The Final 3 Weeks Before Race Day

What does one do 3 weeks before a 100 mile race?

If you are smart, you take it easy. The cliche is "The hay is in the barn". Truth is, there is not much, or anything, you can do in the final 3 weeks. That is where "maintenance" miles comes into place.

I am not a big "taper" guy or "sharpening" guy, so I call it "backing off". I can't say I will be tapering, because I never got my mileage over 25 miles per week since mid January. And, most of those were 13 mile - 15 mile weeks. But.... those were HARD miles.

So the plan:
Run with "FM" at Zumbro on Friday. I am only planning to do 1 loop. Larry, the RD, has been kind enough to divulge a course map. Knowing Larry, this could change a couple of times before race day. None the less, we have "a 20 mile loop". Quotes indicating that this could be subjective.

Hopefully I get the chance to get FM off his game, and convince him to go out "guns a blazing" at the race. If he crashes and burns, I might have a chance. As well as Brad, and the other runners.

I am doing the Home Show in Milwaukee this weekend, so maybe a stair workout at Lapham is in the plans. Once the Zumbro and stairs are done, it is 4 more speed workouts with a tempo in between. I will keep the tempo 2 weeks out to under 10, 1 week out under 6.

On the strength and conditioning workouts, I am backing off on the loads. Not that I can power clean 135 lbs 7 times in 6 sets (with 9 pull ups in between), but now I have a good reason not to. I am backing off to weights where I am focusing on forum and still getting a brutal workout.

Now it is all about getting all of the pieces figured out. Being a loop course makes planning a lot easier. I will have multiple food options I am going with, and will have access to a change in strategy every 20 miles.

I am going to start this race with only water, and no sports drink. This will make it easier to monitor caloric intake as well as electrolyte intake. If I want to switch, they will have Heed, and I will have a stash of Succeed! (Clip 2 and Ultra).

I might make some sandwiches, chili, and some other stuff. Protein and fat are the things I think I have lacked in the past. Sugar and carbs are easy to get, so not worried about those.

I have a few gear changes. Will probably have a rain jacket. I bought heat pockets for my gloves as well as smart wool liners. Having comfortable hands could be the difference in success.

Might get some new compression shorts with a longer inseam. Chaffing shouldn't be a problem, but I don't want to chance it.

I may even invest in a pair of smart wool socks, but I don't want to test them on race day.

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I will recap my thoughts on this new training program soon.

Good luck to those doing the Human Race 8K on Sunday.