Fantastic to get another opportunity to work with TrainingPeaks on a guest blog post. This article provides an overview of a new modeling tool called Best Bike Split that can provide insight into time trial and triathlon bike split planning and execution. Check out the full article here:
Over the next couple of weeks I am dedicating the blog to tips you should consider for your pre-event planning. While some of these will be sport specific, most of them apply universally or the basic idea can be adapted for different disciplines. The intent is to make you think critically about key aspects of your prep and adapt it to your situation. Have questions or additional ideas or thoughts? Please feel free to post them on the blog or Facebook comments! The 6th and final installment of event prep pertains to travel and logistics. As with most of these, just a few tips if you have to travel to an event that may seem pretty basic to many, but you would be surprised… If you are driving, as obvious as it may sound, knowing where you are going and how long it’s going to take to get there is a good start. Make sure you are planning enough time in advance to get there given anticipated traffic conditions, amount of time you need to warm up, bathroom breaks along the way etc. If driving morning of, pack everything the night before in your vehicle so you don’t have to worry in the morning if you got everything in your early morning haze. If you are flying to an event and have a bike, consider how you are going to get the bike there. Airline bike fees are expensive, upwards of $100 to $150 one way depending on airline. If you plan on taking your bike on the plane, you may want to research luggage fees and factor that into your overall ticket price. As an alternative, you may want to consider shipping your bike to your event. It’s generally less expensive, as of this writing, FedEx ground is usually under $100 each way. Definitely less hassle, but requires some planning ahead and bike you can use on the home front for the days before and after the event. If you are shipping your bike to a race, make sure you allow plenty of time for it to get there! I always pad a few days if not a week onto the estimated delivery time and ride my back up or training bike while it’s in route. Of course I have pre ridden my race bike with all of its race stuff on it to make sure it’s good and done any maintenance before I packed it just like I am sure all of you who have read the entire series have… :-) When planning your flight times, make sure you allow enough time when you get there to get your bike together and give it a quick spin, check the brakes and shifting, double check the tire pressure. Always best to get there a bit early and have plenty of extra time if you have an issue. If there is a hotel involved in your travels, be strategic when picking it. Distance from the race start and any activities associated with the race is key, but also consider where you want to eat, what your breakfast options are etc. As an example, I almost always stay at Holiday Inn Express. I am not sponsored by them so not paid to say that (but if anyone from HIE is reading this, always open :-)). The reason why I stay there is the room condition is consistent and it’s a reliable predictable free breakfast that works for me with a minimal of additional fuss before a race. I always know it’s there and that I can race off it. Figure out your own option on this front, but lowest room rate may not be what it’s cracked up to be if you have to get an hour less of sleep to scrounge for breakfast, or the room is loud or uncomfortable etc. Have any other tips or suggestions? Please feel free to leave them in the comments. Thanks again for reading. Over the next couple of weeks I am dedicating the blog to tips you should consider for your pre-event planning. While some of these will be sport specific, most of them apply universally or the basic idea can be adapted for different disciplines. The intent is to make you think critically about key aspects of your prep and adapt it to your situation. Have questions or additional ideas or thoughts? Please feel free to post them on the blog or Facebook comments! This is not going to be a manifesto on what your pre race and race day nutrition plan should actually look like. The key point I want to make is to make sure you are THINKING about your nutrition plan, have planned ahead and are prepared to execute it. That said, few thoughts on nutrition in general. I will be the first to admit I am not a nutritionist, but through experience I have a fairly pragmatic philosophy and approach to the subject. I liken race nutrition planning to selecting an approach to investing money or selecting a religion, there are a lot of different answers and ideas, and a lot of different places that preach their approach trumps all. Reality is, except for the most extreme ideas, many of the core themes are the same, and many will work, it’s just what you are comfortable with and what fits you best. The one gospel for all, always use something that you have already tried and is proven for your big events! Always try something new in training first, then at a minor race before springing it at the big show. On to the key point of this entry, thinking ahead. If you have a fancy pre-race breakfast or dinner requirement you should investigate where you are headed and ensure what you need is easily available or bring it with you. If you are a “choosey” eater, don’t cause stress for yourself or teammates by