Gearing Up To Race Again!!

I'm on the road again this week spending two days in Whitecourt, one in Edson, and the weekend in Jasper with a race in Hinton on Sunday. I know I'll be pretty spent after the last five weeks, Amber and I will have completed four races and although they're not incredibly long the short-intense efforts definitely take a lot out of your body. It's a great way to start the season and have you focused on racing again, it took the first race to light the fire in Amber's belly but now she's feeling like she wants to have a strong season and set some new PR's!! We both had an incredible half marathon last Sunday and it's nice to go into the year feeling like all the work you put in over the winter was worth it.

This week I'm trying to concentrate on sharpening up my swimming. I'm a little concerned that I won't be able to pull off a 24 minute 1500m like I did last year. It's so important to have a strong swim in an Olympic or Sprint race because there is not a lot of room for error and if you find yourself 3 or 4 minutes back, you're out of it. I did a fairly easy 2.5km swim on Sunday and another 3kms this morning and felt really good. I have to remind myself that I don't need to push the pace during the workout, the point is to just get a good "feel" for the water and go into the race relaxed and fresh. I want to get in another swim tomorrow morning in Edson and probably one more in Jasper on Friday.

The key this week is to rest!! I always tend to do a little more than necessary leading up to a race and unfortunately all this does is make me more tired. After 3 races in 4 weeks I need to scale back this week and not feel guilty about it. Just trust that I've done enough and I'll have a fantastic result. There is a big contingent from Grande Prairie racing in Hinton this weekend and I'm really excited to see how well everyone is going to do!! Amber and I love this race and with all the hard training everyone has been doing in GP everyone else is going to wonder why all the GP athletes are walking away with all the hardware. I hope everyone has a great race and safe and wonderful day, this is what makes all the training worthwhile!