Episode 78: Your First Triathlon Race Day: What to Expect (So You Don’t Panic)

Summary:

If you’re feeling nervous about your first triathlon race day, you’re not behind—you’re right where you should be.

In this episode of Triathlon 101, Coach Justin walks you step-by-step through exactly what race day looks like—from the moment you wake up to the moment you cross the finish line.

This is not about racing perfectly.
 It’s about knowing what to expect so you can stay calm, present, and in control.

You’ll learn:

• How to prepare the night before 
• What race morning actually feels like 
• How to set up your transition area 
• What happens during the swim, bike, and run 
• How to avoid common beginner mistakes 
• How to define success on your first race 

By the end of this episode, you’ll understand the flow of race day—and feel more confident heading into it.

Key Takeaway:

Race day isn’t chaos. It’s a sequence you can move through calmly.

Resources:

👉 Start Here (Coaching): https://tabularasaracing.com/start-here
👉 Triathlon 101 Series: https://tabularasaracing.com/triathlon-101

If this episode helped you, consider leaving a review or sharing it with another athlete preparing for their first race.

For coaching inquiries:

Coach Katie → https://fuel2run.com

Coach Justin → https://tabularasaracing.com

Podcast Email → theenduranceathletejourney@gmail.com

Transcript

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Welcome to Triathlon 101, a Beginner's Guide to Triathlon, an Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast Series. I'm your coach for this journey, and if Triathlon has ever felt confusing, intimidating, or out of reach, that's exactly why this series exists. You don't need to be fearless, you don't need to have perfect fitness, and you definitely don't need to have everything figured out yet. What you need is a clear plan, honest guidance, and the confidence that comes from taking the right steps in the right order. In this series, we'll strip away the hype, focus on smart progression, and help you build confidence before distance, so that triathlon fits into your life, not the other way around. Whether this is your first race or your first time even considering one, you're in the right place. Let's get to work. Today we're going to be talking about your first triathlon race day and what to expect. So if you're feeling nervous about your first triathlon race day, you're exactly where you should be. The only difference between you and someone else who has done a race before is just knowing what to expect. So by the end of this episode, you'll know exactly what race day is going to look like. And so you're going to feel calmer going into that day, and you're going to enjoy your day and feel accomplished. So we're good to walk through the entire structure of your day. We're also going to talk about the night before. And so this is where all of this starts. What is it that you're doing the night before the race? And I'm going to help you through some of the planning and prep that I recommend and that I do personally as an athlete and what I advise my athletes to do in order to prepare for race day. So race day is not about perfection. We've talked about this before in a couple of the other episodes. You're going to realize all of the hard work that you've put in throughout the entire training process, and this is where everything just comes together. So you're going to be gaining experience. Experience plus knowledge is wisdom. So by the end of your race day, you're going to be wiser. You're going to have the experience of what it was like to race and the knowledge of what to do, what order to do it in, doesn't mean that you're going to have it all figured out. And that's something else that we've also talked about in several of the other episodes. But I want you to finish the day confident and proud of yourself because you deserve it. But that also means that I want you to feel confident and calm going into the day. So let's start with the night before. Now, what I recommend all athletes to do, these are even the experienced ones, is pack all of your gear the night before. And so what I do is I have a gear list that is in the companion blog to this episode. So if you go in and you download this blog, you're going to see a little packing image that's in the blog and it's going to help you create your piles in order to pack to pack your bag. So what I do is I have a swim pile, I have a bike pile, I have a run pile, and a miscellaneous. And so I put all of my bike gear in one pile. So that's your helmet, your sunglasses, bike shoes, water bottles that's going to go onto your bike. Anything that you're going to be using during that segment goes in that pile right there. Now for the swim pile, you're going to have your goggles, earplugs if you use them, a wetsuit if you're going to need it, and the swim cap. And the swim cap is given to you when you pick up your race packet. So let's take a step even further back. And now you have picked up your race packets, you've gone to the venue, you've given them your ID, and they've given you an envelope of stuff. And so you look in the envelope, and there's going to be a sheet of stickers, there's going to be a latex swim cap, and there's going to be a timing chip. That's pretty standard across most races. Now, that sheet of stickers that you were given goes into your bike pile, right? So that's all the stickers that you're going to have to apply to your bike, and it's going to serve as your identification. So put that right there with your bike shoes and your helmet. Okay. Take the swim cap and put it with your swim gear, right? So put it right over with your goggles and your wetsuit and your earplugs and leave that there. Now here's your run pile. You're going to have your run shoes, socks, hat, sunglasses, uh a hydration vest or whatever it is if you're carrying your own hydration and nutrition, have that there, along with any kind of bottles that you're going to need, any kind of nutrition stuff like goos and gels, and if you're doing longer races, then that would go there. Most of the time, shorter races really don't require that much of an extensive nutrition plan. And so since this series is geared towards beginners, and specifically we're focusing on sprints, I would be surprised if you would need a nutrition strategy. Doesn't necessarily mean that you don't need a hydration strategy. So hydration is the electrolytes in water, and a nutrition is going to be, can also be your electrolytes, but it's also the carbohydrate concentrations that you're going to be taking in. So those are going to be gels and chews and waffles and stuff like that. Those are typically for longer races. You as a beginner and probably doing the sprint, you don't need to worry about that stuff. You're not going to be on course long enough to completely deplete your glycogen store. So you don't need to replenish carbs or anything like that. You're going to be just fine. But if you want, you can have some sports drink and some water and just put it in a bottle, put it on your bike, or just sip it while you're waiting for the swim to start. That's what I recommend, and that's what I do for shorter races that I'll sip on that stuff while I'm waiting. So it's that hurry up and wait mentality, which is a phrase that's pretty commonly known in the sport of triathlon. You just you hurry to get places just to stand there and wait. So while you're waiting, you're you're hydrating and you're drinking and you're just preparing yourself, right? Then I have a miscellaneous pile, and I I typically will have two small towels, uh, my backpack, baby powder. Um, and that's typically about it, usually for like the miscellaneous stuff. And you have your tri-kit, whatever you're going to be wearing during the race. Now, if you have a one-piece tri-suit, which is typically called a speed suit, you also have tri-tops and bottoms, or if you're just wearing just regular athletic clothes for your race, which is perfectly reasonable and fine, then all that stuff goes