With February officially kicking off a few days ago it is time to take stock of the next few weeks. Remember back in Winter '11 (ok, maybe Spring - Winter is for hibernating!) when you wished there was a race or two to get stuck into? Well, now is the time to drag out that enthusiasm and roll-up your sleeves to get ready for action. There is a race every weekend this month if you're keen. Starting with Caloundra tomorrow, then next week there is a Bribie event, the weekend after you've got Kingscliffe, and to finish it all off Race 6 of the Gatorade Series at Raby Bay. Sheesh!
So I'm staring down the barrel of 3 races in the next 4 weeks (Caloundra, Falls Creek and Raby Bay). Falls Creek is the wild card. Plotting out my season a few months ago I realised that I hadn't included any long course races (which are the ones I get the biggest kick out of). A bit of research later (and some back-and-forth conversations with a friend - "I'll do it if you do", "well I'll do it if YOU do" etc etc) and we entered Falls Creek. This year it doubles as both the Victorian and National Long Course Championships so here's hoping to a podium finish, if only so I can drop statements like "hey stranger, did you know I finished third at the National Long Course Championships?". Ha!
With training being geared towards Falls (2k/80k/20k) it hasn't provided me with too much taper time for Caloundra. I remember at Robina a few weeks ago I was feeling the extra k's in the legs and missed that extra gear in the race. So this week while I have still logged in a few hours training I have made the extra effort to stretch daily and do all things recovery (yesterday after a brick session I got 3 bags of ice from the servo and made myself an ice-bath). I remember reading somewhere that Lance Armstrong said "he who recovers fastest wins" (referring to the Tour de France) and I can see merit in this. The quicker you can recover from a session, the more prepared and capable you are to make the next session count. Good sleep, good food, massage and stretching are all key. Funny how the knowledge of this doesn't always transfer into action! Here's some good advice in the mean time...
I'm ready to rock n roll tomorrow. My family live on the Sunny Coast so it is always nice to have a good race with them watching. A feed with them at the Tavern tonight (my only request was to have dinner early - something I try to do the night before every race) and then off to Caloundra in the morning. Reflecting back it has been a great solid week of training with each session being a quality one. I've hit my swim sessions, amongst my rides have had 2 days on the windtrainer with efforts over race pace (short but oh so painful!) and managed my 80% k's off the bike yesterday at 3:40/45 pace (only 4 of them). I'm feeling great, resting the legs now so I can floor myself for 40 - 45 minutes tomorrow morning ; )
Wake up, knock down an Up & Go a few hours before the race, sip on an Endura drink and then BOOM! We're off. The start of tri-month February. I'm beginning to think we all might look a bit like this at the end of the month.
Have a great race wherever you're going, good luck to the guys and gals at Gundi tomorrow. I'll be thinking of you when I'm done and dusted in under an hour, enjoying a coffee and banana pancakes.
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