Looking for some tips on now to structure my week to include a mid-week CX race that happens on Wednesdays leading into the CX season. It’s a great race in terms of training, honing bike skills, etc.
Since all TR plans put the hardest (usually VO2 or some sort of AWR) workout on Tuesday and a threshold workout on Thursday, how would you slot this Wednesday training race into your plan/schedule?
I feel as though I can handle a 3-day block, with a rest day on Friday. Part of me likes the idea of putting two high-intensity days back to back with a threshold day to cap off the 3-day block. I feel like that could lead to some really nice adaptations coming into the CX season.
How would you modify your plan to accommodate this Wednesday race?
This is very likely too much stress to handle week after week. You won’t see a three day block this intense in any of our plans because it is not advisable for most athletes.
I would recommend replacing your VO2 workout with your Wednesday Race since the demands most closely match the demands of a Cyclocross race .
Generally, whenever substituting an outdoor workout, try to find the workout from the week that most closely matches the demands you’ll see in the outside ride. This will allow you to adhere to your training plan as closely as possible.
I get that, however it’s not uncommon to race CX on back to back days, hence why I think this could be valuable prep before the season really pops off. Maybe Thursday is recovery and Friday becomes the threshold workout that would typically come on Thursday.
If I were to replace my Tuesday workout with the Wednesday race, how does one structure Tuesday? Opener workout, easy ride? I enjoy the work commute ride so Monday’s tend to be recovery commutes, I could weave in some openers on my Tuesday commute.
In the MId-Volume and High Volume plans, you will have back to back tough workouts on the weekends .
Even on High Volume plans, we don’t press three intense interval workouts into the workweek. You have to remember that the weekend workouts are relatively tough workouts back to back as well, and that factors into your weekly stress.
The highest volume plans for Cyclocross have two interval sessions in the standard week, and two interval workouts on the weekend.
I’ve just finished 3 weeks of midweek crits. I’m approaching the end of my season so just doing LV HIIT maintenance. I scheduled my workouts on Saturday and Sunday. That did keep me fresh for the races and gave me sufficient recovery going into the weekend.
This seems perfectly reasonable. Take this with a grain of salt as I am not a certified cycling coach; Coach Chad is the genius behind our plans and I don’t have the qualifications to build out TrainerRoad approved plans.
In general, we recommend adhering to our TrainerRoad plans themselves since there is a lot of thought and planning that goes into them, making them the best choice for most athletes.
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