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Click to view dnavarro82's profile Amateur 38 posts since
Apr 24, 2008

Aug 5, 2008 11:25 AM

19 days till race day...suggestions?


So like the subject says, I have 19 days till my tri (Chicago-Olympic distance). I feel pretty comfortable in every discipline. My goal is kind of weird, I think I'm confident enough to be beyond the "hope I finish" stage but know that I'm not going to be top 100, 200 or whatever (I think there are about 600+ in my age group) My goal is to finish in the top half. Now here is where you guys come in. I need any and all suggestions for these last few weeks. Here are some questions to start with, and feel free to drop any other suggestions. Thanks in advance.

-What to eat day before (all three meals) and morning of?

-Don't think they let you in the water before your wave, how do I warm up?

-What and how much to eat/drink during the race?

-Do you recommend to start taking protein powder (100% whey) now to race day?

-Type of workouts to make sure to get in?

I know its a lot, but I would really appreciate the help. This is my 2nd tri, and 1st olympic distance. I'm a bit out of my realm, I'm primarily a downhill mountain biker, haha. OK, way out of my realm, but I want to start knocking out things from my "to do" list.

Thanks everyeone


Dan

Click to view Aaron Essner's profile Rookie 1 posts since
Oct 7, 2007
1. Aug 5, 2008 4:15 PM in response to: dnavarro82
Re: 19 days till race day...suggestions?

Dan,

I suggest checking out opentri.com. You'll find a newbie group where you should find some suggestions & tips. The site is a great resource.

And for my $0.02, make sure you have fun.

Aaron

Click to view Trihardist's profile Amateur 27 posts since
Jul 18, 2007
2. Aug 5, 2008 5:39 PM in response to: dnavarro82
Re: 19 days till race day...suggestions?

Wow. Those are some intense questions.

One thing that you absolutely must do between now and then is figure out a fueling plan and practice with it. Do at least one bike and run practicing your nutrition plan, and at lesat one brick. Some general guidelines? Try to get 20-30 oz. of water in per hour and 300-500 calories per hour. But those are just the most basic of guidelines. Find something that'll work for you.

Also? Practice transitions! Just so you know what to do, you know?

And, if you can, get to the race course and do a little bit of swimming, biking, and running on the course. Again, so you know exactly what to expect.

Which will not be downhill mountain biking ;-)

Click to view Anthony_All3's profile Community Moderator 238 posts since
Aug 8, 2007
3. Aug 6, 2008 5:21 AM in response to: dnavarro82
Re: 19 days till race day...suggestions?

Dan,


Here is what you do...relax, and don't worry about it. Your hard work in training up until this point is what's going to get you through the race, not special protein powders or specialized training sessions.


-What to eat the day before, well, you will want to change up your diet slightly the week prior, eat more carbs that fiber. You will want you your diet to be 60-75% carbs, white rice, pastas, etc. Now don't load up on additional foods, just make healthy choices, you body needs nutrition, not junk carbs. I like to eat walnuts(stored energy in the mono's and poly's), carrots(potassium), salted peanuts(sodium, vitamin E), the week prior. These are my snacks, not meals. Absolutely no fiber the night before or morning of, unless you want to spend your warm-up in the porta-john. You will want to eat your breakfast about 3-4 hours before your event. Maybe a power bar or something t like that 2 hours before your event and sip on some carb sports drink that morning, I like pedialite, its for children who suffer from dehydration due to dissentary, but it has tons of key electrolytes, way more than any sports drink you can buy. Keep in mind that the thing you eat and do the night before you race will have little effect on you performance, so load up(nutrition/hydration/sleep) the few nights before the race. Make sure you are going #1 every 2-3 hours(a decent amount), and that it is slightly yellow but not too dark or clear, if this is the case, then you are properly hydrated.


-For warm-up, I am pretty sure you will be able to get in the water, if not do a few sets of a couple push-ups(3 or 4, you don't need to do a whole lot, plus if you do, it will really tire out your upper body) followed by some stretching of the upper body. Remember this is not a duathlon, I always see people jogging to warm up for there swim??? Thats great that they just got all the blood flowing to there legs, now try to swim, good luck. Trust me on this.


-Hopefully you have experimented in training with your nutritional needs, this is an essential part of training. It greatly depends on your specific needs, there is nothing set in stone as far as nutritional needs goes except that you will need to replenish electrolytes through out the race. If you have not done this yet, then I would reccomend a semi-solid(gel, cliff shots, blocks), during the bike leg, and try to hit the aid stations during the run for electrolytes. Other wise, you can start testing some foods/supplements during training so there are no suprise's on race day.


-You don't need protein powder, just a balanced diet, I drink milk after my long sets to recover, with some natural PB as well.


-1 key work out you must do is a taper week(cutting back your training load by about 75%), the week leading up to your event. Don't try to sneak any ground breaking work outs in order to build confidence, you will just wear your self down and have a crappy race. Remember too that fatigue has a latency period, so during taper phases you will feel very tired and sluggish, this is perfectly normal. If you taper properly, this fatigue will be gone when it comes time to race and you will be very fresh and ready to go. Don't give in to temptation, resist the urge to go a little faster or longer during taper just because you think you are losing your fitness(your not!), you will thank yourself on race day.


-1 last note. Train like you will race, race like you have trained.....and have fun! Good luck, see you there!


-Anthony

Click to view Anthony_All3's profile Community Moderator 238 posts since
Aug 8, 2007
5. Aug 7, 2008 4:51 AM in response to: dnavarro82
Re: 19 days till race day...suggestions?

Just spectating(tentative), too many local events on the schedule here in Michigan.


-Anthony

Click to view Active Toby's profile Active.com Staff 811 posts since
Jun 5, 2007
7. Aug 7, 2008 8:59 AM in response to: dnavarro82
Re: 19 days till race day...suggestions?
Hey guys, I'll be there too! It's going to be quite the cluster with over 8,500 participants, but that sure would be cool if you could meet up.
Click to view Active Toby's profile Active.com Staff 811 posts since
Jun 5, 2007
9. Aug 7, 2008 9:09 AM in response to: dnavarro82
Re: 19 days till race day...suggestions?
Competing in Olympic distance. My age was 24 when I signed up. U?
Click to view Active Toby's profile Active.com Staff 811 posts since
Jun 5, 2007
11. Aug 7, 2008 9:19 AM in response to: dnavarro82
Re: 19 days till race day...suggestions?
dnavarro82 wrote:

I'm doing the olympic too, but I'll be in the 25-29 (I'm 25) age group. I checked how many people are in my age group, and there is 666 (weird number)! So I'm assuming there will be 6 or 7 waves in my age group.

Well, I'll see you there, and good luck.


I'm 25 too but was 24 when I registered. I think that puts me in the younger category, right? I'll be wearing the Active.com Race Kit but I doubt you'll see me the in the sea of spandex
Click to view Active Toby's profile Active.com Staff 811 posts since
Jun 5, 2007
13. Aug 7, 2008 9:39 AM in response to: dnavarro82
Re: 19 days till race day...suggestions?
dnavarro82 wrote:
I think you were supposed to put down the age you would be on race day, but if you entered 24 in registration then you'll be in that age group. I'll be wearing your typical weekend warrior race kit...mesh shorts and a sleevless t-shirt, haha. Yeah, can't wait to be swimming next 100's of people in spandex, I'll be concentrating in not swallowing a mouth full of that ever so clean Lake Michigan water.

Well, in that case, I guess we'll be in the same age group!

So this is my first trip to Chicago. I'm flying into Midway and bringing my bike on the plane. Staying downtown at the Hilton. I'll be there for 3 nights. Got any suggestions?