Crosssports's Weblog

Howdy folks,

Yup. It’s Saturday.

Racing abounds!

So, if you’re racing today, well… good luck! Kick some Ass.

Predictably, people have been asking me about warming up for their races.

Luckily, I wrote a Post on the subject a while back, so hey; interested? Check it out!

**********

Up here in Seattle, it’s looking like it might be pretty ugly out this weekend, and the trainers will be out and in action.

So… blech.

Racing today?

Warm ups on the trainer.

Racing tomorrow?

Openers on the trainer.

What should you do when you’re on that damn infernal machine?

How about the…

R.S.W.O. – 

First of all, if you’re doing these as a warmup, don’t neglect your course preview.

When in doubt, if you have to make a choice, sacrifice some of your warmup to get out on the field of play.

Even if you can’t quite get the ideal warm up in, it pretty much always pays to get the course preview done & dialed.

Better to be just a little bit less sharp than to hit the deck ’cause you didn’t have that tricky section wired, or notice the hidden root in that crucial curve.

Make sense?

Cool

Time to pull out your trainer and get goin’

– Get on trainer. Spin for about 5 minutes.

– Shift into big ring/largest cog combination.

– 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.

– 5-10 minute effort at your 2×20 output level.

Repeat The entire sequence (Usually minus the 2nd 5-10 minute effort if you’re doing these as a warmup.)

Drink, eat a gel, go race.

Or…

Drink, eat some real food, and go relax. Get ready for tomorrow’s race.

Whichever.

Kick ass.

Enjoy!

M

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: Bicycle racing, bike racing, cx classes, cx handling drills, cx intervals, CX practice, cx skills, CXWOTD, Cycling, Cyclo-cross, Cyclocross, cyclocross classes, cyclocross handling drills, cyclocross instruction, cyclocross intervals, Cyclocross Practice, cyclocross skills, Fitness, Health, Heart rate, Howy folks, Intervals, Marymoor CX, Marymoor cyclocross, Marymoor practice, Personal Training, Physical exercise, Running, s: Aerobic exercise, Seattle, Sports, The Workout Of The Day Tags: Bicycle pedal, wootd, WOTD, XC Racing

Howdy folks,

Wow… It’s Friday again.

Hard to believe. It seems like this week went by in a blaze of a fog of confusion and wackiness.

Felt like I was living inside a sitcom, and not one of the good ones. Like one of those sitcoms that lasts three episodes on some network that’s holding on by the last micron of it’s fingernails before it turns into the infomercial home of the Sham-WOW

Blech.

Fingers crossed not the same for next week, eh?

Hopefully you had the better of it the last few days, and you’re ready to race this weekend.

Or, as we like to say, you’re ready to step in to the danger zone…

…well, to be honest, I never say that. I don’t actually know anyone who does say that, but I was looking for an excuse to post that video. Like you didn’t already know that.

It’s been a rough week. Archer helps 🙂

Onwards!

Are you racing tomorrow?

Yes?

Well alllllright… time for some…

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 a 10-15 minute effort at AT level, or CP60, or “I could talk to you if I had to, but I don’t want to” level.

Spin for several minutes….

Follow with a couple more of those short attacking efforts,  30 seconds, pretty damn hard.

Spin for a couple of minutes…

Finish 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.

We all know how important starts are in the race, so make ‘em count.

I don’t quit until I nail 5 in a row, but set your own threshold.

Got em’ dialed? Ripped ‘em?

Cool.

You’re done.

Spin out the legs, then go home and rest.

You’re ready to race tomorrow.

Not racing tomorrow?

Racing on Sunday?

Today might be a good day to take the day off, or you could try some…

Spin Ups – 

Get on your bike and warm your legs up, 10-20 minutes.

After you’re warm, find a nice, long, flat or slightly downhill section of road with little or no traffic.

Begin each interval by rolling into it at a moderate speed, in a gear that’s smaller than you would typically use to sprint.

Get out of the saddle and sprint.

Not a power sprint, though. The idea here is to move your legs quickly, not to make the bike go fast.

Still out of the saddle, spin that gear up until…

…your leg speed gets to the point where it’s hard to maintain.

Sit down and keep it going until you are totally spun-out.

We’re talking  fast legs. Can’t turn ‘em over any faster fast.

Think Road-Runner fast…

– Repeat x3-5

Recover for 5 minutes, rolling around at a leisurely pace.

– Go again, same thing.

Recover, then repeat as time and fitness allow.

Shoot for 3-5 sets of  3-5.

