Perhaps you have just finished your first race of the season and found yourself fatigued for days, muscle sore, and that the race was an overall shock to your system. Maybe your performance did not meet your expectations either. This should be your wake up call; you are not training at intensities or durations that mimic that of your races. You will always push yourself slightly harder in a race. This is due to the group pressures and scrutiny that races produce (Hawthorne effect). But your training will dictate and largely predict your race performance. If you try to race above a level you are prepared for you are in for a rude awakening.

If it is an early season race do not fret, you still have plenty of time to prepare and this is fairly typical of a non goal event. But if your race was a goal or peak event, or closely approaching one, then it is time to reassess your training. Your training should be a gradual stair step in volume (duration and intensity) leading to the event you want to perform your best at. This is called peaking.

Duration increase or endurance is relatively easy to plan for. You add a bit of distance or time to your plan each week then reduce it every third or fourth week to allow recovery. If timed correctly your last long run or ride should be a few weeks prior to your race depending on distance.

Intensity is much harder element to progress and requires a fair amount of technical knowledge to properly implement into your training plan. There are a few rules to follow though. Rule one is that as intensity increases so should rest. Rule two is the longer the duration of a high intensity effort, the longer the rest period must be to recover from it. Rule three is that you can not train at high intensity every day. In the final phases of peaking you may only be able to recover from three to four intense work outs per week, or two per discipline. And rule four is that the most intense work outs should be race like and occur right before your race taper.

One of my favorite workouts for my sprint racers is a race simulation a week or two prior to a goal event. This work out is a shortened version of a race and should mimic a race in every aspect. This includes mental preparation, intensity, course, and fueling and hydration. It is a work out to get all the kinks worked out prior to the race. This work out also gives the athlete confidence and helps them form a pacing strategy.

By following the rules and properly preparing for your races you will have more confidence going into them. They will never be easy, but more enjoyable.