Quick Profile: Derby Days

With the horse-racing season fast approaching, trainers and thoroughbred racehorses everywhere are preparing for their shot at the famous Triple Crown. Racehorses don’t just show up to the track and win, though; they must train for it like any other athlete, which is exactly what we are going to do—train like racehorses!

There is no better way to do this than with interval training. We will be performing a variety of short intervals across different terrains. Our ride will be broken up into two parts. For the first part, we will be working on interval training, or “breezes,” which is racing terminology for short efforts that are intended to build strength and speed. Our breezes are short and intense; each are 45 seconds or less, which would equate to approximately four furlongs if we were running on four legs.

For the last 10 minutes of our ride, we will have the opportunity to work on our race pace, finishing hard and strong with an above-threshold effort. So make sure save something for the finish!

Make sure to check out our horse-inspired theme playlists for other song options. 

6 Comments

  1. Author

    Suzy, I used this profile this week and the class loved the music choices and really loved the jockey’s choice option. Great job!

  2. Thank you for this fun and challenging ride! Since the Kentucky Derby is on Saturday, I taught this ride this morning. My class loved it and I had a blast teaching this profile. Thank you ICA and Suzy Stelmaszek!

  3. Taught this to my class today and it was a hit. Beautifully balanced, fabulous music, and great instruction. The Spotify playlist has one song out of order so beware beforehand but other than that incredible and a real sweat sesh.

    1. Author

      I noticed that too Emily when I taught it yesterday. I just updated the order. Thanks for the reminder!

      1. Hi Karen,
        The Spotify playlist Armory song is still out of order unless that wasn’t the one mentioned here.

  4. I live near Saratoga Springs, NY (referred to in Carly Simon’s song, You’re So Vain with the words, “Well I hear you went to Saratoga, And your horse, naturally, won”). Our horse racing season runs from mid-July to early September, so this profile theme will be very appropriate for my riders. The well-chosen songs and their cueing will make for exhilarating interval efforts as riders won’t be lounging in the clubhouse, but rather working hard on the track. Thank you!

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