5 Top Tips for Your Race Day Success
My 5 Top Tips for Your Race Day Success gives you a step-by-step guide on how to turn things around, so you’re ready to go out there on the big day. Even if you don’t have a race coming up, these tips will improve your training in general, as well as your overall health and happiness.
TIP #1: PLAN, PLAN, PLAN
This one sounds so obvious it shouldn’t need to be said, but it’s probably the single biggest reason why we don’t achieve our goals.
It’s easy to get excited and sign up for a race rather than the training. But the race is just one (sometimes very long) day. To enjoy your race, you need to train – and the best way to do that is with a plan.
Not having a plan is like trying to get a bus, but you don’t know where the bus stop is or what time it leaves.
Your training plan should consider these key points:
- Start where you are now; if there’s a big jump up from your current fitness level to where the plan starts, you need time (and a strategy!) to get there
- Progress your training the closer you get to the race, so you’re ready to meet the demands on the day
- It’s based on a realistic understanding of how much training you can fit in (not how much you think you should do, but what actually fits in with your life)
- Regular rest days and weeks – remember, you don’t get fitter from training; you get fitter from recovery after training
- If your menstrual cycle affects your training, your plan needs to allow for this (I recommend moving your rest week to include the days when you feel less able to train)
- If you are menopausal or perimenopausal, you might need more rest time in between sessions than a typical plan allows for, so find one that gives you this or adapt it (check out my blog posts on menopause here)
- It includes enough base training before adding any speed work and gives you an idea of how to pace the different sessions.
Tip #1 Action Plan
- Get a plan – Whether you buy one, download a free one or write one yourself, leave enough time to find or create a plan that works for you
- Assess it - Check the first few weeks of the plan. If it’s more training than you are currently doing (actually doing each week, not that you could do), decide how you will build up to it
- Commit to it - It’s fine to update a session to one that works better for you, but don’t leave out the ones you don’t like – they’re there for a reason
- And update it - Check it against your diary and account for that weekend away when you won’t be training or additional races. If you miss key sessions after you start training, update your plan.
Bonus tip! Change takes time - don't try to do everything at once. Focus on the tip that resonates with you most first before moving on to the next one.
TIP #2: FUEL UP
Now you have a plan, it’s time to fuel your body! One of the biggest issues I see when I start working with female clients is they don’t eat enough before training. I was certainly guilty of this myself in the past.
We can feel so much pressure to look a certain way (subconsciously or consciously) that it can be hard to separate training from burning calories.
But you're undermining your training if you don’t eat enough carbs to fuel your body. Your progress will be slower, making the sessions feel harder than they need to. Your race day will be more of a challenge because your gut will be less used to taking on energy.
The risks of injury and illness become higher if you’re also not fuelling your recovery.
If you’re feeling some resistance around this tip because you’re trying to lose weight, remember the goal of fuelling isn’t about creating a calorie surplus. It’s about giving you enough energy to do the best session you can and kickstart your recovery.
If you don’t have time to eat before training, it doesn’t have to be a full meal or a gel if they disagree with you. Try something light like a banana, rice pudding, or raisin bread.
Top Tip #2 Action Plan
- Fuel your training – Have carbs before any training session over 60 mins or harder than an easy pace. See if it makes a difference. Most people tell me that training feels so much better, they have more energy during and after sessions and start to see the difference in their results after just a few weeks of fuelling properly
- And fuel your recovery - Eat carbs and protein soon after your session. It could be a shake or whole foods, such as eggs on toast. Aim for about 25-30g of protein
- If you’re feeling resistance, ask yourself why - Can you challenge these reasons? Try reframing your training as a time for you; it is an investment in your mental and physical health rather than simply a way to burn calories.
TIP #3: CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Clients always ask me what’s the best way to train or what the most important training session for race day success is. My answer is always the same - and I’m afraid it’s not something exciting to show off on Strava or the latest pain-cave session from your favourite triathlete. It’s consistency.
Our bodies respond best when we ask them to do roughly the same thing each week, with a slight increase in load to ensure we’re actually progressing our fitness. What our body doesn’t like is yo-yo training with a big jump up in load one week, followed by a week of light or no training.
The most common barriers to staying consistent are injuries, low motivation and lack of planning.
Avoiding injuries
The best way to avoid injuries is to prevent any big increases in load. Build your base before adding anything too hard. Concentrate on regular strength and conditioning sessions focused on mobility and stability work rather than just hitting it heavy.
To find out more about what to do if you have any niggles or injuries, check out my blog post here.
Maintaining motivation
Know why you are doing the race. This helps you build habits to train rather than relying on willpower.
