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#550 Race Day Starts Before Race Day: Build Your Winning Routine
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Think race day is all about fitness? Think again. The difference between a smooth, confident performance and a chaotic morning often comes down to one thing—your pre-race routine. In this episode, Coaches Rich Soares and Kristin Overton walk you through how to stack the odds in your favor with a repeatable system that covers everything from race rehearsals and fueling to transition setup and mental prep. Because when you eliminate the guesswork, you unlock your best performance.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction and Podcast Mission
00:00:20
Rich
Welcome to episode 550 of the Grit to Greatness Endurance Podcast. We're your hosts, coaches Rich Soares and Kristen Overton, and we are on a mission to help endurance athletes train smarter, race stronger, and build the grit it takes to achieve greatness.
Importance of Pre-Race Routines
00:00:34
Kristin Overton
So here we are today talking about your pre-race routine. You can make, so the pre-race routine can make or break your race. And most athletes leave performance on the table before the gun even goes off.
00:00:46
Kristin Overton
In this episode, we break down how to build and refine a complete race system from long range preparation to race morning execution. You'll learn how to create repeatable routines for nutrition, sleep, gear, transitions, and mental readiness so you show up confident, calm, and ready to perform at your best.
00:01:07
Rich
Awesome. some
Coach K.O. at Lake Placid and Athlete Shoutouts
00:01:08
Rich
Coach K.O., tell us where you're at and why.
00:01:11
Kristin Overton
So I am currently up in Lake Placid awaiting ah the or heading up the cheer squad ah for Ironman Lake Placid. So I'm actually currently sitting in a tent um and a side yard of one of my athletes, a little, little house here. it is absolutely beautiful up here. The sun is shining and the vibe is ah amazing.
00:01:38
Kristin Overton
Getting excited.
00:01:39
Rich
That's awesome. That's awesome. And I know we have a lot of amazing athletes that are out there that are racing this weekend. And this is going to be our shout out to all of our athletes.
00:01:50
Rich
There's so much racing going on this weekend with our athletes.
00:01:53
Kristin Overton
It's crazy. So many people.
00:01:54
Rich
It's incredible.
00:01:55
Kristin Overton
so So much going on.
00:01:56
Rich
I love this. So we're going break this up. I'm going to hit Saturday and you're going to take Sunday. How's that work?
00:02:03
Kristin Overton
That's perfect.
Adjusting Schedules and Community Support
00:02:09
Kristin Overton
What did I do?
00:02:10
Rich
We are so excited to celebrate all of our athletes that are racing this weekend. and We've got so many. I'm just going to get us started with our athletes that are racing on Saturday. I'm going to cover, we've got Tri-Boulder tomorrow.
00:02:23
Rich
We've got two athletes doing this. ah Alice Kostrich is doing the sprint game. Why you can't talk today. Alice Kosterich is doing the sprint distance and Greg Castro is doing the Olympic distance. Guys, I'm going to be up there tomorrow cheering you guys on. So good luck. And then Denise Hiller, you're doing the Vermont 100K ultra marathon in Windsor.
00:02:44
Rich
Awesome. Good luck tomorrow with that.
00:02:47
Kristin Overton
All right. Good luck, Saturday athletes. So we're moving on to Sunday, big, big day on Sunday. So we have ah Chris Schozen and Kevin Cole doing Ironman 70.3 in Oregon, in Salem, on the other side of the country where I am.
00:03:03
Kristin Overton
um And then we have Lucy Zate, Lindsay Holmes, and our very own coach Lauren Brown tackling Ironman Lake Placid. ah this weekend, ah both ah Lauren and Lucy, it's their first Ironman. So super excited to cheer them on. I will be here with, I won't be able to talk after Sunday for sure.
00:03:23
Kristin Overton
um We have also Varan Thornhill doing Supertri New Jersey, New Jersey State Sprint. um We have Jessica Kress doing Ironman 70.3 Ohio in Sandusky.
