I’ve been hearing from/seeing a lot of pretty burned out cyclists recently.
Around here (Seattle area…) we’re deep in the middle of our traditional 6 weeks of actual summer weather, and as a result people have been training like mad.
This tends to get people pretty crispy, physically and mentally.
Don’t let this happen to you, ok?
It’s perfectly fine to skip a workout or two if you’re feeling a little bit burned out.
Don’t sweat it.
Missing a day here and there isn’t going to kill you.
You need to keep this stuff fun, and sometimes that means you need a Mental health day.
In fact, that’s the Workout Of The Day today –
Me(n)tal Health –
Get on your bike.
Do whatever the hell you feel like doing.
Ride hard, ride easy, race… whatever. Whatever feels good, do it. Have fun.
Just ride.
No time limit, no suggested tempo, just ride for the fun of it.
If the weather is crummy, think about taking the cross bike out and finding some mud.
Beautiful day? Go for a long ride.
Racing today? Sweet. Tear it up.
Feeling gassed? Spin for an hour. Go home and take a nap when you’re done.
Heck, take a day off; whatever it takes.
Recharge a little bit today, work on the fun factor a little bit.
Training isn’t always fun. Today, do whatever it takes to make sure it is.
Wow, the Cross season is sneaking up on us quickly!
There just aren’t going to be all that many more opportunities to get out and just ride, with no racing on the schedule! (If you’re racing on the road or the mtb this weekend? Well… have fun. You know the drill, eh?)
So… if there’s a casual weekend ride that you like to do, get on it this weekend. Have some fun, and get some miles in with your road-riding buddies or MTB brethren, because you probably won’t be seeing them for a while.
This is also one of the last good opportunities for the folks with day jobs to get some real miles in the legs, and blow a whole day out on the road or the trails.
Look… I’m not one of those folks who thinks that distance, time, and hundreds of hours of junk miles in the legs is the key to cycling success, but there’s something immensely satisfying about going long, and many of us love the full-day ride.
If that’s you, get it out of your system now!
Your workout today is –
Ride All Freakin’ Day If You Feel Like It!
Pretty simple, right?
Get on your bike. Ride.
Ride some more.
Stop when you feel like it.
If you’re the type looking for a bit more structure, or something that’s just a wee bit ambitious, give a try to the –
You Know Jack(y)-
This is a good general climbing and endurance workout that will stretch you a little bit longer than anything you’re likely to see out on the cross courses.
Select a route that will enable you to hit at least 3 climbs of 10 minutes or so each, with flat to rolling terrain in between.
Warm up well, at least 20-30 minutes before you hit the first climb.
Climbs should be hard but steady.
Start medium hard (not full gas!) and try and hold it the whole climb.
Drive it over the top, and roll down the descent. Visualize a prime at the bottom of each descent, and a chase pack nipping at your heels. Don’t sit up at the top of the climbs,stay on the gas all the way down and through.
In between climbs, keep it steady.
You want to stay on top of a pretty big gear, at a level that is below threshold, but not that far below.
If you’re a power meter type, with an ftp of 285, you would want to try and average about 200 watts between the climbs and 300 on the climbs.
Not a PM type? Try and go about 90% on the climbs, and just over 50% between the climbs.
Remember, 3 climbs of 10 minutes, or as close as you can get. With a warm up of 30 minutes, and a cool down of about the same, this would be just about perfect for a 2.5 hour ride.
Got more time? Rest after the 3rd climbing effort, repeat the cycle.
It’s better to keep the intensity up than to go longer. Remember, we aren’t resting between climbs, we’re dieseling along in a big gear.
Visualize yourself driving an all-day breakaway, and you get the idea…
Have fun, and think to yourself, as you’re rolling along…
“What would Jacky do?”
Have fun!
M
PS… this is a hard workout. You’re going to be tired the next day if you really do it in a committed fashion. Might be worth saving it for Sunday, depending on your schedule…
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…
– 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 Ridertoday, 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 – have a go at…
The Hills Have (quite small) “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 2-5 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 double the amount of time it took to complete the entire climb.
Repeat 3-5 times.
That’s a set.
Spin easy for 5-10 minutes between sets.
You’re looking to do 3-5 sets.
Better to go shorter and harder than to extend the ride and slow things down.
I think that’s just about something for everyone, so – enjoy.
Phew. It’s been a pretty stout couple of days training, hasn’t it?
We’re going to back things down a notch today.
Today we’re doing 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.
