Ace Your Race: Racing Tips and Techniques for Triathletes

It’s what all the training is all about! Racing.

No one trains to train – training is the process of preparing to compete.

Elite professional athletes aim for one thing in competition – consistency. And consistency comes from knowing:

• Knowing the course
• Knowing you have done the training
• Knowing your equipment
• Knowing your body and what it is capable of
• Knowing what you need to do get yourself mentally and physically read to race
• Knowing yourself

Here are some ideas to help you know how to get the best out of race day.

Race Specific Training

1. Specific course Simulation

Learn as much as possible about the course you are planning to race, then design a training course that duplicates as much as possible the conditions, terrain and environment you will experience on race day.

For example, if the actual race course has three long steady hills, find a circuit near your home or regular training venues that includes three long steady hills of approximately the same length and grade as the race hills.

2. Learn to pace race pace

In the final weeks of training, aim to include some race pace specific work in your training. If you are aiming for a 22 minute 1500 metre swim, include intervals at 1 minute 28 seconds (22 minute) pace. If you want to run 40 minutes for 10 kms, go to the track and learn how to run 96 second 400s (i.e. 40 minute) pace. The final weeks are all about teaching your body to be comfortable swimming, riding and running at a specific pace.

Triathlon is all about efficiency . Learning to move easily at a specific pace. Efficiency comes from learning to move at that pace consistently in training.

3. It’s your warm up

In the final four weeks before your race, practice your pre race warm up routine in training three times each week so that it becomes second nature.

Why warm up?
From a scientific standpoint we know that an effective warm up:

• Increases body temperature
• Increases heart rate
• Increases energy producing enzyme activity
• Stimulates nerves and muscles to start firing

The important thing is to a warm up that is right for you.

As a general guide try the S.M.A.R.T.S. warm up routine:

S: Stretch key muscles. Move slowly and easily and hold the stretches for 30 – 45 seconds. Concentrate on slow, deep breathing while you stretch.
M: Muscles and Moving. Get warm by moving. Walk, job, skip…..move!
A: Swing your Arms, stretch them, reach tall above your head. Think “tall” and “long”
R: Ride or run, not long or fast just enough to loosen up, get your legs warm and the chance to do a last minute double check of your equipment.
T: Think about your race (mental warm up). Think about your start. Imagine how you will feel on the bike. Warm up that brain!
S: Stretch again.

4. Too slow, too fast

The most common training mistake most triathletes make is to do their fast work too slow and their slow work too fast. In other words, most triathletes do speed development work and endurance work at inappropriate speeds, then when it comes to race day, they have only one gear……as hard as they can go for as long as they can go!

The reason behind this often lies in the lifestyle of the age group triathlete. Agers usually have limited time for training owing to work, study, family and other commitments so they like to come to the pool or go to the track, train for an hour and leave feeling fatigued and believing they have done a real workout, ie they want to feel tired.

For most Agers, this means they are doing the majority of their training at or close to what might be termed threshold as it is the fastest possible speed they can maintain for the duration of the training time available.

Whilst this may seem to be a good training strategy and it may appear that the athlete is working hard, in reality it is an inappropriate intensity level for most Agers as it does not really allow the athlete time to develop the five key elements of competitive triathlon or T.E.S.S.T:

• Technique: The development of Good technique is fundamental to long term success
• Endurance: The ability to sustain high speed throughout the race and be “fatigue resistant” comes from a solid base of endurance training
• Skills: The development of triathlon racing skills: Breathing and feel in swimming, pedaling, cornering, braking, gear selection and climbing in cycling and moving fast with relaxation in running.
• Speed: Learning to move fast.
• Transitions: The fourth discipline of triathlon.

Training at the appropriate speeds and intensity levels allows the triathlete the opportunity to develop these elements. Always training at threshold tends to reinforce poor skills and inefficient technique as the body is constantly under pressure and fatigue and only serves to compromise racing success.

The four most important training speeds are:

• Very easy, relaxed recovery work at 60-65% intensity
• Relaxed, rhythmic endurance work at 65-75% intensity
• Race pace specific work at target race speeds
• Speed development work

Forget all that stuff about working at three different thresholds and five different aerobic speeds. Keep it simple, develop endurance, develop speed, learn to sustain target race pace and recover.

Peaking and Tapering

1. The Big Three

The three keys to a good taper are:

• Maintain your frequency of training – don’t cut back on sessions
• Don’t be afraid to work hard – doing some work at race specific pace is very important during taper
• Significantly decrease the amount of training in each session.

Or….do the same numbers of sessions, with the same intensity level but make each session shorter.

