1. Set a goal: You should set a personal goal for yourself before race day. Your goal can be as simple as completing the race or finishing the race in a particular time. Try to avoid setting goals that seem unattainable in order to avoid disappointment on race day. This goal is YOUR goal, not your friend’s or your training buddy’s. This will help you focus during your training sessions leading up to the race.
2. Have a nutrition plan in place before race day: Before you compete in any race, you should have a nutrition plan in place. You should train with foods and liquids you plan on using race day. You need to know how your stomach will react to certain foods and drinks while you are training. For a shorter race, such as a sprint distance event, most competitors should be able to get through the bike portion of the event with about 20-24 ounces of fluids while taking in small portions of water/sports drink during each mile of the run course. Gels, bars and sports drinks are all things that you can experiment with during your training to find what works best for you.
3. Give yourself extra time race morning so you do not feel rushed: You want to make sure you have plenty of time race morning. Arrive early to the race site. This will give you plenty of time to park, get your equipment situated and hopefully prevent any additional stress race morning. This will give you plenty of time to set up your transition area without feeling rushed or anxious. This will also provide you with extra time in case you have to make any last minute adjustments to your bike or other race gear.
4. Avoid overtraining: You want to make sure that you are giving your body enough time to recover between workouts. As a beginner, your training is going to be different from somebody who has been doing this for years. It is best to start out with one workout a day, and grow from there. If swimming is your weak spot, you want to make sure you hit the pool more than once a week. Proper recovery from your workouts is just as important as the workout itself. If you are totally lost about developing a training schedule and do not have access to a local triathlon club or group, hiring a triathlon coach would be your next best step.
5. Focus on yourself, not others around you: You 20 USA TRIATHLON YOUTH GUIDE
are competing in this event for yourself! If you start to worry about winning or beating others in your age group, you will start to lose focus on what you are trying to accomplish. There is always going to be someone who is faster, stronger or more experienced. It is not worth your time worrying about others around you. You should have fun and enjoy the experience of triathlons!
6. If you have questions, just ask: You are going to have multiple questions during your first race. Feel free to ask other athletes around you, or the event management team to help you with your questions. If you don’t ask, how will you ever find out the information you need? I know I constantly asked questions during the first few years competing in this sport, and I still ask questions now! There is always somebody out there who can help you with questions about training, bikes, gear, nutritional questions, etc.
7. Know your personal limits: You have to be careful to stick to your training plan, and not get caught up with what your buddy or other local triathletes are doing. For example, if you are only used to running three days a week, you would not want to jump right into running five days a week. You are the best judge of how your body feels and how hard you can push yourself. Especially during the really hot days, you should use extreme caution and make sure you stay hydrated and workout more in the mornings and evenings to avoid the heat of the day.
8. Go through all of your race gear a few nights before the race: You are already going to be nervous for race day, so try to eliminate as much stress as possible before the event. A few nights before the race, start getting all of your race gear together, and make sure that you have everything that you need. That way, if you find out that you need to purchase an item for the race, such as gels or bars, or new goggles, you will have time to run to the store before race day. Then, the night before the race, you can put everything you need into your gear bag and have it ready for the morning. I have learned that waiting to the last minute to get your gear together can be quite stressful.
9. Don’t try new things on race day: This is very important for any triathlete. This includes
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