Race Week Reflections

And before you know it, race week is here. With all my long workouts behind me, I must now focus my energy on eating right, getting the proper rest, and getting my gear organized and ready for Saturday. I can't say that I have nailed every workout leading up to this race. I bonked on more than a couple of runs off the bike. I missed a swim-maybe two. And I missed one long run. But today I did manage to do my 1.2 mile swim in the pool. I did it in just under 48 minutes and while my form was starting to fall apart at towards the end, I felt pretty good and completing the swim gives me some more confidence.

Looking back at my training, I think one of the more difficult things I faced was having enough energy to complete late week workouts. My Thursday morning runs suffered mostly due to a lack of sufficient calories I think. To address this issue, I plan to do a detailed food journal for one week during the Fall "off season." This is something I have been meaning to do for a long time.  I have all the tools necessary to analyze my caloric intake as well as how much I am burning during each workout. It will be interesting to see what I find out.

In addition to nutrition challenges, I think in order to adhere to the rigors of training for a half iron distance race, more rest is in order. Not more rest days but just more sleep. Working 10 hour days during the summer made it difficult to get the training done and get the proper amount of sleep. This is something to think about when I plan my next couple of race seasons.

Another issue I had during my training was dealing with the heat. My runs off the bike on Saturdays were tough. The heat really put a zap on me and I fell short on several runs off the bike. The heat seems to bother me more these days. Back when I played soccer, I got acclimated to the heat pretty well and even temperatures in the high 90s did not bother me. Plus let's face it. I am not getting any younger. Looking back on these long Saturdays (70 mile bike followed by 30 minute run off the bike), I probably should have adjusted my goal pace down slightly on the run. Getting started earlier in the day would also have helped I think.

I have a few more things to figure out as far as gear goes. I still need to find a lightweight container to hold my Endurolytes. I also need to figure out how I am going to manage the water bottle hand off on the bike. The race has 3 water bottle hand offs where they will be handing off Deer Park Blue Caps which is a particular style of Deer Park water bottle. My first step is to purchase some of these waters and see if my plan to put one in my jersey pocket will work. So off I go to Walmart to look for some.

One other big thing on my mind is Lee - as in Tropical Storm Lee. The remnants of this storm is bringing lots of rain to the mountainous areas of Virginia and West Virginia. I am really not sure how the race venue will be affected by all this rain. I do know that the James River in downtown Richmond is currently running at 3.6 feet which is extremely low. But by Thursday morning, the river is predicted to rise to over 10 feet which is just shy of flood stage. I will be keeping my eye on the river level. Obviously the higher the river, the faster the current and the more difficult the swim will be. As a pool swimmer, I don't really need all that extra current to swim across or against.

Thanks for reading. My next post will likely be the race report after the race unless something very interesting happens between now and the race.