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Preparing for your triathlon race week

This is an excerpt from Unlocking Triathlon by Alison Freeman.

Getting ready for race day begins a week or so before your triathlon, when you first start to draft your race week plan. But most of the pre-race preparation itself takes place in the few days leading up to the triathlon.

Travel

If you are traveling for your race, you’ll want to think through the timing and details of your travel logistics as well as transportation, lodging, and meals at your destination. If you are driving, use the drive time to the race venue and your desired arrival time to determine your departure time. If you are flying or taking the train or a bus, note its departure time and plan your departure from home accordingly. Think through food for the day you are in transit, so your meal quality and timing aren’t negatively affected by travel. You’ll also want to gather all the details for your stay at the race venue, including your rental car, hotel or rental home, and especially details about the nearest grocery store and restaurants, so you know how you’ll handle your pre-race meals and race-morning breakfast.

Tasks

Prepping for a race that covers three sports, including the gear-intensive sport of cycling, requires quite a few tasks. They all serve a purpose, so let’s walk through each of them.

Read the Athlete Guide

Every race director will publish an athlete guide, usually at least a week in advance of race day. The athlete guide will typically include information such as the athlete check-in times and locations; when transition opens and closes on race morning; the start time and format; and the swim, bike, and run course details. You know, all of the important stuff. Whether this is your first time doing a triathlon – or this triathlon – or your fifteenth, read the athlete guide, preferably a week or more before race day. If you’ve done this event before, you’ll be reassured that nothing has changed, and if the event is new to you, then you’ll learn everything you need to know about the logistics and details for this particular event. Keep in mind that race directors are typically unforgiving if you miss something because you didn’t take the time to read the athlete guide.

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Setting Your Support Crew Up for Success

As you think through your schedule and tasks for race weekend and start to anticipate how race day might unfold, you can also think through how your support crew – your friends, family, or other individuals who will accompany you over race weekend – can support you. Because while they are eager and well-meaning, unless they are a triathlete, they likely won’t have a clue about what the weekend or race day will involve. And unless they know you exceptionally well, their best intentions may not align with what you need.

The best way to set your support crew up for success is to explain what support looks like to you. So, as you run through your tasks and schedule, note where you’d value their help and in what form – whether it’s carrying gear, parking the car, pumping your tires, or picking up dinner. And as you think through race day, share information about spectator-friendly points on the course, along with the words you would find most encouraging – and even what you’d prefer not to hear. Make sure to share the athlete guide, because it often provides helpful information about road closures and spectator access to the race venue. Sharing your race plan and your ideas on where and how their support will be most meaningful will give your support crew the tools they need to succeed – and will help you feel supported rather than distracted by their presence.

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Athlete Check-In

Athlete check-in (also called packet pick-up) is when you receive the packet containing the athlete-identifying items required on race day: typically a swim cap, stickers for your bike frame and helmet, a race bib, and a timing chip. Your athlete packet also usually includes race swag, such as a T-shirt (we love race swag!). Most triathlons offer athlete check-in the day before the race, and sometimes multiple options over multiple days beforehand. Some triathlons also offer athlete check-in on race morning, while others explicitly do not. Be sure to read the athlete guide to confirm the athlete check-in times and locations for your event. Virtually all triathlons will require that you show identification to verify that you are picking up your own packet and may also require proof of your annual membership or a one-day membership (typically purchased at the time of registration) with the event’s national governing body for triathlon.

Athlete Briefing

If your race director offers an athlete briefing, whether this is your first time doing a triathlon – or this triathlon – or your 15th, attend the briefing. These sessions often cover much of the information in the athlete guide but typically provide additional information on the specifics of the race course. Those details, along with other helpful hints and tidbits, can improve your understanding of what to expect on race day, how to handle race-day logistics, and how to approach the course.

Bike Drop-Off

Most sprint- and Olympic-distance triathlons, as well as locally-produced half-distance triathlons, will have you bring your bike into transition on race morning. Races organized by large-scale race production companies, however, may require that you drop off your bike in transition the day before the race. Be sure to read the athlete guide to learn whether you need to drop off your bike before race day and, if so, during what time window.

Gear Prep

Triathlon involves a lot of gear, and prepping it for race day is a crucial component of race preparation. Use the following list to confirm that your gear is ready for your event, ideally a week before your triathlon, so you have time to address any issues that come up during your gear check:

• Tri kit (or whatever you’re wearing for race day) fits and isn’t overly worn.
• Wetsuit (if you’re using one) fits and is free from tears. If you haven’t worn your wetsuit in over 6 months, soak it for 15 minutes to loosen the neoprene.
• Goggles are leak-free and reasonably fog-resistant. (A drop of baby shampoo, smeared into each lens and then rinsed out, helps immensely in combating fog.)
• Bike is clean and in good working order, including the drivetrain, shifting, brakes, and tires. You can pump your tires to your desired air pressure the day before the race. If your bike has electronic shifting or a power meter, charge them to full the night before the race.
• Bike helmet is free of cracks and buckles securely.
• Run shoes aren’t overly worn and have sufficient tread.
• Watch (if you use one) is functioning properly – and you know how to use the multisport mode, if available. Charge it to full the night before the race.
• Fueling, hydration, and electrolyte product supplies are sufficient for race-day needs.

