How We Coach, Part 9 of 10
Race Prep: How We Get You to the Start Line Ready
The short answer: By race week the fitness is built. Race prep is about making sure it shows up: arriving fresh without losing fitness, removing every decision that can be made in advance, and knowing what to do when the day doesn't go to plan. We plan the final two weeks by hand so form lands in a set positive range on race morning, set separately for bike and run and by race distance. We write a race plan built from what we know about you, with pacing anchors for the course and conditions and if then plans for when things change. After the race, we debrief. This article explains the reasons behind each piece, with Katy Walmsley at Boston, Holly Koksel at the Anchor Down 6 hour and Ben Creswick at IRONMAN 70.3 Tri Cities.
How we brought Holly to the start line
Holly Koksel's summer ran in blocks: Base and Durability in May, a short Build in early June, Aerobic Expansion into mid July, then Specificity into race week. Her last big week finished on July 26. From there we planned the final 12 days by hand. Her daily load came down to well under half of her big days, but she kept training most days, so the rhythm of her week stayed the same.
The result shows in her form. She started the taper deep in fatigue and arrived at the Anchor Down 6 hour fresh, while her fitness barely moved. She won as first woman and second overall on the hottest Anchor Down on record.
She arrived fresh without losing fitness
What it measures. Holly's daily form (TSB) over the 12 days before the race. Form is fitness minus fatigue, so a rising bar means fatigue is clearing.
How to read it. Bars left of the line are days she was still carrying fatigue. Bars to the right are days she was fresh. Race morning is the last bar.
Why good training can still produce a flat race
Most athletes have had a race where the training was there and the result wasn't. Usually one of three things happened. They arrived tired, because the last weeks held too much work. They arrived flat, because the last weeks held too little intensity. Or they raced the first hour on excitement and paid for it in the last.
Each of those is a race prep problem. The fitness is real, and it gets lost in the gap between the last block and the finish line. So the question for this article is: how do you carry the fitness you built all the way to the finish?
How tapers are usually done, and where that runs out
A common approach is to cut everything for the last week or two: less volume, less intensity and fewer sessions, sometimes with a few extra sessions added early "just in case". It feels safe.
The trouble is that cutting everything clears fatigue and also takes the edge off. Athletes arrive rested and sluggish, and the restless energy of a taper pushes many of them to add work at exactly the wrong time. A one size taper also ignores that the right freshness depends on the athlete, the sport and how long the race is.
We keep what keeps you sharp, cut what makes you tired, and plan the last two weeks by hand for each sport and each race.
Which races get a taper
We taper for A and B races, the ones that matter most in your season. C races, 5Ks and 10Ks don't get a taper. You train through them, and they become useful practice and a good read on your fitness. Tapering for every race would cost a week of training each time, and across a season that adds up to weeks of lost building.
Ben Creswick's winter shows how that works. He has four running races on his calendar before spring: the Pioneer 8K on January 10, the Cobble Hill 10K on January 24, the Comox Valley Half Marathon on March 21 and the Bazan Bay 5K on April 11. His A races are IRONMAN 70.3 Victoria on May 30, 2027 and IRONMAN Canada on August 8, 2027. The short races fit inside his training and give us honest checks on his running along the way. Knowing which races are A, B and C is one of the first things we ask, because it decides where the tapers go.
The taper: clearing fatigue while keeping fitness
We plan the final two weeks by hand so form lands in a set positive range on race morning, set separately for bike and run and by race distance.
A taper has one job: to clear the fatigue while keeping the fitness. It works because fatigue falls faster than fitness. A couple of lighter weeks drop fatigue a long way while fitness eases only a little, and form, the gap between them, rises. A few rules guide it.
- Cut volume, keep intensity. Sessions get shorter, and they keep some race effort in them, so the body stays used to racing speed.
- Keep frequency. You train on most of the same days, so your body keeps its rhythm.
- Short race pace openers. Brief efforts at race pace in the last two weeks keep you sharp.
- No extra volume just in case. The work is done. Adding more only adds fatigue the taper then has to clear.
- Don't worry when fitness drops a little. Your fitness number falls a bit in a taper. That is how fatigue clears, and your form rises as it does.
- No heat stress. Heat training stops in the taper, because it adds stress the body has to recover from.
- In the pool, you keep the same number of swims, and the intensity stays.
Strength training also comes out in the days just before an A or B race and comes back once you have recovered.
Katy's run fitness, fatigue and form through her Boston build
What it measures. Katy's run fitness, run fatigue and run form every day from December 2025 to Boston on April 20, 2026.
The story at this point. Katy came to ANC wanting to make her running hours count. Through February and March her run fitness held around 50 while her run fatigue sat close to it, so her run form hovered near zero. That is what steady building looks like. In April her run fatigue fell from the 40s to under 20. Her run fitness eased only a little. By race morning her run form was about plus 23.
How to read it. Navy is fitness, grey is fatigue and orange is form. Watch the right side of the chart. The grey line drops away while the navy line stays fairly level, and the orange line climbs.
You might see this in your own training if your legs feel light and restless in the last week before a race. That is fatigue clearing.
The focus in her last week was simple. "Let's focus on recovery and readiness," Angela wrote on April 14. Katy ran Boston in 3:28:46, a marathon PR.
Tapering when you hate tapering
Many athletes find the taper hard. The legs feel restless, the week feels empty, and it is tempting to fill it. Holly told us plainly: "I hate tapering lol."
Holly's weekly run miles from May to August
What it measures. Holly's total run miles each week from May to early August 2026, with her biggest week highlighted.
The story at this point. Holly also coaches with ANC. She was building for the Anchor Down 6 hour ultra in early August. Her run miles rose through June, and her biggest week, 49 miles, came in early July. Then they stepped down through late July and dropped sharply in race week.
