How to Prepare for Race Day Using MyWhoosh Workouts

By Zach Nehr

How to Use MyWhoosh Workouts to Achieve Peak Performance

Preparing for race day can be tricky. You want to be fresh and full of energy, but not so fresh that your heart rate goes through the roof. So, you need to add a bit of fatigue to your legs, but not so much that you are tired on race day.

Striking the perfect balance allows us to achieve peak performance. Those are the days that cyclists dream of—when you can hardly feel your feet on the pedals. Energy is coursing through your body, and you feel like you are absolutely flying.

To achieve peak performance on race day, you need to start preparing a few days out. You can’t just roll up to the start line and feel good—race day preparation starts 48-72 hours (about 3 days) before the race with a tapering period, recovery rides, and pre-race openers. In this article, we’re going to focus on preparing for a one-day race, such as Sunday Race Club on MyWhoosh.

Longer races and multi-day events may require a more extensive taper. But for a one-day, one-hour event like SRC, you only need 1-2 days to taper during a normal training and racing period. Let’s jump right into it.

Three Days Before the Race: Taper #3

Spaced through a Zone 1 ride: 2 x 4 min Tempo 82% FTP, 2min Threshold at 95% FTP, and 4x10sec Accelerations at 120% FTP

The first “workout” of your pre-race block should be a taper or recovery ride. These sessions are light and easy on the body. These should not feel like workouts but rather recovery or activation sessions. In Taper #3, you will perform a few intervals at Zone 3 and Zone 4 powers, plus four activation sprints. Compared to your other training sessions, these intervals are much shorter and easier.

You can try replacing Taper #3 with a Zone 1 recovery ride lasting 30-60 minutes. Some riders prefer the extra rest before race day. You can also take it one step further and take the day off three days before your race. Make sure you experiment with different pre-race protocols to find what works best for you.

Two Days Before the Race 1: Active Recovery (48 min in Taper)

4 x 1 min Tempo at 80% FTP and 2 x 10min Endurance builds from 60-75% FTP

The MyWhoosh Active Recovery session is a favorite among cyclists. It is a short and soothing session, one that keeps your legs ticking over without ever feeling hard. The workout is much more structured than a 45-minute Zone 1 ride, so it keeps your mind occupied as well as your legs.

You can play around with your cadence during the Active Recovery session, and you can see how your heart rate responds. If you’re feeling extra tired, you can replace this session with an easy spin or a rest day. Tomorrow is the most important day for pre-race preparation.

One Day Before the Race: Pre-FTP Session or Pre-Race Session #2 (Taper folder)

Pre-FTP Session: 4min Threshold build from 80-97% FTP and 2 x 2min Threshold (95% FTP) into 10sec Acceleration (110% FTP)

Pre-race openers are the stuff of cycling lore. Sometimes, it seems like every cyclist does something different. Some prefer total rest, while others prefer FTP intervals or 10-second sprints. Of course, you should try everything because you never know what works best for me. But these are two pre-race sessions that are tried and tested from the MyWhoosh workout library.

I’ve done these sessions myself to prepare for Sunday Race Club, and they are the real deal. First, we’ll start with the Pre-FTP Session (shown above). This is an easier ‘Openers’ session with a few Zone 3-4 builds and Zone 5 accelerations. This session is designed for riders preparing for a time trial, Threshold test, FTP intervals, and more.

Pre-Race Session #2: 20min Free Ride, 3min Tempo build from 80-100% FTP, and 2min Anaerobic at 125% FTP

The second ‘Openers’ session is called “Pre-Race Session #2”. This is a much different session that includes 20 minutes of free riding and a 2-minute Anaerobic interval. Designed for cyclists preparing for a crit, road race, or punchy race like SRC, this workout is short and to the point. The 2-minute Anaerobic effort is the main focus of the session, and everything else is more of a warmup.

Personally, I love this session because it helps prepare my mind and body for the race intensity I’ll be experiencing the next day. The intervals are short and punchy, so the session will be over quickly, and you won’t step off the bike with a significant amount of muscle fatigue.

Above all, remember to experiment with different sessions to find what works best for you. I know some riders who perform best when they do their pre-race session two days before and then take a rest day.

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About the Author

Zach is a freelance writer, professional cyclist, and the owner of ZNehr Coaching. He writes about everything related to bikes and endurance sports, from product reviews and advertorials to feature articles and pro data analytics. You can find Zach racing the Sunday Race Club on MyWhoosh every weekend.