question for the coach

i hard a pretty hard running session today, nothing i can about that now so i will def. take it very easy the next few days.

thanks for all the support and guidance, ron,

lu

Hello...feeling ready to race ?

The tapering process is a hard one for most athletes to grasp fully for their first few races. What typically happens when an athlete reduces their training load is they start to feel sluggish and tired.

This "sluggishness" happens because your body is starting to repair itself from the damage you have done to it while training....YES, training actually breaks your body down ! But that is the point : break it down and let it repair itself. What's amazing is that the body will build itself to be STRONGER than it was previously....to a point, of course.

The real trick is letting your body recover just enough that you are fresh race day and have maintained the "muscular memory" so you can keep your swim, bike, and run mechanics fluid enough to have a solid day. By "muscular memory", I mean the "feel" of doing the particular sport. This involves all the nerves firing to the muscles to get them to contract to make you move.

How do we keep this memory in our bodies ? Best way to do this during race week is efforts of SHORT DURATION (60-90sec) at RACE PACE with lots of rest. By RACE PACE, we have to be realistic...let's not go out and run 4:30mile pace when we know darn well we're shooting to break 25 in the 5K at the end of your sprint tri ! On the bike, get out there and get in a reasonable gear (one you can turn over at at least 90rpm) and cruise.

The effort of these race pace intervals may feel easy on the first couple but its MUCH better to start out conservatively and the increase the pace a bit as you get into the next few.

RECOMMENATION :
For a sprint to Olympic distance race :
Race week : early in the week, keep your same day-by-day schedule but, as Ron suggests, drop the total duration/distance of any workout by about 50%. In each of these workouts, add several (3-6) brief (60-90sec) accelerations to race pace.

(Race Day - 2..ie "two days before race") :
--Short swim (10-15min) with a few fast 75's or 100's (depending on your pace : fater swimmer can cover 100's in less than 90sec...others should do 75's) with 2 min rest.
--short bike : 30-45min with 3-6 x 90sec race pace / 3min recovery. keep cadence (turnover) high this entire workout and use very easy gears

(Race Day - 1)
--Run 10-15min with 3-6 x 90sec race pace / 3min recovery jog.
--if convenient, then a short (5-10min) swim OR bike (20-30min) just real easy...no race pace stuff.

Race Day :
-- I usually recommend a brief run (5-10min) with stretching afterwards. Plan on finishing this about 20 min before your start time.
--Then suit up and head to the water for a short swim, if you can manage getting to some free water. Get in a couple "simulated starts" where you go hard for about 15-20sec, then swim easy. At the very least, swing your arms around to get blood pumping to the arms...they're gonna need it very soon !

-- pretty much a waste of time and energy to get on your bike, besides making sure its all set up correctly. If you can manage a short ride from your car to the Transition, then go for it BUT BE CAREFUL...I've seen to many athletes take headers when they are cruising to the Transition with bags, food, etc tucked preacriously on their handlbars.


GOOD LUCK and let us know how it goes !

Take Care,
Jay
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