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The Countdown to MAD—Race Week Preparations

An article by Mike Schultz CSCS of Highland Training

The upcoming race—MAD—will provide a few challenges such as water travel, running, and mountain biking through some technical terrain. There are a few things to remember during your prep week/race week to help you peak for the race. For the purpose of this article, it will be assumed that each racer is preparing to peak for the race. The recommendations for a racer who is going to use this race as part of training is going to be different than a racer who wants to aim for a personal best and peak for the race. To help peak for the race, the week of the race should contain 25-50% of the hours you usually log in a big week of training. This can be anywhere from 5-10 hours depending on your training goals and fitness level. You can still use these tips by simply increasing the training volume if MAD is not a “peak” race.

The week of the race has a focus on resting with shorter, more intense intervals. The spacing of the intense days are crucial and the intensity needs to be somewhat controlled to not go too hard before a race. This is where a Heart Rate monitor can help you work at a certain intensity, and then back off to watch your recovery rates. The goal during race week is to experience a low perceived exertion (PE) and be able to go hard for short intervals. This is a good sign of being rested heading into the week of the race. If your PE is high at the beginning of a race week, it is best to cut the workout very short and take rest. Rest is the main focus during this week. You should also skip any lifting workouts and become as sports specific as you possible can to help prepare for the race. This will help you be rested to tackle the rocks at Moraine.

The best interval days are going to be Monday and Wednesday. This will give you Tuesday as a rest/easy day to further promote recovery and 48 hours, from Thursday AM to Saturday AM, to fully recover for the race. Monday would be a good day for a run only and should contain longer intervals of 3-5, and even 10 min working below your threshold (Functional threshold). If you are using a heart rate monitor, you will need to work 5-7 beats below your Lactate Threshold. If you are not using a HR monitor then you should be able to talk while running but not necessarily carry on a conversation.

Wednesday should contain some shorter intervals of 1-3 minutes to threshold and at a speed that simulates race pace. Wednesday is also the best day to perform your brick workout, performing both running and cycling, using shorter intervals and plenty of rest between intervals. The recovery between each interval should be 10-20 minutes long—or more—to promote rest and strength, not endurance. Take Tuesday easy and spin on the bike only. You can doodle over some rocky terrain to help prepare, but do it easy and totally recover on Tuesday. You can do a few all out sprints on Friday of 3-6 sec to get every muscle firing and ready. Take plenty of rest after each of those intervals as well. Finally have a good meal with a good nights sleep. Hope this helps.

Mike Schultz CSCS