How to set yourself up for success on race day
All the things you probably want to ask but are embarrassed to!
Race day, nothing quite like it! Hopefully you are like me and get nerves, excitement and loads of energy in the days and hours leading up to the start line of a race you’ve trained so hard for. It’s a sensation very few people outside of the sporting world get to experience on a regular basis, some people describe it as terror, excitement, restlessness and extreme focus all rolled into one and I couldn’t agree more. Race day & the week leading up to it is an experience I cannot replicate in any other area of my life. It’s a true joy and peak experience that’s so damn natural and human that it always reminds me how we were built to move and have fun doing it!
In this post we are going to try and dampen the “terror” aspect of those pre-race highs and lows. In the sport of triathlon in particular there is a tonne of stuff to think about, you have loads of kit, nutrition, hydration, timing, logistics and much more to contend with in the lead up to race day. All of these things have plenty of great tips out there on the internet to draw from, however, I want to talk about the lesser spoken about but maybe more pressing questions like… How many times should I go to the loo before heading to swim start? Should I avoid caffeine because of the dreaded runners stomach?! & the crucial one, what if I really need to go mid race?
For me, as you might be able to tell, stomach issues are my number 1 and sometimes number 2 concerns on race day! But there is more to it than just toilet concerns, we’re going to dig in to my top tips for how to organise your race morning and set yourself up for the best race you can execute.
1 - The foodie bit
As I not so subtly eluded to above, the toilet conversation, especially in middle to long distance events does not get enough press, thankfully things are changing and I would highly recommend this article from Triathlete magazine, aptly titled: How to get through an Ironman without sh*tting yourself. It really is a great informative and also funny read, if you’ve ever raced a longer event, you know exactly the feelings they cover in this article!
What are my top tips? Well, from experience these are non-negotiable:
I would highly recommend rehearsing your food intake both the week leading up to and especially the evening before and morning of the race. Nothing can have as much of a negative effect on your race day gut than the food you have in the week before race day, it’s critical to have rehearsed at least the evening meal before race day and the morning breakfast you will have on race day.
Aim for meals that keep you under 30g of fibre for the day before you race but also don’t ignore fibre, you want to keep things moving, a good range to aim for is 20 - 30g for the before your race. 30g per day is the ideal minimum for us humans under normal circumstances, however, going above 30g does increase your chances of trips to the loo in the next 24 hours!
Have a tried and tested meal plan, in your training use your race pace days and long sessions to experiment. The best way to know if an evening meal, breakfast or sports nutrition product will work for you on race day is to test it out in a controlled way. Do this ahead of any interval set, race pace rehearsal or long brick session. As Cam Wurf says; “if you don’t do it in training you won’t do it on race day”.
Sports nutrition needs to be identical to your race rehearsal sessions, drawing a lot of the good stuff from point 3, make sure you use hard sessions and training days that most closely resemble your race distance and intensity to take on exactly what you will on race day. When we exercise our body prioritises bloody flow to muscles rather than your digestive system, however, you can train your body to do this slightly differently. Through exposing your digestive system to your chosen sports nutrition under the kind of load you expect to put out on race day you can actually “train” your gut to handle this food & liquid volume. The human body is a marvel!
Do not try anything new on race day, you will hear this absolutely everywhere you go to read and learn about sport. Do not mix your plan up on race day, stick to what you know when it comes to food and rest assured you will have 1 less thing to worry about.
Develop home & away options. A lot of triathletes, runners, swimmers and cyclists travel for competition and as a result you need to know how to eat right away from home. Maybe you can bring your overnight oats with you? Maybe a meal replacement shake works best for you? Whatever it is, make sure you have options that work for at home and away.
2 - Toilet time
We’ve spoken about how what you eat has significant impact on your toilet habits, however, we haven’t discussed actual toilet strategy! Yep, if you’re new to longer distance events, you need a toilet strategy… If you try to figure it out on race day it can be the difference between the best race you could possibly have taken part in, to a nervous breakdown in a porta-loo with no loo roll in sight!
What are my top tips? To toilet or not to toilet, that is the question:
Absolutely budget toilet queue time on race morning, these days event organisers have gotten much, much better at providing sufficient numbers of toilets at the start line, however, you never know what might happen on race day. Make sure you turn up and have at least 30 minutes to queue for a toilet stop. Yes, it really can take that long sometimes!
Know your movement habits, yep, not the most glamorous conversation by any means, however, it’s the best way to have a great race day. Know your numbers just like you would in training! ;) The questions to have answers to are;
“How many times before the race do I need to go?”
“What number and when?” Us gents have an advantage here, if you need to panic pee, you generally don’t need to queue for as long!
“How long do I need to ahem… Empty the tank?” It may seem funny, but it will govern how early you turn up to the race village!
Transition stop or on course pit stop? For me there is only one answer here unless you are absolutely desperate, always avoid going to the loo in transition… It will be where everyone else wants to go. If you can hold it until you’re a few KM into he run or bike you’re increasing your odds of finding loo roll, having a queue free toilet and ultimately a smoother experience overall.
Make sure you know where all the toilets are before you get to the event, seems simple but it’s often overlooked. Make sure you know where you can go & plan accordingly for race day. Make sure to examine the course map or ask a volunteer on race morning if it’s unclear, you’ll thank me later!
Bring loo roll, this one is about being a good citizen of the racing scene, bring a spare loo roll and donate it to your chosen porta-loo ahead of race start. The toilets in transition and the race village get a lot of use & often run out of loo roll. Do your fellow athletes a solid (pun most definitely intended!) and donate a roll to your chosen throne room.
I hope these lesser discussed topics have helped you out! These tips are all from hard won experiences of my own, thankfully I’ve never experienced some of the horrors other friends of mine have disclosed to me over a post race refreshment & I hope these tips can also spare you the horrors of going to brown town mid race! ;)
What have I missed here? Do you have any tips for your fellow athletes? Show some love to your fellow athletes in the comments section. If you’re racing this weekend, have a great one and hopefully this article will help give you the best race day possible.