Part of race planning involves mentally preparing for all eventualities, including what could go wrong.
Here are some examples of what can go wrong during a race, and the strategies you can practice in training so that you can quickly and almost sub-conciously deal with them.
Be prepared for what could go wrong
By planning for every eventuality it means that should anything go wrong during the race there is no panic, you simply follow the pre planned procedure and get back on track.
Swim
Lost goggles
Straps under your hat
Practice swimming without goggles
Follow the bubbles!
Spare contact lenses in T1
Get boxed in
Practice power surges
Jelly fish
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Bike
Lose contact lenses
Have 2 pairs of spare lenses on the bike / in your special needs bag, and again in T2
Crash
Pause, breathe, assess yourself, assess the bike. Take a moment before trying to set off again.
Time penalty
Know the locations of the sin bins, and take at the earliest opportunity.
Use the time to stretch and drink/eat as HR will come down quickly.
Don’t waste time and energy getting angry.
Puncture
Spare tube / tub with gas on the bike
Spare tube / tub in special needs bag
Practice puncture repair in training
Chain break
Have a chain tool on your multi-tool
Carry spare links
Practice how to put spare ‘power link’ in
Lost nutrition
If using your own nutrition in the race, ensure you have also tested the course nutrition so you know if it can work for you.
In training, do some sessions with low / no nutrition, so you know how hard you can go and for how long without taking any food / drink on.
Ensure you have extra / spare in the special needs bag.
Cable break
Practice how to use the limit screws to set your bike as a single speed
Practice riding as a single speed / limited gears
Run
Cramp
Stretch, drink, take on salty / strong flavoured food / pickle juice!
Keep gently moving.
GI distress
Stop eating and drinking, lower your intensity (walk) until things settle down
Blisters
Stop at the earliest sign, check your socks / laces. When passing an aid station apply Vaseline or similar. Avoid getting your socks and shoes wet.
Sunburn
Put extra suncream on in T2
Run in the shade where possible (even if that means crossing the road / taking a longer line)