The goal of training is to prepare you to race. Therefore, preparation is at the forefront of how successful you will perform.

Seems like a simple statement but if you hold that concept close it makes everything seem easier to understand.

Setting up a training session, day, week, block is about preparing you for what lays ahead.

You must go to the race not hoping for a great performance but knowing that if you keep a calm head and execute well then you will have the race you prepared for.

Performance isn’t something to be taken for granted. You must create your own success by preparing to race with an attention to detail that will help you beat your competitors.

Let’s chat about those details ….

The 4 Pillars of Preparation

Physical

Training for an endurance event entails quite a bit of training. The more you can get in and absorb, the better your cardiovascular system will get at delivering oxygen to the working muscles to help deliver energy.

Your event type (duration and intensity level) will determine the mix of your training.

A short course athlete will need to be doing the right amount of threshold work.

The long course athlete will need to do the right amount of endurance work.

Duration and Intensity are the major dials we tweak.

Don’t underestimate the importance of your training, but don’t overestimate it also. By this I mean get the training done but dont think its the only thing that will determine a successful performance.

Physical preparation doesn’t stop at training but it includes everything that goes into making sure your physical self is fit, resilient and durable. Do your strength work. Stretch. Hydrate. Fuel the work.

Mental

Most athletes will lose their mental strength when they try to push themselves into a level that they physically aren’t ready for. If they set a goal that they haven’t gone near before in training, they will lose motivation to push on.

Mental preparation feeds off the level of your physical preparation.

Feeling prepared annd in control of your race is everything and something that can be done with a little bit of care.

Think about your plan, visualise it and repeatedly do mental rehearsals of moments where you will excel under pressure.

Tactical

Pacing

Your last 2 blocks are about dialling in how fast you plan to race.

For professionals this will largely be driven by your competitors as you are racing more than time trialling.

For amateurs, the race is an individual time trial and how fast you go will be determined by you and your race plan. That pace should be carefully thought through with the coach and practiced in intervals in training.

Nutrition

You MUST practice your race nutrition model in training.

Over the final 2 blocks you should be trialling and refining how many carbs you will consume and doing that at race intensities.

Technical

Equipment

Prepare to race by using your race equipment when you can and where it’s practical.

Swim in your wetsuit. If you don’t like doing that at a pool then get to some open water and trial it there.

DO NOT go to a race and pull the wetsuit out unused since the last race and expect to race well. Swimming open water in a wetsuit is a different beast than swimming in bathers in the pool.

As you lead into the race get on the TT bike and do your race intervals down on the bars. Get the race wheels out and make sure they work.

You should be getting your bike serviced regularly as well as looking after it yourself.

DO NOT go to a race and realise you have a problem 2 days before racing and need parts that are hard to get.

Trial using the carbon shoes in training. If you are a long course athlete this will mean using them on your endurance run over the last block into the race.

Create a Plan Now

If you have a race coming up start getting a Preparation Plan together.

Here is one I put together that you can be guided by. It only takes 20min to do and you’ll be glad you took the time to honour your hard work and investment by paying attention to the details.

The Preparation Plan