I want to spend as much time as I can on my CX bike putting the power down in grass, sand, and gravel. I’ll be integrating short running repeats up stairs too.
I just tried doing Sassafras in a grass field. It was a complete mess. 
. Started out using the perimeter of an empty soccer field, got yelled off. Moved it to a forlorn ungroomed field of rough grass and tried to get as many sets done as I could with dogs chasing me twice. I guess the dog walkers around there have a habit of leaving their pets off the leash. 15s hard followed by 15s floating, does not give me a chance to look at my cycling computer, so I ended up just counting the seconds in my head and doing the power by feel. Ended up way overshooting the hard parts and way undershooting the floats. Also I kept losing count of what repeat # and set # I just finished. Haha. Like I said, a complete mess but I came away feeling like it is well worth working on improving the compliance in these adverse conditions.
Anyway, I would love to hear your ideas on how to adapt workouts from CX specialty to the riding conditions that are relevant to cyclocross.
I generally avoid cx specialty workouts outside. It’s hard enough to hold steady power sweetspot on rolling/windy road. Cx terrain and surfaces? You can probably find a spot forr the 2-3 min vo2 max jobbers, but on any complicated – forgetaboutit. So as for practical outdoors work: practicing starts and hotlaps on an imaginary course.
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When it comes to those Sunday sweet spot workouts, I totally agree. Sweet spot is not really a zone that I use much during a race except maybe to pass briefly through it on the way to anaerobic hell. 
I guess I’m more interested in figuring out how to adapt the suprathreshold intervals to off-road terrain. Hot laps are something that I do during the season, mainly because the only 2km of extended CX-like course that I have available within 40km of my house is currently overgrown and impassable. Plenty of straight boring riverside gravel road and a few hundred meters of rough grass are conveniently accessible though.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I forgot the cx-plan can have sweetspot on the weekends because I’ve never done them – always had a race – till this year anyways. I was more referring to finding it hard enough to nail sweetspot outside during base or build. A ride like sassafras is really more of a race simulation, so just do hot laps on an adhoc course or trail and forget about trying to mimic the programmed ride. At least, that’s my take on them.