How to read it. Each bar is one week of running. The orange bar is her biggest week. Look at the last bar, race week.
You might see this in your own training if your race week looks almost empty. A light race week is what lets a big summer of training show up on the day.
Her race week was a Big Pull Back. On race day, in the hottest Anchor Down on record, she ran 31.85 miles, won the women's race and finished second of 72 overall.
Removing decisions before race day
Every decision made on race morning costs attention, and anything new is a risk you haven't tested. So race week is for arriving fresh and calm, and changing nothing major.
- Gear. Race in what you trained in.
- Fueling. Use what you practiced in your long sessions.
- Pacing. Stick to the plan you built in training.
- Routine. The same warmup and the same checklist you have used before.
- Lay it out the night before. Kit, bib, fuel, bottles and a charged watch.
- Check the race rules. Gear check, start times and transition rules for your event.
- Plan your fuel stops. Which aid stations you will use, what goes in which pocket and what your backup is.
- Practice your race morning. The meal and timing you will race on should be something you have done before your long sessions.
We also rehearse the disruptions you are most likely to face, so they feel familiar if they happen.
Travel adds its own stress. Graham Lloyd flew to France for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice on September 13. He prepared for the course at home, riding long climbs including Mount Greylock, and did his heat training through the summer, well before his taper began. After he arrived, his heart rate ran higher than his effort suggested, which is common after a long trip. We read that as travel and let effort lead. He finished the World Championship, a big goal after a season that began with walking. That is why we ask about travel and time zones when we write a race plan.
Your race plan and its pacing anchors
Every A race gets a written plan. Before we write it, we ask about the race and about you: how important the race is, whether it is your first time at the distance, how you are coming into it, travel and time zones, your heat preparation, your racing habits, your fueling, your stomach, how you use caffeine and how much and how salty you sweat. From that, the plan sets your pacing, your fueling and your choices for when things change. Fueling is planned in grams, and products come after.
The right guide for pacing depends on the course and the conditions, because each guide is reliable in some situations and misleading in others.
- On a flat course, trust your Critical Power or Critical Speed and hold the line.
- On hills, let run power or effort lead, so the climbs don't push you over your limit.
- In heat and humidity, let heart rate and effort lead. Pace and power targets give way, because the same pace costs far more in the heat.
- When you are deeply tired, effort and form lead.
Holly's race was a good example of the heat rule. In the 90s with heavy humidity, she raced by effort and heart rate, with pace only as information.
Pacing the race: restraint early, evidence late
The start of a long race is where many races are lost. Fresh legs and race day nerves make a too fast start feel easy, and the cost only arrives hours later. So we plan it.
On the bike, there is a settle in window: about the first 20 to 30 minutes of a full distance ride and about the first 10 minutes of a 70.3. You ride at the bottom of your range, start fueling and let your body find its rhythm. That time also helps you tell "finding your legs" from a real problem. On the run, we think in thirds. The first third is restraint. The second third is discipline. The last third is where you spend what is there. A planned walk can be part of the strategy too.
Late in a race, you earn the right to push harder with evidence: your fueling has been on time, your heart rate has settled, your form is holding, your stomach is fine and the heat is under control. When those are true, you can race. When they aren't, you hold. If you lose time, let it go and never try to win it back. Pushing to repay it usually costs far more later in the race.
Ben learned this before Tri Cities. His limiter was execution, and he had a habit of pushing easy days. "Save it for race day!" Angela told him. By his race prep he was writing, "I made sure to stay on the slower side of my race pace on the intervals! Feeling good!" He placed third in his age group in 4:20:01.
If then plans for the day that doesn't go to plan
Things change in a race. A plan that only covers the perfect day isn't much help, so we plan for the likely changes in advance, when you can think clearly.
- If it is hot early, trim the effort.
- If the cost spikes, switch to the more protective guide, like heart rate or effort.
- If your stomach turns, simplify: liquid carbohydrate only for 15 to 20 minutes, and give it 20 to 30 minutes to settle.
- If you drop a bottle, never double up on the next one.
- If your pace drops, focus on your form for 30 seconds.
- If you see a red flag, choose the safest version of your race.
Aim for at least one pee per leg in a long race. It is a simple check that your fluid is on track. Some things end a race, and your safety comes before any result.
Ben's fall shows race prep serving two races. After Tri Cities, his run went straight into marathon specific work while his bike went back to base. "Legs seemingly have bounced back well," he wrote two days after the 70.3. His big marathon rehearsal came on September 27, a 34 km long run with race pace intervals and his race fueling. At Victoria he ran 2:46:42, third of 299 in his age group.
After the race: where the next season starts
Every race ends with a debrief. We ask three questions: what worked, what should we change and what should we celebrate. Then we plan your recovery and choose the next block. The debrief is where the next season starts. Katy's Boston showed that late race durability is her next limiter, and that is shaping her training now. Ben's marathon showed what his run can hold for hours, and it shaped his winter.
To put race prep in a few lines: taper for the races that matter, cut volume and keep intensity, decide everything you can in advance, choose the pacing guide that fits the conditions, start with restraint, and push late only when the evidence says you can.
What this means for you
What this means for you
Before an important race, your last two weeks are planned by hand for you. You will cut the volume, keep the intensity and arrive fresh. You will have a race plan that fits you, the course and the weather, with anchors for pacing and plans for what might change. After the race, we will talk through what happened and plan the next step together.
A good check for your own racing: in your last race, which guide were you pacing by in the first hour, and was it the right one for the conditions?
Keep reading in the How We Coach series
Athlete stories from this article:
Coaching built around you
If you would like to arrive at your next start line ready, start at angelanaethcoaching.com.
Tell us your goal race and the hours you really have. Or see our online 70.3 coaching or online marathon coaching.