High Cloud Foundation - Because Dreams Come True

Hello friends!

Wow, we cannot believe that it is March already! On Thursday, March 4th, we gathered at GRC with some great folks that were new to triathlon or interested in trying their first race. At this event, we were able to answer questions about triathlon training, local races, equipment, techniques, nutrition, etc.

One of the topics that we discussed was the importance of preparing not only physically but mentally for race day. In other words, don’t wait until race day to think about how your Swim, Bike and Run might go in general.  A nice plan that you can memorize in your head and a quick checklist, will help your race not only to go smoothly but it will help balance / remove some mental and physical obstacles that will prevent you from performing to your full potential.

When creating our own checklist to prep for a great Race Day, we cannot forget:

First and foremost, the main goal should be to enjoy the “experience” regardless of the final result! “Remember that Spirit has fifty times the strength and staying power of brawn and muscle.” (From the Matrix)

Now below is the Checklist that we have used for different Triathlons, which contains a lot of great advice from some good friends.  You can customize anyway you want to make your race an amazing day:

Pre-Race

1. Remain calm and flexible
2. Carry race wheels onto the plane; put pedals in the carry on with shoes
3. Eat healthy for the week. Drink lots of water
4. Make sure bike has 2 tubes, canisters and the immediate pit stop canister for the tubular wheel

Night Before The Race

1. Get to bed early, 8:30pm at the latest. Have all bags packed and ready to go
2. Set out clothes for next morning
3. Don’t forget the body glide and the sunscreen!!!
4. Eat meal which includes fish, veggies, carbs and fruit (oranges & tangerines, etc)
5. Prepare race drink mix (or tea etc), for the morning

Race Morning

1. Breakfast at 4am – tea with sweet and low, 3 oranges and a vanilla Powerbar
2. Drink a bottle of water
3. Perhaps an orange before the swim

Swim

1. Focus on you
2. Don’t worry about anyone else
3. Focus on long strokes
4. Use drafting to your advantage, if you can
5. Spot every 6 strokes
6. It’s your swim. Enjoy the water!!

Transition Bags (T1)

1. Bottle of Tea
2. Small First Aid
3. Open Oranges
4. Bike helmet
5. Socks
6. Bike shoes
7. Biking gloves
8. Race belt with number
9. Fuel Belt should be with your favorite food (Clifshots, etc)
10. Sunglasses
11. Suntan lotion

On bike:

1. Bottle of Tea
2. 2 Bottles of sports drink
3. Food (bars, gel flask, gummy Clifshots) on little Bike bag.

Bike:

1. Try to stay in the aero position as much as possible.
2. Pull up on the hills. Think about circular motion, pulling up your knees, high cadence. Push and pull.
3. Use the downhill to your advantage. Keep pedaling, switch into a higher gear and think cadence
4. Drink approx. every 15 minutes
5. Try to get through 1 water bottle every 45 minutes.
6. Eat every 20 minutes. First, gels, then bars, then gels, then bars.
7. Pick up drink at every 10-mile mark – water/sports drink/water/sports drink. Should take about 45 minutes, so should be finishing and picking up at the same time.
8. Use Enduralytes salt tablets every 3 hours if needed.

Potential issues

1. Flat – Take a deep breath and start changing it.  This is where the practice during training pays off!
2. Crash – check all parts to make sure you are ok, if so, get up and keep going

T2

1. Congratulate yourself on making it to T2 on time! You knew you could do it! Celebrate! YAY! Now only a run to go!!
2. Drop bike shoes and get your running shoes!

Transition Bags (T2)

1. Sun Visor!
2. Sunblock
3. Extra socks
4. Running shoes
5. Race belt (should be on me)
6. Re-load Fuel belt (should be on me) with 3 gels in there, a few salt pills and a Powerbar!
7. Open Oranges
8. Salt packets

Run

1. Start off jogging slow
2. Drink and eat at every aid stations
3. Get gels as well.
4. Finish the run and celebrate!

And now, we leave you with our quote of the week “You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.”
–Eleanor Roosevelt

Thanks for stopping by the Triathlon forum on March 4th, we can’t wait to join you in so many races this year and celebrate with you countless triathlon finishes!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

High Cloud Foundation and Team Snapple are excited to support the 2010 REV 3 race series.

Washington, DC, January 25, 2010.  High Cloud and Team Snapple (www.snappletriteam.com) are excited to announce that they have partnered with the REVOLUTION 3 Triathlon (www.rev3tri.com) series, which High Cloud Athletes can participate in via the Try the Tri Program!!  High Cloud and Team Snapple’s athletes are excited to make Revolution 3 races an important part of their 2010 season.

“The REVOLUTION3 Triathlon race series was created to change the way athletes, family members, and spectators view and participate in triathlons of all distances. One of our immediate goals is to make triathlons a more interactive, enjoyable experience for spectators by providing fun activities for children and family members during the race. REVOLUTION3 Triathlon is about change! Change for the age grouper, change for the professional athlete, and change for the spectators.”

From the REV3 web site:

For 2010, the REV3 triathlon series is made up of 3 dynamic venues, each featuring 2 separate races of different distances; one of which will be the Feature Race of that location.  The series will begin in Knoxville Tennessee on May 9th, 2010.  In Knoxville, the Feature Race will be the Olympic Distance Rev with a $50,000 USD Pro Prize Purse.  The second multi race location will be in Middlebury, Connecticut, where the Feature Race will be the Half Distance Rev on Sunday June 6^th. This race will boast an enormous $150,000 USD Pro Prize Purse, making it the largest payday at the half distance in the sport of triathlon. The climax of the Revolution 3 triathlon series will be the September 12th event where REV3 will offer a tremendous family focused event at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky Ohio.  The Feature Race at Cedar Point will be the Full Distance Rev, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112 miles bicycle ride and a full 26.2-mile marathon run.  This race also boasts a large Pro Prize Purse of $100,000 USD.

In addition to the huge race day cash payouts both professional and age group athletes who compete in any of the “featured” series races will have the ability to earn points towards the series and will qualify for the cash prizes. Race series points will be awarded to athletes at each race based on their overall order of Finish (by time). The Pro overall prize purses male and female will be $15,000. There will also be a rare cash payday for the top 5 amateur athletes series points leaders, starting with a $4,000 for 1st overall.

Finally, there is a potential for a monster additional bonus payment of $125,000 for any Professional male or female that can win the Triple Crown by claiming victory at each event site’s Feature Race. Taking on this Triple Crown challenge and vying for the Feature Race series overall title will be celebrity athlete Tara Costa. Tara was a featured contestant on the hit reality show “The Biggest Loser.”  Tara has lost a whopping 155 pounds since joining the show in September 2008.

Please join the High Cloud Snapple Try the Tri - Triathlon Coaching Program to be a part of this great series! 

http://www.highcloud.org/trythetri