Blog 3

What to do the week of, the night before and the morning of your race.

Hello and welcome back to ASC blog. This is the final blog in the series in relating to your first open water swim/triathlon. If you haven’t read the previous 2 blogs regarding how to plan your training or what to do after you’ve signed up for your first swim, I would advise a quick read of these first.

Now without any more delay, lets “dive” in again

1 week to go

At this point your training has been completed, you are starting to taper down at the start of the week. Tapering is very simply a reduction in training load to allow greater recovery and to prepare you for your event. Tapering should be done 10 days or a week out from your event. For most people this timeline will suffice to provide a significant taper which will result in an improved performance. The biggest mistake people make during the last week of training is to continue training as normal or to increase the intensity thinking this will help your performance. It will not…

Regarding your nutrition, there should be no change in your dietary intake during this taper period. People make the mistake of eating more, to “Carb load” or reduce their intake because they are doing less. Your normal diet and calorie intake will be sufficient to “Carb load” and all for a improved performance.

The night before

The most important thing to do the night before is to pack! Make sure you have packed your swim equipment (goggles, hat, wetsuit,) or your full triathlon equipment. Do this the night before so you are not worrying about it or have to attempt running repairs on any equipment the morning of your event, the first event is already stressful!

You should have the same meals the day/night before but do increase your water intake by a half a litre. Staying hydrated is really important as you will not be able to only do it the morning of the event.

Most importantly get a good night sleep. Get to bed early and give yourself a couple of hours to leave in the morning. This may mean going to bed earlier the night before, but it will be worth it. Avoid looking at any screen when you do go to bed but if you do need noise in the background to help you sleep than I would suggest music without lyrics or music which has a low number of beats per minute (bpm).

The morning of the event

And just like that it arrives! You will be nervous so get to the event with an 1 and a half hours to spare. This is enough time for your first one as you will need to unpack your car, locate the start point (and transition stages) and will allow you to slowly acclimatise to the environment. You will get to speak to the marshals and any questions you have can be answered on the morning. If you need to register on the day or know it is a popular event than go 2 hours before the event to find parking and do your registration.

Finally, it will be time for you to race and all your hard work will pay off. Always remember to stay safe and enjoy the experience.

I’ve really enjoyed writing these blogs and if you have found them helpful let me know by emailing me at coachmulvihill@outlook.ie

Chat soon,

A