The Days Before A Race

This is a tricky thing to master and it takes some time to work out a routine for most. I can’t tell you what to do, but I can tell you what I do in the days leading up to a race.

Let’s say that I have a race coming up this Saturday. Easy enough since I do. For me Monday was a recovery day so I didn’t do anything bike related. In fact on Monday I did all the Honey Do’s: trim bushes, cleaned pool, mowed lawn, washed car and truck, and cleaned my garage. Tuesday I went for a ride. I had some time before work so I was able to ride a little longer. I also did the Tuesday WOD which was 3 x 8′ @z5. Wednesday I didn’t have a lot of time so I did the WOD (30″@z6 x 5′z5 x 30″@z6 x 5′ z5) I did 3 of these and I was whooped in less than 75 mins. Thursday I rode my bike for an hour and a half, but I never broke out of z3 and spent most of the time in z2. Now Friday is the key, on Friday I will ride my bike for about an hour, spending most of the ride in z2. During that ride I will do 2 efforts in z4&z5. These efforts will only last 4-5 mins and they will help prime my engine. That’s the bike part.

Rest: this is the easy part for me because I work swing shift. I get 8-9 hrs of sleep a day. I work on my feet all day but I sleep like a log at night. Get plenty of rest. If you can try to take naps. It has been proven that naps will boost recovery.

Food: Garbage in = Garbage out. Don’t eat crapy food. You know what I am talking about. Why would you spend all that time riding your bike and training and then recover with a gigantic happy meal. Eat as much fruit and veggies as you can along with a balanced diet. The extra fruits and veggies will help fight off those pesky free radicals.

Well that is my race prep. To find out what works for you get a log book and start writing down everything during the week, ie food, rest, and ride. when you have a really good Saturday/Sunday on the bike go back and look at what you ate, and how you slept. This will give you clues as to what will work for you.

Coach D.