00:03:36
Kristin Overton
um And then Kevin Bauer, bar camp Bar Camp Trail Run in Colorado Springs. Um, so we have, we have so many athletes, super strong. We're excited. Good luck to everybody.
00:03:50
Kristin Overton
Um, and then we have a special shout out, a special birthday, Mike Murphy, uh, his birthday is on the 21st. So, uh, that's in, in, uh, a few days. So happy birthday, Mike. I hope you have a great birthday week.
00:04:05
Rich
That's awesome. I just noticed on the Lake Placid, we've got Lucy Lindsey Lauren doing Lake Placid.
00:04:12
Kristin Overton
The three L's. We've been talking about that.
00:04:16
Rich
Crazy. I love this.
00:04:17
Kristin Overton
yes
00:04:18
Rich
Folks. hu you know This is how we love to celebrate ah our athletes. If you are new to grit to greatness, listen, you can be a part of this fun team. You don't have to even be coached to be a part of this community. If you're looking for support, inspiration, and a group of athletes who truly understand what it takes to balance work, life, and endurance sport, we'd love to meet you. Come hear directly from our athletes. Come see what makes grit greatness. in you know endurance different and find your own grit at our community. There's a link here in the show notes. Just come on in and visit us. We'd love to talk to you.
00:04:52
Kristin Overton
Awesome. So we're super
Building Effective Pre-Race Routines
00:04:54
Kristin Overton
excited, know, all these races coming up and, you know, big, big topic today. um So our Ask a Coach segment is, you know, what what is our what is our race routine, pre-race routine? What does an effective pre-race routine actually look like?
00:05:11
Kristin Overton
And how do you build one that removes stress, improves execution, and sets you up for the best performance? So We're going to have some you know key takeaways today. you know Consistency in your routine, which builds confidence and reduces race day anxiety.
00:05:28
Kristin Overton
Practicing your routine. Practice is everything. It's just as important as your training and fitness. um And then um knowing that you know small mistakes in the final days can have big performance consequences. So trying to minimize those those mistakes and just making everything flow smoothly.
00:05:46
Rich
Absolutely. And we're going to give you 10 tips that are going to help bulletproof your race routine, pre-race routine, so that you don't have those hiccups and avoid unneeded stress.
00:06:00
Rich
And the first thing that we're going to do is we're going to go into a little bit of a checklist frenzy here. We're going to talk about checklists starting 90 days out. Like you need to be having getting getting into this mindset, you know, 90 days out.
00:06:15
Rich
Defining what should be on that checklist. This is a great time to make sure that you've got some like really important key things done. One of those is making sure all your travel arrangements are taken care of, right?
00:06:26
Rich
All of those little details, the things that could sell out or run out of, or all of those things. This is actually a good time to start thinking about, oh man, what are those things I'm gonna need to order for my race rehearsals? What's the nutrition? What's the equipment?
00:06:42
Rich
You know, once you get into your race rehearsals, you don't want to be buying anything new. This is a good time to have thought that through so that when your race rehearsals start to arrive at about six weeks out, five, six weeks out, you've got everything. Everything's already come in the mail. You've got everything all ironed out. So really take some time to put together a 90-day checklist to make sure that your race strategy, fueling plan, and key preparation milestones are addressed early.
00:07:10
Kristin Overton
For sure. And even that 90 days, you know, the the fueling is huge, right? that That's 90, before 90 days, up to 90 days, you know, practicing, you know, what work, what might work, might what might not. And then once you kind of figure that out, then making sure you have everything for those race rehearsals, for sure.
00:07:28
Kristin Overton
um So, yeah. So, you know, tip number two, kind of bringing that down to to the 30-day checklist, um which includes your race rehearsals. And so those race rehearsals are, you know, specifically like wear your kit, you know, make sure you're testing all your gear that you feel like you're going to use on race day. um And then really dialing in that, that pacing strategy, validate what you're doing, you know, ah like you go out and you're like, you dial it in, you nail it. I feel awesome.