being unprepared. Same goes for race day food, you don’t need to be scrambling around trying to find Chocolate Uber Gel at the local Wally World only to find out that all they have is Strawberry Supa Gel which you have never used before. Figure out your nutrition requirements well ahead of time and make sure you have the stuff on hand to make it happen. Recognize that a race you are traveling to may not have what you are used to readily available. If unsure, bring it with you. In addition to pre race food, for races that have a feedzone you need to think ahead on that as well. Start with the basics, where are the feedzones? Are you going to have feeders with you? Do they have neutral support? Do you know what “product” they have in the feedzone and if it will be in format you can take with you? While aid stations are common place in running and triathlon, “neutral support” for a feedzone in bike racing can be a dubious term. I have seen cases of water stacked on the side with no one to hand them out, all the way to full on bike bottles with gels taped on them and options for water or “mix” and everything in between. It can be really variable so you need to try to get as much good info on the reality of things and be prepared for any option. If you are staffing a feedzone with friends or family, make it easy on them, make sure they know how to do it and what to expect. Even go as far as to practice a few times so they are comfortable. Don’t blame you mom if you miss your feed and you never explained to her how to work it. If you have teammates in the race and minimal feeders, I highly recommend water only in the feedzone. Everyone can regulate sugar intake based on food in their pockets, but nothing is worse than just wanting some water and getting some crazy mix that chokes you but your buddy swears by. If you can’t supply your own feeders, you need to learn to compromise. Of course another option is to pack an extra bottle or two in your pockets. Sure extra weight, but by the time the race gets really grippy you will have cycled through and again, have to compromise, weight or dehydration or bet a friend to come out in the feedzone. All for now. Next and last entry is travel and logistics. As always, comments, suggestions or questions , please post up in the comments section. Over the next couple of weeks I am dedicating the blog to tips you should consider for your pre-event planning. While some of these will be sport specific, most of them apply universally or the basic idea can be adapted for different disciplines. The intent is to make you think critically about key aspects of your prep and adapt it to your situation. Have questions or additional ideas or thoughts? Please feel free to post them on the blog or Facebook comments! In addition to the rain bag that we discussed in the last entry, any number of mechanical issues could happen pre race in events that involve a bicycle. Ever hear a tire blow 10 minutes before the start? Sucks to be them right? What if that were you? Are you prepped to deal with it? What about the any number of other issues that could pop up? Below is a list of common tools, spares and sundries that you may want to consider bringing with you. If you are flying to a race, all of this may not be practical, but you can at least take some of the essentials and prepare for the most likely contingencies. In addition, having local contacts and/or a list of bike shops or making friends with neutral support where available are all great contingencies to have in place.
In addition to all of this, if you are not already familiar with basic bicycle repair, I'd highly recommend getting more familiar and comfortable with doing basic repairs on your bike. There are a number of books, videos online that can get you started, in addition several shops offer basic repair classes or a knowledgeable friend I am sure would be glad to help you out. The more you know and can handle on your own, the less you will have to worry if a major issue arises. Thanks for reading. Questions, comments, additions, please feel free to post them up.
Over the next couple of weeks I am dedicating the blog to tips you should consider for your pre-event planning. While some of these will be sport specific, most of them apply universally or the basic idea can be adapted for different disciplines. The intent is to make you think critically about key aspects of your prep and adapt it to your situation. Have questions or additional ideas or thoughts? Please feel free to post them on the blog or Facebook comments! Checking the weather pretty much becomes second nature to most endurance athletes and is even more important for big events. Hot, cold, wet, snowing, windy? All important factors to consider for both mental and physical prep and what gear to bring. As race day approaches, you can get a general sense of expected conditions by simply looking at long term forecasts, but until you show up on race morning, you never know, (especially during spring and fall). Regardless of what the weatherman says, you should always pack the gear and mentally be prepared for any realistic possibility. Experienced cyclists generally pack what is known as a “rain bag” and take it to every race, often to put in the team car in case the weather turns during the stage. The same concept can be applied to triathletes as well. It should really be called a “contingency bag” as it covers more than rain. Every athlete has their own list based on the conditions, but a good basic start is as follows.
