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Now that you know what you are going to do on race day, and what you need for race day, here are the final tips leading up to, and through, your next long-course race.
The Night Before
| • | Have a good, sensible meal. Now is not the time to try some magic elixir or anything else funky. |
| • | Put this on your mirror: Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast. An action performed smoothly and deliberately is faster than an action that is forced and rushed. All day, especially in T1, take a few seconds to gather yourself and then go about the task at hand. Chances are you will make fewer mistakes and be faster in the end. |
Race Day
| • | Read mirror: Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast. Relax, take deep breaths, make slow deliberate movements. Get into a rhythm and let it carry you to the race. |
| • | Have a large breakfast of 600-800 calories. You want to replace all of the calories that you burned while you were sleeping. If you think you will be nervous and unable to eat a big meal, either wake up even earlier, eat, and go back to sleep, eat less, or maybe use a meal replacement drink. |
| • | Plan your morning so that you get to the race very early. You can fix a lot of problems if you have time to fix them. Show up pressed for time and you'll just be rushed. |
| • | Set up your Transition area and then ask someone to take a look and offer any suggestions. |
| • | Check to make sure your bike is in the proper gear. |
| • | Do powermeter offset, pre-ride flight check, etc. |
Start Time—Minus 40-50 Minutes
| • | Go for a very short run, specifically to accomplish the following: view the Transition area—from swim entrance to your bike—then from your bike to the bike exit. Know where your rack is, how to get there, and where to head once you have your bike. Also, walk from the bike entrance to your rack, so you know where to go when you come in from the bike. |
| • | Find the entrance to the Transition area from the bike course. Walk it and look for hazards or landmarks. Don't rely on course markings or workers to tell you where to go. Learn it yourself. You are responsible for knowing where to go. |
Start Time—Minus 20 Minutes
| • | Take one last look at all of your gear: the essentials are helmet, sunglasses, shoes (bike and run), bike in proper gear, air in tires. |
| • | Put on your wetsuit, spray the legs with Pam (but don't get any on your hands). |
| • | Take a gel with lots of water to top of your glycogen (optional). |
| • | Suggestion: wear your race singlet under your wetsuit (trying to put on Lycra over wet skin is a disaster). |
| • | Walk to race start. When you get there, ask someone to zip you up. |
Start Time—Minus 10-15 Minutes
| • | Get in the water and warm-up (or just hang out at the start). |
| • | If navigation looks like it might be tricky, get in earlier. Specifically, pick out navigation markers above the horizon, and try to get a view of the exit from the water. |
| • | If it is an ocean swim, practice 2-3 surf entries and ask the lifeguards if there is any current. You may want to adjust your start location or planned line. |
| • | Get out of the water 3-5 minutes before start. |
| • | Self-seed: if you know you are a strong swimmer, get in front. If you're a weak swimmer, get in the back or to the side. Use common sense here. |
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