Workout Wednesday: Over/Unders, Bike Threshold Training & Race Simulation Efforts

This week’s #workoutwednesday comes from Race Director and Coach, Blair Bronson. 

Grab your bike and take to the hills this week with an over/under threshold workout for race simulation efforts. This workout can be done once through, multiple times through, or as a pyramid. 

Working the hills for race simulation efforts. 

Warm Up: 
-15 minutes easy riding

-5x30 second spin-ups with 30 second recover: In an easy gear, gradually spin your legs from a normal cadence to about 120 rpm. Remain seated and focus on smooth rotations. If you feel yourself start to bounce on the seat at a higher rpm, engage your core more.

-5x30 second build with 60 second recovery: Build from slightly over your warm-up pace to just shy of an all-out sprint gradually over the course of the 30 seconds. The minute recover is done very easy with a slightly high cadence. 

-Spend a few minutes to get to the base of your favorite (or least favorite) hill. Preferably one that takes you at least 5 minutes to climb.

Main Set: Race pace climbing with over threshold efforts

If you aren’t sure what your threshold is, use your race pace to guide your effort. The “overs” are harder than race pace for the distance you are doing. You should only be able to sustain the “over” pace for a couple of minutes at most.

The main set of this workout can be adapted for the athlete and the race distance by adjusting the duration of the interval, the number of intervals and the intensity of the interval. For this example, we are going to assume the climb takes about 5 minutes to complete. If pacing correctly you should get faster from Climb 1-3. 

The focus of this workout is to be able to settle back into race pace after an extra effort is required. When settling back into your race pace see how quickly you can relax and try and bring your heart rate down.

Climb 1:
-2min race pace (RP), 30 seconds over threshold (Over), 2min race pace, 30 seconds over 
-Descend and recover for 3-5minutes

Climb 2:
-90sec RP, 30 seconds Over, 90sec RP, 30sec Over, ~60sec RP or until you reach the top
-Descend and recover for 4-6 minutes

Climb 3: 
-60sec RP, 30sec Over x however long until you reach the top. 
-Descend and recover for 5-7 minutes. 

Depending on fitness and training level repeat or use as a pyramid. Those training for a sprint race might do fewer repeats, but the level of race pace effort should be much higher. 

Cool Down: ~15 minutes easy riding with a focus on good form and smooth pedal strokes.

Now saddle-up & get after it; we'll see ya out there!
~ Coach Blair