By Dave Scott Have you ever wondered why you can, at times, train like a demon but race like a sloth? You’ve seemingly done all of the preparation, but come race day, your confidence fades and your performance is dreadful. So what went wrong? Are you mentally soft, emotionally fragile? Physically, has your taper just plain backfired? Let’s not answer these questions right away. Instead, let’s take a look at the factors that will ultimately determine the success of your performance-whether you have one final race left this season (or if you’re racing a winter tri or single-sport event) or just want a bit of time to think things through and get it right before next season. Sharpening and tapering for your key races should include a checklist of items to eliminate the guesswork. For a race of four hours or less your checklist must address these key areas: 1. Physical factors Physical factors So what does intensity really mean? The total percentage of faster-paced efforts should be around 8 to 20 percent of your total workout time per week for each discipline: swim, bike, run. For example, you may ride three times per week for a total of six hours. Within this six-hour timeframe, up to 20 percent should be at a higher intensity: 8 to 20 percent of 360 minutes equals 29 to 72 minutes. Follow a similar formula for all three disciplines. Spread these high-intensity minutes over the three days by including repeats or steady tempo sessions at your optimal race pace. A sample workout could include: 7 x 4 minutes (8 percent) or 8 x 9 minutes (20 percent). Perform each repeat at a pace comparable to your previous higher-intensity training sessions. Elevating the percentage of your training that’s high-intensity or raising the intensity higher than it’s been in previous sessions will only lead to fatigue on race day. Rule two: Drop your total weekly training time as per the following schedule: Rule three: Throughout the taper, do at least 15 to 25 minutes of aerobic intensity training two to three times per week per discipline. The aerobic heart rate allows the morphine-like endorphins to hit your system. This feel-good emphasis is vital during the taper. Stimulating your muscles and breathing rate to a broken conversation pace alleviates anxiety, and the sessions will remind your mind and body that you did a workout. These aerobic sessions can be mixed in with the above higher-intensity sessions or completed on another training day. For example, if you have a higher-intensity block on the bike designated for your Tuesday session, you could warm up for 15 to 20 minutes, then insert the higher-intensity block followed by the aerobic work and finish with a cool-down of five to 10 minutes. This workout may be a bit long for some, in which case my advice is to insert the aerobic block on a non-intensity day. Let’s take a look at week four for an athlete preparing for an Olympic-distance race. Training time per week could look like this: Based on the above then, the higher-intensity (HI) training (i.e., 8 to 20 percent of the total weekly time) would look like this: Psychological and emotional Rule two: Decide what you can control in your race and determine how you’re going to do it. This requires you to have a mental map of the racecourse. Learn the course, either by viewing it online or discussing it with others. In a best-case scenario, view the course first-hand during the final days leading up to the event. Rule three: Controlling your emotions will alleviate your anxiety about the race. Recognize what you do well and decide how these skills will guide you during the race. Also, minimize the stressors in your daily routine and take comfort in the routines that provide a psychological and emotional lift to your race preparation. While I was preparing for the Ironman in 1994 I was advised by a sport psychologist to focus only on those things I was able to control and let go of everything else. This allowed me to avoid wrestling with the mundane psychological turmoil that could have hampered my final sharpening for the race. Rule four: Select three alternative goals for your race and write these down. • Level 1 is a solid race. The race may unfold with a few hurdles, but you will overcome these diversions. Nutrition Rule two: Practice eating your pre-race meal one time per week before your higher-intensity workouts. Rule three: Plan out your race nutrition. Break your total fluid and calorie intake down into measurable goals for every 10 to 15 minutes of racing. Rule four: Increase your intake of antioxidant foods and glutamine to combat any potential illness over the final four weeks. Try to select four to six servings per day of antioxidant fruits and/or vegetables. Glutamine is primarily stored in the lungs and skeletal muscle. Athletes that are prone to infections, allergies and slower recovery quite often have low plasma glutamine levels. If this is you, consider taking a glutamine supplement of 10 to 20 grams four times per week during the taper. Race awareness Lastly, do what you can do in the moment. Concentrate on the short term. Use the skills that allowed you to peak for the event. Confidence, tenacity and perseverance will prevail, so just let it happen. Dave Scott is a six-time Ironman world champion and the first inductee into the Ironman Hall of Fame. Today, Dave continues to live up to his reputation as “The Man” through his many speaking engagements, sport clinics and race-sponsored activities. He currently trains several top-10 Ironman professionals and age-group triathletes and recently completed a DVD on nutrition called The Art and Science of Fueling, for Pre-, During and Post-Endurance Training and Racing, available at davescottinc.com Post a comment
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