in the miscellaneous pile. Now, I carry all my stuff in a backpack. Now, there are people that will just carry just a bucket. Like if you go to Home Depot and you see those big plastic buckets, they'll just carry that. That's something that's common for beginners because you can then use the bucket to sit on. So it's actually quite nice. So rather than investing in backpacks and bags and all that kind of stuff, you don't know if you're really going to be into this sport or not, but you'll know by the end of the day. So just go with a bucket. It's super easy, super cheap, and versatile. If you end up not enjoying the sport, then you've got a bucket that you can use at home. So that's what I recommend. And now you start to pack all of your stuff. Just go ahead and just put it all in the bucket or put it all in the backpack and now seal it up and it's ready to go. Make sure that you have your timing chip. I would put that either in the bucket or in your backpack. Do not leave it out for you to remember in the morning. Put it with all the rest of your gear. You can put it in your run shoes if you want, just to keep track of them, but put them with the put it with the rest of your gear. I also recommend a race belt, which is just an elastic belt with a little clip where you can actually attach your bib to the belt so you don't have to pin your bib to your clothes. They're super cheap, really convenient, and it'll just make things a lot easier. So I recommend just getting a race belt. You can get them at any like run specialty store, they'll have them. Um, sometimes the race companies who's putting on your event may sell stuff like that, you know, branded, you know, little little trinkets like that. So I would go ahead and pick one up, you know, a couple bucks. It'll definitely save you some time and energy and effort. So I would go with that. So now all of your stuff is packed, right? And it's sitting by the door waiting for you to leave in the morning. Uh, you've got all of your water bottles. If you're carrying those, you can go ahead and make those the night before, put them in the fridge, and then put a sticky note on the fridge and say, don't forget water bottles, right? I've done that before where I've made them and I'd I've like, oh no, I left my water bottle in the fridge. Uh is sudden panic just sets in. So go ahead and just make those bottles, stick a sticky note right there, and then put another one at your at your door uh when you're about to leave out, and just say, Do you have your water bottle? And just stick that right there as a reminder before you walk out. So now all your stuff is packed, and hopefully it's still early in the evening. And so what we're going to do now is we're going to read through the athlete guide. This is where we're going to start to figure out some of the uh additional logistics that you need to know about parking, what time transition opens and closes. So that way you know what time you need to leave the house in order to get there in time to set up your stuff, what time your your wave, your swim wave starts, if you're doing a race that's got other distances. So it is common to have a sprint race going on the same time as an Olympic distance race. So you need to determine on which wave you're going to be in and what what time your wave starts. So make sure that you read through the athlete guide completely. I can't stress that enough. And if you're like, what's the athlete guide and how do I get it? Chances are the athlete guide has been emailed to you from the race director, probably about maybe a week or so before your race, they've put that together and they've emailed it to you. You're just like, well, I don't remember, I can't find it in my email. Go to the race website. Chances are there's a copy of that year's athlete guide on the on the race website. And so go ahead and download that and have it and make sure that you know what time everything kicks off. Also, something that I recommend and I highly encourage athletes to do is to go to the athlete briefing. So when you picked up your packet, there were probably a couple athlete briefings where the race director sits down, will take questions from you. They'll talk about what race day is going to be like, all the logistics that's going to take place, getting from here and there and parking, all of the important stuff that you're going to need to know to get through your race day is going to be discussed in that meeting. They'll also talk about any kind of nuances for the course. So they'll help you. They'll talk about what the course is going to be like, uh, a little inside information. Also, if something last minute has happened and, you know, heaven forbid there's a change in the course, you won't know about it unless you attended the athlete briefing because that kind of stuff never makes it into the athlete guide and you won't know. So it's common, you know, sometimes that you'll have external events, all of a sudden now one particular road is closed and it was part of the run or the part of the course, and now they have to redirect things. That stuff happens. It's not common, but it does happen. And so that kind of information is going to be talked about in the briefing. If you find yourself unable to attend the briefing, sometimes they will stream those. That was one of the one of the things that was part of the result of COVID was the infrastructure for things to be live streamed. And so now you'll find certain race companies will actually stream their athlete briefing so you can dial into it remotely. You won't be able to answer, ask questions or stuff, but you can at least hear what's being talked about by the director. All right. So once you've read through the athlete guide, you've attended the athlete briefing, your bags are packed, sitting by the door, your water bottles and everything else is made, sitting in your fridge with the sticky note on the fridge and the sticky note on the front door. And now you are ready. You're ready to just unwind, kick back, and try and relax. Right. This is one thing that I really, really strongly encourage. And something that I try to do, but I always find that I've got so much going on that I rarely get the chance to kind of like sit down and relax, even for just like an hour on race the night before a race. So if you're lucky enough to be able to do that, please, please take that opportunity. If that means sitting down to have like a nice dinner and you know, sit there and maybe, you know, watch TV for an hour or go and read and just kind of decompress, allow your brain a chance to kind of disconnect. That's one of the things that I strongly encourage. And that's that that unwinding period because you're already really anxious and nervous, and I get that. I can relate. And so you're not alone in that. And so take advantage of that time. All right. So now race night is is done and it's complete. You've gone to bed, you've slept well. Hopefully, you slept well. And now you're up in the morning, everything was packed, so you had a super easy morning. All you had to do was wake up, eat some breakfast early enough, and do any of your morning routines and leave the house and make your way to the race venue. So I'm going to walk through your day and all the different phases that's going to take place. So first you arrive, then you're going to set up your gear, and then once that's all set up, you'll do a little bit of highly encourage you to do a little bit of a warm-up. If that just means just going out for just like a nice, easy jog or just doing some dynamic movements to prepare your muscles for the for the race. And then you're going to get in the water, you're going to swim, you're going to come out of the water, and you're going to go into T1. You're going to go grab your bike, you're going to go hit the bike course. Then once you're done with that, you come back into transition and you make that switch over to the run. You go out, run, and now you come back and you cross that finish line and you're a triathlete. So that is the overall structure