Pre-race – race day nerves

There are situations that will pop up in a race that no one will be able to anticipate, the simple issues you should practice, so they are second nature when you come across them. For those unusual situations follow some simple guidelines

• Make sure you start with the present, do not worry about how this issue you couldn’t anticipate might affect things later in the race, deal with the problem in had now, this will help prevent it overwhelming you, you will be surprised how quickly the problem will be over if you focus.
• Deal things in small steps, don’t imagine the whole race, just the next step, by crossing off these small steps things will seem simpler. Remember how those crazy climbs you do in training are helped, when you focus on getting to the next lamp post, rather than looking at what’s left.
• Don’t go looking for problems, react to them if they happen. By practicing all of what you can before the race you will be ready, building your confidence. Then when or if something unexpected does happen you can give that your focus, knowing that anything else is covered and familiar to you already.

Swim – loosing your goggles in a swim

Googles can get knocked off in a swim, minimise the possibility by wearing two swim hats, put your own hat on first then your goggles followed by the swim hat supplied by the event organiser. By wearing your goggles under a hat you are very unlikely to loose the goggles completely.
If however you do – take your time, spend a few seconds and look for the goggles, if you don’t find them quickly move on. If you are uncomfortable with swimming without goggles, perhaps close your eyes or one eye when your face is underwater, opening them to site and breath.
Stay calm and make your short-term focus – “getting through the swim”. There is plenty of the race left to still do well.

Bike - Mechanical problems during the bike leg

Again its primarily about preparation, punctures or dropped or even broken chains are very stressful, so make sure you follow some simple guidelines

• Practice before the race, make sure you know how to remove a wheel, can change your inner tube. That you have the right equipment available on your bike. Use them when practicing so you are sure they are right for you.
• Stay calm, fixing the problem whist worrying about the effect, won’t fix the problem quicker. Do not watch other riders as they pass you, focus on the problem ONLY.
• When you have fixed that puncture or any other issue. Start slowly and in a low gear, gradually building up your speed, going mad and trying to catch up will make things worse. The chances are you haven’t lost as much time as you think

Bike / Run – dropped drink or get

​You have convinced yourself that on the longer rides / runs that dropped fuel, be it a drink or a gel is now going to ruin your race. If you have a strategy in place it will be less of a problem

• You have lost that drink or gel so move on, its gone and there is nothing you can do about it. Other than work on the next steps
• It’s a long race so there will be drinks stations, so you now need to foicus on what you plans are at that station.
• You have obviously practiced with the fuel you are using so the next step is to look for those at the next station. Likewise, you will know what to avoid, get ready for that next station to make it the most efficient you can
• Remember if all else fails fill your drinks bottle with water and if on the bike get back on track at T2.
• Finally stay calm and focus on preparing to make the most out of the situation, not worrying about the consequence.

 

Many of the issues around drifting off line in open water swimming are caused by how you swim, what is important is that you always enter the water in line with your shoulder. As soon as you start to enter with a wide stroke or crossover the centre line of the body, you will have a tendency to drift offline. Practice and make sure your coach is helping you with the correct hand entry position.
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One of the most difficult and important things to do in open water swimming, so what are the tricks to keep on track.

• Sighting and breathing in the same action means you rush the sighting element, so separate the actions and focus on the sighting alone.
• Sighting is a three stroke action, firstly take a look at where you need to go, looking for a landmark or buoy you are heading for, the second is about adjusting your angle toward the direction you want to go. Then lastly check, have you made the right adjustment and are now going in the right direction.
• Lifting your head to sight means your legs are likely to drop, slowing you down, make sure you add some extra kick to maintain forward motion and to keep those legs high in the water.
• If the water is choppy, try and ensure you sight at the top of a wave, you should be able to feel yourself rising on the wave, use this to then sight when at the top of the wave,
• Lifting yourself out of the water to sigh, can be helped by entering your hand flat, rather than entering fingers first. This flat hand entry and subsequent push down will help left you out of the water.
• If the water is calm, minimise your head lift so you keep yourself as streamlined as is possible, lifting so just your eyes are out of the water only.
• Make sure you practice head up swimming, even in the pool you can site during a training session, just to get used to the action in a controlled environment.
• Remember the more you sight and / or the higher you have to lift yourself to site, the more of a chance there is that you will slow down as your feet drop. Only site as often as you need to, as you get better at keeping straight you can reduce the number of times you site.
• As you get better at sighting you can include a breath in the sighting cycle, I wouldn’t advise this until you are relaxed with your sighting. When you do this ensure you sight first then turn your head to the side to breath. Never breath then site.
•  When choosing something to sight on and a direction to swim, always choose the largest target as it will be easier to see, especially when choppy.

A common problem in triathlons is the dizziness you feel when you exit after a long swim and are running or walking into transition. This is caused by the rush of blood away from the head, when standing after being horizontal in the swim for a long period. Sometimes called benign positional vertigo (BPV).  It is short term and will go away, but it never helps you with a fast transition time.
So here are some simple steps that you can try, which may help you reduce the occurrence

• At the back end of your swim, the last 50 – 100m start to use your kick more, not only with this improve your time, but it will improve the circulation of blood in the legs and feet. Reducing the possibility of a sudden change when you stand up.
• Draft in the swim – how crazy is that, how does this help my transition times and reduce dizziness. Its well known that there are several benefits to drafting.
  1. By drafting you are using less effort in the swim, maintaining your time but also reducing the effort, which will help lesson the chance of that rush of blood
  2. With a reduced chance of dizziness you will enter transition fresher and will be quicker.
  3. Because drafting reduces your effort your bike time will be improved as you will be fresher.
• Hydration – make sure you continue to take on fluids right up to race time. Proper hydration is crucial to perform at your best and is a possible cause of dizziness if not correct. So make sure you take on the right amount of water and sports drinks before your race.
• Ear plugs – getting water in your ears during a swim can make you feel dizzy until the water has been able to drain out. Wearing ear plugs will lesson the affect.
• Blood sugar levels can deop off during a long swim, make sure you eat properly before the race as you won’t be able to during the swim.

 
Take some time to try out the ideas above until you find the one’s that work for you

One method of checking the preparedness of a bike is an 'M-check'.  So called because it forms the shape of an M starting at the front hub, travelling up to the handlebars, down to the bottom bracket, up to the saddle and back down to the rear hub. .
The below list gives a more complete list of areas to examine when performing the M-check.

Front Wheel:

• Axle nuts/quick release – tight / firmly closed.
• Spokes all present and tight.
• Brakes – secure and working, aligned and not rubbing against tyres.
• Lights/reflectors – if fitted, then tight and working.
• Tyre – check for wear, cuts and splits in the tread, and that the tyre is inflated to the correct pressure.
• Bearings – grip rim and rock back and forth to feel for loose bearings.
• Spin to check for tight bearings and poor alignment or buckled wheels.

Handlebars:

• Headset/handlebar tight with no side-side play.
• Brakes levers/gear shifters working correctly.

Chain Ring:

• Front derailleur – working correctly with smooth changes. Wires not frayed.
• Cranks – spinning freely with no side-side play.
• Pedals – fitted correctly, and free from debris. Also check cleats are clean and not worn.
• Chain – check it is well oiled and not rusty.

Saddle:

• Fitted tight, facing in the correct direction and set at the correct angle for the athlete.
• Free from rust, damage, cracks.
• Tightly secure (seat post clamp).

Rear Wheel:

• As per front wheel +
• Rear derailleur – working correctly with smooth changes.