How to increase your Kona performance: Three Weeks Out

Now is the time when everybody is counting down the days till the real taper starts, but you should still be far away from bringing the engine down to an idle. This time in your race countdown is crucial and it hurts, both body and mind. I advise you to really pay attention out there on the roads as fatigue sets in. This is when many little accidents can occur. So be smart and aware of all the little things around you. It has been a long training and racing year for most of the athletes and now it is getting tough to keep up the big workload.

You are going to want to let the fatigue set in you for quite some time. It would be too early to start reducing the volume and the pace at this stage in the game. Tapering is highly individual but either way, it is still too early. While keeping most other tasks out of your mind, now is a good time to do a last minute check up of you race gear, nutrition and any additional race items you might have to order in advance. Time flies by when you get down to the last few weeks (especially if you are traveling to Kona during this time), so get your stuff organized very early, as you might have to bring back ups and additional gear to the race. For the pros it is always good to bring some back up items, as it could happened that new gear is not there in time to be used on race day (and Hawaii is difficult to ship to for last minute items that might be needed). Plan ahead, so nothing unexpected comes up in the next few weeks.

Good luck and keep those legs turning over.