Recover on the bike for another 10-20 minutes, then go home, and get ready for the weekend.

Have fun, and be safe.

M

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: Bicycle racing, bike racing, cx classes, cx handling drills, cx intervals, CX practice, cx skills, CXWOTD, Cycling, Cyclo-cross, Cyclocross, cyclocross classes, cyclocross handling drills, cyclocross instruction, cyclocross intervals, Cyclocross Practice, cyclocross skills, Fitness, Health, Heart rate, Howy folks, Intervals, Marymoor CX, Marymoor cyclocross, Marymoor practice, Personal Training, Physical exercise, Running, s: Aerobic exercise, Seattle, Sports, The Workout Of The Day Tags: Bicycle pedal, wootd, WOTD, XC Racing

Howdy folks,

You know what we haven’t done in a while?

I bet you do…

Yup.

You’re right.

We haven’t done any running.

No time like the present!

Strap ’em on, and get ready to…

Run up some stuff!

First, warm up on the bike if you can, 15 minutes or so.

(Try to warm up for any running efforts you do, all season, with some time on the bike. Ideally, you will also warm down on the bike.)

 You’re going to do a series of repeated efforts  on a short section of stairs.

*Short* section of stairs.

Not an entire stadium stairwell, ok?!

Maybe just to the first landing, eh?

10 seconds at the most going hard.

Even shorter is fine.

5 seconds is groovy.

The Five Stairsteps are supremely groovy….

…but that’s another subject entirely.

– 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.

– Repeat x3

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

– Repeat x3

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

– Sprint up stairs, this time using quick, tiny strides, 1 stair step at a time. Jog down.

– Repeat x3

Rest again, same as before.

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

– Repeat x 3

Rest again.

– Sprint up stairs, combining the previous two exercises; long step, followed by 2 short steps. Do 1x.

Walk down.

– Run up stairs, high knees –

Repeat x3

Rest again, 2-5 minutes.

Sprint up stairs, free form, just go as fast as you can. Go until spent.

– Repeat entire damn thing if you’re a freaking animal.

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 been running much (or at all!) this season. Heck, maybe Do this instead.

– If you’re super fit, or crazy, do a 20 minute effort on the bike (1/2 a Classic 2×20) immediately before running. Be aware, this is a completely bonkers workout combo if you do it right, and if you do do it right, you should need to take it easy the next day. Or you’re really damn fit. One or the other…

G’night,

M

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: Bicycle racing, bike racing, cx classes, cx handling drills, cx intervals, CX practice, cx skills, CXWOTD, Cycling, Cyclo-cross, Cyclocross, cyclocross classes, cyclocross handling drills, cyclocross instruction, cyclocross intervals, Cyclocross Practice, cyclocross skills, Fitness, Health, Heart rate, Howy folks, Intervals, Marymoor CX, Marymoor cyclocross, Marymoor practice, Personal Training, Physical exercise, Running, s: Aerobic exercise, Seattle, Sports, The Workout Of The Day Tags: Bicycle pedal, wootd, WOTD, XC Racing

Howdy folks,

Tuesday is here, and you know what we haven’t done in a while?

Yup.

You got it right.

It’s 2×20 Tuesday!

You know you love ’em!

– Warm up.

– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.

– Recover for 2 – 5 minutes.

– Go again for another 20 minutes.

That’s the stripped down version of this nonsense, but success is 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 power meter, you want your wattage output to be as close to constant as possible. How constant?

Can you keep it in a 10 watt range?

Probably not.

15 watts?

More likely

20 watts?

Try.

Keep it steady.

These take practice to do well, and the better you get, the harder they get (you’re welcome.) This is a workout that’s a natural for the turbo trainer, and that’s how I do ‘em.

This 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 blurry vision thing. You should aspire to seeing-spots level of output on these.

 If you can learn to push through your limits, really push, you will get better and you will get better fast.

It’ll be painful, though.

Before you jump right into these, though…

… it might be worth your time to think about what we discussed yesterday.

Lots of folks are looking pretty burnt out already this season.

Don’t let that happen to you!

Better to take a day off today than be forced to take a week off a month or so down the line.

If you don’t get enough rest you never recover and if you never recover you never get as fast as you could if you did do the thing that you didn’t ’cause you wouldn’t and now you don’t have a choice and you can’t.

Ugh.

Maybe just go back to sleep, eh?

Train smart!

