From Simon Burney
September (3 weeks of training)
Mon 20 min steady running, am. 60 min level 2 road ride, pm
Tue 20 min steady running, am. 60 min circuit training, pm
Wed 20 min steady running, am. 60 min level 2 road ride, pm
Thu 20 min steady running, am. 60 min level 2 road ride, pm
Fri 60 min level 1 recovery ride
Sat 30 min cross technique, 60 min cross
race simulation.
Sun 2-3 hour recovery ride over rolling
terrain.
September (1 week recovery)
Mon,
Wed, Fri 60 min level 1 recovery
ride
Tue,
Thu 20 min steady running,
am
Sat,
Sun 90 min level 2 road
ride.
October (3 weeks of training)
Mon 60 min level 1 road ride
Tue 20 min run, am. 60 min level 2 road ride, pm
Wed 20 min run, am. 30 min warmup, 30 min level 3 road ride,or turbo trainer pm
Thu 20 min run, am. 60 min level 2 road ride, pm
Fri 60 min level 1 recovery ride
Sat 2 hour level 1 recovery ride
Sun Race or race simulation
October (1 week recovery) Same recovery as above
November (3 weeks of training)
Mon 60 min level 1 road ride
Tue 25 min run Level 3+, am. 60 min level 2 road ride, pm
Wed 30 min intervals on Turbotrainer,
am. 60 min level 1 road ride, pm
Thu 20 min run Level 2, am. 30 min warmup, 30 min level 3 road ride or
turbo trainer, pm
Fri rest or 45-60 min level 1 recovery
ride
Sat Race or race simulation
Sun Race or race simulation
November (1 week recovery) Same recovery as above
December (3 weeks of training)
Mon 60 – 90 min level 1 road ride
Tue 30 min running, am. 60 min level 2 road ride, pm
Wed 30 min intervals on turbo trainer,
am 60 min cross skills, pm
Thu 25 min running, am. 60 min level 2 road ride with jumps, pm
Fri rest or 45 - 60 min level 1 recovery
ride
Sat Race or race simulation
Sun Race or race simulation
December (1 week recovery) Same recovery as above
Preparing
for the Cyclo-Cross Season
From Adam
Myerson
7/19/2001
I know it's
the middle of summer, and many of you might be struggling just to get through
the rest of the road or mountain bike season. The thought of racing through the
fall and winter might be more than you can bear right now. But for some riders,
cyclo-cross has become the focus of their racing, or at least as important as
the racing they do the rest of the year. And since July tends to be the time
that many riders are feeling run down and over trained, it's a good time for a
break. A one- to two-week vacation from riding and racing followed by a build
up that starts from square one again can leave you racing strong on the road or
mountain bike in the late summer and fall, and peaking in October, November and
December when the real action is on.
The first
thing you have to pin down are your goals for the 'cross season. Do you want to
be going well right out of the blocks in October? Is there a regional or
national race series in which you want to do well in over all? Is there one big
race locally you want to target, or are all your eggs in the basket for
Nationals in December? You might even be planning to venture to Europe in
January, or perhaps you live in the Southeast or Texas where they're lucky
enough to keep racing 'cross until February.
All these
concerns factor in to what level you start your 'cross program from. If you've
taken the summer off and are really just getting things rolling now, then
you'll have to start from a low level and build up slowly, with perhaps as much
as three months of aerobic base training taking you into the heart of the
season in November. At the other extreme, if you need to be raging in October
for the start of your local series or maybe the string of Northeast UCI races,
you'll need a different approach. You might only do one four- to six-week cycle
of aerobic work, and have to rely on your fitness from the road or mountain
bike season to get back into top shape quickly.
Since your
training for 'cross will most likely overlap with some important late-season road
or mountain bike races, there are certain 'cross-specific workouts you might
have to avoid until as late as September. Running and road racing mix like oil
and water, so if you've got a big event late you might decide to put off your
uphill running sprints or tempo on the trails until after that point. Even
then, you've got to introduce running into your workouts slowly. Ten to fifteen
minutes per session to start is enough to let your body begin to adapt to
what's to come. If 'cross is your priority, then you can start your running
adaptation right from the get-go, leaving you in a good position to be turning
the screws on the pure roadies when you hit the run-ups in October.
Your general
routine for 'cross shouldn't be that different from what you might do in the
road or mountain bike season, with the exception of your workouts on foot:
If you're
serious about cyclo-cross, then these suggestions and time-line will help get
you on track for a good start to the season. If you've never raced 'cross
before and are thinking about giving it a go, now's the time to start looking
for a bike and making sure you're ready when the September training races
begin.