2. Rest

A good general rule to remember: “If in doubt, rest”. Everyone experiences ups and downs in taper. A common mistake is to try and work through the taper flat periods by going back into hard training half way through the taper. Once you have started your taper, relax and allow your body time to recover and adapt.

A good taper comes from trust: trust in yourself and the hard work and training you have done. Trust in your early morning rides. Trust in your long runs. Trust in those swim sessions where you thought your lungs would burst. Trust in your preparation, then once you begin tapering…..if in doubt – rest.

3. Feel good

Do a “feel good” session two days before the race. A “feel good” is a session where you aim to feel fast and light with minimal effort. For example, if your target speed for 10 km is 5 minutes per kilometer (and you have done the appropriate work to make this happen) go to a running track, put on your light race shoes, warm up, stretch and do four or five 200 metre efforts at target race pace (with a long rest between each one). The aim is to leave the track with a smile on your face and enjoying how great it feels to be able to run at race pace easily. Remember – you want to experience easy speed at the end of the taper.

4. Developing a race plan is vital for success

There are several ways of developing your own race plan, including:

Pace method: In training learn to hold a specific pace for each leg and maintain that pace throughout the race using a watch, cycle computer or other measurement devices.

Race method: Aim to complete each leg of the race in a pre determined time. At each transition, take a moment to think about how things are going, how you feel and how you will attack the next leg.

In the end, develop a race plan which suits you and your style of racing.

5. Play the Wotif Game!

The Wotif Game is a great way to prepare mentally and physically for the race.

Sit quietly and write down all your Wotifs (what ifs?) no matter how silly they may sound. For example:

• Wotif I get kicked around in the race and I lose my goggles?
• Wotif I am racing and I take a wrong turn?
• Wotif I can’t find my own transition area?

Then, write down next to your Wotifs, a strategy on how to overcome them.

For example:

• Wotif I get kicked around in the race and I lose my goggles?

“In training I will practice swimming without goggles. I will also practice starting in deep water with my training partners around me so I become comfortable being jostled and bumped in the water”

• Wotif I am racing and I take a wrong turn?

“I will arrive at the course early and walk / ride over the course the day before the race. I will also take time to meet with a race official and discuss the course with them so I am clear on all the “tricky” bits likely to cause problems. I will also talk to other triathletes who have done this race before about how they dealt with the course”

• Wotif I can’t find my own transition area?

“I will place something distinctive like a flag or ribbon near my transition if I am allowed to do so. I will ask a friend, supporting me from outside the transition area to stand in a direct line with my transition so I can find it. I will get to transition early on race morning and look for familiar landmarks, trees, markers etc which will lead me direct to my own transition easily during the race”

For every Wotif you can think of, there are many, many solutions.

Pre Race Routines

1. Routine

Go through the pre race warm up routine that you have practiced in training. Pre race routines are common with high performance athletes. They give a sense of certainty and comfort to help overcome pre race nerves and ensure you have control over your pre race environment.

Routine brings consistency – consistency provides opportunity – opportunity provides the prepared triathlete with the chance to achieve great things.

Anxiety comes from uncertainty so a well rehearsed pre race routine helps keep you calm and relaxed during pre race pressures.

Try the ABCs routine:

A: Arrive early and set up your transition area.
B: Bike and equipment checked and stored in transition.
C: Confidence take some time to sit by yourself or go for a jog and think about three great sessions you have done to prepare for this race. Think about all the positive things you have achieved in training over the past month.
S: Swim preparation and warm up so that you are ready to start well.

2. Do your own warm up!

The aim of a good warm up is to feel “ready”. For some people “ready” is a few quad stretches against a tree and a hot coffee. For others it is twenty minutes on a wind trainer, a ten minute jog and a short swim. In training learn what makes you feel “ready”, practice your warm up in training and put it into action on race day.

3. Save it for the race

Warm up gets you feeling ready to race: it is not an end in itself. There is no point racing around transition / warm up area at high speed trying to psyche out the opposition and wasting valuable energy. Save it!

Pre-Race Kit Checklist

1. Try The Five “S” Pre Race Checklist

• Swim: clearly understand how you will start your race, what line you will take to the first turn, what pace you will start at, identify landmarks to help you navigate the shortest possible lines, think about where you will settle in the pack etc. How you start can have a big impact on how you will finish.
• Stretch: Spend a few minutes loosening and stretching – particularly upper body stretches. Breathe long and slow (about 5-6 breaths per minute) while you are stretching to help you relax and stay focused.
• Spares: Make sure you have a spare tube / single and all you need to change it (and obviously you have learnt how to change a tube / single as part of your training and preparation for race day!!!!).
• Sustenance: Check that your drink bottles are on your bike and they are full with water / sports drink. If it is a longer race check that your fuel (sports bars / gels) are taped to the bike in a convenient place.
• Safety: Double check tyres for pressure, burrs and signs of wear and tear. Check your helmet, straps and clips. Check brakes, pads, cables and tension.