I’m going to give you a couple of options for your workout today.
For some of you, this might be a good day to dust off some of your neglected cyclocross skills. Get out on the bike, find a nice inviting piece of grassy field, and work on your basic mount and dismount skills.
Here’s a primer I wrote a while back on the topic of mounting and dismounting. Check it out, and then give it a whirl…
…alternatively, this could also be a good day to get some running training in.
I know how much you all love that!
Feeling motivated?
Good. It’ll help, ’cause Today’s Workout is –
Run. Pause. Get High (Knees, that is…)
– 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.
– 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 stairstep 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 it’s your first (or nearly first) time running this season. In fact, don’t do this workout at all. 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 tomorrow. Or you’re really damn fit. One or the other…
I hope you’re feeling well rested after yesterday’s recovery ride!
Today is Tuesday, and you know what that means, right? 🙂
It’s…
Two By Twenty Tuesday!
Today, though, we’re doing ’em 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.
If you’re like me, you put down a couple of beers in celebration of the Mrs Curiosity landing last night, and that means you’re:
A) a Nerd, and proud of it.
B) ready for today’s workout
which is…
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 suddenly feel better.
As soon as that happens, turn around, go home, eat, stretch, and put your legs up.
We talked about it a bit yesterday, but there are a whole bunch of different workouts on the schedule for people today, depending on where they’re at, and what they’re about.
If you can, get some racing in this weekend.
If you race today, have some darn fun OK? Don’t forget 🙂
If you’re racing tomorrow, you should do some Can Openers today.
Not racing at all this weekend?
Looking for something that puts you in the same box of hurt as a race does?
OK.
You asked for it.
Today you’re doing…
The Doppelganger –
– Warm up well. If you have time, warm up as you would for a race. It’s good practice, if nothing else.
– After you have warmed up, do five full-gas starts. Focus on the second effort in your start, working on getting back on the gas right after you max-out on your initial effort and begin to sit down.
– 20 minutes at your 2×20 pace.
– 2 minute rest.
– 10 minutes of Over/Under intervals
The baseline for this interval is the level of effort/output you just did in the 20 minute effort.
However hard you went in that interval, you are going to try and hold that for the 10 minutes.
Easy, right?
Here’s the rub.
You’re going to sprint for 10 seconds every minute of the interval.
How hard are you going to sprint?
Hard, but not so hard that after you sprint, you can’t sit back down and keep churning away at your 2×20 level.
This takes some practice to figure out.
Don’t get all freaked out if you blow it and can’t hold the effort until the end. You tried, right?
Having said that, don’t wuss out and quit. This is some difficult s***, man. You want to get faster, right?
OK.
Here’s how this works.
Use a stopwatch. Put it on your bars.
Start the stopwatch.
Start the interval with a sprint, out of the saddle pretty hard, but not full gas.
Sprint for 10 seconds.
Back in saddle, drop into your 2×20 zone. Hold this until the minute mark, then –
Sprint again. 10 seconds.
Back in saddle, 2×20 level until 2 minute mark…
Repeat.
Repeat…
Repeat, until you have hit the 10 minute mark.
– 5 minute recovery
– 10 minutes at 2×20 level
– 2 minute recovery
– 10 minute Over/Under Intervals
– SPRINT at the very end of the last interval. 30 seconds, all out.
Really all out, like “I’m sprinting for the Maillot Arc en ciel” all out. You should be at least half-blind at the end of the sprint.
Heck, you should be so gassed when you start the sprint that just upping the tempo a little bit puts you in a box.
You asked for a race simulation, right?
Ouch…
Notes –
Yes, this is f-ing hard. Race-like, right?
You can always just sub in a 2×20 (or better yet a 3×20…) when you can’t race. That’s a hard damn workout if you do it right, but certainly nothing like the nightmare I just handed to you…
As is often the case on Friday, people are pretty much all over the place with what they need to do for workouts today. What you do today is really dependent on what you’ve got going on over the weekend.
So, what have you got going on this weekend?
I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I will say it again; if you’ve got a chance to race this weekend – road, mtb, whatever – take it. Not too many more racing days left in the season. Take advantage of them!
So, if you’re racing this weekend? The day before – whether that’s today or tomorrow- you should do…
You betcha. I do the personal coaching/trainer thing. Clients have included multiple National and even World Champions, and 2/3 of My Cyclocross athletes made the podium at Nationals in 2009, with one taking home the Stars and Stripes. Interested? Drop me a line at: crosssports@gmail.com
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