Welcome back to the Find your Edge podcast . I am your host , coach Chris Newport . As many of you know , we are based in North Carolina . This weekend is Iron man North Carolina 70.3 down in Wellington , and we have a bunch of athletes who are going to be racing . I figured , hey , why not do a podcast blitz , One short podcast for the next five days leading up to Saturday's race , and this is a great opportunity to get you prepared , whether you're doing Iron man North Carolina or another sprint , olympic half Iron man or Iron man distance race , to have some kind of key things to keep in the back of your mind as you get ready to race . So let's jump right in . First and foremost is your training . So more than likely you are tapering right now . So the concept of tapering is all about a reduction in training volume but still maintaining some of your intensity . So this is just to keep that fast twitch muscle moving , to keep you mentally prepared , but also to allow your body to get some much needed rest and recovery to be at your peak performance on race day . So if you have questions or you don't know what's going on , that was terrible . Welcome back to the Find your Edge podcast . I am your host , coach Chris Newport . And , as you know , welcome back to the Find your Edge podcast . I am your host , coach Chris Newport , and , as many of you know , we are located in North Carolina and this weekend is Iron man North Carolina 70.3 , down in Wellington . We have a bunch of athletes who are doing this event so I figured , hey , why not do a little podcast blitz ? So one short podcast every day leading up to Saturday's race . So we'll have five episodes one about pre-race preparation , another about the swim , another about the bike , another about the run and another about what you do in the post-race period . So hopefully you'll tune into all of these different episodes . Whether you're doing Iron man North Carolina or another Iron man , half Iron man or sprint or Olympic distance race , these are all relevant to you . So , putting in all of that effort that you've done for your race , this is race week , so hopefully you're excited .
Speaker 1But as for training , you're most likely tapering . So tapering is all about a reduction in overall training volume while maintaining some of your intensity . This helps get you mentally and physically prepared for race day , allows your body to overall get some additional recovery and allows you to be at peak performance on race day . So really the purpose of a taper is to make you hopefully feel like you're shooting out of a cannon as the gun goes off . So be able to trust your taper and certainly , if you have a coach or some community or support group , lean on them if there are any concerns about tapering . But typically we have most athletes do roughly a one week taper . Some people need more , some people need less . Totally depends on you and your unique situation .
Speaker 1So now let's talk about gear . This is a good opportunity to go over all of your race equipment . Make sure everything is good to go , from your goggles to your wetsuit , to your bike and your running shoes . This is not the opportunity to try out new things . This is really not the time to grab a new saddle , unless your saddle is terrible . This is not the time to get a new pair of running shoes . Hopefully you've gotten all of those details worked out . You've tried on your wetsuit before . I have seen so many people actually as a lifeguard and some of these races who literally stripped their wetsuit in the water and hand it to me and then I have to go find them later to deliver it back to them because the wetsuit doesn't fit or they've never worn it before . So those are things that you definitely want to make sure that you check over and try out . Same thing goes for your bike . So hopefully you have brought your bike to a trusted mechanic to make sure everything is checked over , from checking the torque on all of the various bolts . The reason why I say that is because I do know athletes who have not properly secured their aero bars and they literally fell off and then they wrecked . So make sure that all the bolts are tightened to the proper torque , that your chain is looking good and is nice and clean , it's not overstretched , that your race wheels are true , that your tires are all good to go . So check through all of those equipment . And sometimes you have to make an appointment with your bike shop . So make sure you do that , and hopefully even you've done that already . So that's race equipment .
Speaker 1And now thinking more of sort of the mental and nutrition and physical side of things . This is like I mentioned before with tapering . This is your opportunity to really rest and recover as you lead into race week . There is no better tool to get you appropriate recovery than sleep . So hopefully you're getting your minimum eight hours of sleep . Some of us need just a tad less . A lot of us need a whole lot more . So hopefully you're getting at least your eight hours of sleep as you lead into race week , because that is really going to determine your overall performance , for appropriate muscle and muscle recovery and mental recovery as well . So really protect your sleep , especially in the two days leading up to race day , or three days leading up to race day . We know that the night before you're probably not going to sleep a lot just because of the logistics of having to get up so early and be in certain places . But definitely try to get as much rest and recovery . Protect that sleep as much as you can .
Speaker 1So hydration and nutrition this week is definitely not the time to try anything new . That means not going out to that new restaurant . That means not trying that new cocktail . In fact , if you can leave alcohol alone for the week , that is ideal and will help you be that much better prepared on race day . But this is also not the time to try any carb loading if you haven't tried it already in training . So carb loading is a fantastic technique that helps to improve performance for activities lasting longer than 90 minutes , but this is not the time to try it before an important race week . So that is definitely something that you'll want to try in your training .
