For most of us, our race season is winding down. Maybe you’ve reached those lofty goals you set in January, or maybe you had setbacks. Either way, fall gives you the end of season races or the opportunity to end your race season with grace.
Finish Strong!
You’ve probably had a coach who told you to finish: finish the set, finish the interval, finish the workout. Finishing each interval in each workout might seem like a fruitless exercise, but it gives us the discipline to finish what we started. And even though I’m not going to tell you to finish your interval workout at all costs, I will tell you to finish your racing season.
For most of us, our race season is winding down. You may have reached all those lofty goals you set in January, or maybe you had unforeseeable setbacks. Either way, the fall season gives you the end of season races – and the opportunity to end your race season with grace.
At this point, you have the opportunity to either redeem yourself, or make the difficult decision to say “enough is enough” and bow out. End of season cycling in northern California means the CalCup, a month-long series of difficult time trials, road races, and criteriums that culminate at the Giro di San Francisco on Labor Day. End of season triathlon means the Treasure Island Triathlon or the Sentinel Triathlon in Santa Cruz . All these races are opportunities to end the season on a good note. I’m particularly proud of two of my amateur triathletes who have had injuries this year, but are preparing for the Treasure Island triathlon to finally finish 2006 racing season with a fun race and no expectations.
I’ve had athletes in each discipline choose either to end their seasons now and start preparations for the next season of racing, or to continue and often surprise themselves. Either way, make sure that you have no regrets! You will have plenty of time over the winter to relive your race season, even if you race winter races, like cross-country running, cyclocross, or cross-country skiing. It’s easy to say that there’s always next year and miss the opportunity to race.