By PCG Founder & Coach Hunter Allen
Cyclocross hurts, and so do the workouts that matter! Head out to your local CX course (or create one at a school or park) and give these two workouts a try.
Workout One: The 30-30-30
Warm-up
Ride 15 minutes in your endurance zone with a solid five-minute tempo effort to open up your legs.
Main set
Complete the following:
- 1 x 5-minute blow-out with watts at 115% of FTP
- 2 x 10-minute sets of 30-30-30: 30 seconds riding as hard as you can, 30 seconds coasting and not pedaling, 30 seconds dismounted and running fast. Repeat.
- 5 minutes easy
- 4 x 2 minutes AC work at 130% of FTP. Push hard and fast. Rest 2 minutes after each.
- 10 minutes easy
- Finish with 10 x 1 minute fast pedaling: 1 minute on, 1 minute off (cadence goal: 110 rpm).
Cool-down
15 minutes easy riding
Workout Two: Race Prep
Warm-up
Warm up for 10 minutes at 56-76% of FTP.
Main set
Complete the following:
- 20 minutes of tempo (85-90% of FTP) with 5 bursts (10 seconds each) to 200% of FTP and return to 85-90% of FTP. Ride at endurance for 5 minutes at 70%.
- Now do 4 x 2 minutes, with 2 minutes between each. Try for 135% of FTP watts on each one. Do 2 additional efforts if your fourth one is still at least 120% of FTP.
- Now ride at sweet-spot (88-93%) of FTP for 30 minutes, smooth and steady, and do 10 bursts within this 30 minutes: 200% of FTP for 15 seconds before coming back to 88-93% of FTP.
- Finish with 2 hard efforts, each 5 minutes long with watts at 110% of FTP. Rest for 5 minutes between each.
Cool-down
10 minutes easy riding
Be sure to get in a good recovery shake afterward!
Hunter Allen is a USA Cycling Level 1 coach and former professional cyclist. He is the coauthor of “Training and Racing with a Power Meter” and “Cutting-Edge Cycling,” co-developer of TrainingPeaks’ WKO software, and CEO and founder of Peaks Coaching Group. He and his coaches create custom training plans for all levels of athletes.