Getting back to racing with TriRox training
We are travelling through a dark tunnel and there is a flicker of light at the other end, that light is hope - hope for some real racing this season.
This sudden realisation may bring on mixed feelings. Excitement initially, the thought of actually racing, seeing others, competing against yourself as well as your rivals, the camaraderie of your club coming together and cheering each other on and that banter between clubs. That feeling of adrenaline soaring through your body as you step up to the start line… or it could be flatline PANIC!! An actual race, how on earth am I going to get back to fitness by then? All my peers have been training whilst I haven’t had the motivation to do so, oh and don’t get me started on my ‘race weight’ which is currently hidden beneath a layer of ‘hibernation’!
STOP…
…DON’T PANIC!
There is still plenty of time and I have a few ideas of how you can get there depending on your circumstances.
First things first, establish your fitness level. Have you consistently been training or exercising throughout the Lockdown period?
If the answer to the above question is ‘YES’ then you have little extra to do. You have probably built up a great base, perhaps worked on your strength, endurance and technique? Well done you, and now you need to build on that. You can start building on what you have already been doing. You will want to ramp up the intensity, building up to training at your race pace in 2-3 sessions per week for a short period of 4-8 weeks. Begin to add in a couple of brick sessions (they don’t have to be long runs off your bike, they can be short , start with 5-10mins to begin with and build it up). Practice your transitions. Train on your race bike or in your race position - getting as aero as possible. Tweaking your training in the run up to your race will help to adapt the body for specificity of your triathlon race. Racing at the beginning of the season will be perfect timing for you.
If the answer to the above question is ‘NO’ then you have a little more to do in order to prepare the body before competing in your first race.
We know what it has been like, some people have found it hard to find the motivation or inclination to do any training over the last few months, or maybe your training has petered out over recent months, don’t worry.
The first thing to do is to choose your races wisely. If you enter early season races, be realistic in terms of your performance expectations. Rather than focus on the result, which off the back of little training might not be optimal, I find it more useful to concentrate on using the race to tackle areas of development for example, nailing your transitions, dialling in your fuelling strategies maintaining run technique off the bike. You get the idea, use micro goals to build towards better performance as the season progresses and your fitness builds.
Aim for your A races
We still have 12 weeks to get a good base of training in before the latter stages of the race season. Aim for your A races (the ones which you want to perform at your best) towards late season, September/ October. This gives you time to still work on fitness and have races to look forward to. The races leading up to these A races can then be building blocks towards your seasons ultimate goal whilst ticking off micro goals and polishing skills along the way.
This year may be slightly different to what we are used to but be sure to get out there and take the opportunities to race that are available to you, enjoy the experience, take positives from every race and make sure you grow as an athlete. We may not be looking to race abroad this year, so stay local, enter races that you know and love, support the local Event companies and we will all get a lot out of racing this year. See you on the start line, I for one, can not wait!!