Running
for Cyclo-Cross
From Adam
Myerson
8/30/2001
Most of us are
bike racers, not runners. And while some of us may have a little more natural
talent for it, or even a running or triathlon background, running when you've
spent a season racing road or mountain bikes just plain hurts. It takes some
specific work to first be able to incorporate adaptive running into your
training as the 'cross season approaches, and then actually be able to do some
structured training to improve your running fitness. 'Cross is painful enough,
but by focusing on running in your training you can turn a weakness into a
strength, or further your advantage if that's where you're already strong.
The first step
in your running program should be to determine when you think you can begin to
include it as part of your workouts. Ideally, you don't want to begin until
after your last important road or mountain bike event of the year. A mountain
bike racer might be able to handle it a bit sooner, and may even include running
as part of their plan already. But for a road rider, nothing will kill your
speed worse that running, so wait as long as you can. If 'cross is your
specialty and you're using the road or mountain bike events only as training,
then you can begin running as soon as you start your base period for the
season.
Once they
begin, a mistake many riders make is to go for long, extended runs. That's
great if you're training for a 10K, but in 'cross you have to be specific. Take
a look at the length of time you're typically on foot in a 'cross race.
Normally it's for stretches where you're at maximum intensity for about 15
seconds or so, and the longest a run should be in a well-designed 'cross course
is 80 meters. Sounds more like a short sprint to me than a 10KS 'Cross races
might be lost on the runs, but they're rarely won. It's still mostly about who
can pedal their bike the fastest.
Even if you're
emphasizing short bursts, you still need to do some adaptive work to be able to
handle the training. Start with short, 15-minute jogs at a very low intensity
one to two times a week, just to get your body used to the movement. When you
can finish 15 minutes of jogging with no soreness the next day, you're ready to
go. That might take only a week, or as long as a month. Always wait until the
soreness subsides before you undertake another running workout.
When you're
ready to introduce some real running work, there are a number of different ways
to do it. Again, because you should be emphasizing short bursts, much of your
running can take the form of a traditional Tuesday sprint workout. Find a steep
hill, ideally off-road, that takes you 10-15 seconds to sprint up. Structure
the workout just as I've described here previously for the road: 100% effort,
from rest, with the sprints being no closer than one every 2 minutes. How many
you do will depend on how many quality efforts you're able to complete. You
should consider your average 'cross race: how many laps is normal, and how many
runs per lap? If you have 2 decent runs in a race that will be about 10 laps,
then you should be prepared to build up to 20 solid sprinting efforts in your
workout.
You can do
this as its own workout without your bike, where you simply jog at a light
intensity to your sprinting spot and jog home. You can also do it as part of a
'cross ride where you do your warm up on the bike, and then include a dismount
and mount as part of your sprinting effort. If your technique is good and you
want to isolate the specific fitness aspect of the sprint, then chose the
former approach. If you feel you still need work on your skills and ability to
run well with the bike on your shoulder, choose the latter.
There are
courses or regions where you'll find yourself dealing with longer, extended
runs, and the 15-second efforts aren't enough to prepare you for all your
races. This is where you might try to include more running as part of your
training on Wednesday. Wednesday should normally be the day for a
'cross-specific workout on a local course or with a small group session. Here
you can try to incorporate a longer, up to a minute-long run as part of your
course. You might also decide to do a separate running workout, ideally in the
morning, where you designate some of your threshold training work to be done on
foot. Up to 15 -minute running intervals at LT is a slightly less race-specific
approach, but can be a good way to improve on the longer runs.
Another angle
on your running training for 'cross is to use it as a substitute workout on
those late fall days where you find yourself stuck at work and getting out
after dark. While again, long running days shouldn't be your first choice, if
the trainer's lost it's charm and your pressed for time and daylight,
converting your intervals for the day to a running workout can help you solve
two problems at once. Tuesday and Wednesday are definitely the best days for
this. Be sure to focus on the intensity rather than the duration. Get the
intervals done, but don't worry about hitting the total time you might have
done if you were out on the bike.
There are many
different ways to approach running for 'cross. Your training might vary from
3-5 days a week with at least a short jog, to the other extreme of only running
during a 'cross workout or race. What you decide should be based on the time
you have available to add a running workout, if it's a strength or weakness you
want to emphasize, or if the courses you race on require that you improve your
skills off the bike. You might find that a little more focus on your running is
a small investment that returns big dividends, and turns a place you once
suffered into a place you can attack.
Adam Hodges Myerson is a cycling coach, race promoter, team manager, and USCF category 1 racer. In addition to being a cycling coach, he is a former Collegiate National Cyclo-Cross champion and promoter of both the New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series and the Amherst International UCI Cyclo-Cross. His company is called Cycle-Smart, and he can be reached at adam@cycle-smart.com. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with his wife, Allison, and their two cats Birdie and Marie.