We all have’em! Post your night before routine and rituals.
I’ve got a hilly olympic at Hagg Lake tomorrow and need to get my mind off of the undulations…
I tend to sleep before races, it works really well. To help with downhill speed, I consume as many donuts as possible in the week leading to my “A” race. Soon you’ll be passing everyone on the downhill sections.
Mine is to have 1 or 2 beers and watch Without Limits about Steve Prefontaine.
Watch a couple Warren Miller/Matchstick/TetonGravity films with the volume loud enough to wake the neighbors…stay up till 1:30 am…get 2 hours of sleep…drink several cups of tea @ 3:30 am, then begin…Yeah – I’m working on it…
I’m pretty boring the night before a race – eat a lot of rice, drink a lot of water, and go to bed early.
When lying in bed I try to visualize the race, both the challenging parts and the easy parts.
Early dinner of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch cereal with vanilla soymilk and a bagel with peanut butter. Early to bed. If there was a way to inject more peanut butter into my ritual I’d do it.
Jodi
I like to lay my race clothes out like they are on me and racing, ( this is to make sure that I dont show up at the race missing shoes or shorts, socks ETC ) then I just lay back and freak out for the next 11 hours. I set 4 alarm clocks and obsess about tire’s, I usually buy some new untried shoes to race in that way I can worry that my toes will chafe off during the run. I get a new saddle and mount it without trying it out, this makes the bike ride more fun.
Then I sleep for 2 hours and have dreams that I forgot to bring my bike and have to do 56 miles on a barbie scooter that I stole from a little girl.
My GF loves race day, I have actually broken up with her 4 times on race day.
I very carefully pack my pack, noting what I will need for each event of the race. I actually say outloud, OK, for the swim I will need my goggles, wetsuit, cap, and body glide as I put those items in the pack. I do that for each sport to make sure I don’t leave anything out. I zip up the pack, confident that I have everything. Then I stare at my pack, wondering if I really, really got everything I needed. Then I unzip the pack, dump everything out, and redo the process, just to make sure. In the morning I will fight temptation to open it up and paw through everything.
Dinner is usually pasta, with a beer or two. I try to get to bed early, but I almost always lay awake for about an hour thinking about stuff.
Spot
I have the Peteroborough Half IM on Sunday, have to travel to Ptbo on saturday so I did my pre-race routine Friday night.
-
Lay out ALL my race gear just like in transition.
I pack it all in my bag and put it w/ bike. -
Good dinner of chicken w/ carb, veggies and ICE CREAM
-
Have a bath and relax.
-
Give my nails a French Manicure. I am not a girly girl but for some reason, it’s relaxing and gives me a boost in a race
-
Watch some mindless tv then hit the hay.
-
Lay in bed, visualize race and repeat “it’s gonna be a fantastic day” and sleep like the dead.
It’s going to be a great race in Ptbo. Hot, Humid, Sunny. Winds (forecasted) have gone from >30k/mh to <10k/mh ! Wooo HOOO!
The evening before i have a well balanced meal, then i worry about being hydrated enough and drink some gatorade, milk, juice, beer. I then spend the rest of the night waking up every 2 hours to go to the bathroom, while my wife curses at me and ask me why i never learn.
The night before, I lay out what I’m going to wear on race morning and pack my transition bag. I have a high-carb meal and drink enough water to drown a baby. Maybe a beer to take the edge off and foster sleep. Sleep never comes, though, so I stare at the ceiling and think about bikes, since that’s my weak point. I set my cell phone alarm, which is more reliable than anything else. I give up on sleep and get out of bed about five minutes before the alarm goes off.
Go through race checklist/bag one more time. Early pasta dinner with plenty of Italian bread. Cereal right before bed. Go to bed early. Make sure the alarm is set in a few places! LOL!!
Mine are weird, at least for Ironman:
Don’t let anyone touch you. I think it messes with something about how you concentrate. Never shake hands and talk as little as possible. It’s OK to talk to people you know who are doing the race too, but others steal your energy. Shave. Never shave on race day. Only the day before. Eat early. Read. Visualize your race. Read some more. Re-read your race plan and nutrition plan. DO NOT listen to music. It messes with your head and your concentration. Don’t mess with your equipment. If it is ready by now you will only break it.
Oh, one more, never look at the finish line on the pavement before the race. Don’t even go near it. It’s bad luck. Also, after the race, give your finishers medal away as quickly as possible. They are bad luck.
Does that apply to shorter races cuz, started last year in earnest did a bunch of sprints and did better than I thought I’d do in most BUT I kept the finishers medals (they are kinda cool), now I’m injured, gained weight, slowed down in all three events, swimming all over the place, missing turns on the bike, falling in transition, What the heck is going on? Those medals are history!
wish I’d a known.
Believe it or not, I can pack an abnormal amoutn of sushi and peanut butter together pre-race. Worked today for my Olympic at Hagg Lake! Oh, then I have peanut butter after the race…just for good measure.
I tried an IV drip of Smucker’s natural chunky peanut butter after CdA, but the peanut chunks clogged the line…
Jodi
"Oh, one more, never look at the finish line on the pavement before the race. Don’t even go near it. It’s bad luck. Also, after the race, give your finishers medal away as quickly as possible. They are bad luck. "
Crap I have bin screwing that part up!!
How do I fix this ?
I did dnf my last race!!
A Priest, witch , shaman,
Jerry Falwell I need you !
Help!!!
Thom
easy spin, eat, drink, rest, pack, sleep…
I’m cooking my pre-race 5 pork sausages as I type. Have them on bread with lots of ketchup. I’ll have my 2 beers a little earlier than usual and hit the sack around 9.