Fitness is only one element of racing. Execution of the event itself often comes down to other factors.
Drawing on experiences of my own events but also the numerous lessons learned from coaching over the years here’s my top 3 tips.
Know the course
- Understand the overall route, including loading a gpx file, but then get into lots of details.
- Profile – Is the route climbing, flat, rolling?
- Awareness – What are major landmarks and how do they link to elevation changes. Will you always know you are on course?
- Context – What about the surroundings – open, forest, urban? Will they offer shade and shelter from the wind?
- Environmental –
- What is the dominant wind direction at the time of your event?
- Where will the sun be coming from at race time? Into your eyes?
- Layout
- What is the layout of transition? How far is transition from waters edge to bike? What is the conditions underfoot?
- Where are the mount/dismount lines?
- What is the immediate course just after mounting – select the right gear
- What is the route immediately before dismount line – where will you prep your shoe removal?
- Course Assistance
- Nutrition – Where are the aid stations? How are these arranged?
- Mechanics – Are there special locations?
- Special Needs
- Course Specials –
- Are there any special areas to note – mandatory zones for foot down stops, no overtaking?
- Penalty box locations
- Littering zones
- Racing
- Key racing sections like hill climbs, technical twisting sections – where can you challenge or drop competitors
- How is the finishing sections – if it comes close to the line and you are racing another person where can you make your final surge, can you hold it to the finish, where will they break?
- Disciplines specific examples
- Swim – What is the tide impact, height, speed, direction?
- Bike – What is the tarmac like on the bike?
- Run – What is the best shoe type for the run conditions?
This list could go on and on! However, from experience maybe 1 in 5 events I’ll get feedback on something about an athletes experience of not being familiar with the course or part of the set-up. Use the race guide, use google maps, RidewithGPS, street-view/satellite view, youtube videos and physically checking the course on-before race day.
Know and race your personal plan
- Create your own race plan – this can contain details like:
- Nutrition
- Pacing
- Kit – especially clothing
- Tactics/strategy
- Personal mantras or race cues
- Race it – It is super easy to be influenced by others. Usually this is on pacing. It’s almost always better to race your own plan and pacing. However, if you want to be flexible with racing others then go through this mental checklist and add it to your plan so that it is a deliberate decision ahead of time.
- Post race it is invaluable to create a race report and review what’s worked, what didn’t, what new ideas you have, key data points such as splits etc and how you felt throughout the training and event experience.
Self-belief
- The events we do are often extremely challenging.
- Those who perform and execute the strongest are those that can retain a sense of personal belief.
- This maybe challenged during adversity either physical or race specific.
- More frequent exposure to this adversity allows you to draw upon those experiences however there will always be new stretches and challenges.
- Retaining a sense of “I can, I will” makes a fundemental difference whether you wish to complete, compete or podium.
Have fun – it’s all learning and a huge privilege to race. Sometimes preperation like above can seem a little overwhelming. Step by step we can all evolve our racing.
ENJOY your next event!
PS – If you want to read the AI version of this post here’s an alternative https://poe.com/s/4RPvR4lDIFNktBWdeHY4