I keep oscillating between excitement, fear, and denial. No matter how much I pretend it isn’t so, it is, in fact, race week. I’m closing in on my last few days of “off season” and before I know it I’ll have to admit the tri season, much like the cherry blossoms I dearly miss, is in full-bloom.
Having taken several weeks (10+) off of running due to an excruciating stress-fracture in the bottom of my right foot, my fitness level is far from where I’d like to be at this point in the year. Between that, picking up and moving across the country, starting a new job, buying a new house, and becoming a proud new puppy-mom, my training has (needless to say) suffered a bit. Part of me doesn’t want to race this weekend because I don’t want to see how slow I’ve become and kick the season off with a poor performance… the other part of me wants to get out there and enjoy the day doing what I love and make the most of it… but then the other part of me kicks in and reminds me it’s going to be tough to enjoy something when I compare myself to… well, myself.
In the past, the week of a race is treated with the utmost discipline. I’m religious about my nutrition, stretching, packing, and preparation. By this point in the week I would have read as many “race reports” as I could get my hands on, had my bags packed and a list of to-do’s… Hm… this year i don’t even know which room my race belt is in.
As I try and prepare (last minute) for my race, I thought I’d put together a list in case you wanted some ideas.
How to Research & Prepare for a Race
Know the course
Take some time to look at the course maps. Is the swim a rectangle? A triangle? Does the bike course have any sharp turns? Do you run a loop or an out-n-back? Knowing these ahead of time makes a huge difference. When you arrive on-site, set aside ample time for you to get out and drive the course. Look for any technical areas and visualize how you may handle them.
Past Results
Do yourself a favor and look up past results from this course. Does anything stand out? Are the swim times crazy fast? Maybe you are swimming with the current. Do the bike splits seem slow? You might be faced with a hilly course. If transition times are averaging on the higher side you may have further to travel barefoot (and in a wetsuit). Whatever the case, you can gleam some important details from last year’s results. Check them out.
Race Reports
I write them, you write them, we all write them. Use them to your advantage. One man’s story can be another man’s saving grace. Find out how others were feeling and what they experienced. I’ve adapted other triathletes’ mantras to help me in certain races. I once read about a guy who who lived along the course of a race I was doing. He ran the route countless times and had things to say about many of the landmarks. He knew when he crossed by the house with the red door he was exactly a mile from the end. He knew that the tennis court meant he could begin his 3/4 mile sprint… so, when I crosed that red house i knew i was 1 mile out…when i passed th tennis courts, i started MY 3/4 mile sprint. Sometimes it helps to put yourself in someone else’s shoes… and take them for a run.
Size Up the Competition
And if you’re super stalker-crazy and have lots of time on yours hands (I admit nothing), you can go so far as to size-up your competition. Find the entry list and look at the folks in your Age Group. Look at last years results, see any of their names? How did they do? How do you compare? Are they not in last year’s results? Google them. Look them up at athlinks. Stalk them. Find out if they’re afraid of the water. Use it to your advantage. OK, don’t do anything drastic… but if it’s your “A Race” and you’ve got things riding on it, have an idea as to where you stand realistically before ever stepping foot into T1.
Needless to say, I have done none of the above to prepare for St Anthony’s, but hopefully I’ll inspire myself to start doing a little research and get my head in the game.
T-3 days, after all.