Starting the session is always the hardest, so make a deal with yourself to do the first 10 mins. Most times, you’ll end up finishing it.
Another trick is visualising how you’ll feel at the end rather than focusing on how hard it feels to get out the door. You could also try training with a club or friends. Remember, good enough is better than perfection.
Planning effectively
Plan your week in advance. Know exactly what you’ll do during your training sessions (allowing for the time it takes to get there and get changed as well!).
Reduce decision fatigue by deciding as much as you can in advance – your route, playlist, session plan, etc. and get your kit ready before your session.
Top Tip #3 Action Plan
- Assess your training - Look back and see how consistent you are
- Understand your barriers – What are they? What stops you from getting out the door? And what could you do to change or overcome your barriers? Try not to get stuck on the problems. Look for solutions or things you could try differently instead.
TIP #4: RESPECT YOUR REST
We don’t get fitter from training; we get fitter from recovery after training. Training breaks your body down. Recovery is when your body rebuilds itself. This makes it stronger and able to deal with what you throw at it next.
We need enough time between hard sessions to recover. If you train without allowing enough recovery time in between, all you’re doing is breaking your body down without making it stronger. And that’s when you get ill, injured or don’t make progress.
As we get older, especially as women, and we go through perimenopause and menopause, our bodies can be under a whole lot more stress. Recovery becomes more and more important. I've even written a blog post focused solely on training and recovery in menopause, which you can read here.
And while you may be tempted to tell yourself, ‘But I used to be able to get away with it’, treat yourself with kindness and understanding. Wouldn’t it be better to meet yourself where you’re at today?
Try to move on from, ‘I used to be able to get away with it’, and focus on how to get the best out of your body now instead.
Top Tip #4 Action Plan
- Respect your rest time! I recommend a rest day each week and a rest week every three to four weeks. If your menstrual cycle affects your training, schedule your rest week for the worst days. A rest week doesn’t mean doing nothing; reduce the load and take out the intensity. It’s about finding what works best for you
- Make sure you’re getting enough sleep - This is when your body rebuilds itself, so make sure you get your seven or eight winks a night. You’ll find more tips on how to get a better night's sleep here
- Eat a balanced diet - Protein and energy (plus vitamins and minerals) are essential building blocks for recovery. Aim for 25-30g of protein soon after your training sessions and 1-2+g of carbs per kg of bodyweight. Avoid too many inflammatory foods (high sugar, refined carbs, saturated fats, etc) as these can undermine your recovery.
TIP #5: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
For your fifth and final tip, we’re looking at race day itself! How much time do you spend training and thinking about (or worrying about) race day? Vs how much time do you spend actually planning for it?
I know you want to be out there training rather than planning. But the more important, challenging or longer a race is, the more crucial it is to have a plan. What should it include?
Training your gut
As women, we experience more gut issues than men, which often leads us to under-fuel. But for any race over an hour, you need to take on energy to avoid bonking (grinding to a halt as you run out of calories).
You can massively reduce the chances of stomach issues on the day by using your long training sessions to also train your gut to get used to taking on fuel.
Use your sessions to trial different carbohydrate-based products (e.g. gels, blocks, bars, bread etc.). Start at 30g carbs an hour and work up from there.
Dehydration and hyponatremia (when your electrolytes are out of balance) can increase fatigue, cause cramps and stomach issues, ruin your day, and even leave you in the medical tent. Experiment with electrolytes to work out what flavours and formats work best for you. Decide how you will carry them.
Don’t wait until race day to try things out or buy a new kit. Use training to experiment and figure out what’s best for you and what works in different weather conditions.
Training your pacing
Avoid going out too fast and then running out of steam. Not only will this make you slower overall, but it’s demotivating when people start to overtake you.
Learn what effort you can sustain by testing it in training and then resist the temptation to go off too fast.
If you’re racing in a triathlon, include brick sessions where you test your run pacing straight after a bike session at your goal pace.
Training your mindset
What’s more likely to limit you on race day, your mind or body? For most of us, it’s our mindset – from race day nerves to giving up because we get bored or don’t think we can keep going. Work on your mindset in training so that you’re rock solid by race day.
Top Tip #5 action plan
- Write a draft plan for race day - Include nutrition, hydration, pacing, kit and mindset
- Do a trial run – Instead of leaving it to a last-minute panic, guesswork or finding out whether things work for you for the first time on race day, test your plan during your long sessions in the lead-up. So, you know exactly what does and doesn’t work for you
- Test and refine your plan – If things don’t work, experiment with them during your race-day-focused training sessions.