Speaker 1Also , another thing that I see a lot of athletes doing is that they're chugging water or they're drinking tons of sports drinks in the day or days leading up to race day , and that is actually what you don't want to do . You want to make sure that you are , in fact , drinking plenty of water so that your urine is a very light colored yellow . That's one of the best and easiest ways to judge your hydration status . But you certainly don't need sports drinks or additional electrolyte beverages , assuming that you are getting plenty of electrolytes from your food intake , so namely your fruits , your vegetables , not skipping the salt shaker . So making sure that you're eating your typical mixed meals that you are used to and drinking plenty of fluids as you lead up to race week . And remember , your kidneys are really good at what they're doing on a minute-to-minute basis , so it's not like they're going to know oh , I'm going to hold on to all these additional electrolytes in the water the day before because you're doing that race the next day . No , they don't know that . So just make sure that again , check that hydration status by checking your urine color . If you want a really great chart , we have on our website , theinduransedgecom , our hydration guide . It's a really awesome tool . I encourage people to print that off and slap it on the back of their toilet seat so that you have that little reminder of what should my urine color be .
Speaker 1As I lead into race week , this is also a good opportunity to make sure that you've got all of your various pre-race pre-foods all prepped and ready to go . If you're used to having , say , oatmeal in the pre-race period , then make sure you've got your oatmeal ready to go , or your cliff bar , or your banana , or your toast or bagel or whatever it is that you're going to have . Make sure that is in place and all the things that you've trained with Dinner the night before the race . Make sure that that also is very familiar foods Hopefully , things like sweet potatoes have been in your repertoire or other high carb foods , but not all carbs . Making sure you're fitting in your sources of protein as well so that you can make sure that your body is used to whatever you have put in it and you're all prepared , all right .
Speaker 1Next thing to think about is your support and your community . So definitely be sure to engage your friends , your family , your training buddies . It is really awesome to have a support network . Especially since you're going to be doing more rest and recovery this week . Maybe you have more time to phone a friend or to call your family or to talk to them , so make sure that they're able to share in your excitement and preparation so that they can follow you on the app , especially if you're doing some sort of an Ironman event . They can follow you there so and ask for support . Sometimes people don't necessarily know what you need unless you tell them . So this is a good chance to really engage your community , your friends , your family , and give you the support that you need and telling them hey , it'd be really nice if I saw you on the run course or at the end of the swim , or if they can physically be but just communicate clearly as to what you need in order for you to feel appropriately supported .
Speaker 1So now thinking about logistics . So this is the time to make sure that you're checking on your travel plans , whether you're staying at a hotel or an Airbnb or whatever . Just double and triple check those plans . Make sure you're all good to go . If you are flying , remember to bring all of the things you need for race day , as much as you possibly can , actually packing them on the plane , like your helmet , your running shoes , your bike shoes , your tri-kit . Anything that you know you absolutely cannot replace . I would prefer not to replace . That is kind of like you know , it's like having your binky with you . So making sure you've got all of those pieces in place , double-checking that you've got a full tank of gas if you're driving . Making sure you've got all your food and your snacks for flying or for traveling or Whatever you're doing . Making sure you've got your dinner plans in place . A lot of people will pack themselves a dinner and they'll reheat it in the hotel room or whatever . So making sure you've got your travel plans all good to go .
Speaker 1Another thing to check in on is the athlete guide . A lot of races will have their athlete guide posted , or there They'll . We'll send it to you . In the case of Ironman North Carolina , they've got a pretty extensive athlete guide because there are so many specific Logistical things going on , because it is a what's called a point-to-point race , so you have t1 and t2 in different spots . So then you just need to think through Okay , what do I need to have in t1? , what do I need to have a t2 ? And also , with this particular race , you get bust from t1 to the swim start and then they swim Finish , knowing that that's a really long run to get to transition area . And then also knowing , okay , when I get to t2 , t2 and the finish line are not in the same places , so there's kind of a lot of pieces to fill in , and Then being able to wait and hang out at the race start prior , just without any of your other things .
Speaker 1So making sure that you know , okay , what bags do I need to have , where and what things am I gonna need and when . So thinking through those things , one place that we have helped you out with is we've got a really awesome triathlon checklist , so get that on our website , theinteranceedgecom . It just goes through a list of all the things that you might need , generally Things for the swim , things for the bike , things for the run , and then there's some additional slots that you can print off . In fact , I have one that's laminated in my bag and then I can , you know , write on it in like a little Dry erase marker and erase things if there are more specific things to the race that I might need or , you know , cross things off . Who doesn't love a good checklist ? I mean , come on , so you can grab that for free on our website . So hopefully taking some of the big Decisions off of your plate and just reminding you to not forget anything .
Speaker 1Other things to do for logistics is just check the weather .
Speaker 1Make sure that you know that you're bringing the right gear for the right conditions . In the case of Ironman , north Carolina , specifically , it looks like the high is going to be in the 60s , the low is going to be in the 40s , so when you hop on your bike , it might be a little chilly , so oftentimes I will recommend in that case that people bring a light vest that will keep your core warm . And then making sure your hands and your toes are also warm . There are some great neoprene toe warmers that you can take to make sure that you can feel your feet through the entire bike ride and then into the run . And , same thing , making sure that you can feel your fingers . So that's always good to have that additional dexterity to be able to shift gears and those things in order to control your bike . So little things to think about as you prepare for race week . I am excited for you . Good luck and don't forget to have fun . You're awesome and I look forward to our podcast blitz tomorrow .