of what your day is going to look like. So knowing the structure is now getting you that much closer to the same confidence that somebody has who has done a race. So we are now starting to feel a little bit better. Now, let's talk about what race morning is going to look like when you arrive at the venue. I can tell you that it can be a little bit of a sensory overload. It's going to be busy. There's going to be people walking around, talking, laughing, having a good time. There's going to be music playing through speakers. There's going to be announcements being made over the over the over the loud speaker system. And so it can be almost kind of like an organized chaos, right? So if you find yourself kind of overwhelmed in those types of situations, uh, like I sometimes do, what I'll do is I just plug in some headphones and I just kind of drown it out. For you as a beginner and a first-time racer, I don't know if I recommend that because I kind of want you to feel what the environment is like, kind of absorb it and just kind of take it all in. Once you kind of get a couple races under your belt, then you're just like, okay, I've done this before, I'm confident, I know what to expect. Now I'm just gonna kind of dip into my own world, prepare my mind a little bit to race. But you know, that comes later. So take the time to enjoy it. Leave leave the headphones at home and just kind of unplug and talk to people, ask questions. Because if there's one thing that triathletes love to do is talk about triathlon. So if you have any questions, I can guarantee you that there will be somebody close by to you that knows the answer, or unless you're surrounded by all beginners, and then you'll all learn stuff at the same time. But if you have questions, definitely ask them to those around you. They're there to help. They love to talk about triathlon. So I recommend that you arrive at the venue as early as you can. Like I said, there's this hurry up and wait mentality. So what I've found over the years is if I can get to transition as early as possible, that's what I do. And then I just kind of take it in, just kind of just wait around. But I no longer have that time anxiety of like, oh, do I have enough time to set up my transition? What if this happens and this happens? You know, am I going to feel rushed? And I don't want you to feel rushed from your first race. So get there as early as you possibly can and get things set up. So now we're going to move into the transition area. So now that you've arrived at the venue, we're going to go and we're going to set up our transition area. Most races just have one, right? But there are race, there are some races who have uh two transition areas. I do not recommend for you to sign up for a race that has two transitions in separate locations if this is your first race. Those tend to be a little bit more logistically challenging. There's more moving parts, there's more risk for you to forget stuff or you know, just not think through things. I want you to find a race that has a single transition area and you'll thank me later. Um, so it makes things really, really simple. So now we're going to set up our transition spot. So what you're going to do is you're going to walk all your gear with your bike. Don't forget your bike and the sheet of stickers that you were given. I probably should have talked about this when we were setting up. Put this, put the stickers on the night before. It'll tell you where they go. There's going to be a sticker that's going to wrap around the seat post of your bike. And then chances are there's a sticker that goes on the front of your bike. And those are typically it. And then you're going to have a sticker that goes on your helmet. Those are the three main stickers that that's going to be present that you have to put on your bike. That serves as your identification during the bike segment of the race. So put those on. You don't have to worry about it. Now you're walking into transition, you have your bike and all your gear. You're going to hang your bike on the metal racks. So you're going to find the section of the racks of all the racks that are there. You're going to find your particular rack, and it's going to be based on your bib number. So you find wherever your bib number falls in the range and go and find a spot. It's first come, first serve when it comes to bike racks. Sometimes they'll have like more organized races. I don't want to say more organized. That's kind of a bad way to put it. Some of them will have a like assigned spot. So they'll have a sticker on there with your bib number, and then you just go to that spot. Sometimes smaller races tend to be first come, first serve. So you need to know that, and that's going to be in the athlete guide. You'll find you'll come in, you'll find a spot or your spot, hang your bike. So you're either hanging your bike by the nose of the saddle or from the handlebars. You need to make sure that at least one tie one wheel is making contact with the ground so that your bike just isn't sitting there swinging. Okay. So once you hang your bike, now we're going to set up the gear. You're going to put one of those towels that you brought, you're going to lay it on the ground. And now we're going to put our gear on that towel. I typically recommend that the bike gear goes at the front of the towel, and then the run gear goes in the back of the towel. So put your bike shoes or whatever shoes you're going to be wearing for the bike, whether you have clips or you're just using like your regular tennis shoes, put those there. If you wear socks, um, what I recommend is here's a pro tip for you. Roll down your socks to where all that's left is just kind of the the tip of the sock. So that way when you come in from the swim, all you gotta do is stick your feet in and roll the sock up, right? Another pro tip is to sprinkle some baby powder in the sock, and it kind of helps, makes it easier for you to get wet feet into a sock. And the fact that they're rolled down doesn't mean that you're trying to pull them up, right? So you just slip the foot in and roll the sock right up. Put one sock in each of the shoes. So that way all you do is you just grab the sock out of there and then slide your foot in the shoe. You're also going to have your bike helmet with the sunglasses. If you can safely hang your helmet from your handlebars on your bike, do that. But if you can't, I would just put the helmet right there on by your shoes and then put the sunglasses inside the helmet. So put the helmet upside down and put your sunglasses inside the helmet with the arms up. So all you got to do is reach down and slide them on your face. That should be all of the bike gear that you're going to need. So you got your shoes, your helmet, and your sunglasses. Put the water bottles. If you're carrying water bottles for the bike, put them on the bike right then and there. Just have them already there. You don't have to worry about it. Behind your bike gear, you're going to put your run gear. So if you're using different shoes, if you don't ride with socks, but you run with socks, just move the socks into the run shoes. And then have your hat that you'll run with, sunglasses if you're using a different pair of sunglasses, and your race belt. And the race belt is the one with your bib already pinned to it. Put all those together so that they're easy to grab. And now your transition is set up. You got just a little square of space. So be respectful for those that are around you and try and use the least amount of space available. It also minimizes the chance of something getting kicked or bumped, and now it's kind of disturbed your layout. The smallest, the smaller the space that you can take up, the better. So minimalization is the best. If you do put your helmet on your bike handlebars and put the sunglasses in it, I would take that second towel that I recommended that you bring and drape that over the helmet so it kind of covers it. This will ensure that if somebody's running by and bumps your bike as they're running by