M

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: Bicycle racing, bike racing, cx classes, cx handling drills, cx intervals, CX practice, cx skills, CXWOTD, Cycling, Cyclo-cross, Cyclocross, cyclocross classes, cyclocross handling drills, cyclocross instruction, cyclocross intervals, Cyclocross Practice, cyclocross skills, Fitness, Health, Heart rate, Howy folks, Intervals, Marymoor CX, Marymoor cyclocross, Marymoor practice, Personal Training, Physical exercise, Running, s: Aerobic exercise, Seattle, Sports, The Workout Of The Day Tags: Bicycle pedal, wootd, WOTD, XC Racing

Howdy folks,

Well, it’s Saturday, and that means time to go racing for a lot of us.

If you’re racing this weekend, Chad Berg up here in Seattle came up with an idea to pay tribute to Amy Dombroski’s passing, and it’s catching on.

Please consider wearing a cycling cap under your your helmet this weekend, peak flipped skyward in the inimitable Amy style…

Photo by Narayan Mahon. Please click to check out more of his work.

Sigh.

*********

So, hey… if you’re racing today, go race. Have a blast. It looks to be pretty nice weather just about everywhere this weekend, so enjoy it while it lasts!

If you’re only racing on Sunday this weekend, you might want to check out Yesterday’s post.

Could be a pretty good choice of a workout for you today.

Of course, you could always decide to go for an old standby today, and set up Sunday’s race with some…

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 a 10-15 minute effort at AT level, or CP60, or “I could talk to you if I had to, but I don’t want to” level.

Spin for several minutes….

Follow with a couple more of those short attacking efforts,  30 seconds, pretty damn hard.

Spin for a couple of minutes…

Finish 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.

We all know how important starts are in the race, so make ‘em count.

I don’t quit until I nail 5 in a row, but set your own threshold.

Got em’ dialed? Ripped ‘em?

Cool.

You’re done.

Spin out the legs, then go home and rest.

You’re ready to race tomorrow.

Don’t forget the cap thing, eh?

Have fun, and be safe.

M

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: Bicycle racing, bike racing, cx classes, cx handling drills, cx intervals, CX practice, cx skills, CXWOTD, Cycling, Cyclo-cross, Cyclocross, cyclocross classes, cyclocross handling drills, cyclocross instruction, cyclocross intervals, Cyclocross Practice, cyclocross skills, Fitness, Health, Heart rate, Howy folks, Intervals, Marymoor CX, Marymoor cyclocross, Marymoor practice, Personal Training, Physical exercise, Running, s: Aerobic exercise, Seattle, Sports, The Workout Of The Day Tags: Bicycle pedal, wootd, WOTD, XC Racing

Photo by Narayan Mahon. Please click to check out more of his work.

Howdy folks,

Yesterday was an incredibly sad day for the entire cyclocross community. Amy made a lasting impression on all who knew her, met her, raced with & against her, and even those who simply watched her race from afar.

Rest in peace, Amy. You’ll be missed.

******

It’s Friday, and there’s a whole bunch of racing going on this weekend.

If you’re racing on Sunday (but not Saturday) this time around, today might be a good day to take a day off.

Depending on your fatigue level and how well you react to a day off this close to a race, of course.

Some folks just can’t take a day off two days before a race. They wind up with dead legs on race day, and can’t ever get things rolling when it counts.

Others thrive on that little extra bit of recovery, and after their day-before race openers, they can come out like a (well rested) roman candle when go time rolls around.

It takes some experimentation to figure out which camp you belong to, and these early season races are a good time for that.

The stakes probably aren’t quite as high as they’re going to be later on down the road, so if you come into the race a little bit toasty, or a little bit under done, well… you’ll get your redemption next time around.

If you’re racing on Saturday, you need to get those openers in, of course.

Guess what?

You need to experiment with your openers, too.

How much do you need to do the day before a race to be ready the next day?

How much is too much the day before?

It varies enough that I can’t really tell  you.

But you know what’s been working well for a bunch of people lately?

Ignition!

This workout consists of a series of short, hard sprints midway through a 1 – 1 1/2 hour ride, so give some thought to where you can do these effectively.

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

Even better if it’s about a :45 minute ride away; that will make things nice and simple.

Hop on your bike and roll out the door.

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

At the minimum, roll until your legs open up and get to feeling loose and warm.

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

Begin each sprint from a near standstill.

Barely rolling, coasting along at a very low speed, then…

BANG!

almost a full-gas effort, but not quite.

You need to go hard, but you’re not trying to set any personal bests here.

