Howdy folks,
Sorry, no workout today. Somehow I managed to get food poisoning, or a fairly virulent strain of something that hates my GI tract.
Blecch.
Back tomorrow.
M
The Workout Of The Day for Saturday, 12.29.12. “Hell Boy”
•December 29, 2012 • Leave a CommentHowdy folks,
The weekend is here.
Buckle up.
Today you get to do…
3×20, aka – Hell Day.
– Warm up.
– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.
– Recover for 5 minutes. Or maybe a bit more.
– Go again for another 20 minutes.
– Recover for 5 minutes. Or maybe a bit more.
– Go again for another 20 minutes.
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 or third interval.
If you run out of gas before you finish the second or third interval, you went too hard.
If your vision isn’t blurry at the end of the third 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 workout is great on the trainer – if you can stand to be on a trainer that long – and that’s how I usually do ‘em… but I’m crazy that way. This workout is probably best when you do it on the trainer, unless you have a really peaceful stretch of road you can use, but it takes a certain kinda crazy to do it, no doubt.
So hey… have fun!
M
The Workout Of The Day for Friday, 12.28.12. “Mixed Bag (with Happy Ending)”
•December 27, 2012 • Leave a CommentHowdy folks,
Yay! Friday!
Normally on Friday, we’re taking things just a little bit easy so that we’ve got good legs on Sunday, or doing Openers of one flavor or another if we’re racing on Saturday.
This week, though? We’re assuming you don’t have any racing this weekend, so… game on today, bay-bee!
Ready to do some work?
Today we’re doing…
The Mixed Bag (with Happy Ending…)
– Warm up.
– Go as hard as you can for 10 minutes.
– Recover for 2 minutes.
– Go again for 15 minutes.
– Recover for 2 minutes.
– Go again for 15 minutes.
That’s the basics. Success on this is, however, all in the details.
The idea here is to go as hard as you can for the duration of all 3 intervals without being forced to go easier at the end of the subsequent interval. If you run out of gas before you finish the second or third interval, you went too hard. If your vision isn’t blurry at the end of the last 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 a workout that works great on the trainer, and that’s how I do ‘em.
But hey… that’s not all.
This is the Happy Ending version.
What does that mean?
After the third interval,
-spin for 1 minute.
sprint for ten seconds, starting at the one minute mark on your watch.
-spin until you hit the 2 minute mark on your watch
sprint for ten seconds
-spin until you hit the 3 minute mark on your watch
sprint for ten seconds
Etc., etc., continuing until you hit the five minute mark, and give the last little bit of your energy in one final 10 second sprint.
Ouch.
Have fun!
M
The Workout Of The Day for Thursday, 12.27.12. “That leaden feeling”
•December 27, 2012 • Leave a CommentHowdy folks,
Well, if you did yesterday’s workout – especially after a day spent doing X-mas-y type stuff – I’m guessing that your legs are feeling just a wee bit leaden today.
Got ya covered.
We’re going to cleanse your body of that high-gravity day feeling by doing a leg-speed workout today, in the form of…
Spin Ups –
– Get on your bike and warm up with a leisurely spin, 10-20 minutes.
– After you’re warm, find a nice, long, flat or slightly downhill section of road with little or no traffic.
– Begin 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.
– Spin the gear up out of the saddle. When your leg speed gets to the point where it’s hard to maintain, sit down and keep going until you are totally spun-out. We’re talking fast, can’t turn ‘em over any faster…
Think Road-Runner fast…
– Repeat x 3-5
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.
Have fun,
M
The Workout Of The Day for Wednesday, 12.26.12. “Paste(ed).”
•December 26, 2012 • Leave a CommentHowdy folks,
I hope you enjoyed/are enjoying your holiday, and perhaps more to the point, are enjoying all the great coverage of the Belgian Kerstperiode racing! Hoo-boy, you just gotta’ love this time of year if you’re a Cyclocross fan!
But we’re not here to talk about watching the races, we’re here to talk about racing the races, and to get some training in for when these folks are cheering for you at Worlds and Nationals.
What better way to do that (and to burn off that big Christmas dinner!) than by grinding your soul into paste by doing the…
2×20 Get-Up Style –
Here’s how this 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 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 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 exercise – instant home made ergometer.
– Have fun!
M
Happy, Happy!
•December 24, 2012 • Leave a CommentHappy Holidays to all of you, and all of yours.
May the coming New Year see you well!
M
The Workout Of The Day for Monday, 12.23.12. “Never run when you can walk…”
•December 23, 2012 • Leave a CommentHowdy folks,
Yes, that’s right… It’s Monday.
