cmsuter

Hey guys, I am doing my first race this upcoming Saturday. I know that I am probably not physically fit enough yet, but I have low expectations along with a lot of excitement. It will also, no matter the outcome, be a huge motivator. Now to my question, what do you do in terms of training the week of a race?

johnybutts

What's your previous training look like? How many hrs/week is typical? You could try to decrease this by ~70% in prep for the race.

I find that a hard ride the day before a race really helps me out, but you may have a different opinion - if you think it'll take away from your race-day fitness, don't try this yet.

Eat and drink well leading up to the race - key.

Good luck!

cmsuter

I'm doing about 10-15 hours per week. Oh one more question, what is the protocol for junior gears? I have my bike setup for this, but when do they do the roll out and all of that? And I am working to get my training up to atleast 13 hours and preferably 15.

mike868y

They do roll out immediately after the race. Ask before the race starts where exactly it will happen. It takes like 15 seconds to do. Don't forget it!

johnybutts

Here juniors typically roll out before a race.

mike868y

I wish they did that here. After a race is terrible timing IMO. The last thing I'm worried about by the time I drag my arse across the finish line is junior gearing. I'm more concerned with changing + getting some food + fluids.

carpediemracing 

Gearing - find the roll out area and roll out before the race. You can confirm you have the right gearing before you start the race. Put in your biggest gear, line up crank at a certain position (like pointing parallel to seat tube), roll bike backwards until crank returns to same position. If you're at or before the second line, you're okay.

Before race, I find the following works well (generally speaking):
1 day before: 30 min minimum. If I feel so good I can't stand it I get off the bike right away (30 min). If I feel terrible I'll ride up to 2 hours, moderate/easy.
2 days before: rest if you want. Super easy ride. You should be holding yourself back.
Before that, I do whatever I feel like. Hard, easy, long, short. If things were going well I'd do a hard ride 3 days and 5 days prior.

So what I would do for me, based on not needing any particular training:
Mon - 30-120 min like Fri
Tue - hard ride
Wed - 30-120 min like Fri
Thu - hard ride
Fri - 30-120 min
Sat - race

alternately you could go heavy at the beginning of the week, which is what I'll try to do, due to work, local races, etc
Mon - 2+ hrs group ride (if not rained out)
Tue - 2 hours, one of which is a race (if not rained out)
Wed - 2 hours, one of which is a race (if not rained out)
Thu - off
Fri - 30-120 min
Sat - race
(Usually I only race Sunday so I take Thu and Fri off)

hope this helps
cdr

Basil Moss

I race nearly every sunday in the season. I try to train hard at the begining of the week, but in a hard training week I know I'l have to go into the race with some fatigue anyway. I try to make those weeks correspond with unimportant races. Here's an idea of what I might do before a very important race:

Mon: Rest (would have raced on previous sunday)
Tuesday: Chaingang (1- 1 1/2 hour extremely intense)
Wed: Rest
Thurs: Club evening TT- usually a 10, sometimes a 25 mile
Fri: Roller session- 1 hour not too hard
Sat: Rest
Sun: Race!