out of the swim, which happens, it may minimize the chance of your helmet falling off and you know things getting kicked around and lost. So that's another pro tip is to bring that second towel. And there's going to be some other some other uses for it that's going to be helpful, but I'll talk about that as we get deeper into this episode. So now your transition is set up, right? Now you've got your goggles in your hand, you've got your swim cap. If you're wearing a wetsuit, I would have that on, but not pulled all the way up yet. I would just kind of get in it to where your legs are in it and just kind of leave it down at the waist. I don't really put on the wetsuit completely until it's pretty close to race time. And the reason for that is because it can really elevate the heart rate. And if you put it on too early, now you've just raised your heart rate and you're starting to sweat. And, you know, the whole idea behind Trithon and Endurance Sports is we want to manage our effort, manage our heart rate, and keep that as low as possible for as long as possible. So I would leave that wetsuit hanging down just up the waist rather than pulling it all the way up. I would then, once it's all set up, I would just leave transition. I don't necessarily want to just hang around. Sometimes I feel even more anxious just hanging around transition because I can feel other people's energies. And if you know they're kind of anxious and bustling here and there, then chances are they got there kind of later and they're rushing through. And I can kind of pick up on that. And it kind of starts to make me feel anxious. So what I'll do is I'll just grab myself and just go and you know, go find a place to sit down or do some body warm-up things, stretching and trying to prepare myself, or just go and talk to others that are closer out and maybe go out to the swim start and take a look and see what the setup looks like. But just get away from transition, is what I would recommend. All right. So now transition is set up. Your race is about to start. So here we are at the swim. There's typically two types of swim starts. You're going to have what's called a wave start. A wave start means that you're put into smaller groups. Now, whether they do that by age or gender, that's going to be specific to the race. Not all races are the same. But the point is that it's a smaller group. Most of those are going to be in-water starts. And so what they'll do is you'll get into your group and you'll they'll tell you next group into the water and they'll announce the group. So you'll move down into the water and you'll wait for the cannon or the other buzzer or whatever to go, and then you start your swim. That's a that's a wave start. The next one is called a rolling start. Rolling starts means that you're set up in corrals. You kind of basically position yourself and you just get in a line. And there's about two or three people, like sometimes three to five people, they they start off at the same time. So group of three will walk up and then they'll say, Go, and then you guys run off into the water. And then maybe about five seconds later, the next one goes. And so that's what's called as that rolling start. Usually the athlete guide is going to have what kind of swim start that you're going to have. So look for that in that guide. This is where most people are the most anxious, right? So what I would recommend is if you are a beginner and you're just still kind of nervous about the swim, start wherever it makes you feel comfortable. You can start further back into the crowd, and you can start out wide so that you're not like in the mix of things. So, you know, that's what I would recommend. Try and find some clean water for you, and that will make you feel a little bit less anxious and overwhelmed, and you'll just kind of just go about your thing. Just execute your race and put yourself where you need to be to execute that strategy. If that means that you're further back in order to give you some space and a little less pressure, then start there. There's nothing that says that you have to start up front or in the middle or try and stay with the pack. You don't you don't have to. What we want to do is we want to control our breathing. So when you start getting to the water and you start to swim, the adrenaline is flowing and it's really easy to kind of just go out hot. Uh, what I recommend is just kind of just easing into it. Just take a nice couple easy strokes, control your breathing. You want to find your rhythm. Uh, if you get to the point where you need to pause or change your swim stroke, and we talked about that in I think it was episode two. Do I need to be a good swimmer to do it to do a triathlon? Go back into that episode and check that out. There's some tips there on you know getting through the swim portion of the race. I don't want to reiterate a lot of the points that were made in that episode. So if you if you want some more information on that, go back and listen to that one. But the point is that we want to try and stay calm, find your rhythm, and just start strong and ease into the race, right? You cannot win the race in the swim, but you sure can lose your race in the swim. So this is the first thing that you're going to be doing. And so let's kind of try and ease into it as much as possible and control how the day is going to start. Those are my tips and advice for you for getting through the swim and staying calm in the water. So the next thing is you've now completed the swim and you're swimming back to shore and you hit that shoreline, and now you have made it through the swim portion of a triathlon, and now you're making your way into T1 to go out for the bike. Now, if you are wearing a wetsuit, what I recommend that you do is at least unzip your wetsuit and pull it down to your waist. Get your arms out of it and get it down to your waist. You don't have to strip it completely off. I would do that in transition, but at least get it down. If you're wearing a sleeved wetsuit, what I also recommend is that you take off your swim cap, take your goggles, put them in the cap, and cinch the cap. And now when you take off your wetsuit, leave the cap in the arm of the wetsuit. So that's a little pro tip for you. Now everything is, there's nothing loose in your hands, everything is nice and tucked away inside that wetsuit, and there's nothing for you to worry about. So now all you're doing is you're just making your way into transition. Now, whether you run to transition, jog, or just walk it off, that's up to you on what your strategy is going to be. A lot of the times I'll walk it or just a nice easy jog because going without shoes, I tend to have a little bit of sensitive feet. And so I don't particularly like you know running in grass or on asphalt or concrete or whatever with in just bare feet. So whatever it is that you need to do to get through, just do that. You don't have to run, you don't have to jog, you can just walk it out if you want. Sometimes you have the ability to just leave like a pair of shoes by the swim exit and put on the shoes. I did that actually for one race because I had some tendonitis on my ankle and it really hurt to walk. And so what I did was I just had a pair of shoes that was by the swim exit and slid those on and worked my way because transition was on a parking lot and it was all asphalt, and I didn't want it to chew up my feet. And but that's one option that you've got. So now that you're in transition, you find you find your bike, right? I would make sure before you leave to try and find something that will cue you to where your bike is, whether that's you know, you're counting the number of racks or whatever. You know, I I would not recommend like using like somebody else's gear as an indication for where you are because if they finish the swing before you and their gear's gone, you're just like, oh, where's my stuff? And you're looking for something that's not there. But you know, that's one thing that I would recommend is just to really know transition, know where