Race prep
Race Prep
So many things have to line up correctly for a good race performance. It’s not all about riding the bike. Preparation planning and execution of the plan needs to be spot-on the 7 p’s* It can be months and even years of training and preparing yourself for your goal.
We need to maintain a strong body to be able to withstand the training loads put on it, this is a lot of off the bike strength work lifting weights, and keeping supple, keeping supple is one of the most important things to do to avoid injury.
We need to eat and fuel correctly to help with our energy levels, recovery, and reducing the risk of illness, under fuelling can have some long-term serious side effects. Being strong mentally, committing and turning up to your training every day takes a lot of inner determination and focus, sometimes there are setbacks, dealing with these can be tough.
One of the hardest but most important things is recovery and rest. It’s in our DNA to always want to train hard. Easy days and rest days are super important to allow the body to adapt and recover from the hard training loads you have put it through.
What race week looks like.
View my race checklist. Where is the race? Do some research on the venue. What event specific details do I need to research? Check all equipment needed for the event. Look at the start list who are my competitors do some research what are their strengths and weaknesses?
Start to think about my race strategy. A few days before the event focusing on nutrition and hydration making sure I’m correctly fuelled. On the day pre-ride the course, practice lines, look for passing opportunities, where my strengths would be on the course, where could I attack? Look at the pit areas and think about where I’m going to fuel myself each lap.
Warm up
Sometimes warming up in the arena with all the other athletes can feel a little bit intimidating so find an area that will keep you calm, I listen to some motivating music and ensure I have a long warmup to get myself physically and mentally prepared.
On the start line, I am focused, alert and feel so alive, it’s an unreal feeling. I focus on deep breathing to calm me down and stop my sympathetic nervous system from going into overdrive. If you have done everything in your power to be on the start line the there is a calmness in your mind, the doubts come if you know deep down you have skipped some workouts and not followed your plan, that’s and uneasy horrible feeling to have.
Having thought through a plan for unexpected things to happen during the race like a mechanical will help.
Post race
Get on to the recovery process asap, get out of your sweaty race kit, clean up, eat and refuel. Reflect, what went well, what didn’t, what do I need to focus on in the future.
After saying all that we do need to put things into context, it is just riding bikes, if you don’t enjoy racing, you don’t have to do it, if you do having a well constructed plan and some real goals gives you a good direction, adherence and accountability to the training that’s involved.
*The 7 p’s
Prior Planning & Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance
Words & Pictures : Cheri Mills