Howdy folks,
I’m sitting in my Bend hotel room as I write this, and man… the racing is going to be fun this week!
I’m going to post as is possible, but no promises. I’m here working, and won’t be able to get the time to blog as often as I might like. I will be as active on Twitter as I can be for the duration of the event, and you can follow my posts there on @lemondfitness .
If you’re in town, stop by the LeMond Neutral Warmup area, and say “Hi” damnit! It’s always great to meet ya’all, and as I told someone today, it’s the feedback I get from ya’all that keeps me doing this darn thing.
Enough of that, on with today’s workout.
If you have been following along, you probably saw the “week of” schedule I posted earlier, and the suggested workout for this point in the week is the Slow Roast.
Yeah.
So, ok. Most of you aren’t racing on Sunday.
Most of you aren’t going to go out and bust out a couple of hours on the icy roads (or on the trainer!) the week of Nat’s.
That’s OK.
When all else fails, this close to the big race the important thing is to get enough time on the bike to be ready to race, while not overcooking yourself, leaving your best efforts out on the practice field.
Make sure you ride every day (if travel will allow!), get some hard efforts in in the days leading up to the race, especially the day before – do your Can Openers! – and rest when you’re not on the bike.
Don’t turn into a spectator until your race is done.
Standing around in the cold never helped anybodies legs. There will be plenty of time to cheer on your buddies after you’ve raced. They will understand, really.
Don’t do so many laps in practice that you leave nothing in your legs.
Take a stopwatch with you in your course preview, and keep track of the time you’re out there. It’s incredibly easy to start previewing the course, and suddenly realize you’ve been out on your bike for a couple of hours in the cold, haven’t had a damn thing to eat or drink, and that you’re really, really gassed. No good this close to game day.
If you have a mechanical issue, don’t freak. Get it fixed.
You aren’t ever going to be at a race with more people willing to help you through a potential disaster. Find one of the neutral support areas, give them your bike, tell them what the problem is, and then get out of the way.
Sometimes the best warm-up takes place in your car…
…with the heater on, while you avoid getting frozen outside.
I’m working the neutral warm-up area at these races, and it’s a great setup. It’s under cover, 30 feet from the start corral, and we’ve got heaters.
This is a great way to warm up.
You know what isn’t? Rolling around on a trainer in the sleet, or trying to do some hot-laps of the parking lot in the freezing rain.
Unfortunately, we’ve only got 20 slots in the LeMond tent. (Stop by a reserve a slot for your race!)
If you can’t get on a trainer, under cover, in a sheltered, warm area?
Warm up at home, back in the hotel.
Get kitted up, and drive to the race. Sit in your car with the heat blasting, and a bunch of layers on. Make things so warm that you get a sweat going.
At the very last minute, roll over to the start area, and have at it.
Have fun,
M
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