you're going in and out, where you have to, where you go out for the bike and where you come in for the bike. Also, where you leave out for the run. Those are going to be different areas, different exits and entrances in and out of transition. So walk transition. When you pick up your packet, actually, they should have transition already set up for you, or the whole area set up and the racks are there. I would walk it and just say, okay, this is where I leave to go for the bike, and this is where I come back in from the bike. Okay, this is where I head out for the run. There's the finishing chute. That's the kind of stuff that I do. I walk transition when I pick up my packet just so that I know the lay of the land. And I kind of find where I'm going to be and whether that's, you know, counting racks. So I was like, okay, I'm the fifth rack. You know, this is where I'm going to be. Um, or at least, you know, some kind of landmark that might be close by that you can use uh as a reference. So now that you've made your way from the swim into transition, you found your bike, uh, you're going to strip the rest of that wetsuit, rest of it off. Um, what I do is pull it down to my feet and then just kind of step, use my one foot, step on one leg, yank it out, and then use that foot, step on it, yank it out. That stuff, the wetsuits are really, really durable and really um you know, sturdy, so you can step on them and just yank them. You're not gonna tear it, you're not gonna do anything, but that's how I get out of my wetsuit. If you're not wearing one, then it's great. You have one less thing that you have to worry about. So all you're gonna do is I would take that extra towel that I had you pack, and whether it's draped over your helmet or not, or if it's just laying, you just have it folded up on the ground because you have your helmet on the ground, I would use that towel to like wipe off your feet. You know, at least sometimes I carry an extra water bottle and just have just plain water, and I'll squirt uh some water on my feet to wash my feet because chances are you might have run through asphalt and obviously you've picked up some rocks and some dirt and stuff like that. Or if you're the the exit to the swim was on the beach, and now you've got sand all over your feet, and that's really uncomfortable to try and get on the bike with sandy feet grinding in there. So I have an extra water bottle that I have just plain water and it stays in transition. I'll squirt my feet off to wash it, and I'll use that towel just to wipe down the feet really, really quickly. We're not like completely toweling off here. You do not have to do that. Do not spend that much time in transition, just enough to knock the debris off. First thing you do, you grab the sunglasses out of the helmet, put your sunglasses on. Next, grab the helmet, pop your helmet on, buckle the chin strap right away, immediately. Because when you remove your bike from the rack, if your chin strap is not buckled, it's grounds for immediate disqualification. You cannot touch your bike without your chin strap strapped, and like your helmet fully secured. So, what I do is when I come in, I grab my sunglasses, boom, on my face, grab the helmet, on my head, buckle, and then I put my shoes on. Slide your feet in, cinch it down, grab the bike off the rack, and you head out. That's all that you need to do. Most of the time, my goal is to get in and out of transition within five minutes. That's a pretty long time to be in transition, but I find it to be a reasonable time because sometimes they'll count the time that it takes you to get from the swim exit into transition. So that's part of your transition time. So if you have a long way to go, you have to account for that, especially in if you have to strip off wetsuits. Some of that stuff takes additional time. But if it's short, try and get in and out of there as quickly as possible, but don't rush, don't feel like it's chaos, like, oh, I gotta go, I gotta go. Take your time a little bit and just kind of stay calm. This is your first one. You can improve efficiency later when you do your second, third, and fourth races. All right. So just take your time, get through transition. It's fine. So you're gonna grab your bike and now you're gonna head out to the mount line. So you'll go out the bike out entrance for from transition. You'll walk up to the line, and then you'll say, mount your bike here. And it's usually like a piece of tape that's stretched all the way across the road or on the ground, and you go over that line or up to it. I typically will go over the line, then you mount your bike, and then you head off. One of the things that I that I meant to mention when you when you're setting up transitions, so this is another pro tip for you. Put your bike gear in an easy gear. So that means that the chain is going to be in the larger rings in the back of your bike. So those are the chain rings, or the cassette is what that's called. Put your gear, the chain, in some of those top rings. That's the easier gear. So that way when you get up to the mountain line, it's easy to pedal and kind of get that momentum. You don't want to have to like step on the pedal and like mash it because you left it in a hard gear and it's hard to get going that way. Have it in easy gear already. So don't leave transition for the swim until you've put your bike in an easier gear and it's ready to roll. I will tell you there's two places that are the most dangerous in a triathlon, and that is the bike mount line and the bike dismount line. Usually it's the same line, but it is the most chaotic place and the most dangerous because it's the one, it's the one area where people really aren't focused and paying attention. They're busy looking down, they're trying to clip in to their bike pedals, they're you know messing around with watches and they're pushing buttons and they're not looking up. So, pro tip for you, start out wide. So if you come up to the mountain line, start to the side as much as you possibly can. You're out of the way of all the other knuckleheads that are going to be out there not paying attention. And then once you kind of get going, you know, then you can start, okay, you know, I need to take a drink or take a sip of something, you know, whatever. But I typically will wait just a couple minutes, you know, before I touch anything on my bike because I'm fully paying attention because I'm trying to watch everybody else, because they're not watching you. So be defensive when it comes to the bike mount line and dismount line. It's where I've seen the most accidents, people falling over, people not having their bike in the right in an easy gear, so they step on the pedals and it doesn't really go very far, and then they fall over, or they're trying to pull gummies or your chews or whatever while they're still trying to get going on the bike, and they're looking down at their watch and they're pressing lap buttons and things. It is it can be chaos. So I want you to be prepared and uh, you know, I want you to get safely out on the bike. So now how to my tips for you on how to pace the bike. What I recommend that you do is spend the first five to ten minutes at a, I don't want to say easy, but a comfortable effort, right? You could definitely ride harder. You're not trying to get your heart rate into a particular zone or reach some power number or some cadence or whatever metric that you're using to measure performance, if you even have that. You're not trying to reach that high intensity effort right off the bat. I take the first five minutes or so and just kind of like spin the legs a little bit, trying to get find my spot on the on the seat, just kind of get my legs under me because you're going from a swim to the bike and it's just a different orientation and you're still paying attention to others. And so that's one of the things that I recommend is just kind of take that first little bit a little bit easier. Once you kind of get settled in and it starts to space out, you know, and the other riders, you know, you're