Being just under 4 weeks to your big race can be quite daunting. There is a limited amount of time to make major strides in your physical fitness. Probably 2 weeks of core training time that will have significance on your race day strength and endurance.
I'll post a few key "cram" workouts in a future post but there is definitely a decent list of areas that can be improved over this time. If you've heard about about the internationally renowned "Stop and Go" transition exercise and just want a quick workout, skip to the bottom.
1. Acclimation to weighted race pack, new race shoes, and bike saddle.
2. Transition skills, both on trail/en route and in a parking lot style transition area.
3. Iron out refueling strategy.
4. Tighten up Map skills
1. Gear Acclimation
Race gear acclimation is straight forward. Don your weighted pack & new race shoes and head out for an hour+ fast hike. (3 - 4 weeks out is a great time to pick up a new pair of race shoes). Get out on your mountain bike with a weighted pack. Aspire to do this at least 3 times a week for the next 3 weeks. Your body will thank you for the effort as you will have tough hide in all the right places come race day.
2. Transition Skills
Triathletes think of transitioning as the 4th discipline of triathlon in addition to swim/bike/run. For Adventure Racers, transitioning can be loosely defined as any activity that breaks up your travel momentum or mode of operation. In some cases we change modes of locomotion altogether such as going from a paddle section to a bike section. In other cases, transitioning can be as simple as stopping to refill water containers or stopping to check navigation. In either case, racers lose momentum and have to regain it again on the other side of the transition. Practicing transition skills will give you as much bang for your buck at this point as your physical workouts (do both :o). It doesn't matter if you are the most fit person in the race. You may still lose if you get stuck sitting down every time you stop.
3. Refueling
Now is the time to figure out what sits well with your stomach. Don't bank on just carrying a lot of [brand]bars and Gels. I have a friend that can never eat cliff bars again due to a single race 4 years ago. Try out different foods during your workouts over the next couple of weeks. Come race time, most of your eating and drinking will be done while moving. My strategy will be to figure out some real foods to carry and consume during the race that will provide a slower and steadier release of energy than bars/gus.
4. Map Skills
Feeling shaky about plotting UTM points, discerning up/down/ridges/valleys/spurs/draws getting a sense of the terrain from topo maps? Now is the time to work that out. It's so much easier to get familiar with it now than trying to work it out when you're dead tired at 3am.
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The Stop and Go - Transition Exercise
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1. Load up your race pack with weight and toss in a spare pair of shoes and socks.
2. Strap on your race kicks and head out the door for an hour walk.
3. Every 15 minutes or so, find a dry place to transition and start a timer on your watch (or just note the time)
A. Remove your pack. (Pay attention to this process since you'll do it dozens of times throughout the race. Will you loosen all of your straps or just some of them?)
B. Remove your spare shoes and socks from your pack
C. Sit down and change shoes and socks. (Be sure to clean off feet and empty shoes of any debris. You'll be putting the old footwear back on later so think about how you'll want to find them on the next transition. Laces open? Socks right side out?)
D. Repack your backpack with the old shoes & socks.
E. Strap your backpack on and adjust as needed.
F. Confirm your intended direction of travel, next way point and get moving again.
G. Check the time/timer.
4. After each transition, while still on the move, analyze how that transition went. Did it take longer than you'd have expected? Was it easy to get off/on your pack? Was unpacking/packing your backpack smooth? The new socks probably feel great!
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