What to do if you are racing soon
The last few weeks before a race can be a difficult time for endurance athletes, whether you are new to the sport or more experienced. The difficulty of this time period can come about from over thinking, making rushed decisions, or panic training. As a triathlete of 20 years, I have made mistakes during the last few weeks before a race that have severely impacted my performance. And as a coach of 5 years, I have seen athletes make similar decisions that impacted their race day. Here are my top recommendations to get yourself squared away before race day.
Make a list, and check it twice… three times… maybe four or five times
One of the best pages on the Playtri website is our Race Day Checklist. It gives you a break down of what to have in your transition bag for race day, a checklist for travel races, what to pack in your Ironman Gear Bags, and things to do (like bike maintenance, recovery, and transition practice) starting 4 weeks out from an Ironman. Even though I’ve been doing this sport for two decades, I still use a checklist for almost every race. The races where I didn’t use a checklist? Yep… I forgot something important like ear plugs, race number, nutrition, etc.
Visualization/meditation
Starting a few weeks before a big race (70.3 or full Ironman) or a few days before a smaller race (Olympic or Sprint), I pick up my visualization and meditation practice. 10 minutes a day, I try to calm my mind and relax. For visualization I look at the course maps, any race videos on YouTube from previous years, and then use my imagination to do two things: imagine things going well, imagine things going poorly and handling it well. It is so incredibly helpful to know what a good day can look like and also know you can handle difficult situations that arise on race day.
Inspect my gear and replace/repair as needed
Starting 4 weeks before your race, look over all your race gear (bike, helmet, wetsuit, goggles, run shoes, bike shoes, race kit, etc.) and make sure everything is in fine working order. Schedule bike service a week or two before race day. Buy replacement for worn gear. Nothing is more stressful than showing up on race day not knowing if something is in good working condition.
Pay attention to your food intake and hydration
You’ve put in a lot of hard work and made big efforts to get to race day. In the last few weeks before a race it is possible to feel stressed and overwhelmed and as training hours decrease, stress eating can increase. Likewise, we can also decrease the amount of water we drink because we aren’t training as much. It is important to stay hydrated and adequately fueled the last few weeks before race day.
If you have any questions about anything in this article or want to learn more about our different coaching options, please feel free to contact met at jim.rowe@playtri.com. Happy training and racing!
Jim Rowe is a Playtri Level 4 Coach and Coach Education Lead, a USAT LI Certified Coach, an NASM Certified Personal Trainer, and an Ironman and 70.3 World Championship Qualifier who works with adult athletes of all abilities from beginners to IRONMAN World Championship qualifiers. Learn more about Jim at www.playtri.com/jim-rowe