starting to get some distance between each other, then you can kind of settle in, you can start to pick up the intensity a little bit and try and find whatever targets that you're trying, if you have targets, you're trying to hit those targets, that's when you start to kind of really dial it in. So we want to build the effort over time. So take that first segment, go a little easier. Now let this build. And as we start to get closer to the finish of the bike, what I typically will do is I'll start to bring down the intensity a little bit. Maybe that means that I'm decreasing my gear, so I'm getting into an easier gear and I'm increasing my cadence, I'm spinning out the legs a little bit because I'm trying to prepare my body to get off the bike and onto the run. So I don't want to come in on the bike really hot and my legs are fully loaded onto the bike, and now I'm trying to, you know, walk in bike shoes and everything else, and you're trying to walk the bike, run the bike back into transition, it can feel a little wobbly. So that's why I tend to decrease the intensity towards the end of the bike course to kind of prepare myself to come off of the bike. I want you to think of the bike as a way to set up the run. So we're not riding the bike in a triathlon like cyclists. We're riding the bike in a way that prepares us to do the next thing, which is run. So, what that typically means is you may be able to, if you were only biking, you could probably perform better. You know, you'd have better metrics, but you're purposefully not riding at that intensity because you still have something to do afterwards. So that's the way that I always think of the bike is like this is a precursor to the run. And sometimes what I tell my athletes is that the race doesn't start until the run shows up. That's where the rubber meets the road, is when that run starts to happen. So want you to stay as comfortable as you can on the bike, have fun, enjoy the bike. I love the bike courses on all the races that I've done. I really enjoy myself on the bike, it's my favorite piece, and I really just have a blast and I enjoy that. So take advantage. I want you to really focus on your fueling and your hydration if your race calls for it, because what happens is that the body has a hard time absorbing the nutrients that you intake. So if you're drinking stuff or, you know, chews and gummies and goose and all that kind of stuff, sometimes it can be harder for the body to absorb that while running. And so, really, it's easy to kind of overfuel on the bike where your body isn't jostling around, it's not moving around a little bit, it's stationary, you're hooked in and you're just sitting on a seat and you're pedaling through. It's easier to take in that nutrition then. So if that's part of your strategy, I recommend that you really stay up on your fueling and hydration during the bike because it gets a little bit harder to do. During the run. So again, is this concept that the bike sets up the run? All right. So now you're coming in off of the bike horse and you're coming up to the dismount line. All right. This is also where I see most of the tumbles and falls is coming into this dismount line. People coming in way too fast, way too hard, they misjudge the distance, or another another athlete stops short of a line and they weren't prepared for it, and now they're slamming on brakes and everything else. It can it can be wild and crazy. So I just want to warn you ahead of time that pay attention when you start coming into this dismount line. Make sure that you have a good line of sight on where you want to be. And if somebody gets into that spot, find the next spot that you need to be in, right? Really kind of pick where you want to be and purposefully make your way towards there. Come up to the line, don't go over the line. But I also don't recommend you stopping short, right? Because then that kind of messes people up that are behind you and you run the chances of people running into the behind running into the back of you. So go right up to the line. It's okay. You come up to the line, you'll kick your leg over the bike, and now you're going to either walk or run your bike back into transition. I will tell you, it's going to feel weird. All right. Your legs are going to feel a little wobbly. You're you're if you're wearing bike shoes and you're kind of walking on uneven bike shoes. It's a weird sensation. So that's something to consider during your training is practice mounting and dismounting. You know, if you go out for a ride, find that park, find a parking lot or something, and you know, look at the parking spaces, the lines that are painted on the road, and use that as your mount and dismount line. Ride up to the ride up to the line, stop at the line, practice getting off the bike and grabbing it and running forward and seeing what that's going to feel like. All right. That stuff makes a big difference on race day. You know what to expect and nothing is new, and you've practiced it all. Alright. So heads up, eyes open when you're coming in onto that dismount line. Once you get off, you're going to walk your bike back in. So it's the bike in entrance. So you're going to look if they have it labeled, it's going to say bike in, and it may be different than the bike out. Not all of them are the same. So go into the bike lane, bike in. You're going to find your space. So go back to the place where all your gear is at and re-rack your bike where it was before, right? Don't go someplace else and rack your bike somewhere else. I don't know why you would, but I just wanted to reiterate that's where you're going. You're going back to your spot. You're going to rack your bike. You're going to take off your bike helmet and put that on the ground, like back on the towel. And you're going to, if you're changing your sunglasses or whatever, I have a pair of cycle glasses that I wear, which have a different, different frame, different lenses. And then I have run sunglasses, and those are in my hat. So I switch my sunglasses out, but you don't have to. If you got one pair, it's perfectly fine. Take your helmet off, put your hat on, slide your slide your shoes on, and grab that race belt. You don't have to put the race belt on, just grab it in your hand and start making your way to the exit. Here's a pro tip for you. One gear upgrade that I recommend. And I think I talked about this in episode five, which was, you know, what kind of gear do you need to do your first triathlon? I talked about speed laces or elastic laces in your shoes. That is a big upgrade and a big time saver. They're already pre-tensioned, and so all you're doing is you're basically grabbing your shoe and just sliding it onto your foot, right? You're no need to like tie laces and things like that. It's super, super helpful and really cheap and will just increase the comfort and ease and efficiency of your race. So that's the pro tip that I would recommend, and one gear upgrade that I do recommend. So slide your feet into your shoes, grab, grab your race belt in your hand, and start making your way to the run out portion of transition. So it's going to be the exit that's going to say run out. Then you can kind of like buckle your race belt on and get that on. Chances are they will have an aid station that's right outside of transition when you start the run. What I will do, what I always do is I grab two cups. I grab a small cup, dump it on my head, and then I grab a second cup, and that goes in my mouth, and then I start the run. That's just kind of my that's my routine. But go ahead and grab it while it's there, and now you're out on the run. Now we've practiced this during the brick sessions that we had in our plan. All right. There was that previous episode that I talked about how to fit, you know, training for a triathlon in a busy schedule. I gave you like an eight-week sample training plan. Uh in the weeks four through eight, the last half of that, I included a brick workout. That's what these are. This is that we can run brick that we that we trained