The questions of what to eat the day before and the morning of a triathlon are repeatedly asked.  While it is true that there is not one single menu that suits all triathletes, there are some general rules that beginners, novices and experienced triathletes should stick to.  This article is simply a guide and individual triathletes should adapt it to suit their own needs.  The single most important point is not to try any thing new the day before or the day of the race.  Don’t try a new breakfast bar or fuel drink the morning of a race – try it in the weeks before prior to a training session.  The same principle that applies to your triathlon equipment and what to wear for a triathlon applies to your eating habits – race like you train.

What to Eat the Night Before a Triathlon

Hydration is Key. Dehydration is the most important issue that could negatively affect a triathletes.  Studies have shown that losing as little as 1 percent of your body weight in fluid can decrease performance by up to 10 percent.  Try to begin the race with fluid reserves at full capacity and to do this, drink fluid replacement drinks such as Cytomax or Accelerade to help maintain proper electrolyte balance.  Make sure you have a bottle of water or fluid replacement drink with you at all times during the 24 hours prior to a race.  Sip little and often and you will ensure you are adequately hydrated.

Be careful not to force feed yourself fluid.  Only drink enough so that your urine is very light to clear in color.  Drinking any more than this can affect your electrolyte balance and negatively impact your sleep pattern.

Be Kind to Your Stomach. Test out different food combinations and stick with a diet that your body can easily digest.  As a general rule, you should avoid foods that are slow to empty from your stomach.  In particular, those foods that are high in fat, high in fiber or other high processed meals.  Plain foods are best.

In terms of timing, the last large meal you eat should be finished AT LEAST 12 hours before race start time.  Again, this is simply a rough approximation – you should experiment yourself and see how your body reacts to slightly earlier or later meal times.  Either way, you need to ensure that all food is fully digested before the race starts.

What to Eat the Morning of a Triathlon

Some triathletes prefer to have a liquid breakfast while others react better to a more traditional, solid food based meal.  Whichever option you choose, it pays to eat as soon as possible before the race to give your body the chance to process the food.  Avoiding last minute trips to the Port-a-John is something we should all strive for.

Some athletes prefer a liquid diet on race morning as the calories are more easily digested and you are also aiding in hydration.  Timing is less critical with a liquid meal as it will empty from your stomach quicker than a solid meal.  If through experimenting during your training that your system prefers and can tolerate solid foods before your event, be sure this meal is finished at least two hours before your start time.  In those final two hours before your event, you should keep your hydration topped up.  Keep drinking watered down sports drinks right up until the gun goes off.

After the Race

Try to keep a record of what you ate up until the race to use as a reference in the future.  Just as with your triathlon training plan itself, your nutrition system should always be a work in progress and improve as each race is completed.

We are often asked by beginner and novice triathletes “what do you wear for a triathlon” and “what equipment do I need for a triathlon”.  We aim to answer these questions here.  More important than any recommendation of product “X” or product “Y” is the fundamental rule:  race in what you train in.  The most important factor is comfort.  Wear whatever you feel comfortable in and do not, ever, try anything new on race day.

What to wear for the triathlon swim

The only equipment you really need is a good pair of goggles, some sort of swimming suit and a swim cap (normally provided by the race officials).  Wearing a wetsuit is optional (and highly recommended in colder waters).  For beginners a wetsuit is also helpful as it aids buoyancy (particularly for your legs) and increases the circumference of your arms, essentially making them larger paddles.  The downsides to wearing a wetsuit are comfort, unfamiliarity and additional transition time to take the suit off.  To combat these problems you should definitely do some training in your wetsuit before the race (did we mention that you should race in what you train in!) and apply a little BodyGlide or Vaseline to body ‘hotspots’ (those areas likely to chafe – the neck and underarms in particular), the ankles and heels of your feet (to aid quick removal of the wetsuit).

What do you need for the triathlon bike

You should wear a triathlon-specific shorts and top underneath your wetsuit.  This allows you to remove your wetsuit, put on your bike shoes and be ready to start the bike.  Some triathletes prefer wearing a one-piece tri-suit.  This is personal preference.  Triathlon-specific shorts differ from traditional bicycle shorts in that they have a thinner padding on the seat.  This allows for easier and more comfortable running which still offering the cushioning for the bike seat.

Any bicycle shoes can be used for a triathlon.  Specific triathlon bike shoes typically have only one or two Velcro strap fastenings to permit easy opening.

Bike helmets are compulsory and must comply with the specific race rules.  Essentially this means that the helmets must be worn ‘as purchased’ with no modifications and must be worn at all times while on the bike.  The safest approach is simply to put on your bike helmet first as soon as you take off your wetsuit at transition 1 and take off your helmet last as you put on your running shoes at transition 2.

