The art of Racing

I was talking with a client of mine last night about my racing strategy's. Believe me, I have come along way in this area. At the beginning of my multisport career it was all about finishing and having something left when I was done. As I gained experience it became less about the finishing part and more about how hard I could go and how long I could last. I think many people are looking fo that (one-size-fits-all) approach to a racing strategy and I am sorry to tell you it just doesn't exist. There are way to many variables in the type of athlete and in the events themselves. But many lessons can be learned from plain old experience that can prepare each athlete to have a shot at a new PR (personal record).

I have trained, participated and raced in events ranging from 5K runs to Ironman triathlons and the most valuable advice I can give to the reading endurance athlete is this: Do not expect your body to do something that you haven't done in training!!!! Sounds basic doesn't it! But you would be suprised at the number of athletes that expect to be able to do something they could never do, even on their best training day. You may have heard of this phenominon called "Goal Creep". You train diligently for a specific goal then as the race approaches, you taper and then something inside you says "You could go faster, you can ride 20 mph (even though you trained for a sustained 19 mph). The use of common sense is very valuable.

The athletes that I work with all are required to use some useful tools that help me track their progression, but also teach them about their own capabilities. Heart Rate, GPS (pacing), RPE (rate of perceived exertion) and Power based cycling are all tools that provide feedback throughout the training cycle on what an athlete is capable of. So that when race day comes the athlete and I are together on what realisitic expectation and goals for the event should be. Once that information is known there are strategy's using the above tools to help the athlete pace themselves and have a shot at the day they were hoping for.

Back to my own personal racing experiences and strategy's. Being a veteran of multisports of vertually all distances, I have tried a variety of strategy's looking for the secret to suceess. Some have worked, some have failed miserably. But more often than not, it was when I set realistic goals based in my current fitness level that defined my record setting days. Being in the coaching business, I have had many opportunituies to be the subject of some physciological tests that enable athletes to gain a better understanding on how th body burns fat and sugar (carbs) and what events/distances an athlete would be naturally good at. To give you an example: For many years I was pursuing an Ironman PR or sub 10:30. The best I ever finsihed was 11:39. Based on my athetic performance in marathons and 1/2 Ironmans, text book wise, the 10:30 was a realistic goal. In my training I would have very successful training cycles that would indicated that everything was pointing to me reaching my goal. The problem was not that I wasn't training hard / smart enough, it was that my body was designed by my creator to burn suger more than fat, which meant that I would be a more natural short course athlete. This is not to say that I can't develop my fat buring capacity, it just solved a piece of the puzzle. With this new information and my past racing data, it became clear to me that my racing strategy for events upto 5 hours was to sustain my heart rate within 2 bpm of my anaerobic threshold for the duration. Before I had this information I was always concerned about blowing-up before the race was over, but I knew if I kept my HR in check I would be fine. This is not to say that it didn't involve a level of discomfort or pain. In most cases that was my limiter. How much did I want to hurt? So now when I am racing in triathlons up to the 1/2 Ironman distance, it is all about embracing the pain and finding a certain level of comfort in it. Many factors play into this, but I will tell you that the factor that plays the largest role on race day is your ability to focus on the present. This is something that takes practice. Your mental ability to stay on point and focused will impact your race in profound ways!

A little rambling there! So when you are approaching a goal event or race, be realistic about your strategy. Talk to your coach on helping you come up with a plan and then execute, execute, execute!!! Remember always enjoy the process and the JOURNEY, that is the essence of endurance sports!

Race Smart & Set your goals high -

Kevin