You need to leave some gas in the tank for tomorrow, right?

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 minutes for the spin/ride back home.

Again, roll at least as long as it takes for your legs to feel loose, warm, and ready to go.

Put your feet up, relax, and get ready for the tomorrow’s race.

Have fun!

M

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: Bicycle racing, bike racing, cx classes, cx handling drills, cx intervals, CX practice, cx skills, CXWOTD, Cycling, Cyclo-cross, Cyclocross, cyclocross classes, cyclocross handling drills, cyclocross instruction, cyclocross intervals, Cyclocross Practice, cyclocross skills, Fitness, Health, Heart rate, Howy folks, Intervals, Marymoor CX, Marymoor cyclocross, Marymoor practice, Personal Training, Physical exercise, Running, s: Aerobic exercise, Seattle, Sports, The Workout Of The Day Tags: Bicycle pedal, wootd, WOTD, XC Racing

Howdy folks,

Thanks to all ya’all who came out to the Marymoor Velodrome to play in the muck with us last night.

I’m still finding mud in unpleasant places, and this just after I finally got all of Sunday’s slime off of me.

Must be cross season. For reals.

It’s been a long time since we had a consistently muddy season up here in the PNW, and so far it looks like this season is going to make up for that lost time, big time.

Should be fun.

If I can keep up with the toll it’s taking on the bike.

Not much fun to be packing up the car to head out to cross practice and suddenly realize that the BB’s on both of your bikes are frozen solid.

Blecch.

On the positive side, I know know exactly how fast I can rebuild a bottom bracket when I have to.

🙂

So, after all of that, how about a workout, eh?

We’ve been battling the mud lately, and that tends to lead to a bunch of heavy gear, low cadence slogging.

Your legs get as heavy as your heart.

Today, we’re going to add a little bit of speed work to the mix, and hopefully it’ll lift our cadence and  our spirits…

Today,

Everything’s Going Downhill Fast!

Start by warming up well, a bit longer than usual – 30 minutes or so.

Find a gradual downhill that lets out on a flat section of road or trail. The ideal setup for this workout is a downhill that’s about a block long that turns into  a flat section of road another block or so in length.

Extra bonus points if you can loop back to the start without having to turn around – that would be perfect.

You’re going to do 3-5 sets of 5 sprints, full gas. Here’s how the sprints go:

Roll down the gradual descent in a comfortable gear. You want to hit the bottom of the hill going fast, but not yet in a sprint.

As soon as you hit the flat section at the bottom of the hill, get out of the saddle and give it full gas.

Sit back down as you get up to full speed, and try to go even faster.

Go until you are spun out.

Spun out means that your legs can’t go any faster, your form goes completely to hell, or you start bobbing up and down on the saddle a lot.

Ideally, a little bit of all of those things.

Remember, we’re working on leg speed today, so really focus on turning your legs over. The goal isn’t to make the bike go fast, the goal is to make your legs go fast.

There’s a difference, eh? Try to keep it in mind, ok?

ANYways, That’s one rep. You’re doing sets of 5.

Ouch.

Each sprint should take just a few seconds. Recover for 30 seconds to a minute between them, and 5 minutes between sets.

Stop when you hit 5 sets or just aren’t getting the same leg speed you were on the first couple of reps.

When you’re done, spin out your legs and go home.

Tips –

– You should start the sprint in a pretty big gear, and spin it out. How big? It depends on how fast you’re going and how strong you are. You’re working on speed here, so don’t try to lug a giant gear, but the gear needs to be big enough that you accelerate when you hit it at the end of the downhill.

– Important, let me reiterate: stand up out of the saddle when you start to sprint, and gradually sit down as you begin to spin up into your sprint.

– Don’t forget to breathe. Seriously. Too many people hold their breath when they sprint. Don’t be one of them.

Have fun!

Posted in Cyclocross, Intervals, The Workout Of The Day
Tags: Bicycle racing, bike racing, cx classes, cx handling drills, cx intervals, CX practice, cx skills, CXWOTD, Cycling, Cyclo-cross, Cyclocross, cyclocross classes, cyclocross handling drills, cyclocross instruction, cyclocross intervals, Cyclocross Practice, cyclocross skills, Fitness, Health, Heart rate, Howy folks, Intervals, Marymoor CX, Marymoor cyclocross, Marymoor practice, Personal Training, Physical exercise, Running, s: Aerobic exercise, Seattle, Sports, The Workout Of The Day Tags: Bicycle pedal, wootd, WOTD, XC Racing