[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
A Stand Up Paddleboard Race Week Checklist
The week before your big race is a unique animal. You can’t win a race the week before your event, but you can definitely lose it.
Here’s what we mean. If you haven’t put the training time in prior to this week, there’s nothing you can do now to improve your race day performance & fitness. But there’s plenty you can do to ruin your race day. Too much volume, too little intensity, eating the wrong things, drinking the wrong things — all of these factors can significantly impact your race day performance and ruin months of preparation and training.
The Goal
The main goal the week prior to your big SUP race is REST. You’ve done the work — now you just need to ensure the tank is topped off when The Big Day rolls around. BUT…too much rest will leave you feeling sluggish and tired on race day. Don’t try to test yourself this week — trust your training and wait till the race to really push yourself. Again, your main goal this week is to remaining tuned up and quick with a boatload of energy come race day. Your workouts this week will build speed, power & confidence while allowing plenty of time for rest & recovery.
6 Days Out
Okay, so you’re six days out from the race. If your race is on Saturday, this would be the Sunday before the race. Make this day an easy day. Go for an easy swim (if you’ve been swimming), take a non-paddling friend on a sightseeing tour and play with good technique. If you’re tired AT ALL, take the day off.
Double-check your gear. Check your paddleboard for any dings that might need to be repaired, inspect your paddle, put fresh batteries in any electronics (like your Speedcoach or heart rate monitor), make sure your hydration containers aren’t leaking and ensure they don’t have any tiny bacterial forests within, and check your board rack for any loose bolts or damage. Checking these items now give you time to address any problems and let’s your relax mentally for the remainder of the week.
Oh, and be sure not to eat too much.
3-5 Days Out
Research shows that you’ll benefit most this week from moderate and decreasing amounts of high intensity exercise — complete rest or slow, easy workouts this week will not boost your performance on race day!
Concentrate on power workouts with brief bursts of intense activity followed by long periods of recovery.
No more than one workout per day with 3-5 reps of near-max effort. Peak 1 is a good example of the type of workout you’d be doing on these days.
Peak 1
This workout is designed to help you peak for your race or time trial — depending on the distance of your event, you should do this workout within 2 weeks of your race — normally 3-4 days ahead of the event. Done properly, this workout will condition the body to race at your optimal pace while allowing you to ensure you have a full “tank of gas” come race day.
- Nice long warmup with 4 pickups to race pace thrown in.
- Main Set: 4 x 2:00 at Zone 4. Stay relaxed, use good form and do not exceed your race pace. These are not sprints. Rest 3:00 between repeats.
- Cool down by paddling easy 10:00
That’s it. No more.
2 Days Out!
It’s getting real now. It’s 2 days before the big event. What’s the best thing you can do today?
- Rest. Take the day off. 95% of the folks we’ve worked with perform better making this day a race day. A few rare animals find they perform better by doing a short workout with high intensity intervals on this day and then taking the day before the race off, but most people will have a better race by taking this day completely off.
- Pack your board and your gear — this way you’ll avoid rushing around on Friday trying to remember everything.
- Stay calm and avoid stress.
- Eat only foods you’re accustomed to.
- Drinks lots of water (not sports drinks) – this is the time to begin a thorough hydration process. Even mild dehydration can slow your metabolism as much as 3%, something you definitely do not want on a race day!
1 Day Out
The motto for the day Relax, Prepare, Hydrate. Not a very catchy motto, but effective nonetheless…
Today is a good day for a short workout with brief bouts of intensity (taking the day off will likely leave you feeling flat on race day). Warm up, throw in a few ‘faster-than-race-pace’ accelerations, and then stretch.
Check your gear over for any last minute issues. How’s your fin/board/paddle/pdf/hydration pack?
Eat a normal breakfast, Pick up the race packet, attend the pre-race meeting if there is one. Talk to other athletes, local, and officials about the course and see if there are any tips you can pick up. See if you can learn about significant landmarks, tricky areas, tides, currents & expected wind behavior.
Fasten your race numbers, if required, to your race days clothes and your board (or at least think about how you’re going to fasten the number to the board). Lay out your race clothes and pack your race bag.
Throughout the day, avoid crowds of nervous athletes, stay off of your legs and out of the sun. Sip water (not a sports drink) throughout the day. Take in a movie, read, relax. Don’t overeat, and eat only foods to which you are accustomed. This is not the day to experiment with local cuisine, even if you have to take your own food with you.
After dinner, don’t dwell on the race. Relax, read, and remember training highlights and successes. Go to bed at your normal time, and keep a water bottle by the bed to sip as needed throughout the night. If you don’t sleep well, don’t sweat it. Studies show that not getting a good night’s sleep really has no adverse affect on race performance. So relax. If you’re too excited to sleep, don’t worry it will affect your race. You’ll be fine.
Race Day!
Have fun! This day is the easy day. You’ve done the hard work of preparing for months, you’ve done what you need to do this week to be rested for your big SUP race. Now it’s just a matter of going out and enjoying the thrill of working hard and sharing this great sport.
Many of these tips were adapted through years of experience from The Triathletes Training Bible, an excellent resource for endurance athletes of all sports.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
