By Laurel Wassner, Pro Triathlete

Racing a triathlon is not an easy endeavor on its own, but throw in a rainstorm, or brutal heat? Well, things become even more difficult. But, you’ve signed up, paid the entry fee, hotels, done all the training… so there’s no backing out now!

Here’s a few tips on how to carry on when unexpected weather or other changes happen:

1) Keep calm. 

Don’t let the change in events rattle you. Remember, you have put in the training, you are fit, you are ready to go. Stay positive and carry on.

2) Be flexible and adapt.

You wake up race day and it’s pouring rain, these things happen.  Go on with your routine, BUT make some changes based on the weather. Don’t be afraid to pack some extra clothes to put on for the bike ride. Take a little pressure out of your tires. Be a bit more careful around the corners. Be mindful of the little changes that will carry you far.

3) Rethink your nutrition strategy.

Have the temperatures soared above 90F? Or, have they dropped below 50? These are times when you are going to have to look at your nutrition plan and make a few changes. When the weather is extreme you must make sure to get enough and in some  cases even more fuel than you think. Did your swim take longer because the waves were really big? Add an extra bottle of XRCEL when you come out of the water. When it’s very cold, your body is using energy to stay warm, so make sure you have enough fuel on board the bike to adapt for that. Pack more XRCEL than you normally would. When it’s hot? Well, you may not feel like eating. That’s where XRCEL is handy – it’s easy to get down (and stays down!). It’s better to have too much than too little in these circumstances.

4) Stay steady all day.

If you have made the adaptations in your fueling plan, you should be able to have the energy to stay strong throughout the day. Keeping a steady pace, rather than going out hard and fading, is a good strategy for racing in extreme conditions. You want to be the one who is still going when the race gets tough. If you stay steady, you will find yourself passing people who went out too hard.

5) Be smart.

Extreme cold, heat, wind, etc can be dangerous. Be smart about it, race accordingly. Adjust your paces, add 20-30 seconds a mile to your goal running pace and be ok with that. 

6) Don’t quit. 

A positive mindset will help get you through even the worst conditions. Remember everyone else is going through the same thing. Be the one who doesn’t quit!

By Rebeccah Wassner, Pro Triathlete

Bike packing. Even after 15 years as a pro triathlete, it still makes me nervous. It’s a dreaded, but necessary part of the job, but like most elements of triathlons, you can always get better at it. Here are some tips for making the process easier.

Do it yourself!

If you are traveling to the race by yourself, then pack the bike yourself. The very first time I traveled with my bike was to the age group nationals in Shreveport, Louisiana in 2003. My roommate, who knew more about bike mechanics than me, helped me pack the bike. But when it came time for me to put it back together I was frozen with fear. To the point where I felt like everything I was doing was going to break the bike. The struggle was real! To avoid that stress in the future, I practiced taking apart and reassembling my bike a few times before my next trip (…because at that race, once my bike was properly put back together, I qualified for World Champs in Queenstown, New Zealand). 

Consider the bag or case.

We prefer for the bag itself not to weigh very much because this makes the whole package that much easier to lift (on/off luggage belts or in and out of cars). One perk of a soft case, like those from the company Scicon is that they collapse down and don’t take up much space in a hotel room. Also, Laurel and I have often built our bikes in rental car parking lots so to that we could collapse the bags down and fit all of our stuff in the car.

Purchase pipe insulation + masking tape.

Cut the pipe insulation to the exact size of the tubes you are using it to protect and label each piece. Use the masking tape to secure things in place. We recommend Doing this even with a hard case because you never know what happens one the case leaves your sight. Things always move around.

Plan.

when you are going to pack your bike. Allow enough time so you aren’t rushed and, if you can, do it while a bike shop is open for business…just in case you run into a problem. True story: one time I could not get the pedals off for the life of me. They had been cranked down by a mechanic during my last tune up. I ended up having to track down the super from my building to help.

Pack your bike in an out of the way place where you won’t be distracted. 

Once I had the great idea to pack my bike in the front yard and every few minutes someone would stop and wonder what I was doing. A dog even ran over and got in by box. Cute, but I needed to focus on getting my derailleur off!

Consider what else you put in there with the bike.

I like to put my wetsuit in as extra padding. I also pack a lightweight pump (wrapped up in pipe insulation), my bike shoes, and my XRCEL supply.*

*Note: I also put some back up bottles of XRCEL in my rolling suitcase. No matter what happens, you’ve gotta have your race nutrition!