DICKINSON: Time to Get the Gear Packed

I mentioned last month that this entry would shed some light as to how the entire Moorespeed team and I are preparing for the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama season to resume on July 31 at Road America. 

Our season technically gets underway at the end of the month. Although, in a sense it really starts for us next week with our two-day test which will also take place at Road America.

I’ll admit, it’s been exciting to be going through the paces once again and getting ready for our season to resume. 

Finally being able to do simple things like creating a run plan for our test, has a different feel to it. Just in the sense that everyone at Moorespeed, including myself, are eager to get the ball rolling and get back out on track. I am sure this is a common theme for all race teams right now as well.

Next week’s test is going to be fairly important with regards to our season. Not only is it going to be the first time since March the Moorespeed team and I have been at the track together, it may be one of our only opportunities to test this season.

With the combination of a very condensed race schedule, transportation logistics, and being responsible to our budget, we are looking forward to making the most out of these two days. 

The guys at Moorespeed have spent a tremendous amount of time making sure all the boxes have been checked and everything is ready to go on my Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car. All that is left to do is load the trailer and then the next stop is Road America!

Like many others, my itch to get back in the seat of the race car has been substantial. A couple weeks ago, I caved in on my temptation and competed in a regional kart race in Texas close to where I live. 

The series did a great job working with COVID-19 guidelines in a manner that resembled various forms of motorsport across the world.  

To be quite honest, just to be back in a racing environment was refreshing. It was the first real world event that I have competed in since March. Even though many situations off track were adjusted due to the pandemic, on track we still put on a great show for the spectators and I had quite a bit of fun. 

Let’s just say that there was an abundance of social distancing off track, but on track it was a slightly different story! 

During this pause in the action the past five months, I have used this as an opportunity to improve upon “my program”. One area that I’ve been extremely focused on is my physical fitness.

In my previous columns I have documented some of my progress and what I have been implementing into my routine. Since the last time I mentioned it, I have ramped up my fitness routine even further.

A few weeks ago, I connected with our newest team member William Jabour. William has his own business in the Austin area, and he also competes as a triathlete. He is very well respected in the Austin running community and coaches a variety of athletes. His focus is to work with those who are competing in marathons or other high caliber events. William, welcome to the team!  

We quickly hit it off and got to work immediately on my additional layer of fitness training. The focus has been on running. However, we have recently added cycling as well.

Currently, a typical mileage total is five to eight miles per day. The key though is how that mileage is accumulated. Some days it’s an easy run straight through. Other days it is a combination of an actual workout with tempo runs, drills, sprints, etc. and at the end we total the number of miles.

This past week was the first time I’ve done the cycling workouts. William took the same structured approach that we have for running and adapted it for cycling. I’ll be honest, the workouts have been difficult, and I am still sore! 

All in all, the past few weeks I’ve been able to make some great improvements. I’m really looking forward to seeing where I end up in a few months as well as seeing how it helps me on track. 

As I mentioned earlier, next week our season gets back underway with the test at Road America. Time to finally get a haircut and get the gear bag packed!