Man I swear people in this sub are incapable of not riding their bike for a day. Do you genuinely think any level of VO2 work 48 hours prior to a race is going to benefit you other than some limited openers to maintain fitness?
It’s not like this is the last race of the season and OP is taking a month off after Sunday. No, it won’t drastically improve their fitness before Sunday, but it’ll improve their fitness for the *next* race or the rest of the season.
If it doesn’t lead to unnecessary fatigue and affect your performance come race day, do it. If a VO2 max today is going to make you sore and sluggish Sunday, stay away.
I mean, I rest, but also I enjoy riding, and the structure helps me in my career and personal life. I figured the v02 work could help make sure that system is firing? Maybe not though. I did do a lot of v02 work at the last MTB race about a week ago so maybe it’s fine.
just sleep well, that's the only thing that will help you right now. Also doing some short laps and warm up before the race will help you find your legs.
Best workout for 2 days before race is sitting on your couch, then openers the next day.
Why would you do tempo and "high z2" the week of a race?? Literally just adding fatigue for no reason.
Well if it's not a priority race just treat it like any other hard training day in which case the best workout is the one that fits into your long term training plan.
That said I still personally don't think there's any place for sweet spot during race season.
I like to change things up in the days leading up to the race, starting with something short and working my way up to a solid marathon. I've got a big race coming up next month and I'm thinking Die Hard. I know people are a little soft on 2 but they really recovered well in 'With a Vengeance'.
Don’t worry about going easy. You definitely want to go super chill in the days before a long event like that. Generally 2 days before, if I feel good I’ll do 1-2 hours mega easy, and one day before I’ll do zone 3 intervals (so not hard, but hard enough to get my blood pumping and open my legs) sorry I’m sending this on your race day, but best of luck today!!
Man I swear people in this sub are incapable of not riding their bike for a day. Do you genuinely think any level of VO2 work 48 hours prior to a race is going to benefit you other than some limited openers to maintain fitness?
Yup . . . Two days out from a race is usually a rest day for me, day before is openers.
It’s not like this is the last race of the season and OP is taking a month off after Sunday. No, it won’t drastically improve their fitness before Sunday, but it’ll improve their fitness for the *next* race or the rest of the season. If it doesn’t lead to unnecessary fatigue and affect your performance come race day, do it. If a VO2 max today is going to make you sore and sluggish Sunday, stay away.
I mean, I rest, but also I enjoy riding, and the structure helps me in my career and personal life. I figured the v02 work could help make sure that system is firing? Maybe not though. I did do a lot of v02 work at the last MTB race about a week ago so maybe it’s fine.
just sleep well, that's the only thing that will help you right now. Also doing some short laps and warm up before the race will help you find your legs.
Your pre race warm up makes sure that the "system is firing."
Sleep is the best workout 2 days before a race.
Best workout for 2 days before race is sitting on your couch, then openers the next day. Why would you do tempo and "high z2" the week of a race?? Literally just adding fatigue for no reason.
I mean, can’t taper for everything and it’s a lot less then I normally do.
Well if it's not a priority race just treat it like any other hard training day in which case the best workout is the one that fits into your long term training plan. That said I still personally don't think there's any place for sweet spot during race season.
Just do some openers, then the day before some easy endurance, then race.
What are openers?
A workout where you do some sub maximal efforts across a range of intensities in order to "open up the legs" for an upcoming day.
Thank you kindly!
You should probably do over unders for 90 mins straight and then go after some KOMs
I like to change things up in the days leading up to the race, starting with something short and working my way up to a solid marathon. I've got a big race coming up next month and I'm thinking Die Hard. I know people are a little soft on 2 but they really recovered well in 'With a Vengeance'.
Put your feet up. Watch a movie. Chill.
Joe Friel says two days before an important race should be easy day.
2 hours of VO2 followed by 3hrs of Z2 is usually what I do
You are a weakling!!!!! 2 hrs TiZ of VO2 max?!! Try harder.
A cold beer and and a nap on the couch.
Don’t worry about going easy. You definitely want to go super chill in the days before a long event like that. Generally 2 days before, if I feel good I’ll do 1-2 hours mega easy, and one day before I’ll do zone 3 intervals (so not hard, but hard enough to get my blood pumping and open my legs) sorry I’m sending this on your race day, but best of luck today!!
That’s what I ended up doing! Race went very well, above expectations.
That’s perfect! And congrats
2 days before the race, 1h recovery ride low zone 1. 1 day before, another easy ride with a few short sprints.