My “training” plan
Monday: rest
Tuesday: cross practice - 2 long blocks or 3 short blocks of a course at speed, and the rest period in between is used to practice a skill
Wednesday: core and strength
Thursday: similar to Tuesday
Friday: rest
Saturday: 30 min run or a race
Sunday: race or 30 min run
Fitness during a CX season will drop if you just repeat this for the whole season. But for me thats ok, i’m not racing for the podium, i race for fun, so more races is more fun. If you want to perform at your best, then you have to schedule in periods of a few days rest, then a bit of building and peaking again.
If i’d do it more seriously:
week 1 & 2: as above, with racing at the weekend.
week 3: no races, VO2 intensity during the weekdays and longer endurance on the weekend.
week 4: Some HIIT at the start of the week, then easy in the weekend to recover.
Week 5 start over as above.