00:08:00
Kristin Overton
Or, um you know, probably even better. You're like, Hmm. that wasn't quite right. I can tweak it and then test it for the second race rehearsal. Right. Um, so really kind of dialing in those, those race rehearsals for sure.
00:08:14
Rich
Yeah. We're going to keep ratcheting the checklist thing down here. Now we're going to get down to 10 days out. Now listen to 10 days out, your race rehearsals are all done. You're, you know, you're pretty much in taper mode.
00:08:27
Rich
The only thing that you can do here in these 10 last 10 days is either injure yourself from doing something silly, which you don't want to do. This is a great time to wrap yourself in bubble wrap or this, this is, yeah, right.
00:08:38
Kristin Overton
for sure. Seriously.
00:08:41
Rich
Or, Or you could you could be you could make your taper too steep. This is not the time to like stop workouts altogether. You are still working out, but you're just doing it at shorter durations shorter durations, less intensity. You're really here just kind of tuning things up and trying to keep the taper from coming down too quickly. This is a great time to be making sure you are banking sleep, that you are really staying on top of your hydration. This is where you want to keep your body really, really healthy.
00:09:13
Rich
If you're going to take emergency, this is the time to take emergency. If you're going to be washing your hands really frequently, this is the time to be doing it. This also the time that this like little thing called temper tantrums start to come up. So don't, you know, pay attention to how your body's feeling, but don't just assume that just because you got a little like, you know, ache or niggle or something like that, that you actually have incurred an injury. a lot of times it's just the body making shifts and and, you know, coming around to, you know, get ready for race day.
00:09:43
Kristin Overton
For sure. so
Pre-Race Checklist and Planning
00:09:44
Kristin Overton
Something I'd like to add to 10 days out. Something i always like to do. it just helps kind of your, your mental state of mind. Like think about all your training and all the people that have helped you reach out, thank your family, thank your coaches, thank your neighbor, your boss, whoever, you know, that has helped you kind of get to that point.
00:09:56
Rich
Absolutely.
00:10:06
Kristin Overton
Um, I think that's critical. Um, definitely makes a difference. Makes everybody feel good. Um, All right, now we're at one day out. So one day,
00:10:19
Kristin Overton
just take that day. You're not thinking of anything new. You're not overthinking anything. you know The last thing you want to do is a you know last minute, oh, i'm I'm just going to change up my nutrition to this.
00:10:32
Kristin Overton
Keep it simple. just you know Just know what you've dialed in Trust what you've tested Trust your training um and, you know, relax, get your feet up.
00:10:46
Kristin Overton
Don't go chasing around the the venue or, you know, that kind of thing. just Just rest, get your mind right, watch some movies, some guilty pleasures like that, and just get yourself ready for race day.
00:11:01
Rich
yeah You know, we probably should have expanded this to be probably like one to three days, right? Because this is where you're also doing things like you're doing your carbohydrate loading, which you're not going to do the day before.
00:11:06
Kristin Overton
Yeah.
00:11:13
Kristin Overton
Yes, yes.
00:11:14
Rich
You probably do it two days out.
00:11:16
Kristin Overton
Two days, yeah.
00:11:17
Rich
Yes, you don't have all of that food waste, but this is in your system. But this is a, you this is that weekend where, yeah, you really want to have your schedule like really locked down. And I like to tell athletes, start with the day before the race, right? You want to have that bike checked in and you want to get the heck out of the transition area, especially if you're doing a 70.3 or an Ironman, get the heck out of there and get on your back and, you know, get some rest and bank some time, bank some recovery before the big day.
00:11:52
Rich
You don't want stress in your life. This is, ah you know, like having that schedule dialed in and like really thinking through like the really important things.
00:11:55
Kristin Overton
For sure.
00:12:01
Rich
Okay. Well, if I need to be in bed, I'm like, my goal is to be in bed by 8, 8 So that I can get up at 3 a.m. m for my race or whatever time you got godly ungodly hour you're getting up at.
