B and C

A bit of a race day for me tomorrow.

The race tomorrow is a fun annual paddle event, but to be honest it is really going to be a training session for me, albeit a pretty solid one.

While I would really like to do well in the race tomorrow, the reality is that I am simply too tired. I am training pretty darn hard at the moment in preparation for nationals in 11 weeks time and I am treading a fine line on fatigue in TrainingPeaks, so races like this one simply have to be B races. I could have tapered and done proper preparation for this race, but I would prefer to train through it and continue to build fitness for the big race.

It will be interesting to see how it goes tomorrow. It is one thing to say I will be paddling pretty steady, but it is another thing to actually do it. I think in reality I will probably paddle pretty hard, but I am under no illusions that I will be going quickly. Too much fatigue and too much holiday for that. I am starting to see some very definite signs that my fitness is returning, but it is still going to be quite a long road.

The conversation about A and B races is one that I am regularly having with my athletes. Many athletes like to race a lot, which I think is great, as it adds a lot of interest to the season. However, part of racing a lot is accepting you can't do every race 100%. If you are trying to train, but you are also trying to taper and have an A race every couple of weeks then you are going to go nowhere quickly. Part of training is putting in the time necessary to drive change and that gets very hard to do if the training is getting interrupted by races every couple of weeks. Getting ready for a big race every 4 to 6 weeks is fine, that leaves plenty of time for recovery, building and tapering, but thinking that you can train and perform at 100% every week or two is unrealistic and will eventually lead to disappointment.

This is why the idea of A, B and even C races is important. Knowing that an event is a B or C race means that you can go in and enjoy the competition, but you can also be realistic with your expectations given that you are probably in the middle of a training block. Performing below your normal expectation, but knowing there is a reason for it means you are less likely to get stressed about that performance and beat yourself up (which most athletes have a tendency to do). And while B and C races may not be as quick, they are far from pointless, they can great ways to get in some race experience, get those race juices flowing, practice the race plan etc. Plus they make pretty darn tough training sessions.