Remember the "Race" Part of "Race Week"

by Chris McDonald

For most folks, traveling to a race can be very stressful, especially in the cases of those who do not do it very often throughout the year.

I always tell people that in the last week all you can do is mess it up! What I mean is in the last 7-10 days you can no longer add “fitness” to what you have already built up. It is time to relax, recuperate and get ready for your big day!

Some of the things that often come up during race week that can wear you out are:

• Meeting up with friends every night for dinner and staying out too late.
• Shaking a lot of people's hands, where you can often pick up a bug.
• Getting too caught up at the race expo every day and spending too much time on your feet.

But the most common mistake I see...

Most people are used to squeezing in their training around work, kids, family and other commitments. Then, they take the week off to travel to an IM and all of a sudden have a full day to do about two hours of training. They're also fresh and rested. Often times people start adding in a little extra training here and there and turn that easy 70 min spin into a 40k TT effort without realizing it.

I have always said I think the biggest difference between race week for an amateur and a professional is the professional does less training and spends more time preparing for the race.

So how would you combat getting caught up in these situations? Make a plan!

Write down what you want your race week to look like so you can fit in your small amount of training and other commitments. Then talk to your family about it.

Some ideas:

• Get your registration done in the quiet time (not at noon the day it opens).
• Visit the expo at the same time you do your registration.
• Only do one swim on the course (around the time the race will start) and do the others at a local pool.
• Leave your ego in the hotel room when you go out to train!
• Use a local bike store to build your bike if you are not 100% sure how to do it yourself.
• If something goes wrong with your race equipment, stay calm. Remember, for every problem there is a solution.

More than anything, make your race week as stress free as possible by planning ahead so you can enjoy your day and reap the rewards of all your hard work.

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