00:12:14
Rich
Think about, OK, well, that means I probably need to be eating by, you know, maybe five or, you know, six at the absolute latest. Well, if you haven't already like, you know, made those reservations, so that might be something that's falling back on your 10 day or 30 day checklist, even making reservations or making sure you've got your food, you know, the food planned and when you're going to bed and there's nothing that's backing you up and making you getting to bed late or stressed out so you can't sleep the night before.
00:12:46
Kristin Overton
Yeah, thats that's a good point. And it's, you know, kind of that that idea of just working backwards, right? Start from race day work yourself backwards to plan accordingly, depending on, you know, what you're doing. If you have to go out to eat, like you said, make that reservation. If not, you're making things, but when are you going to do it?
00:13:02
Kristin Overton
And then push that, you know, keep pushing that out to that 10 days or whatever beforehand, always a good idea.
00:13:10
Rich
Tip number five, practice your race day fueling multiple times. You've got these great race rehearsals. These big, you know, these are big, long days. You're probably doing, you know, if an Ironman, you're probably doing six and a half hour rides, you know, with 40 minutes off off the off the bike runs you want to be practicing your nutrition exactly how you're going to want to use it on on race day. And that means you also need to be practicing the intensity that you're planning on racing at race day.
00:13:40
Rich
it's It's one thing to go out there and fuel yourself at you know a less intense effort for six and a half hours. It's another thing to be at race effort and fueling yourself for six and a half hours. Make sure that when you're doing those race rehearsals and you're practicing the nutrition, you're doing it at race intensity. That's hydration and fueling.
00:14:01
Kristin Overton
Yeah, so, so important. So um tip number six, lay out and check your gear systematically. So making sure you have everything, you know, i have a spare bedroom.
00:14:14
Kristin Overton
I throw everything out there on the bed and just like lay, okay, this is what I need for the swim. This is what I need for the bike. This is what I need for the run. This is what I need in my transition. um And then just, you know, kind of visualize what you need.
00:14:29
Kristin Overton
And it it makes things so much easier. So really just yeah kind of getting that dialed in and knowing, oh oh, I just realized I don't have enough of this. I need to order such and such or you know that kind of thing. And that that way it just takes away all that stress of like, oh, did did do I really have everything? Well, you laid it all out. You can even take a picture of it to to know that, okay, this this is everything that went into my gear bag.
00:14:56
Rich
I love this tip. And this this is actually one of those that I actually like to think about even doing for the race rehearsals. You know talk about your fueling and your gear.
00:15:03
Kristin Overton
Yes.
00:15:05
Rich
you know When you're good doing those race rehearsals, you know it's a good idea to know, hey, how long is it going to take me to... pack up this bag the night before right how long is it going to take me to take you know have my breakfast in the morning and get out the door when you're doing your race rehearsals break out that checklist break out the same bag the same checklist that you're going to use the night before get used to you know laying everything out like coach ko just said
00:15:16
Kristin Overton
Mm-hmm.
00:15:36
Rich
having the checklist and making sure that everything gets into the bag and you know that routine. Practicing that routine over time, it will, I guarantee, your check your checklist will change from the first time you rehearse it to the last time you rehearse it because you will identify things that need to go in there.
00:15:52
Kristin Overton
For sure.
00:15:55
Kristin Overton
Absolutely.
00:15:57
Rich
So,
00:15:57
Kristin Overton
What's next?
00:15:58
Rich
Now we're going to get into tip number seven, which is rehearsing your transitions like this, you know transition, you know, the there's a lot, to lot with transitions. You know, if you get there late, you're going to be stressed. You don't want to get there late, get there early enough.
00:16:15
Rich
So you've got plenty of time to set up your transition. Rehearse those transitions. Now listen, it might vary for short course sprint distance versus long course and what you're going to do.
00:16:27
Rich
But either way, listen, you're going to want to get through that as quickly as possible with as little stress as possible. Even if it's an Ironman race. And yeah, generally people take a little longer in the transition. It doesn't mean that you have to bake in extra unneeded time.