Anything missing? What would you add to this list? Post up in the comments. Next up more contingency planning with prep for other incidentals.
Over the next couple of weeks I am dedicating the blog to tips you should consider for your pre-event planning. While some of these will be sport specific, most of them apply universally or the basic idea can be adapted for different disciplines. The intent is to make you think critically about key aspects of your prep and adapt it to your situation. Have questions or additional ideas or thoughts? Please feel free to post them on the blog or Facebook comments! Equipment prep applies primarily to cycling which we will get to in a minute, but is important to runners and swimmers as well. Had that wetsuit out of the closet in awhile? Make sure it doesn’t have any holes and it still fits (for some athletes those wetsuits can mysteriously shrink over the winter… :-) ) I generally recommend doing a few wetsuit swims even if in the pool prior to a big event to get used to the range of motion and buoyancy impact the suit may have. For runners, make sure the shoes you are going to use for the event are tried and true and you are comfortable with them. If looking to swap out shoes prior to an event, I recommend getting several runs in them even if they are the same style that you are used to. You just never know if there will be some manufacturing error or something odd with a new pair, better to be safe than sorry. Now the biggie in the equipment world, cycling. Based on what you find out about the course (see last entry), pick your equipment, AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE before the event and insure it’s in a top working order. Figure out what bike and wheels you are going to race, your gearing, tires and tire pressures, fork and shock pressures as applicable, etc. The value of doing it as early as possible is you can then train on the equipment you race on and go into the event with confidence that your equipment fits and functions properly and it will not let you down. A lot of folks have a number of different bikes, one they race on, one they train on, TT bike, cross bike etc. Riding different bikes is fine, but once you start targeting a specific event you should try to ride the bike you are going to race (or an exact duplicate in terms of geometry and fit etc.) as far in advance as practical. In the event where you might be racing multiple bikes in a short period of time, just plan on riding your different setups alternating during the weeks prior. The most obvious example would be a stage racer who will race a road setup and TT setup during the same stage race. For this example, I usually recommend riding the TT bike at least 2 or 3 times a week in the weeks proceeding the event, and the road bike on the others days. Preferably the TT bike would be used for longer intensity efforts that most closely simulate race conditions so your body is used to the position under stress. If you have separate racing and training wheels, you obviously don’t want to run your race wheels all the time, but you should still have them selected, inspected and do some test rides on them in the week or so prior to the race to ensure shifting is good, wheels are true, tires are in good condition etc. Additionally, probably the most important item, if you are going to do any major maintenance (change tires, true wheels, overhauls, cable changes, brake pad, cogset, cranks or chain swap out etc.) the rule of thumb is 2 weeks ahead of the event and then leave it alone. That gives you several training rides to sort out if you have any issues and work them out vice figuring out you have an issue on race morning or even worse, during the race. An extra note on brake pads, many bikes with rim brakes may have different compound pads for training and race wheels, and riders will swap out before events. Just make sure you have a set that you are confident work on your race wheels and as outlined for you wheels, I recommend riding them at least once or twice prior to the actual race to ensure they are set up right. This is especially important if you are putting brand new pads in! Nothing worse than having squealing brakes throughout a long race because your pads weren’t aligned right when you put new ones on. Last but not least, make sure your bike is clean and well lubricated prior to the event. A clean bike is a fast bike, why haul that extra grit and dirt around and clog up your drivetrain? Also, while cleaning your bike, you are more likely to notice any issues like cracks, something loose or out of alignment, the cleaning kind of makes you give your bike a good visual inspection. On top of it all, if you have sponsors, it presents a professional image for both you and those supporting you. Next up environmental conditions. Thanks for reading. Any questions or stuff to add, please feel to post up in the comments in FB or on the blog. Over the next couple of weeks I am dedicating the blog to tips you should consider for your pre-event planning. While some