You can race on any bike you want.  However as the race distance increases it makes more sense to invest in either a road bike or a triathlon bike.  An entry level road bike can be obtained for a few hundred dollars.  However if you see yourself doing more triathlons it may make sense to invest a little more money on your bike as this is the single piece of equipment (other than your training plan) which will result in the greatest improvement in your race time.  You will want to get as light a bike as you could afford (usually made from carbon fiber) and/or a bike with a tri-specific geometry.  Make sure your bike is the correct size for you.  If it isn’t you can waste a lot of energy or even injure yourself.  A good bike fitting is always recommended no matter what your objectives are for cycling.

What to wear for the triathlon run

Choosing the correct running shoes is very important and triathletes should resist the temptation to settle for the cheapest shoes you find in a discount store.  A good running shoe will help prevent injuries in the future.

Other Items

We have described the bare minimum equipment needed to complete a triathlon.  Beyond this there is a huge choice of additional items available.  Most useful are:

Race number belt:  an elastic strap to attach your race number.  This is far easier than using traditional safety pins (and does not damage your tri racing vest

Lace Locks:  these are used with your normal shoe laces and allow you to ‘zip’ up your laces rather than tie a knot.  Useful for tired or sweaty hands.

Socks:  some athletes prefer not to wear socks to save the time putting them on.  Others view them as essential.  It really comes down to how prone a triathletes is to blisters.  Train with socks on and without and see which is more comfortable.

Sunglasses:  these really should be an essential item.  Protects riders from anything getting in their eyes on the bike and protects against the sun (obviously).

In summary – a triathletes racing list

• Goggles
• Swimwear
• Swimming Cap
• Wetsuit
• Tri Shorts and Tri Top (Tri Suit optional)
• Helmet
• Bike Shoes
• Socks (optional)
• Sunglasses
• Running Shoes
• Racebelt (optional)

A triathlon is divided into three components: swimming, cycling and running.  This can be daunting for novices and those trying a triathlon for the first time.  Novice triathlon training should focus on learning how mixing these three separate sports have an effect on your body – very different from merely doing one of the disciplines.

Preparing for the Triathlon Swim

The swimming leg of triathlons is frequently very intimidating for novices.  Many beginners do not have a background of swimming and added to that is the open-water element and the nature of the frantic triathlon beginning.  As much as possible, do your swimming training in open water to simulate race conditions.  There is no substitute for open water swimming to get over any initial fear of the swim.  Also, practice swimming in a wetsuit.  Not only is this good practice for the small modifications you will need to make to your stroke, but it is also a fundamental mental boost to feel how much more buoyant you are in the water when you have the wetsuit on.  As for technique, incorporate more arm work and less leg kick into your swim strokes.  In addition to being more efficient from an energy expenditure perspective, but you will save your legs for the cycle and the running stages of the event.

Training for the Triathlon Cycle

The cycle leg of a triathlon is the longest component in terms of distance (and typically time) of the raceevent.  To improve your speed on the bike, you may want to incorporate spinning classes into your training as this anaerobic exercise will help maximize your ability and execution.  Another impressive training technique is to do what is known as bike hill repeats.  This involves climbing a reasonable incline many times with little or no rest in between.  Not only will this increase aerobic ability and leg strength, but it is also a important way of maximising the efficiency of your training schedule.

To condition yourself for race day – learn how to change a flat bike tire and learn the unique rules of triathlons (such as those prohibiting drafting and all helmet rules).  Always wear a bike helmet during your training.

Training for the Triathlon Run

Once you culture the bike course and start out the run, you will feel a sensation unique to triathlons – the dreaded ‘dead legs’.  For the first mile or so, you will be running on what feels like wooden stilts instead of your normally strong and speedy legs.  The only way to prepare for this is by practicing moving on tired legs, so ensure you integrate ‘bric’ training into your plan – biking immediately followed by running.  This will teach your body how to quickly adapt to the shift from using bike muscles to run muscles.  An additional useful training secret is to ease into running with smaller strides to warm up your muscles before moving on to longer strides.

Lastly, Transitions

Transitions are the often ignored “fourth leg” of a triathlon.  There are two transitions: T1 is the transition from swim to bike, and T2 from bike to run.  You can save valuable time on race day by learning how to transition efficiently.

Prepare for transitions by practicing them.  Time how long it takes you to take off your swimming gear, change into your bike clothes and shoes, mount your cycle and go.  Learn ways to cut this time by wearing a number belt underneath your wetsuit, investing in a tri-suit, or mounting your bike with your cleats already fixed into the pedals.  The more you practice your transitions to find which tricks work best, the more time you will save yourself on race day.