00:16:44
Rich
If you are familiar with what is going to be in your gear bag and what you are going to need, you can actually rehearse that. You can just take a garbage bag and you pretend like it's your transition bag or your, or your you know, your bike gear bag or your run gear bag and practice what that's going to be like because you're going to be doing it on race day and the pressure is going to be even higher right because all the noise is going to be going on and all the excitement of you know and you know you just got out of the water so your heart rate's jacked it's nice to have something that's familiar and if you have a familiar process and you've practiced it it'll help calm you down
00:17:25
Kristin Overton
Absolutely. And, and, you know, of what you said, Rich, is, you know, tailoring it to that race. So sprint and Olympic distance is a completely different transition than a half or Ironman race. So, you know, you go from ah a sprint race to an Ironman, you're going from like having the bare minimum, getting in and out as quick as you can to you know, make an Ironman, you want to make sure you have everything dialed in. You need extra nutrition, that kind of stuff. You have a bag that you got you know kind of dump out, um, you know, put yourself in a little, you know, like a changing tent, like you do for Ironman, you know, where there's a chair and you kind of do your thing and then get in and out.
00:18:02
Kristin Overton
Um, but yeah, practicing just makes a huge difference.
00:18:05
Kristin Overton
Um, all right. Where are at? yeah So, so many tips. Um, We are at tip number eight. um So building a consistent pre-race sleep and carb loading routine. So um sleep is huge, particularly the week before the race.
00:18:23
Kristin Overton
I tell my athletes that if if you do anything this week, just get as much sleep as you can, you know, make that your number one priority. Yes. Get your workouts in, keep keep your body moving.
00:18:36
Kristin Overton
Um, but sleep is going to be huge, particularly for those, those long distance races and, you know, just dialing that in and, and making that kind of that, that priority and, and dialing that in for that week.
00:18:51
Kristin Overton
Um, and then we're talking about carb loading. so you know, your routine when you're doing your race rehearsals, practice what you're eating the the the day and the night before your race rehearsals.
00:19:03
Kristin Overton
get up approximately the same time, eat the same breakfast you're going to eat before your race. um Because that's really, truly going to tell you, you know, is this working or is this not working?
00:19:15
Kristin Overton
um So that you can just dial that in. And it's like, this this is what it's going to be for race week. And so I remember I ate this on Thursday. I ate this on Friday and my race is on Saturday. And and this is how it is.
00:19:28
Kristin Overton
Um, and, uh, you know, you don't want to wing it. And
Mental Readiness and Adaptability
00:19:31
Kristin Overton
then all of a sudden like, oh, I don't know, let me just grab this and this and this and that you end up not getting enough carbs and getting enough, what you need, or you eat something totally off the grid and your stomach doesn't like it the next day, which is just catastrophic.
00:19:47
Rich
That's right. Well, and and that's actually one of the great things about, you know having a, having ah a house or an Airbnb instead of a hotel we you have to, where you're dependent on restaurants and you're not exactly sure what you're going to be able to get when you're traveling. So,
00:20:02
Kristin Overton
Yeah, definitely.
00:20:04
Rich
you know, one of the things I always love to do before a race that I make as a part of my race routine is visualizing, Chris & You know to mentally execute the race that I want to race before it even begins and that really starts with you really kind of anticipating some of the areas where I really feel like I want to have focus and I really want to have some confidence and really thinking through like.
00:20:25
Rich
Chris & Like really getting deep into the visualization like. You know where am i What am I seeing around me? What are the sounds and smells I might be hearing?
00:20:36
Rich
you know, and and what are the thoughts I want to have as I am entering the water, as I am starting to swim, as I am turning that first buoy, as I anticipate getting bumped or kicked or, you know,
00:20:55
Rich
visualizing getting out of the water, knowing that, hey, you know you've been out there in the water, especially if it's an Ironman, you start to get a little like you get the sea legs going right when you get out of water.
00:21:06
Kristin Overton
for sure
00:21:06
Rich
Start to visualize what that's going to feel like and what you are going to do to manage it. A a issue rehearsed, an issue anticipated is one that you can tackle and win and And you know just visualizing will really help gain your you know build your confidence and help you feel just more centered when you're actually in the middle of the race.
