The Transformative Power of Practice Events

When preparing for a major endurance challenge—whether it's a multi-day bikepacking race, an ultramarathon, or a grueling gravel event—your training plan likely includes structured workouts, long sessions, and recovery periods. But there's another critical element that many athletes overlook: practice events.

These "stepping stones" are more than just training days. They're dress rehearsals that reveal what regular training simply can't show you. For long challenging endurance events, it's impossible to determine pacing and performance from isolated tests and physiological metrics.

Why Practice Events Matter

Practice events create a unique space where you can:

1. Stress-test your systems under race-like conditions
2. Identify weaknesses that wouldn't emerge during normal training
3. Build psychological resilience alongside physical capability
4. Fine-tune your race strategy before it truly counts

Let's explore the specific areas where practice events deliver invaluable insights that can transform your performance when it matters most.

Nutrition & Hydration: Find Your Formula

During regular training rides or runs, you might get by with basic fueling strategies. But in a practice event, you'll discover:

• How your gut handles different foods under sustained effort
• What happens when you try to consume your target calories per hour for many hours (or days) at a time
• Whether your hydration plan holds up during varying intensities and weather conditions
• How to efficiently access and consume nutrition while maintaining pace

Many athletes discover during practice events that their carefully planned nutrition strategies don't hold up after several hours of sustained effort. These revelations allow for experimentation with alternative approaches before target races—potentially preventing race-ending stomach issues.

Gear Testing: Eliminate Surprises

Equipment failures or inefficiencies can derail even the most physically prepared athlete. Practice events let you:

• Test every piece of gear under authentic conditions
• Identify uncomfortable clothing, shoes, or saddles before they cause lasting damage
• Practice gear transitions and adjustments under pressure
• Verify that your navigation devices and lights function as expected for extended periods

Remember that time lost at feed stations, messing with kit or changing things you could have planned for, is wasted time that directly impacts your performance.

Pacing: Discover Your Sustainable Effort

Theoretical pacing plans often collapse in the face of real-world conditions; heart rate is higher, and people often find 'another gear' in racing that they don't have training. Practice events help you:

• Learn how your perceived effort changes over long durations
• Understand the impact of terrain, temperature, and time of day on your sustainable pace
• Discover your true capabilities in a race environment
• Develop intuitive pacing skills that transcend what devices tell you

Psychological Resilience: Train Your Mind

Perhaps the most underrated benefit of practice events is psychological preparation. You'll experience:

• The emotional ups and downs that come with prolonged exertion
• How you react when things don't go according to plan
• The mental techniques that help you push through low points
• The confidence that comes from having already managed similar challenges

Big events are as much psychological as physiological.

Group Dynamics & Race Tactics

Even in individual endurance events, other participants significantly impact your experience. Practice events allow you to:

• Practice drafting techniques and energy conservation in groups
• Develop strategies for when to work with others versus when to go solo
• Experience the psychological effects of being passed or passing others
• Learn how to maintain your own race plan when surrounded by competitors

Night Riding/Running & Sleep Management

For multi-day events, practice events are crucial for:

• Testing lighting systems under real conditions
• Developing confidence in navigating and moving safely at night
• Understanding how sleep deprivation affects your decision-making and performance
• Experimenting with different sleep strategies (short naps vs. longer breaks)

Practice events can reveal how sleep deprivation affects your performance. During extended events, athletes often discover that minimal sleep strategies can lead to navigational errors and poor decision-making, allowing them to develop more sustainable approaches before target events.

How to Incorporate Practice Events Effectively

To maximize the benefits of practice events:

1. Schedule them strategically as stepping stones toward your main event
2. Make them increasingly specific to your target event's demands
3. Plan adequate recovery time afterward to absorb both the physical training stimulus and the lessons learned
4. Conduct a thorough post-event analysis to identify what worked and what needs adjustment

Consider what specific weaknesses your last challenging event exposed that you could address with a targeted practice event. Then design your practice event to focus on these areas.

The Power of Going "All In"

What truly sets practice events apart from regular training is the mindset you bring to them. Going "all in" as if it were your key event creates an entirely different experience than treating it as just another training day.

When you commit to race pace for an extended period—pushing your limits physically and mentally—you expose both strengths and weaknesses that simply don't appear during normal training:

• True fitness gaps become apparent when you sustain race-level effort for hours
• Decision-making under pressure and fatigue reveals mental strengths and weaknesses
• Equipment issues emerge that would never show up during shorter training sessions
• Nutrition strategies get a realistic test under authentic race conditions
• Recovery abilities can be assessed when you push to your limits

These insights are invaluable. They allow you to fine-tune your preparation precisely where it matters most, making adjustments that directly impact your performance in your target event.

As you plan your season, consider strategically placing practice events that allow you to go "all in" while still having time to address what you learn. This approach transforms theoretical training into practical wisdom and reveals exactly what matters when it counts.

The difference between merely finishing and truly excelling often lies not in how many hours you've trained, but in how effectively you've identified and addressed your specific limitations through well-executed practice events.

Are you ready to embrace the transformative power of practice events in your preparation?

For athletes looking for more personalized support, our 1-on-1 coaching services take this approach further, with training plans fully adapted to your unique strengths and personality traits. Our coaches recognize that your quick-fix seeking tendencies aren't flaws—they're traits that can be channeled effectively with the right guidance.

Remember: Your desire for immediate results isn't a weakness—it's a strength that, when properly channeled, can fuel remarkable athletic development. The key is building a system that honors your need for visible progress while creating the consistency that leads to sustainable success.