Let's discuss the items to include in your race plan.
Travel to the event. What day will you leave? When will you arrive? How many time zones will you be changing? How will you try to negate the effects of the travel if it is long and arduous?
Time you will get up on race morning. Is this a usual time for you? Have you practiced it? If there is long travel, across many time zones, when and how will you begin preparing for this change of sleep patterns?
Breakfast. What will you eat for breakfast? Have you tried this breakfast before? How many calories is the breakfast? What time will you eat breakfast, and how many hours is this before the race start? Any caffeine with breakfast?
Arrival to transition. What time will you arrive at transition on race day? What will parking at the event be like? How long will it take you to warm up? Based on your wake-up time and travel to the event, will you have plenty of time to complete everything and be on the start line with time to spare and no stress? What can you do to make the time more efficient? What if there is an unexpected situation in the morning, such as a flat tire, loose bolt, ripped race suit, or broken goggles? Do you have the items, tools, and skills to take care of these quickly? If not, what do you need to do?
Temperature and precipitation. What will the temperature be on race day? Will there be precipitation? How will these factors change as the day goes on, from the early morning, in the middle of the race, and even postrace? What will you do to prepare for these conditions? Will you bring extra clothes? Where will they be stored and how will you access them?
Warm-up. What will your warm-up be? Can you get into the water for warm-up? Will you adjust your warm-up based on air or water temperatures? How so? If the race is a time trial start, how will you stay warm and loose when you have to stand in line?
Special needs bags. If it's an IRONMAN or similarly longer race with special needs bags, what will you put in them? (Half IRONMAN events do not have special needs bags.) How will these items fair in the heat or cooler temperatures of the day, depending on the race? Have you practiced untying a special needs bag while riding? Or will you stop?
Swim. Where will you line up for the start of the race? What is the typical direction of the current at the venue? How will you pace the swim? How many laps is the swim? What color are the turn buoys? Where will the sun be as you swim through the course? Is it a mass start or time trial start? What are the landmarks you will use to site off of?
Transition one (T1). What is the route you must follow from the exit of the water to your transition spot? Any key landmarks to help guide you? How will you find your bike in the crowd of bikes? If there is a changing tent (full IRONMAN events), what will you do and change into there? Have you practiced this change, such as trying to put on a tri top or bike jersey with a wet body? Or will you not change at all?
Is sunscreen something you apply in T1? Will you put your bike shoes on in T1 or once out on the road? Is it safe to run with them on your feet, given the surface and distance you will travel to your bike and to the mount line? Are there other choices or options?
Bike pacing. What power range will you ride at during the race? For the entire course? Flats and hills? How will the temperatures and conditions affect this decision? This is a big and complex part of the plan, which will be addressed shortly in this chapter, and should be part of what you've done to prepare specifically in your training.
If there are large packs of riders, you can draft in a race off a pack as long as you stay legal distance behind it. Will you use this to your advantage? To be clear, I don't condone drafting in a nondrafting event, but there are certain benefits even when riding legal or riding at a legal distance behind a pack of riders who are clearly drafting.
Bike nutrition. What nutrition will you use on the bike? How soon into the bike until you start taking in nutrition? How many grams of carbohydrate and calories do you need per hour? Table 12.1 offers a simple guideline, based on the English or metric system.
Table 12.1 Nutritional Guideline Ranges for Long-Course Triathlon Bike Legs
You can exceed or fall below these numbers, but you likely want to be sure you've proven it in training. Have you been training with this nutrition on your rides? Training with the same concentrations you will use on race day? Many athletes will suddenly change the concentrations of the drinks they have used in training, because they realize it will be a lot harder to carry the drinks with the amount of calories they need. Many times in training, they could stop and buy a new drink or mix another bottle. This isn't a good plan for race day, so make sure you've tested the concentrations.
Will you take on-course nutrition from the aid stations? How many aid stations are there? What items do they offer? You might think that you don't need to know this information, especially if your plan is to be almost entirely self-supported, except for water. However, it is fairly common for athletes to lose a bottle, drop some nutrition, or suddenly find that what they had planned for doesn't fit with their stomach on race day. If this is the case for you, even if just in case of emergency in the race, where you need nutrition, it is good to know what is available and what the calorie and carbohydrate numbers are. See table 12.1 for guidance on calories. Can you complete the race without having to use the special needs bags, perhaps using them as an insurance policy only? This might save you some time, being able to move past the crowded special needs area.