Cyclocross conditioning

[Josiah]

Just wondering what other people did to get in shape for cross in terms of endurance and skills? What is your weekly routine?

[Mike S]

That's a great question. I think if you ask 10 different people you'd get 10 answers.

In years past my personal plan was to focus on 1 hour intense group rides (either on the road, mountain, or cross bike) Beyond that I tried to spend 1-2 nights a week on cyclocross specific skills such as dismounts, mounts, run ups, barriers and so on. Spend at least an hour a week on those cross specific skills because you wont get them otherwise.

Another theory that works fairly well is "race yourself into shape". Basically this means, have fun and just do it! In my opinion this is probably a great method for the beginning racer. I have seen coaches recommending hard core training plans for new racers only to see them get burned out on training and not really get the result they had hoped for anyway. If you just go into it to have fun and get into shape, you really have nothing to loose. At least not in the beginning.

And then there's Google: lmgtfy.com/?q=cyclocross+training+plan ;D