When it comes to racing the onus and pressure is on you; to perform at your best, but what if the pressure is not there? How do you keep the throttle wide open to raise the bar and have a great performance?
Long term, all athletes need to race on a regular basis to retain fitness and to make progress. Fitness waits for no one and performance gains are harder to come by without the competitive pressures of racing. Extended periods away from racing or competition can leave an athlete “flat” and moving backwards in their multi year training progressions.
Our coaches lay out the following strategies and thinking for how to expand your racing when no one is watching.
Race for something bigger than you; It is simply not enough to just race for yourself, racing for a loved one or charity inspires us to train hard when the tough sessions are coming your way. You can race for something positive or negative, however, if you race for something that is “bad" know that this can be a double edge sword and not always produce an elevated mojo or performance. We have partnered with several great charities for our virtual races for this season and we continue to believe that you must race for something greater.
Turn on the spotlight; Put it out there that you are racing whether on social media or amongst your Tristar teammates and training partners. As athletes we elevate our game when we know that others are watching our performances. “Smack talk” about an upcoming time trial or socially distant event is a great way to get the competitive juices going. DYK? The original Ironman in Hawaii was created based on smack talk amongst navy officers?! US Navy Commander John Collins decides to put an end to a debate about who was the fittest – swimmers, cyclists or runners – by combining Hawaii’s three biggest endurance races. So the Waikiki Roughwater Swim (2.4 miles), the Around-Oahu Cycle Race (115 miles) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles) became the Hawaiian Ironman. There were no spectators, just a bet amongst athletes.
Explore and be challenged; Some of you may have exceptionally demanding work and lifestyles, where amazing things happen daily.. or more likely your day to day is +/- the same. Work, train, eat, rest, rinse, repeat! Racing and time trialing with stated goals and objectives (even if they are stretch goals) gives us something to look forward to and get excited about. Find a course and distance that challenges you and get race ready!
Race like no one is watching today but know that one day they will be watching; Putting yourself in race mode is preparing you to be at your best in the future. Once racing has returned, do you really want your times to reflect your lack of attention you paid to your training when there was no racing? Certainly not! If you stay sharp, stay focused, you will hit your future goals when racing returns. The persistence you have now will pay dividends in the future. What future performances do you dream of?!
Finish the job; If you set off to do a solo race mission or race, see it through. Even if you are not having the day you envisioned, pushing through good pain is the only way to see improvements. Getting up the edge, finding it, and backing away will not help move the dial. Your peak pace, power and heart rate curves need to be lifted in order to see improvement and when you raise one critical power or pace you influence all of them.
It may seem that the future is hard to visualize with the current racing landscape, but it will return in the not too distant future. What you do today will set you up for future successes… be ready!
~The Tristar Athletes coaches