If you played along with us this weekend, you’re probably pretty darn tired today, and ready to rest up.
Good darn idea.
So, hey… do that, OK?
If it’s nice outside, head on out for a…
1 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.
– Just get out on the road 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.
Try to get to bed early tonight. Maybe get a massage.
Whatever you do, all day long, whenever you can… get off your feet.
Never run when you can walk.
Never walk when you can stand still.
Never stand when you can sit.
Never sit when you can lie down.
Not so nice out?
Cool.
Same deal, just plug in a video, and spin away on the trainer.
I recommend…
It’s a great race, and you get to see this…
…and please, please click on the photo to link through to cyclephotos.co.uk . Great, great stuff!!!!
have fun!
M
The Workout Of The Day for Sunday, 12.23.12. “The Cauldron Of Fire. In your legs.”
•December 23, 2012 • Leave a CommentHowdy folks,
No local races in your area? Big races coming up? No sweat.
The theme of the week continues, as we once again hit things hard today, blowing up your legs to prepare you for Nats and Worlds.
Strap your shoes up tight, and get ready for…
The ZDI – (Aka “The Cauldron of fire. In your legs.”)
Warm up really well.
Find a fairly steep hill that you can do a 30 second hard effort on. Best bet is a climb that’s right on the big ring/small ring break point. You could do it in either one, depending…
Roll into the climb fast, and Sprint up it, 30 seconds hard effort.
Coast back down, turn around and go again immediately.
Repeat for a total of ten reps.
Yup. Ten.
Ouch.
Recover for 5-10 minutes, then go again. You’re trying to do 3-5 sets of ten.
Yes, this is really damn hard.
Don’t even try these if you’re feeling gassed.
Have fun!
M
The Workout Of The Day for Saturday, 12.22.12. “Ache-ey Break-ey Hills. With ‘I’s.”
•December 21, 2012 • Leave a CommentHowdy folks,
Welcome to the day after the shortest day of the year, and to the weekend!
Today, we’re basing things on the assumption that you aren’t racing this weekend, rather, that you are training hard for the big races in January.
That being so, we’re going to hit you hard today – and tomorrow – and you can rest your achey-breaky legs on Christmas Day.
So, without further ado, onward we go!
Get ready, the workout of the day is…
The Hills Have “I”s
(“I” is for “intensity.”)
Warm up, ideally in the course of a ride out to some pretty darn hilly terrain.
Find a hill – or a series of hills – that will take you 5,10,15 minutes to climb at pretty darn close to race pace.
Hit the base of the climb hard, out of the saddle, and accelerate into it.
Sit down when you feel you’re starting to lag, and drop a couple of gears. Spin (but still fast, IE about the same as your 2×20 minute level.)
Stay seated until you are breathing a little easier, then…
Out of the saddle, Attack! Hard like you did at the base of the climb.
Same as before, when you start to lag, sit down, spin.
Repeat to top of climb.
At the top of the climb, get out of the saddle, and accelerate as the grade eases. Power over the top and well into the descent, until your speed is great enough that coasting is faster than pedaling.
Coast/spin to bottom of climb.
Pedal at moderate intensity (IE – 2/3 of your 2×20 minute level,) for roughly equal to the amount of time it took to complete the entire climb, or until you get to the next hill, whichever is greater.
Repeat 3-5 times, or until you are spent, or until you run out of time.
If you do more than 3 repeats, spin easy for 5-10 minutes after 3rd repeat.
Total duration should be 2-4 hours, longer = more climbs.
If you do 4 hours plus, you’re either really damn fit, or you’re kidding yourself.
Better to go shorter and harder than to extend the ride and slow things down.
Have fun!
M
The Workout Of The Day for Friday, 12.21.12. “Momma Mea”
•December 21, 2012 • Leave a CommentHowdy folks,
Whoops… a little late getting this one up, apologies!
Sorry!
Onward!
All week, we’ve been operating under the assumption that you aren’t going to be racing this weekend, and training as if this is so.
For those of you that do have a race (or races…) this weekend, though?
Check this out. Should be plenty there for ‘ya.
The rest of us, though?
We aren’t racing this weekend, but we’re going to train pretty darn hard.
AND we’ve been training pretty hard all week.
Time to back things off just a bit.
Today, we’re easing off the gas and going for a…
One to Two Hour Moderate Ride –
Get on your bike.
Go ride for an hour or two.
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.
1 notch above a recovery ride.
Make sense?
Have fun!
M
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