of these will be sport specific, most of them apply universally or the basic idea can be adapted for different disciplines. The intent is to make you think critically about key aspects of your prep and adapt it to your situation. Have questions or additional ideas or thoughts? Please feel free to post them on the blog or Facebook comments! Building up for a big race? Got a great training plan? Fitness looking good? What about the “rest of the picture” in terms of prep? What are you talking about you say? I am killing it on Strava, my power numbers are through the roof! What else could there possibly be? You could have the greatest fitness of all time, but have your race ruined by not paying attention to other preparation and logistical details. The fun and frustrating part of racing is the outcome is unpredictable, and there is only so much you have control over (my kingdom for a horse anyone?). The name of the game is increasing your odds of success by preparing as best as you can in all areas that you can influence. Over the next couple of weeks I am dedicating the blog to tips you should consider for your pre-event planning. While some of these will be sport specific, most of them apply universally or the basic idea can be adapted for different disciplines. The intent is to make you think critically about key aspects of your prep and adapt it to your situation. Have questions or additional ideas or thoughts? Please feel free to post them on the blog or Facebook comments! Know the Course: Duh, right? Of course you need to know the course, but you would be surprised how many people I have run into running, cycling and in multisport that morning of the race are asking questions about key course details or are complaining afterwards about how they misjudged this or that. In today’s day and age, unless there is a last minute change, just about any course detail can be figure out in advance and leave you with less stress on race morning and better results at the end of the day. A few of the many factors to consider include: how long is the race, is it hilly, flat, climbing, lots of corners, loops etc., when do the key “features” appear on the course, what are the road surfaces like, where are the key tactical points, potential bottlenecks, points where you are at an advantage or disadvantage based on your strengths. Prevailing environmental conditions are also important and we will expand on that in an upcoming entry. For cycling races, where tactics are more at play, what has the history of the event been, sprint? break? does the race blow apart on a particular “course feature”? based on you and your team’s strengths and weaknesses, where do you make your “move” or defend and how does the course factor into your tactical planning? For triathlon, what about transition areas and how they are routed, entrances and exits etc.? All great factors to consider, and ideally you know as much of this as possible as far in advance so it can be factored into training, your mental preparations, and race nutrition and equipment selection which we will go over in an upcoming entry. So how do you figure it all out? If feasible, taking a look for yourself and reviewing the course or sections of it firsthand is ideal. For complicated or technical courses, this is a HUGE advantage. If a pre ride is not practical, another option is to just use various online tools to plot out the course as closely as possible and at least study the profile. Training Peaks, Strava and Ride with GPS all have cycling specific mapping tools and may have “hot spots” or even the whole course marked so you can study profiles, section distances, turns etc. and see how fast other riders have done sections. Race websites often have extensive overviews of course nowadays many bigger races even have dedicated forums or social media outlets where you can chat with race officials or participants who have done the event before and ask questions about the event. Don’t be afraid to talk to anyone you may know or run into who has done the event in the past. Most people are happy share their past race experiences (I don’t know an endurance athlete who doesn’t like to talk about a past race) to get a sense of how certain sections may go down. If there are key course sections such as climbs, you can figure out the parameters and hunt down similar features locally to duplicate the terrain in training. If you want to get really high tech and have the cash, for cyclists, you can use tools such as a Computrainer to reproduce the course and virtually ride it at home indoors. Basically all is fair in love and war on this front. The longer, more varied and technical the course is, the more value there is in gathering intelligence and being familiar and comfortable. Knowledge is power and course knowledge can give you confidence, calm your nerves and give you a strategic advantage over you competitors. Next time. Equipment Prep. Thanks for reading. Questions or additional ideas or thoughts? Please feel free to post them on the blog or Facebook comments! |