SBT GRVL: The Dreaded 5x5's

As athletes, we usually dislike the workouts that are best for us.

by Alison Powers, ALP Cycles Coaching

In February ALP Coach, Alison Powers, announced that she had signed up for SBT GRVL, a 141-mile race with 100 miles on dirt/gravel roads in Steamboat, Colorado. With race day approaching, she’s been blogging every day leading up to the race. She blogs about the specifics of her training, her preparation, headspace, etc. All the things that lead up to race day that not everyone gets to see or understand.

12 days to go - Tuesday, August 6th

What a difference a rest day makes. I felt a lot better today and was ready for some good training. I’ve mentioned in earlier blog posts that my training has been lacking anaerobic efforts, so today was another day to get those efforts in.

As athletes, we usually dislike the workouts that are the best for us. Some dislike threshold intervals, others dislikes sprints. For me, I always dreaded the 5x5 workout. These intervals are done just above threshold with little recovery. So, today, I decided it would be good for me to do this workout.

I warmed up, went to the flattest dirt road around, and did the intervals. It took my legs ~30 min to get going and feeling better (no proper ride since Friday), but once going things went well. I did the 3rd and 4th intervals in one too hard of a gear to challenge leg strength and keep the HR somewhat down (I was at 9,000ft), and the last interval I did on the bumpiest part of the road to make sure I could make power on the pumps and my bike, chain, and shifting was all good over the bumps. I feel lucky that I can train on dirt roads on my race bike every day. Some people do not have this privilege/advantage.

After the ride was a recovery shake and then ~20min of core strength and push-ups.

The day was not quite over as I headed to Golden later in the afternoon to pre-ride the Colorado Classic stage with ALP Cycles Racing. We rode the race lap twice for about an hour of riding. My legs were not psyched on this ride but it was good to spin out and get a little additional ride time in. The excitement of the day was getting pulled over by a Golden police officer. We were riding 2 by 2 through town and that’s not allowed. It was a good day of bike riding and coaching.

ABOUT ALISON POWERS

Now retired from racing, Alison Powers is the only person, in history, to win all three road discipline National Championships in one year (Road, Criterium and Time Trial - 2014). These go along with two previous national championships (Time Trial 2008, Team Pursuit 2008), two National Racing Calendar titles, and a 2nd place at the Leadville 100 mountain bike race (2013, 7:26hrs). Today she is the owner of ALP Cycles Coaching where she teaches road, cyclocross, and mountain bike clinics, and high performance race preparation and tactics. Alison is also team director for ALP Cycles Racing, a professional women's road and cyclocross team based in Boulder, Colorado.

ALP Cycles Coaching

Colorado-based ALP Cycles Coaching has over 25 years of professional sports experience. Each coach brings specific strengths and personal experiences to coaching sessions while collaborating to create a training plan that works for each and every person. Learn more at alpcyclescoaching.com

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