Race-Day Packing

The afternoon before your race – or in advance of traveling – you’ll want to lay out and pack all of your race-day gear. You want to avoid at all costs the possibility of showing up race morning without a key piece of equipment, so make a list and check it twice. (Fun fact: My showing-up-for-an-exam-without-having-studied dreams morphed into showing-up-for-a-triathlon-without-my-bike dreams once I entered the sport.) You can think through your packing list by imagining your race day from start to finish: pre-race attire, fueling, and hydration; transition gear; swim attire and gear; bike attire, gear, fueling, and hydration; run attire, gear, fueling, and hydration; and post-race attire, fueling, and hydration.

Meals

Chapter 7 discussed pre-race fueling and hydrating in detail, so this is your reminder to revisit that chapter and translate your pre-race fueling plan to part one of your race week plan. Remember that your pre-race fueling is as much about what to eat as it is what not to eat, especially for those with a more sensitive stomach. And be sure to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, increasing electrolytes along with fluids.

Sleep

Sleeping the night before your triathlon can be anywhere from mildly challenging to extremely difficult. Thankfully, the night before the night before your triathlon is actually the more important night of sleep. So, start by setting yourself up for a solid 8 hours – or whatever a good night of sleep looks like for you – 2 nights before your triathlon. Then, the night before, don’t let worrying about not sleeping compound your pre-race anxiety. You’ll get as much sleep as you get, and you will be fine. Do try to get to bed early and ensure a calm environment that supports good sleep habits. And as you’re in bed waiting to fall asleep – the night before the race and the whole week leading into it – use the time to visualize your race day, from the time you arrive at the race venue through the moment you cross your finish line.

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A Few Words On Pre-Race Nerves

Everyone gets nervous before a race – and that’s okay. Those nerves show that the race means something to you. But that doesn’t mean the nervous feelings are enjoyable, particularly when they manifest as a pesky voice that amplifies several – often unwarranted and irrational – concerns. Your instinct may be to engage with this pesky voice in an attempt to silence it, but that strategy is unlikely to succeed. It turns out this voice acts much like a toddler: It throws tantrums that are wholly disproportionate to the situation, and it cannot be reasoned with.

The best course of action when your toddler throws a tantrum is typically just to let it happen. (Because if you try to reason with an irrational toddler, you get nowhere.) So when you hear the toddler whining in the background, go ahead and give it the floor to spell out all of its concerns and misgivings. And then just listen as the toddler expresses its largely unwarranted and irrational concerns, on repeat. After a few minutes, you’ll realize the toddler actually doesn’t have anything terribly meaningful to say, and the toddler will get tired and quiet down. At that point – because you trust your training and preparation for your Big, Scary, Awesome Goal – you can tell the toddler, “Thanks, but I’ve got this,” and move on with your day.

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VISUALIZATION CUE

Objective: Use visualization to prepare for race day.

Coaching Direction: Close your eyes and picture your race day, from the time you arrive at the venue through the moment you cross the finish line, incorporating all the race-morning preparation and race execution notes from chapters 13 and 14 and parts one and two of your race week plan:

• Visualize arriving at the race venue, setting up your transition area, and walking to the swim start.
• Visualize the swim start, the first 200 adrenaline-fueled yards or meters, settling into your planned effort level, sighting to find the buoys, executing buoy turns, reaching the swim finish, standing up, and exiting the water.
• Visualize the swim-to-bike transition: taking off your cap and goggles, finding your transition spot, taking off your wetsuit, putting on your bike gear, grabbing your bike, and walking or jogging to the bike start.
• Visualize the bike start, riding with confidence, fueling along the way, and ultimately returning to transition.
• Visualize the bike-to-run transition: walking or jogging through transition to your spot; reracking your bike; trading your bike gear for your run gear; and walking, jogging, or running toward the run start.
• Visualize the run start, running with discipline, fueling along the way, and ultimately the finish line.

MANAGING PRE-RACE NERVES CUE

Objective: To work with, instead of against, your pre-race nervous energy.

Coaching Direction: Be cognizant of your pre-race inner dialogue, observing it and recognizing it for what it is rather than being drawn into unhelpful internal conversations. Acknowledge your fears and give space to your feelings rather than shying away from them, while simultaneously sitting in the confidence you have earned through your hard work and dedication to your training.

For as much fuss as I’ve made about everything involved in pre-race preparation, the day before your triathlon will actually be very quiet. You’ll pick up your athlete packet, maybe drop off your bike, and prep and pack your gear. That’s it. The remainder of the day, you’ll stay off your feet, out of the sun, and sip your electrolyte drink. You can also use this time to review everything race-day specific in your race week plan, since you won’t be bringing it along with you on race morning.

Incorporating Race Week Preparation Into Part One of Your Race Week Plan

You’ll want to capture all of the race week preparation details we ­discussed – the travel logistics, wide range of tasks, and notes about fueling and hydrating – within part one of your race week plan. And you’ll want to do this with a high level of detail and precision, as the more you put into part one, the less you’ll need to think when it’s time to kick off the race week activities.

Given the amount of information and level of detail we’re planning to include in part one, starting with a template or sample plan can be really helpful. Good thing we can reference part one of our friend Alex’s Race Week Plan for their first Olympic-distance triathlon as an example.

More Excerpts From Unlocking Triathlon

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