Triple-Crown-Races

After 37 years of waiting we finally have another Triple Crown Winner.  I love horse racing, the beauty, the grace and the power of these animals is intoxicating.  Over the last 37 years there have been many horses that have won 2 of the 3 Triple Crown races, but they have no one has been able to pull off the trifecta.  The fact that so few horses have been able to win this coveted award is what makes this year's Triple Crown winner, American Pharaoh, so special and I've decided to immortalize this year's event in a cycling video.

I'm lucky enough to teach at many different facilities and all but one of them have bikes with power.  The beauty of power is that every interval can be turned into a race.  You can compete against your FTP (Functional Threshold Power), your previous interval's average wattage or just about anything you, as the instructor, can dream up.  The first two Triple Crown races, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, take about 2 minutes for the horses to complete and the third race, the Belmont, is a bit longer and takes about 2 minutes and 30 seconds to finish.  These 3 races fit perfectly into a 3 interval set.  For the first interval I have my participants ride to the Kentucky Derby video which takes 2 minutes and 3 seconds to complete.  At the end of this first race participants get a 30 second recovery, I also have them take note of their average wattage.  For the second race, the Preakness, which will take 1 minute and 58 seconds to complete I ask my riders to beat their average Derby wattage by at least 1 watt.  The Preakness is followed by another 30 second recovery.  Now it's time for the Belmont and a chance to win The Triple Crown.  This race is going to take 2 minutes and 26 seconds.  I tell my class that if they can complete the Belmont with the same average wattage that was ridden for the Preakness they will be the Triple Crown Champion.

 

Now let the races begin!

Check out my Triple Crown Video with embedded soundtrack

 

Download my Triple Crown Video, to download Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download.

Listen to how I coach this interval set.

Enjoy the races!

 

Originally posted 2015-06-17 07:00:58.

Dennis Mellon

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