First Half of the Season is Over, Now What?

You've completed your first 'A' race of the season, it's early August and you find yourself asking 'Now what?!'

Hopefully after your last race, you and your coach reviewed your race and assessed where you're at and what adjustments need to be made during the buildup to your next race. There are always areas for improvement and after several months of training, it takes some creativity to push through that late season lull.  Once the assessment was completed while the last race was still fresh in your memory, it's important to take a break. When you are peaking for two key races in a season, having a mid-season break is very important. This break is meant to give your body time to recovery completely from the last build leading up to your race. Arguably more important, it gives you a chance to take a mental break from training and racing. Sometimes this mental recovery takes even longer and is slower.

What can you do when you have another 'A' race in a 2-3 months and your mental freshness is far from ideal? Depending on what you saw during your mid-year review, you can focus on that area in a fresh new way. Doing this will certainly help you become a more complete triathlete and injecting some new sport specific goals could provide that boost to your mental recovery that you need.

If the swim is an area you need to improve, look for a Masters race in the next 6-8 weeks that you can target. You can go to you local Masters coach and ask them about any early fall races or just visit www.usms.org.

Whether you're a short course specialist or an Ironman, introducing some intensity into your cycling will provide an amazing benefit. Clearly, the short course specialist will be more familiar with this level of intensity as the bike leg of Sprints and Olympic distance races is typically executed at levels at or above lactate threshold. The typical Ironman athlete may not see the benefit of participating in such short races but criterium races, road races and even the 40km time trial offer a variety of opportunities to provide some fresh training to break up the monotony of the long solo rides. Visit www.usacycling.org to find a local race that fits into your training schedule.

Finally, if you are looking for some run specific races, most cities have multiple opportunities for a short 5k or longer races. Many running stores will have race calendars posted either on their store website or provide flyers at their store. Look at www.active.com or www.runningintheusa.com to provide a great resource for finding a race that suits your goal.

In conclusion, when you find yourself wondering 'What now?', look for opportunities for sport specific improvements.