Back to racing & pre race preparation tips

After a long winter of training it’s that time of year when triathletes start dusting off their race shoes in preparation for early season races and seeing how the winter miles have paid off. This winter has been a slightly different one for me, since the sale of my business Aldridge Fitclub, I’ve settled in to my new role offering Triathlon coaching at Matthew Bottrill Performance Coaching, which I’m absolutely loving. Working alongside a team of highly experienced coaches and highly motivated athletes was just what I was looking for at this stage of my career. The new role has also free’d up more time for training / camps & recovery! So no excuses right? ;-)

My winter has included training camps in Fuerterventura & more recently a camp jam packed full off top pros & world class age-groupers in Calpe, Spain. This camp in fact ended last Friday with my first race of the year; Stafford half marathon being on the following Sunday 17th March.

So, how did I prepare for the event with so little time after a fully loaded camp?

Race preparation tips; staying on top of the mobility is key. I got up Saturday morning and fully stretched off before going on a really easy one hour spin on the bike followed by a 40min run including 6 x 45sec max effort activation sprints. After the run I fuelled up with good calories and spent the rest of the day pretty much relaxing.

Race morning tips; get to the event early. I got to Stafford 1hr before the race start time allowing me plenty of time to do a really solid warm up, including stretches, squats, lunges a 1.5k jog and some short sharp strides - 15/20secs to get the heart rate spiked & wake up the running muscles. Once this was done I got in some last minute nutrition (a banana & Stealth energy gel) and made my way to the start line in a fairly relaxed manor knowing I’d done everything I could have.

The race went really well and although I started to feel heavy legged at 10 mile, I managed to battle to the end finishing in 4th place overall in a time of 74:30.

I’m really encouraged by my form and wait with anticipation for my first triathlon in Salou in just under 3 weeks.

Try making these small changes before your races this season and reap the rewards of preparation. For more information on triathlon and cycling coaching please contact contact@mattbottrillperformancecoaching.com