00:00Bobble hat on and I'm in a cold muddy field that means one thing cyclocross
00:05Cyclocross is a discipline that's well and truly on the right.
00:10You see cyclocross races last a maximum of just 60 minutes in duration which means they
00:14tend to...
00:15to be one hour of adrenaline-fuelled fast-paced racing and that's why over
00:20the last few weeks I've turned my hand to the mud to get ready for today, my first ever cycle.
00:25So here we go, session number one, first place to start is by building
00:30the engine. So my first session is Wout van Aert's VO2 Max session, courtesy of Zwift.
00:35This is shown to build aerobic capacity even though we're working in that Zone 5. So
00:40it allows you to get a really efficient workout in just 56 minutes. This being my first
00:45session I have had to allow a little bit more time just to get the Zwift hub one set up.
00:50But that's all been pretty easy. The Zwift hub one's only got a single sprocket at the back
00:53and that means it's compatible.
00:55With almost any bike. So we're starting pretty easy just building the engine. Over the next few weeks
01:00we're going to be looking to sort of touch on all the different physical attributes I'm going to need in the cross race.
01:05So first of all we're going to look at building the engine. We'll then move on to some top end and then in the final
01:10run up to the cross race itself we'll look at really sharpening both the mind and the legs.
01:15Ready for race day.
01:16Hello again. So you join me in my second week of training.
01:20First week done and it's all gone pretty well. I've actually found that Zwift
01:25bringing a level of gamification to my training has really allowed me to escape after work, get on the train
01:30and actually it's been a really nice way to unwind and do something positive as well for my body.
01:35First of all this session has quite a lot of sort of randomised efforts which is really similar to a cycling
01:40cross race. And then the second reason is that I'm a racer at heart. I train to race.
01:45So any level of competition into my training, even if it's not a live race, which you obviously can do
01:50on Zwift, just really helps me push myself that little bit more.
01:53That's a wrap for the Crit City Downtown Dog.
01:55So I'm going to try to get some golfing. Easily the most intense session I've done so far. Hopefully we'll see some
02:00games rolling into next week. Hi everyone. So I've come into the office on my own for what is going to be
02:05on my last hard session on Zwift before my race. It's Monday currently.
02:10This is sort of my last chance to really get everything out. And then over the next few days, I'm going to be sort of
02:15relaxing more and letting the gains absorb, hopefully, fingers crossed for good legs on Sunday.
02:20So I'm halfway into the warmup for my last hard session, as you guys can see.
02:25Plenty of red and orange simulating anaerobic efforts. The nice thing though is
02:30that once I get to the end of this session, I really can relax.
02:35I feel like I've smashed that Tom Pidcock session out of the park.
02:40Time to reap the benefits now. Roll on the weekend.
02:44So it's regular.
02:45Race day. There's about 45 minutes now until the start.
02:48And I think it's safe to say I'm going for a pretty
02:50unorthodox warmup. I'm actually warming up on Zwift.
02:53Now the reason for that...
02:55It's because it allows me to use the same session that I've been using pretty much for the long
03:00last four weeks for some of my warmups. I've tried it, tested it, I know it works.
03:05Get on the course, go for a little practice, check out the conditions and then get to the grid.
03:10I'll see you next time.
03:15See you next time.
03:20Oh, well, as expected, that was bloody hard. It was really nice. I managed
03:25to get into quite a rhythm and having done the hard training sessions I've done previously.
03:30I kind of mentally, I was already, I was ready to suffer, if that makes sense, which is...
03:35It was really good. It was really interesting actually out on the course.
03:37You could really see where the sort of different components of training...
03:40So in terms of like that building the engine, there's quite a long climb just down there.
03:44You've probably got...
03:45Probably a good sort of two, three minutes every lap and having just...
03:50the ability to go again is really helpful.
03:52It's been great fun to get back into some form of competition again.
03:55and amazing to try something new that I haven't tried before.
03:58All that remains to do is say a big...
04:00Thanks to Zwift for helping get me in some form of competitive shape.
04:04Thanks to Nick...
04:05Craig for making sure I didn't crash too many times.
04:07And a big thanks to Wessex League as well for putting on such...
04:10a brilliant event.
04:11If you did enjoy the video, drop a like down below, subscribe to the channel for...
04:15more content and I will see you again very soon.
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