for. The reason that we did that is because we wanted to understand how our legs are going to feel coming off of a bike and starting to run. So now that you've done these, you know exactly how this is going to feel. And the goal is to start slow. If you feel like you're running really slow, chances are you're running the right pace and at the right effort. It should feel slow. And most of the time, what I find is that people's bike cadence can be higher than their run cadence. And so when they start running, their legs are still kind of taking over that rhythm that they had on the bike, and now they're running faster, their faster cadence than what they can sustain. And that's what we call going out hot. That's just not a sustainable effort. And then you've now kind of run the risk of sabotaging the run. So the goal is during those brick sessions that we've practiced this starting out easy and allow the run to build, find the rhythm, allow your legs to get under you and kind of develop those run legs or get those run legs back. During your training, what I recommend is keeping track of how long it takes for you to really kind of feel like your bike legs are gone, you're and you have your run legs under you. Most of the time during my training, I've gotten to the point where it's like about five to seven minutes of running off the bike, is where I still get the the wobbly legs a little bit, and I finally have my run like my quote unquote run legs under me at about the five to seven minute mark. Right. But keep track of that. That's one thing to just kind of note during your training, during your brick sessions, is kind of say, you know, hey, this is this is where I kind of feel now like I'm running, and I, you know, my body has kind of forgotten what it felt like to bike. So that's what I recommend. Whatever uh execution strategy that you're using for the run, go ahead and start with that. If you're using a run-walk protocol, or if you're running the whole thing, or if you're walking the whole thing, whatever it is that that you want to do in order to get through, the point is to execute that strategy and stick with it for as much for as long as you can. There's going to be outside forces that may cause you to alter plans. I've definitely experienced that. Um, you know, it starts to get too, too hot and you just cannot meet the expectations that you had, and you have to change your plan and change your strategy. Allow that stuff to flow, right? But the point is that you know we're we're trying to execute the strategy that we've got, get through the run, and we're starting out slow and allowing this to build. All right. So when you come back from the run, you're going to see that finish line and you're going to hear the music playing. You're going to see that finish line, and all the friends and family, they're all cheering for you. And you can hear your name get called out as a finisher, and now you've crossed the line. They're going to put your medal over your neck. They're going to give you a bottle of water, maybe a cold towel if it's hot. But now you're done. You are now a triathlet. And chances are by the end of the evening, you're probably going to be scrolling the internet looking for your next race. So at least that's the way I've experienced it before. All right, so that completes your day. And so let's kind of do like a quick wrap-up on what are some of the common fears that that we have during these races. We've talked about the swim anxiety, right? But I've already given you tips on how to stay calm in the water. We've talked about transitions and some of the anxieties, like, oh, what if I forget something? Or, you know, what if I mess something up? Messing it up, fine. Happens, you move forward. Don't don't get hung up on it. You haven't forgotten anything because I've given you the packing list and we've gone through this, and you set up your transition and everything is there, but there's no need to worry about that. So I think we've alleviated most of the anxiety associated with transitions. And you know what to do when you come in out of the water and when you come off of the bike, because we've just covered that in this episode. Gear issues are probably the next one that I think are probably the most anxiety outside of these. Whereas because when you're riding the bike, you can have mechanical issues. That stuff is just out of your control. You've done the best that you can to make sure that your bike is operating best, but flats happen. Uh you hit something, and now all of a sudden you've got a flat. Know how to change a flat. That's one thing that I recommend. It doesn't take that long to figure out. Tons of YouTube videos out there to learn on how to do that, but try and be as self-sufficient as possible. But then there's some just gear issues that you're going to have that are just outside of your control. And that's just part of the game. That's part of racing. So that's probably one thing that maybe a little bit of extra practice or maybe some just planning. It's like, well, if this happens, this is what I'm going to do. And then practice it. If this happens, this is what I'm going to do. And then practice that. That way, when something happens and it comes up, chances are you've already practiced a scenario on how to deal with it, and you're not left trying to make a decision right then and there in the moment where it feels emotional. And it's like, oh my goodness, you know, my day is unwinding and I'm not going to meet my expectations. But you have a plan. Go into the race with a plan for as much as you possibly can and try and control the controllables. The next thing would probably be getting lost. I imagine they can, I've never gotten lost on a race. Um, there's just too many people out there to really get lost. But the longer the race is, the more opportunities there are for there to be fewer people around you. And so I can understand on maybe how there can be uncertainties. Like, am I in the right place? But that just means that you just need to be present throughout the race. If you're doing some longer races, I recommend, and if you have the time, going and scouting the course, even if that's during your training or you get to the venue like a day earlier or whatever, go out and ride, drive the bike course in your car and just look for the turns and things that you're supposed to go and things that you're going to see, landmarks, get familiar with the with the route as much as possible. And that'll alleviate some of that anxiety of getting lost. The swim, you can't get lost in the swim. So I think the bike and the run are the only two places where you could possibly get lost. And most of these things are so well marked, and there's volunteers absolutely everywhere. So rely on those volunteers, listen to them. They're they're there to make sure that you have a great day. They're having a fun time, they're encouraging you. Uh, so just thank them as you're racing through. You know, say, hey, thanks for coming out today. You know, thanks for cheering, thanks for helping. That really goes a long way for your enjoyment as a racer plus theirs as well, because the volunteers is what really makes your race happen. Without those people there, chances are you would not have a race to even attend because there's no way it would be supported. So, but but things are clearly marked. There's going to be signs and cones, and you know, on the bike, most of the time there's going to be police at intersections and things, and just a little bit of courtesy. I always wave to the cops as I drive as I ride by, you know, just showing your appreciation for them kind of makes you feel better, makes makes them feel better that you know that it's worth it. And they're having, they're allowing you to have a good day. Just have a good day. That's all I can uh all I can say. And the more thankful you are to others that help you through your day, the more satisfaction and joy you get out of your day. So getting lost, I don't I don't know how else to really alleviate that anxiety besides