Thinking worlds or 70.3 worlds here, or just something you have prioritized for a while.
Do you try to get there a few days before? Week before? Further out to training a bit?
I am going to be racing 70.3 worlds and want to give it my best shot.
Assuming complete flexibility of work schedule (since I kinda have that now with working remote)
What do you do?
and for the experts :
Is there a timeline that works “best” or is “optimal” if so …why?
day or two in advance, mostly it depends on check in, if you have to rack the day before & flight schedules.
If I’m going to do a bit of holiday after the race it’s going on the back end and not pre race
How many time zones between you and the race?
When I raced WC in Nice coming from North America, I arrived Thursday to race on Sunday. When I raced WC 70.3 last year in St. George (only a 2 hour time zone difference), I arrived on Thursday to race on Saturday.
For an Ironman I like to arrive further out - usually try to schedule for a Tuesday/Wednesday if possible so I get a rest day over the travel day and then have a few days to get settled and prepped at the race location.
For a 70.3 usually Thursday night for a Sunday race. Having to do too much on the days leading up to the race is stressful and really tires me out so a bit of extra cushion helps me rest and perform better. I usually end up flying to races as well so its nice to have a bit of a buffer for anything going wrong with the bike or delays.
Out of curiosity is this your preference or professional opinion? Like would you tell your pro or hopeful pro athletes the same thing?
Good point on the time zones. I am EST so two hours ahead of St. George, so I am not sure that will make a huge impact, but my thinking was to try and arrive for the weekend before to get one last long ride in out there as opposed to home on the trainer.
I like to arrive a week early. Get heat acclimatized, practice on course, laid back vacation.
It really depends on a lot of things. Time zone changes, how long it takes to get there, whether or not the race is in a climate you need to acclimate to (altitude, heat/humidity, etc) but personally if at all possible before a race I really want to do well at I tend to want to wait as long as possible to go so I can stay in my own training bubble and routine until the last possible minute. I’m sure other people are better about adapting to being somewhere else but I like my own bed and training routes and food.
You mentioned on the east coast traveling a couple of time zones west and honestly I think that is ideal for waiting as long as you can. You get the benefit of having an easy time going to bed and getting up early for the race. I traveled to Oceanside from the east coast this spring, arrived Thursday to race Saturday and it was great. I went to bed at like 6:30pm and had no trouble getting up for race day. I do think it can be a personal preference thing. I have even traveled to Europe and arrived Thursday to race Sunday and the time zone change is terrible but I think I still prefer the short turn around to spending like 5 days before dealing with being somewhere else. Then I can relax and enjoy traveling after. I’m sure some people might be stressed out not being able to train on the course prior but personally it doesn’t bother me. I did do Ironman New Zealand though and thay one I arrived 5 days before. Needed that much time just to recover from a 24 hour travel day.
In a perfect world it’s often recommended to have a day for each timezone youve passed through.
I think time zone/altitude/weather should all be considered if you have the flexibility to take time off before a goal race you’re traveling for. If you live at sea level, 2700 feet in St. George might be noticeable. It might also be warmer there than what someone is used to. Factoring in those things, I’d try to arrive mid-week to acclimate.
If you can take a week plus then go for it but my advice is to be careful. It’s too easy to be someplace beautiful like St. George with nothing to do but train. Very easy to get carried away & train too hard in what’s supposed to be a taper week. I’ve overdone it before on too big of a timeline.
Usually 1 day before last registration day because i like to spend most of my vacation days otherwise. Of course if you travel to a substantially different timezone (more than 1 or 2 hours away) it’s wise to allow some time for jetlag compensation.
Default for me: Race on saturday → last registration on friday → arrival on thursday. Unfortunately for some races this is one day earlier which forces me to arrive on wednesday. Like Ironman Kalmar. No idea why they do it.
Out of curiosity is this your preference or professional opinion? Like would you tell your pro or hopeful pro athletes the same thing?
I’ve had pro athletes leave home, race and place, grabbing some $$ and get back home in <24h.
