The Week Of The Race - How Not To Blow It

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THE WEEK OF THE RACE

You've been training for months and now the race is coming in a week. This is a critical time for obstacle racers. What you do this week can make or break your training. A few careful considerations to ensure a great finish time can't hurt. Three things to consider:

Workouts:

You've been working out and training for this event. The week prior to the event you will need to adopt a different mindset. As with any race, it is important to build your muscles but also just as important to properly rest them. Some athletes make the mistake of going hulk the week before an event, believing that a last mad dash of strength training will end up helping out while running the event. The opposite is actually true. Never underestimate the power of allowing torn muscles to heal. When you strength train you tear muscle fiber which becomes stronger and more pliable only once healed. The week before an obstacle event you should still train, but step down your mileage or weight each day of the week. It is advisable to stop training a couple days in advance and allow your body to rest and heal and to prepared to do battle with the course.

Rest:

You have trained yourself to become a beast. Even beasts must rest to regain strength and stamina. Rest is a critical element in race preparation. One should plan to get plenty of sleep a couple daysrior to running the event, as the excitement of the coming race will often prevent runners from sleeping well the night before hand. A little advance planning goes a long way here.

Nutrition:

If you are serious about this sport then you already know how important good nutrition is. The week of the race it become even more vital to understand how your food affects your healing body. Unlike shorter events such as dashes or track sports, obstacle racing requires energy with stamina. The foods you eat the night before the race are the most likely to effect the stamina of your energy. While carb loading can be good, be careful to do this the night before instead of the day of the race.

Eating pastas and breads along with proteins and starches the night before a race will help ensure that your body has long term energy from which to draw upon during the event. The morning of the race, depending on when your heat will start; is when you should eat light and right. A breakfast or lunch consisting of fruits, veggies, and easy to digest proteins helps prevent the feeling of being weighed down by your food on the course.

Conclusion:

The goal of any training program to to specifically prepare you for the event at hand. Training varies widely based on the type of event and the duration of the event. With obstacle course racing training can be a little tricky.

Instead of just strength training or just speed training, obstacle racers need to do both and then throw some balance training in for good measure. It takes all three of these training types to best prepare athletes for this challenge.

Stay tuned to this blog as we will create a series of articles this month dedicated to teaching those just starting into obstacle races as well as teaching the experienced some great tips and tricks when it comes to training, nutrition, and general race preparation.