The discussion about fitness and racing, is much the same as the one about fitness and golf, its controversial and everyone seems to have an opinion. While some people point out that guys like Jimmy Spencer and John Daly, reached the pinnacle of their sports, its just as easy to argue that Tiger Woods & Michael Schumacher, arguably the best ever in their sports, are dedicated fitness freaks. I think for me, the whole fitness argument was summed up quite nicely by one of our TDI Cup Mentors, Mark Miller, who told us “It’s not so much about the fitness as it is about the mental commitment that it takes to be fit. Its about the fact that you can commit yourself to be the best that you can be”. (quote shamelessly stolen from Racing Under Green)

Racing is such an expensive sport, it is almost impossible to practice. Last year, between the first race at VIR in April and the season finale at Road Atlanta in September, I never got the chance to do a single day in a racecar outside of the official TDI Cup weekends. My total practice amounted to one kart race with the CKRC. So unlike most athletes who can practice for their sport on a daily basis, I need to find other ways to make sure I stay mentally (and physically) prepared during the season. As I suffer through a long winter away from racing, my time at the gym is one thing that can keep me connected, as it reminds me that I’m working towards something. Racing is such a mental sport, it is important to always be in the right mindset, and if I want to become a professional I need to act like one on and off the track.

This winter I have focused on three main areas in the gym, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and returning strength to my injured shoulders. In addition to playing rec-league hockey, I have been doing my best to make it to the gym 3 times a week. I start each work out with a hard 1km run (best time so far, 4min 15sec), and usually end up with a 15-20 minute bike ride to work on my cardio fitness. I then go through a series of strength exercises, paying particular attention to my core and shoulders. I have had several shoulder dislocations from hockey (left and right), and had surgery to repair the right shoulder in 08, and I continue to struggle with both of them to this day. This winter I finally made the commitment to finish the physio I started after my surgery and have seen great results. I have improved my range of motion, get pain far less often, and can finally throw a ball again which is a big accomplishment. The last thing I need is to suddenly pop my arm out while in a racecar, either from a crash, or a quick jerk at the wheel, so this has been an important part of my training. Finally having good flexibility and core strength can help save you from an injury during an accident, and will serve me well if I ever reach my goals of competing in the world’s big endurance races.

After having trained pretty hard all winter, it was extremely gratifying to go through the physical fitness testing at the 2010 TDI Cup driver selection last month. I was able to achieve a top score on the VO2 max test which I was very proud of, and although I am still far from the most flexible driver, my flexibility scores were a huge improvement on where I had been a year earlier.

With about 7 weeks to go before I head to Virginia for the first race, I plan to ramp up my training to 4 or 5 days a week, to make sure that I spend at least a portion of every day in a mental space where I am preparing for the upcoming season. Today its a beautiful 10 Degreees Celsius here in Calgary, (about 52F) and with any luck its a sign of an early spring and I will be able to get some practice laps in a go kart before the end of April.

I’ll also be dusting off the old simulator wheel to start logging laps in the TDI Cup car on the Iracing Simulator. I used this alot before the first race last year, and it really gave me a leg up, knowing the twists and turns of VIR’s undulating layout before I got there. For anyone who hasn’t seen iracing, check out this video of the Jetta at VIR, I assure you it is VERY close to the real thing.

(BTW: The sounds on IRacing are extremely realistic. The turbo in the real car is so effective, you basically just hear a symphony of tire squeal!)

7 weeks is still a long time, but the sun is shining, the snow is melting, and Im getting excited.

Cheers,

Jake Thompson

www.jakethompson.ca

PS. OH CANADA! Thanks Sid!