knowing the course, look at the maps that are in the athlete guide, really become as familiar as you possibly can with the route. You're not going to be able to memorize it, but just stay present and stay alert and know where you're going is one thing that I would recommend. Being last is probably another common fear. And quite honestly, if you're last, you're last. You know the difference between the person that finished first and the furnace and the person that finished last. Nothing. You're both finished. So it doesn't really matter if you finish last, you finish in the middle or you finish first. They're all finishers, you're all going to get your medal, you all get the the experience of doing the race and pushing your body to the limits and really learning something about yourself. So if that means that you're last, then take it. You still accomplish something that a lot of people don't. So be proud of that. I think out of all those fears and anxieties, I think that it's common for everyone to have some type of anxiety in those areas. I know that I still have some of those fears as well. I wouldn't call them fears. There's like a little bit of nervousness. It's like, oh, well, you know, what happens if this happens? But if I have that thought, then that just means that there's something that maybe I can prepare for to help with that, to alleviate that. Maybe there's another plan that I can come up with, another strategy, something that I can learn how to do to be offset that. And so that's what I recommend. The next one, the next thing I want to talk about is how to define success. And so this is a common theme that we've had throughout this series so far is that as a beginner, we're not looking for perfection. We're looking for completion, wanting you to get the experience of racing and what this sport is like. Success and performance, in my honest opinion, as an athlete and as a coach, comes later. Use this time to really, really learn and enjoy the sport. Because I can I can tell you right now from my own personal experience, I wish I could go back to those times where I didn't have performance expectations, where I didn't have a target that I was trying to hit, a time that I was trying to hit, power numbers that I was trying to maintain, a speed I was trying to maintain, efficiency that I'm trying to hit. I wish I could go back to that time where I didn't have any of that. All I had was just pure, unadulterated love of what I was doing and just getting the experience and enjoying the moment. Um because now, after multiple races, it's hard to kind of get that feeling again, even if you don't have any kind of expectations, then I think that there's still some part of the brain that really kind of develops some level of expectation. And so really capitalize on your newness and inexperience to really give you that love of doing something for the first time. Overlay the performance later, and that's when you kind of dial in on your training, and it's like, okay, now that I've got these couple races, let's see if I can improve. I want to tweak this and tweak that, let's see if I can do this. That's that's when that comes, right? But right now is not the time for it. So success is, in my opinion, defined as the experience that you had, not the time in which you got for your race. So, in my final thoughts for this episode, I would just want to encourage you that you are more ready than what you think. This is now episode six, and so we've talked about many of the topics that really keep people from attempting a triathlon and getting into the sport. And I hope that these series, these episodes, have really kind of alleviated some of that uncertainty and the questions that are in your mind, and really have given you confidence before you even do anything. It's like, you know what, I I can do this. And so I I don't want you to hesitate out of these fears that aren't even realized yet and may not even be reasonable. So at the end of the day, you're gonna swim, you're gonna bike, and you're gonna run, and when you cross that finish line, you will be a triathlete, and I want you to soak that in. So I want to thank you guys for joining me here in episode six of Triathlon 101. Here at Taboularasa Racing, if there's anything that we can do to help you along in your journey, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can go to tabula rasa racing.com. There's a page there that's called Start Here, and you just click on that page and it will walk you through a little bit of an introduction on for Tabula Rasa Racing. It's got a video there on my philosophy, my coaching philosophy. It has a couple, you know, directions here. It's like, you know, just some basic information for you. And there's a couple links that are in there if you want to reach out to me. Feel free to take advantage of that. If you get to the point where you say, I think I'm actually interested in coaching, then go to the coaching page. There's various options that are there for you, different plans that we've got to offer. Uh, whether you're getting going to get a custom training plan or you want one-on-one custom coaching, those options are available to you. But check out the website. There's tons of resources that are there for you. But in terms of coaching, those are the two places that I would recommend that you start. Uh, for the resources for this series, the Trathlon 101 series, go to the resources page and then there's a link that says to fundamentals. Click on that fundamentals button and it's going to take you to the Trathlon 101 site. Uh, it's gonna have all the previous episodes, all the blog posts uh that are companion pieces. If you're listening to if you're watching this on YouTube, there's an audio-only version that is attached to the Endurance Athlete Journey podcast. If you have not checked out that podcast, I would recommend it. I'm a little biased, but I am one of the co-hosts of the Endurance Athlete Journey Podcast, along with Coach Katie Cassane, who is a registered sports dietitian out of Colorado. And we've got many episodes that are there in our library on various topics, spanning nutrition, training, the mental side and emotional side of endurance sports. So please check out some of those episodes. I imagine there's something there that will help you. If you've enjoyed this video and you've enjoyed the content that we've been coming out with so far, please leave a comment in the in the in the video for for YouTube or like and subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, leave a comment. Those are so greatly appreciated. I do not monetize any of my content. So the YouTube videos, the podcast, none of that stuff is monetized because I wanted to keep it pure and come to you unfettered and really share clean data and information with you that's not beholden to some other product. So those reviews and those comments are greatly appreciated, and they help others find the content as well and help them on their journey. Until then, thank you for joining me. I've been your host, Coach Justin. I'm head coach and owner of Tabula Rossa Racing, and this has been episode six of Triathlon 101, where we've talked about what to expect uh during your race day for your first triathlon. Again, thank you very much, and I will see you all again next time. Happy training, everyone. That's it for today's episode of Triathlon 101, a beginner's guide to triathlon, an endurance athlete journey podcast series. Remember, you don't need to have everything figured out right now. Progress in triathlon comes from consistency, patience, and taking the right next step. If something you heard today sparked a question or gave you a little more confidence, that means you're moving in the right direction. Stick with this series as we continue breaking down triathlon one step at a time, building confidence before distance, and focusing on a process that actually fits real life. Until next time, trust the process, keep showing up, and remember you're becoming an endurance athlete long before you ever cross that finish line.