00:21:33
Kristin Overton
Great. I love that tip. it's it's It's huge. And just you know visualizing the the positive things and you know and anticipation. It's awesome. um So a little bit along the same line. So our our last tip um is really becoming that that thinking athlete. So you know not everything's going to go right. you know In fact, you know as they say, there's always going to be at least three things that go a little awry.
00:22:02
Kristin Overton
um during during a race, no matter what. So, you know, being able to adapt within your plan without completely abandoning in it and and going off the rails. um So, you know, having those those contingency plans, have a plan a have a plan B, have a plan C, um and knowing like, okay, if, ah I don't know, I lose a bottle on the bike, what am I going to do? All right, I know what's on course.
00:22:31
Kristin Overton
I know that I can handle this or I have extra nutrition that I can mix a bottle quickly. um Just having those contingency plans and and thinking about that ahead of time before your race so that you're mentally prepared. So when it happens, you're like, oh, I know what to do. Like, I've thought about this and and i have a plan, so I'm good.
00:22:53
Kristin Overton
i don't have to stress.
00:22:55
Rich
That is a gold tip, K.O. That is awesome. that is probably the That's probably the biggest tip of all, right, is just being adaptable.
00:23:00
Kristin Overton
No doubt.
00:23:01
Rich
It's the plan, having a plan, but being
00:23:02
Kristin Overton
Yep.
Key Race Preparation Tips
00:23:04
Rich
adaptable within it.
00:23:06
Kristin Overton
For sure. For sure.
00:23:08
Rich
Well, folks, we're going boil this thing down to three things. Plan early and create structured timelines. A 90-day, 30-day, a 10-day, and a weekend of. Practice everything, nutrition, gear, transitions, mindset, visualization, and then execute with confidence by trusting a proven out routine because you've done it multiple times.
00:23:30
Rich
So listen, if you want to have these tips as a takeaway, come to our website, come to the contact page. You will see a way to down. We've got a free download page, download our pre-race routine checklist and start implementing your system in your next race rehearsal.
00:23:49
Rich
If it's this weekend, if you're racing this weekend, folks, it's probably too late, but listen, next weekend or further out, this is yours. This is going to be gold for you.
00:23:57
Kristin Overton
Perfect. Awesome, Rich. what What a great, great ah
00:24:01
Kristin Overton
topic.
Race Morning Trivia
00:24:01
Kristin Overton
And, you know, it's never, it never gets old and it's always helpful for sure. So we're now to our fun segment. So ah we have race morning trivia.
00:24:17
Kristin Overton
So before we wrap up today's episode, it's time to test your race day knowledge with a quick round of race morning trivia. Play along in your car, on your run, or wherever you're listening. See how many you can get right before Coach Rich and me reveal the answers. So no Googling.
00:24:35
Kristin Overton
It's what comes to your mind. What do you think is happening? No Googling, Rich.
00:24:38
Rich
ah hands are off the can you My hands are off the keyboard.
00:24:40
Kristin Overton
All right.
00:24:40
Rich
Let's go.
00:24:41
Kristin Overton
All right. Good, good. I'm watching you. All right, Rich. Number one, which of these is generally the biggest cause of pre-race stress? a the weather forecast.
00:24:52
Kristin Overton
B, forgetting something important. C, swimming in cold water, or D, waking up too early.
00:25:01
Rich
Ooh, for me, I'm going to probably say this is going to be forgetting something really important. And I've done that. I have shown up. I showed up to Boulder 70.3 one year. i'm walking I'm walking into the transitionary. All of a sudden, it's like, oh, shit.
00:25:18
Rich
I didn't pack any goggles. I just knew it. Like, like hot like how did i notice like how did i realize it there, but not before?
00:25:21
Kristin Overton
ah
00:25:26
Kristin Overton
Right.
00:25:27
Rich
oh
00:25:29
Kristin Overton
That's brutal. I, I have, I have one that might top that rich. I did 70.3 Florida. It was like just after COVID when races were starting back up.
