this stuff out.

You’ll be glad you did!

 

Have fun!

M

 

 

 

 

Hey folks! Go Check out…

se

 

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, openers, The Workout Of The Day

The Cyclocross Workout Of The Day for Friday, 9.16.16. – “Trek Into This”

•September 16, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Howdy folks,

Yikes! This is going up late today, sorry about that!

It’s crazy-making time, as I’m trying to get things all sorted so I can minimize nightmares popping up while I’m in Vegas at Interbike next week.

Always more to do than you planned for. Whine, whine, whine…

How about a workout?

Today being Friday, odds are there is some racing to be had this weekend. It seems like most folks are racing on Sundays these days, but there are still some people hitting it hard on Sundays, and even some doing the double this weekend…

 

 

 

 

So, how about a workout that will fit in pretty nicely no matter what day you’re racing this weekend? How about…

 

The L.B. 

You’re going to do a series of short, hard sprints midway through a 1 – 1 1/2 hour ride. Before you head out the door, give some thought to where you can do that effectively.

A flat, straight, low-traffic section of road is what you’re looking for.

It would be great if it’s about a :45 minute ride away; that would make things nice and simple.

Hop on your bike and roll out the door.

Ride steady, at a moderate pace for 1/2 hour – 45 minutes, eventually winding up at the aforementioned stretch of road.

You’re now going to do a series of Hard out of the saddle sprints.

How hard?

Well, it’s difficult to say without having your data in front of me. You’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly, but you’re shooting for an output level that will allow you to crank out all the sprints in the set at about the same level, but not easily. Also not so hard that you’re going to feel this in your legs tomorrow.

Clear as mud?

You aren’t sprinting to failure here, and you aren’t doing a max power test.

Don’t overdo it, you’re trying to open your legs, not destroy them.

10 sprints, 10 seconds each.

1 minute between each sprint.

After the last sprint, roll back home spinning easily to recover.

Budget at least 15 – 20 minutes for the spin/ride back home.

when you get home, put your feet up and relax.

Have fun!

M

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey folks! Go Check out…

se

 

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, openers, The Workout Of The Day

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