Our very own Coach Rob has some training tips for this big race week. Cannonsburg is Sunday, we don’t have practice until Friday. What should you do leading up to the race? Well here you go:
Coyotes, it’s race-week and as we get ready for some serious fun this Sunday we wanted to share some plans for how to get ready for your big day at Cannonsburg.
- Hydration: This doesn’t start on race day. Keep yourself well hydrated all week. Especially Friday and Saturday. Skip the pop, stick to water.
- Wednesday – Feel free to ride as hard as you want. Without a practice this week, it’d be good to get out on your own and ride hard at least one of these two days. Suggestion might be to rip a hot lap at Cannonsburg on Wednesday.
- Thursday – If you are attending practice Friday, either skip Thursday or ride easy for an hour. Varsity/Advanced riders, “Zone 2” is good, or “Endurance pace” (something you could hold for a couple hours) is perfect.
- Friday – We are pre-riding the course at 6pm. Ride with a group that has the same race-course as you do. You should be making mental notes about the course:
- Where the tight corners are so you can shred them
- Where the hills are so you can power up them and potentially make a move to drop your competition
- Know the downhills so you can recover a bit
- Know straightaways for hydrating and laying down some power
- Saturday – Pre rides the day before should not be hard, save that power and energy for the race, pre rides are just to get to know the course. Maybe 2 short efforts of around a minute on pre-ride.
- Don’t overdo it on Saturday. It’s exciting, we know. Take it easy and save your energy for race day.
- Saturday night, please have more carbs in your meals. Don’t overeat, just increase the pasta-to-protein ratio to fuel your body for tomorrow’s excitement.
- Sunday – Prerace warmup should be 15-30 minutes with a few short, hard efforts to wake up your legs.
Parents of younger riders especially – don’t stress this stuff too much. These are just tips. The absolute top priority is having fun! Race day is just an extension of practice and should keep the fun quotient high for everyone. First-time riders are nervous enough without us laying on extra pressure, and experienced riders already know how to amp up the energy for race day.
Final Tip: HAVE FUN OUT THERE!