00:25:40
Kristin Overton
I didn't, I didn't have, I didn't have any extra people with me, no Sherpa. And I left my, my nutrition bottles in the refrigerator at the hotel.
00:25:52
Kristin Overton
And i couldn't go back to get them. However, i planned ahead and I had extra powder nutrition in my race bag.
00:26:03
Kristin Overton
Thank the heavens. i would I was able to get an extra bottle and i I mixed my nutrition, but wow, heart attack city, let me tell you.
00:26:05
Rich
Save your race.
00:26:12
Rich
that would get That would make a hard stop.
00:26:12
Kristin Overton
Although I have to say ah a close second to that is is the weather forecast. I swear it's one of the biggest stresses ever. everybody starts watching the weather at least two weeks out.
00:26:25
Kristin Overton
And it's like a daily process. What's the weather? What's the weather? What's the weather? Obviously, that you know, you have no control over that, but it's it's definitely creates a little high level of stress for sure.
00:26:39
Rich
I think all these probably do to one degree or another, but.
00:26:41
Kristin Overton
Yeah, it's just a matter of, you know, what's what's the biggest thing, right?
00:26:45
Rich
Yep. All right. I'll take question number two, true or false. KO trying a brand new energy gel on race morning is a good way to get an extra performance boost.
00:26:50
Kristin Overton
Mm-hmm.
00:26:57
Kristin Overton
Oh gosh. So false.
00:27:00
Rich
So false.
00:27:01
Kristin Overton
Never try anything new on race day unless you like you have no options, but not, not the race morning, no new gel, you know, that could just wreck your race from the get go.
00:27:15
Kristin Overton
Ugly.
00:27:16
Rich
Yep. I agree.
00:27:17
Kristin Overton
All right. Number three. About how many calories of stored glycogen can the average athlete hold? A, 300. three hundred B, about 800.
00:27:29
Kristin Overton
C, about 2,000. Or D, unlimited if you carb load.
00:27:33
Rich
Wow, yeah, you know, that that that might sound tempting to carb load that much, but I don't think that's possible. I'm gonna go, and because I do know this answer, because I'm a coach, I'm gonna say 2000 calories.
00:27:45
Rich
And I'm also gonna qualify that that that could vary, your mileage could vary um depending on how good you are at restoring your glycogen stores on a regular basis. If you're the kind of person who works out and then doesn't feed yourself right after, i would probably knock a good, you know, i might give yourself 75% of that 2000.
00:28:09
Kristin Overton
Yeah.
00:28:09
Rich
ah You can to be really good at charging, recharging that battery. So, you know, this is a good thing as a routines go on a regular basis, make sure you're refueling after every workout. Yeah.
00:28:22
Kristin Overton
For sure.
00:28:23
Rich
All right.
00:28:24
Kristin Overton
right, next one.
00:28:26
Rich
Here we go. Which of these should you practice before race day? Transition setup, a B. Race nutrition, C. Pre-race breakfast timing, or D. All of the above.
00:28:39
Kristin Overton
Well, this is easy. We just went over all this, right? So, yeah, absolutely. D, all of the above. All those things you want to practice before race day so you can dial that in for sure.
00:28:49
Rich
hundred percent all right. love that and
00:28:52
Kristin Overton
All right. Oh,
00:28:53
Rich
that it? That's it, right?
00:28:55
Kristin Overton
ah no, we have question five.
00:28:57
Rich
going bonus.
00:28:57
Kristin Overton
Oh,
00:28:58
Rich
Oh, we got question five. You're asking this one.
00:29:01
Kristin Overton
it's question. yeah Yeah.
00:29:02
Rich
Let's go.
00:29:02
Kristin Overton
All right. Which famous quote best describes a solid pre-race routine? A, hope for the best. B, falling to prepare sorry failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
00:29:15
Kristin Overton
C, just send it. D, no plan survives first contact.
00:29:21
Rich
Ooh, that's funny. I like that. um All right. Well, I love this phrase. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. So I am going to go with answer B.