Depends on a lot of factors. If someone is going to/from the US to EU or Oceania obviously you’re going to need more time. If someone is flying East maybe +1 day more. If flying west that probably is fine.
Some people need more time for whatever reason, some people are fine with this. If you’re not remotely mechanically inclined or you tend to freak out if something goes wrong with your bike or luggage you may need an extra day***
unfortunately/fortunately USATAGNC, WTC races etc you’re probably going to need an extra day bc you have to check in the day before. Regional big(ger) races you may be fine.
For the most part though, I don’t get the 3-4d before a race. Most people end up spending more time on their feet, more time in the car driving around to do this or see that. If you’ve already nailed you KQ or 70.3 slot, even if you’re going to a 70.3 it’s no longer an A type race imo.
For athletes routines are typically good. The less time out of your routine the better people tend to do. Most people sleep better in their own bed.
***I’d suggest taking your bike apart and putting it back together numerous time before traveling with it, just to make sure you know what’s happening and so it takes the least amount of time/least amount of stress.
Depends on what you are going to do in addition to the race.
At bare minimum I like to arrive the day before last registration day if flying because I have had my bike get bumped and arrive the next day. Some race venues there isn’t much to do before the race. Sightseeing also can suck energy out of your legs if you are on your feet a lot. I prefer to do vacation stuff after the race.
If time zone shifting if going west it can be an non issue. Waking up at 3 am for a 8 am start race is no big deal usually I don’t sleep well the night before anyway. If going west I sometimes will just arrive day before race do the race and go home the next day thus not having to deal with jet lag both ways.
Going east more than an hour or two is quite problematic and I would generally schedule at end at least a week holiday.
I have left as early as 3:00AM when when all my big races were on the other side of the state 3 hours away.
Some races require that you do check-in at a race expo the day before. If it is a long or ultra distance course that requires a pre-race meeting, I can appreciate that doing that the morning of the race with thousands of athletes that are all preoccupied with other preparation is not effective and for the safty of the athlete having them there the day before is necessary, but for a sprint race or even an Olympic race it is a bit annoying to force people to take a full day off work and make them find lodging the night before the race just so that they can get a timing chip that only takes them 3 minutes to pick up.
If you are traveling to another part of the country (or world) then you obviously have to plan more time to get there. Since delays could potential be a lot longer than when traveling to shorter races, getting to the venue a least the day before is going to be required.
When traveling out-of-state (or country) you may be going from low altitude to high altitude, from a dry climate to a humid one, from a cold climate to a hot one, etc. Since you haven’t trained in the climate you are going to be racing in you will see the pros travel to a big world championship a month in advance so they can train in the climate they will race in. Ager Groupers do not need to do that. The research on altitude shows that the day after you arrive at a higher altitude that your performance is only slightly lower that if you were to train at that altitude for a prolonged period of time. Things decline the 2nd and 3rd day then on the 4th day your performance level is back to the level where it is on day 1 and after that will slow improve with training at that elevation. So the recommendation when traveling to altitude is to either arrive the day before the event or to get there at least 4 days in advance. I personally have raced at 7,000 feet higher above sea level than where I train on three occasion’s. Two of them I had a week long family vacation in the area of the race the week before the event. One of them I just arrived the day before the race. I PR’s at all three of those events.
I don’t know what the recommendations are for heat and humidity acclimation are. I know that it takes two weeks of training in hot humid conditions for the viscosity of your blood to thin out for you to acclimatize to the heat. Races early in the spring always go poorly when they are on the first hot week of the year after training in mild conditions all fall and winter. If you are going to complete in the Olympic games in a hot humid place then again you might go a month in advance to train in the conditions you are going to race in, but again AG triathletes don’t need to do that. There are lots of things you can do from home in your training to prepare you for a hot humid race.
So…I would say either show up the day before you event or 4-7 days in advance if you are an age grouper with a life out side of Triathlon and if you are a Pro or Olympian with no other life but the sport, by all means go out a few months before the event and train for it like no one else can.