Stress overload can drail even the fittest athlete.
You should expect to feel some excitement in the days leading up to a race. In the right amount, it simply means your body is preparing for something special, something a bit scary. Something that means a lot to you. Don’t fight it. Don’t take it as proof you haven’t prepared adequately. In fact, the truth is quite the opposite. You have trained for months to prepare for this race. You take it seriously. Of course you are going to feel nervous. Embrace it as proof you are serious about your work.
That being said, the more you can do to minimize stress in the week leading up to the race, the better. Unfortunately, this is the time when you will be packing, traveling, checking in at the event and shopping at the expo. Your nice, comfortable routine has been turned upside down and tossed out the window. All of this turmoil generates stress. Maybe you cannot escape all of it, but you can minimize it by eliminating as much as possible.
A great way to minimize pre-race stress is to practice the things you do not do regularly. For me that means packing my bike. Gathering supplies and practicing packing my suitcase is a close second. If you are not a capable bike mechanic, and neither is a close friend who will be traveling with you, consider using a transport service that ships your bike for you. The only disadvantage other than cost is that it means going without your race bike for a week or two before the race.
Around the time I decided to do Ironman Cozumel I spotted an end-of-season sale at Scion, and scooped up a tri bike bag at a substantial savings. My wife and I aren’t getting any younger, and as luck would have it we were both hit with some serious medical issues that pushed Cozumel off the table. Twice. For this year I gave up on Cozumel and am aiming for Ironman California. Fingers crossed our bodies make it!
The upcoming Ironman 70.3 Hawaii will be my first opportunity to use my Scion bag. I dragged it out of storage once to learn how to use it, and ran smack into a problem with the newly installed Di2 shifters. Specifically, how to keep the case from pressing the buttons at the ends of the aerobars. I needed to turn off the system and could not find a switch. Will Mather at Velohana did the installation and was happy to explain how to disconnect the battery hidden in the seatpost.
A couple of days ago I went at it again, working until I had all of the big issues resolved. I use a slightly outdated behind-the-seat hydration setup, an Xlab Super Wing, which will not fit in the bag mounted where it belongs, behind the saddle. Besides, if I did leave it attached it would undoubtedly be destroyed. My choices are A - Disassemble the Super Wing and ship saddle and post as Scion intended, or B – Keep Super Wing intact and remove the saddle and seat post as a unit. Since I have to remove the seatpost anyway to disconnect the Di2 battery, I might as well do it that way and avoid fiddling with a bunch of little screws. More stress avoided! The other surprise was that the bag will not fit over my modestly upturned aerobars. Easy to rotate back to horizontal, and no need to mess with the Di2 wires and junction box tucked away up there. What do athletes with modern, steeply tilted aerobars do?
I already feel the impact of going through this bike packing rehearsal. For weeks I have been stressed out about this. Now that I have done it, the stress is gone.
Another good stress reliever is to make checklists. I have a bunch from previous races, so all I have to do is update them.