These should be the days across European cycling circuits when the temperatures are rising! Cards being thrown on the table as the big beasts of racing come out to torment their competition. Instead, the only beast on the lips of everyone is this serpentine unseen one which leaves only its calling card of destruction.
The Beast of the East is here!
As a hardy breed, us cyclists are never afraid to embrace what Mother Nature offers in her lucky bag. Normally we refer to The RULES, from Velominati's 'keepers of the cog', specifically Rules 5 & 9 : 'Harden the fuck up' & 'If you are out riding in bad weather it means you are a badass. Period'.
The resolute affirmation of those words are not normally in question but it seems THE BEAST may well be capable of countering them on this occasion with her own callous message - Getting killed in a storm looks pretty poor on your Palmares!
Stay in this weekend and take a stab at one, two or all three of our top 3 favourite indoor sessions this weekend!.
Minute repeats to Sweetspot
-20 minutes warm-up progressively moving up to upper Z4.
-8 x 1-min aerobic capacity efforts at Z5 with 1-min recovery between
-10 minutes Z1/2
-3 x 10-min Sweetspot/lower Z4 efforts with 3-min recovery between
-Cooldown for 10 minutes.
This session will tune your aerobic capacity and simulate periods of racing but removes a lot of the endurance. The second section works your muscular endurance in much the same way as you would be in a breakaway. By compacting the session in this way you can be assured you are getting a good workout and not losing focus through boredom.
3-min V02 to max sprint
-20 minutes warm-up progressively moving up to upper Z4. 5 x 5-second max cadence revs.
-4 reps of '3-mins Z5 into max 15-second sprint'. 5 mins recovery between reps.
-20 minutes of Z3
-Cooldown for 10 minutes.
Bring it all to the table with this one and test what your sprint capabilities really are like sprinting off a hard pace. Kicking from an easy pace will develop your peak neuromuscular power but this session will replicate what sprinting at the end of a race is like after fighting to get on the right wheels.
Explosive power development 10's
-20 minutes warm-up progressively moving up to upper Z4. 5 x 5-second max cadence revs.
-3 reps of '30 secs Z6 > 10-mins Z4 > 30 secs Z6'. 5 mins recovery between reps.
-20 minutes Z2/3
-Cooldown for 10 minutes.
Close inspection of any race file will show you that Z4 time rarely occurs without being book-ended by an anaerobic effort of some form. This session mimics this but also forces a stabilisation in your lactate levels which will improve your anaerobic threshold.
As much as there is a race element to these sessions we feel they are fantastic indoor sessions for anyone who wants a time-pressed ride to maintain and improve fitness.
BUT! If you can't face an indoor ride and must obey the rules then get creative ;)
Elevation coaching is the team which can take your cycling to the next level. Get in touch now at coach@elevationcoaching.cc if you'd like the structure and attention to detail required to #goupalevel