2. Set up your transition area

Use a bright towel, flag or shirt to help identify your own transition area. Set up the transition so that it “makes sense”. For example, if you get off your bike and run with it on your right hand side, place your running shoes to the left of your transition area so you can rack your bike and drop straight down to your shoes (i.e. rather than having to move around the bike to get to the shoes).

The Race Itself

1. Too fast – too soon

Without doubt, the most common mistake inexperienced triathletes make on race day is to get carried away with the atmosphere surrounding the event combined with how good they feel after a period of reduced training in their taper and go too fast too early!

Take it easy early on. Relax. Get into your rhythm. Get a feel for the race and how your body feels. Think about your breathing and your technique. Stick to your race plan and your target race pace. If you feel great late in the run feel free to build speed and enjoy a fast finish.

2. Key words

Have two or three key words that you use to keep you focused during each leg of the race, for example:

• Swim: Long and strong (strokes)
• Ride: Smooth and easy (pedaling)
• Run: Relax and flow

Concentrating on these key words really helps when you start to feel the pressure and pain of fatigue during the race.

3. Forget Foes!

In non drafting races, forget about your competition. Too many triathletes waste time, energy and effort looking around for others competing in their age group category and play the “counting game” – i.e. “how many in my age group are in front / behind me?”

Concentrate on the process of being a triathlete. Think about skills and technique and breathing and relaxation. Do this and the result will take care of itself.
Stick to your own plan and your own race. Control the controllable; your speed, your rhythm, your relaxation, your gear selection, your refueling and drinking: race yourself and forget everyone else.

4. If you don’t drink on the bike you probably won’t drink at all

Research into rehydration behavior tells us that most triathletes only drink effectively while riding. This means that you need to plan to drink while riding by developing a rehydration schedule.

Mental tips

1. Mantra

Coming into transition have a transition mantra. Mantras are used in yoga to provide clarity of thought and they play the same role in triathlon. 500 metres out from transition start thinking Bike, Shoes, Helmet, Go or similar four – five word mantra to give you clarity in the chaos of transition. This one means:

• Bike: Racked correctly and safely
• Shoes: Visualise where they are and how you will put them on
• Helmet: Unclipped and placed safely out of the way in your transition area
• Go: Get out of transition quickly and safely and into your race rhythm as soon as possible.

Your Transition mantra will often be determined by the rules governing the race so carefully and thoroughly check the rules before you settle on a transition routine.

2. Relax, Relax, Relax

The secret to going faster is not trying harder…it is relaxing more. When you “grit your teeth” and tense up trying to pedal or run “harder” in an effort to pick up speed, you actually get the opposite result. The faster you want to go, the more relaxed you have to be.

3. Tough times, tough people

Triathlon is a tough sport – there is no getting away from it.

However, if it was easy everyone could do it. In training learn to enjoy the tough times – revel in the rough times.

Training should be more demanding, more challenging and tougher than any race could be. Embrace hills and tough climbs. Enjoy those early mornings and freezing cold rides in the rain.

The thing that makes you special as a triathlete is your ability to strive and achieve where others fall: for your ability to meet pain, discomfort and adversity head on and overcome whatever challenges come your way.

Post-Race Advice

1. Recovery

Five words – Recover – Recover – Recover – Recover – Recover.
Just as you develop an individual pre race warm up and routine, you need to also develop a post race / recovery routine.

As a guide remember: R.E.S.T.I.N.G:

R: Rehydrate with water / sports drinks
E: Eat simple carbs (e.g. fruit) and some protein initially followed by complex carbs over the next hour or so.
S: Stretch and warm down. Go for a walk, swim or easy ride.
T: Talk with your coach about the race and the lessons you learnt to help you improve next time
I: Ice any injuries / sore spots
N: No Alcohol until you have rehydrated, refueled and recovered.
G: Gear, check your gear, remove it from transition.

2. The F’s of post race!

Fluid, Fuel, Flexibility, Family and Friends (enjoy the post race with people you love – you (and they) deserve it).

3. The Next Day

Even though you might feel a bit sore and sorry it is a good idea to get moving again the day after the race. Why not walk down to the local pool, swim a k or so and stretch in the spa afterwards.

Summary

Race day should be fun. The fun comes from knowing that you have done all you can to prepare for the race. It comes from making training challenging and demanding and from knowing you have done your best to be ready physically, mentally, technically and tactically.

Enjoy it!

Wayne Goldsmith