00:29:32
Kristin Overton
Yeah, nice, nice. Yeah, preparation doesn't guarantee that perfect race, but it gives you the best chance to perform, that's for sure. So, you know, when things get unpredictable, it definitely gives you that chance, that fighting chance.
00:29:47
Rich
All right, you want a little bonus one here, Kayo, before we wrap it up?
00:29:50
Kristin Overton
Oh, sure, we could do that.
00:29:52
Rich
Let give you a bonus one. How long before your wave starts should you aim to arrive at your transition?
00:30:01
Rich
Oh, option A, 15 minutes.
00:30:03
Kristin Overton
You give me options. Yeah.
00:30:03
Rich
Let me give you some options.
00:30:04
Kristin Overton
You got to give everybody options. So they have a, you know,
00:30:07
Rich
ah Option A, 15 minutes. Option B, 30 minutes. Option C, 60 to 90 minutes. Or D, right before they close the transition.
00:30:16
Kristin Overton
Yeah, I think a lot of people get in there right before they close the transition. Not a good idea. ah you know, in general 60 to 90 minutes before the race starts so that you can,
00:30:27
Kristin Overton
You know, get get your gear together. Make sure your transition is set appropriately. you can hit the the bathroom. um You know, do what you need to do Get yourself lined up where you need to be so that you're not all nerved up and rushing.
00:30:41
Kristin Overton
So many people are in line for the bathroom, you know, 10 minutes before the the gun goes off. And that that's that's very stressful. So be mindful.
00:30:51
Rich
Awesome. Love
00:30:52
Rich
love it
00:30:52
Kristin Overton
All right.
00:30:53
Rich
when it
00:30:53
Kristin Overton
so We're shooting it out there. How'd everybody do? Did you get six out of six? If you hit six out of six, you're officially race ready. If you missed a couple, that's exactly why routines matter. They remove the guesswork before the starting before the starting
Wrap-Up and Community Engagement
00:31:10
Kristin Overton
horn.
00:31:10
Kristin Overton
Remember, fitness gets you to the start line. Preparation helps you cross the finish line at your best. Until next time, stay gritty.
00:31:20
Rich
Awesome. And coach April, thanks for the fun segment as always. She authors these for us every week. So thanks coach April.
00:31:28
Kristin Overton
She does an amazing job.
00:31:29
Rich
And, Yeah, so much fun.
00:31:31
Kristin Overton
So great.
00:31:31
Rich
I love this part of the, I love this part of our podcast. I love every part of it. The shout outs, the birthdays, the tips, the fun segment, and hey, it all wouldn't be possible without our show sponsor.
00:31:37
Kristin Overton
Everything.
00:31:44
Rich
This episode is brought to you by Vespa Endurance Nutrition. Vespa helps you tap into clean, steady energy so that you can stay strong, focused, and in the zone longer. less sugar, higher performance, and faster recovery. Use the code G2G, VESPA15, for 15% off of anything in your cart anytime. The link here in the show notes will get you that 15% automatically applied.
00:32:10
Kristin Overton
All right. Thanks for that, Rich. So, you know, just shouting out, you know, if you want to be a part of this, this, this community, grit to greatness, you know, choose your path with grit to greatness, endurance. You know, we offerize per ah offer, can't talk, personalized coaching, training plans, and a community to support, help you reach your goals.
00:32:29
Kristin Overton
Um, if you have any questions, uh, For the show, submit your Ask a Coach questions. We love to hear from you guys um and ah you know answer those questions on the pod. So feel free to contact us, our contacts in the show notes.
00:32:48
Rich
That's right. Or come visit us at grit to greatness, endurance.com.
00:32:50
Kristin Overton
Yes, please.
00:32:51
Rich
We've got all sorts of information for you there. And with that, thanks for spending time with us today on the grit to greatness, endurance podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow us and leave us a rating and review on Apple podcasts and YouTube. It helps us reach more athletes. Just like you stay gritty, train smart, keep chasing greatness, and we will catch you next week.