Launching into Race Week again
Decelerating for Kepler Challenge
I’ll be hosting my monthly AMA (Thursday 30th @ 7:30pm) where I’ll be answering all your last-minute questions on Kepler. We’ll also look at the NZ season ahead and even further afield if you’ve got international events on the horizon. I’d love to help by sharing my experiences as a runner and coach with you.
Go Time Again!
11 days have passed since Queenstown Marathon. Now it’s almost time to toe the line in my sixth Kepler Challenge.
It seems crazy that six years ago I competed in my first Kepler Challenge. I was concentrating specifically on multisport at the time. This was before turning my sights to marathon running. Now it feels like I’ve come full circle back to ultra-running, even though in that time I haven’t missed a single Kepler.
With Race Director, Steve Norris
So now that we’re here, where is my head at around race week?
The Kepler Challenge is a community event that would have to be one of the most prestigious trail races in NZ. The race holds a certain aura around it. It’s low-key enough to not feel over the top but it feels seamless in how it’s organised. The hospitality of the town and event team make the event special.
Then you come to the course. 60km of beautifully tough single track. When you line up on that start line you need to be in the right place physically and mentally. With that said, an event like this, which means a lot to you, can freak people out. So, I want to give a few bits of advice to help keep you grounded and allow you to decelerate through race week and perform on race day.
The taper: The taper should be enough to keep the body and mind busy but allow you to freshen up. Come race day you should be buzzing. Your body will be ready to exert itself to its full potential. Throughout the week I like to do a workout earlier on. This will be run at a tempo effort to prime the body and mind, not overly extending yourself in this effort but to finish strong and in control. The remaining runs are easy effort to prevent staleness and keep your mind preoccupied.
With race day approaching you should feel nerves. The nerves show you care about the event. Try to keep the nerves under control earlier on in the week. Do this by concentrating on the controllable. Have a race plan, be prepared early, and allow yourself the quality rest you should be getting in your taper.
The day before race day it is very common to get caught in the excitement of the big event. With an event like Kepler Challenge you want to be organised early.
Try to keep in mind the following points:
Check off your compulsory gear. Have it prepared and ready to show at registration (Gear Check).
Be efficient at registration. You want to enjoy the atmosphere of the event. Soak it up but try to get things done so you can stay off your legs.
Have your nutrition ready and set out to be put into your race pack that afternoon. Filling up flasks will usually be the last thing I do before relaxing
for the evening.
Of course, there are also other obvious things to reduce stress. E.g. not arriving in town at the last minute. Have dinner plans ready, so you’re not left eating some dodgy Thai takeaways. (I’ve been caught out here on occasion).
Come race day, nerves will be building. Again, this is a good thing. Expect the nerves but stay in control. Here are a few things that I remind myself on race morning:
Trust in your training. You’ve done what you can to prepare. Whatever happens now is beyond your control because either way you know you’re going to put in your best effort. So….
Embrace the pain. Don’t fear the pain. There comes a point in most races where you are going to have to have a hard patch, don’t be afraid of that. Embrace it when it happens. Acknowledge it and tell yourself that you can deal with it.
Finally, either you or your loved ones have put in a lot of work and given up other opportunities to get to this point. Be gracious and feel the privilege to be there.
I look forward to my sixth Kepler Challenge!
Looking forward to seeing event legend, Irene, at the finish-line!
If you have any last-minute questions for Kepler or would like to ask me anything about my or your training, racing and running in general I’d love to catch you at tonight’s AMA video session. For those that have questions, but can’t attend please fire your questions through in the comments below. The recorded session will be made available to all paying subscribers on Friday morning.
