Peaking for the Big Race

Being able to peak for the “big race” is one of the hardest things to do in cycling.  Even after 20 years of racing I still had races that didn’t go well after doing everything perfectly to get ready.  There are things you can do, however, to improve your chances of having that “perfect” day at the most important race of the season.

Peaking for a race begins months earlier in the off-season.  This is the time when athletes sit down and plan out their entire race season.  Most cyclists know that they can’t physically race at their best from March through September, so most will prioritize their races by order of importance.  Once a rider has established which races are the most important, she can then build her schedule around those particular events. 

Designing a training schedule that brings you to your most important race in peak form takes years of experience and a little luck.  Based on what kind of race you are peaking for, you’ll want to design your training so that the month before you’re doing the most race specific training possible; workouts that are most similar to the kind of race you’re doing.  For example, if you are peaking for the Cyclocross National Championships in December, it doesn’t make sense to do 4hr endurance rides the month before your race.  You instead need to be doing lots of short intense anaerobic power workouts. 

 It is also important to reach your peak event in not only super fantastic race shape, but rested and mentally motivated.  You can use something called a “taper” in the weeks leading up to your big event.  A taper is a way to maintain intensity and peak race fitness, while allowing your body to rest and recover at the same time.  A taper typically lasts 1-2 weeks, depending on the athlete.  In a taper the intensity stays high, but the volume goes way down.  You can still do high intensity workouts leading up to your big race, but don’t add any extra mileage during your taper.  You are basically doing short interval workouts and nothing else other than recovery rides.   And skip the big weekend group rides as well during your taper. 

The last two days before your event are the most important and can also be the most challenging.  In these two days you need to make sure you are 100% rested, but also 100% opened up and ready to race.  If you’ve had a few easy days leading up to your event, it is super important to get the legs “opened up” before your race.  Pre-race openers can be done 1-2 days before your event and involve maybe some tempo riding and then some short, high intensity efforts.  If you are doing a mountain bike or cyclocross race, your pre-race openers can be done on the course. 

On race day it is super important to get a good solid warm-up before your event.  I recommend doing a combination of endurance and tempo and then finish with some short high intensity efforts as close to the start as possible.  In general, the longer your event, the shorter and less intense your warm-up needs to be.  For example, if you are warming up for a 24hr solo race, it doesn’t make sense to do a bunch of vo2 intervals. 

We all know there is a lot more that goes into having a good race than just fitness.  There can be crashes, weather, and mechanicals that unfortunately affect the outcome.  Coming into your most important race in peak fitness will give you the confidence to handle not only the physical stress of the race, but any unexpected bad luck that might derail your effort.  When you cross the finish line you want to know that you did absolutely everything possible to have your best day.  Don’t have any doubts or “what ifs”.  The athlete that wins the big one is the athlete that is the most prepared. 

Good luck and happy trails!

Alison

Every winter my husband and I participate in a number of hut trips in the mountains of Colorado.  “Huts” are elaborate log cabins, built and maintained by the 10^th Mountain Hut Association of Colorado.  The huts sleep anywhere from 6-16 people.  The only thing we had to bring was clothing, sleeping bags, and food.  The kitchens are fully stocked with cookware, propane burners for cooking, and two wood burning stoves.  One is situated in the common area and has a large metal pot for melting snow.  The other is situated in the kitchen and is actually an old fashioned stove/oven.  In most of the huts the upstairs is the sleeping area.  There are platforms with mattresses and even pillows.  It is quite the set up.  

This past weekend we joined seven other cycling friends of ours and ventured to Margy’s Hut outside of Aspen, CO.  Heather Irmiger, Jeremy Horgan Kobelski, Kelli Emmett, Frank Maple, Whit Johnson, Pete Webber, Marc Gullickson, my husband Greg, and myself left the parking lot around 10am on Wednesday morning.  With so much lung power, we reached the hut, 6.5 miles and 3 1/2hrs later.  Ouch!  And that was after gaining 2600 ft, ending at 11,400ft.  Double ouch. 

After a quick lunch, we loaded up our day packs with shovel, probe, avalanche beacon, more food and water, and the first aid kit, and headed out for a few quick runs before dark.  Nothing like maximizing the amount of calories burned in a day. 

Backcountry skiing is a unique blend of EXTREME physical exertion going uphill, and then unbelievable pristine powder with incredible views on the way down. This winter the snowpack in the central Colorado Mountains has been thin and unpredictable, thanks to El Nino.  While we had plenty of fresh powder, there was no substantive base underneath.  That meant that at any time you could be skiing along and then the snow underneath would collapse, dropping you into deep sugar snow.  On the mellow slopes that wasn’t too much of a problem.  On the steeper slopes, “punching through” often resulted in going over the handlebars, a cycling term used when one flies over the front of the bike, often landing face first on the ground.  Crashes on skis of this manner are usually spectacular, but landing in so much soft powder keeps the injuries to a minimum.  Mostly it is a bruised ego. 

We skied until dark, literally, and returned to the hut starving and exhausted.  And this was only day one.  One of the best parts about a hut trip is all the yummy food you get to eat.  We probably burned upwards of 4000 calories today, so that meant a BIG dinner.  We usually do group dinners; everyone helps cook and we all eat together.  And of course there is the alcohol and the amazing combinations people come up with using snow and ice. 

Thursday was a marathon day of skinning and skiing, non-stop for almost eight hours.  We didn’t even take a break for lunch; everyone ate quick snacks on the uphill hikes.  No one wants to slow the group down.  And everyone wants to be the first one down the next slope of untracked powder.  The great part about Margy’s Hut, is the skiing is very safe.  With the typical unstable Colorado snow pack, we skied slopes between 22-30 degrees with low avalanche danger.  No one wants to push the envelope when the consequences are so severe. 

Jeremy Horgan Kobelski is a backcountry animal.  He broke trail for us most of the day, and was the last one to head back to the hut in the late afternoon.  Eventually the sun set and it was time to head back.  I had nothing left in the tank.  Another 4000 calorie day.  Time to eat!  Everyone was pretty spent and it took a while before we could muster up enough energy to cook dinner.  And bed came early for most of us.  What a huge day.

Our last day was much the same; a few hours of crazy hard skiing in the morning, a quick lunch, and then the ski out with our fully loaded packs, back to the cars.  And then the long four hour drive back to Colorado Springs.  I don’t think we’ve ever done a hut trip where we sit around, drink hot spiced wine, and enjoy the comforts of the hut while reading a book.  It is always a marathon, aerobic, never ending, lung busting, calorie burning adventure.  I wouldn’t have it any other way!

And next month we do it all again at the Eiseman Hut outside of Vail, CO.  Stay tuned for the next oxygen deprived ski trip.

Happy trails!

Alison

I just started a monthly coaching column in MTBRacenews.com.  This most recent entry is about the transition from the end of the cyclocross season to the beginning of the road or mountain bike season.  It was posted a few days ago so you’ll have to scroll down.  Enjoy!  www.MTBRacenews.com.

Alison