You Trained for Months. But Race Day Had Other Plans
I had a post-race conversation with an athlete of mine a while back about a 70.3 that went totally awry. He was flabbergasted. He trained hard. He did 90% of the prescribed workouts, strength sessions, and recovery. He tracked his nutrition and hydration on all his big training sessions. And then on race day he hit the wall due to poor pacing and under fueling.
Training alone is not enough. Race day execution is a skill and like all skills, race day execution can be trained.
If this has happened to you, welcome to the club. This has happened to every triathlete at some point in their racing. Here’s the post mortem I did with this athlete.
What did you eat the 72 hours leading up to the race? It takes roughly 72 hours for food to move through your system. What you eat three days before race day can have a direct impact on race day performance. This is also highly individualistic. Every body is different. I worked with an athlete once who could eat an entire medium pepperoni pizza the night before a race and not have any problems. I have another athlete who eats the exact same thing for most every meal three days before a race because eating anything else causes GI distress.
How was your hydration and rest 72 hours leading up to the race? Larger races that have expos and clinics leading up to the race can be fun. You can pick up new gear, snacks, kit, etc. But they also take a lot of energy and focus. If you are spending a lot of time on your feet leading into the race, then buyer beware. Get what you need at the expo and then get your feet up. And make sure you hydrate! One athlete of mine spent a lot of time at the race expo the day before his biggest race of the year and got back to his hotel room dehydrated, he ended up pushing fluids the night before the race and struggled on race day because of poor sleep and muscle cramps. Get what you need at the expo and then get out!
Were there any disruptions/stressors the week before the race? A stressful situation at work, your kid gets sick, you go out for a late night date with your spouse. All of these things — either positive or negative — can impact your race day and make it more difficult to focus and execute. Some of these things you can’t control (work stress and child illness), but maybe save the late night date for after the race.
How did you handle the excitement of race day? Race directors and announcers do a great job of hyping people up at the beginning of races. Don’t give into the hype! Remember a perfect race is about execution, not how much energy you waste before the race starts or chasing down someone on the swim, bike, or first mile of the run. Form on the swim, patience on the bike, and build your effort on the run.
Did you use alerts on your bike computer and watch to remind you to do things? I encourage all my athletes remember KISS on race day. Keep It Simple and Systematic. Use alerts on your bike computer to remind you to drink every 5 minutes and to eat every 15-20 minutes. If you have a Heart Rate or power target, set an alert so that you don’t go over it. On the run, do the same thing to help manage your effort and nutrition and hydration intake.
Did you practice mindfulness and visualization before the race? To help manage expectations, hype, and challenges on race day it can be incredibly helpful to practice mindfulness meditation for 10-15 minutes each day leading into your race. Being mindful helps you to focus on what you can control and not stress about the rest. And visualization is helpful in the days leading up to the race. Visualize what a perfect race looks like from an execution standpoint. And then visualize how you will calmly handle a situation when things don’t go according to plan (your goggles get knocked off, you drop your nutrition, you get a flat tire, etc.). Or you can do like I did before the 2023 Ironman World Championship: watch clips of sports movies like Hoosiers to help calm the nerves!
Remember: a perfect race isn’t about placements or qualifications (although those are really nice when they happen!), it is about execution.
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Jim Rowe is a Playtri Level 5 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 who are chasing PRs, moving up to long course racing, or want to qualify for a world championship. Learn more about Jim at www.playtri.com/jim-rowe.