The Professional Pre-Race Routine: Part 1
Anything can happen in the first 20 minutes of a bike race.
Sometimes, it’s a casual affair - the pressure is off until later, and there’s a social vibe as everyone settles into the rhythm of the race together. Other times, the first 20 minutes are the most intense! A sneaky break slips away unnoticed, or a missed clip at the start causes a frantic chase! You need to be ready for anything.
The objective is to bring yourself, mentally and physically, to a state of maximal readiness - on demand. That’s where your pre-race routine comes in!
Of course, you could (and we would) argue that you can do something today, right now even, to better prepare yourself for your next event- regardless of how far in the future it may be. With that in mind, we’ll be skipping over the training, tapering, equipment checks, carb-loading, logistics, etc. that do happen “pre-race” and instead define our “pre-race routine” discussion as what happens on the actual day of the event.
A Good Night’s Rest
The first step of any important day. You do literally start the day sleeping (or should anyway). It’s tricky though, because a good night’s rest does technically start the day (night) before. So, for the purpose of this conversation, we’re going to start with “a good night’s rest” - at least 7 hours of shut-eye.
Wake-Up Call / Alarm
If possible, try to maintain a normal waking time of 5-8am. Normally, travel to the race and/or a morning start time will dictate an earlier start to the day. If your event start time is later in the morning or even afternoon, waking up later than ~8a can negatively impact your energy, mindset, and fueling for the race. If you regularly wake up early to train in the morning, then an early rise to make a 9am race start that is one hour away won’t phase you.
Last Meal - Race T-Minus 3 Hours
3 hours is a good rule of thumb to make sure you have fully digested your last meal before the start of your race. You can, and should, snack during your warm-up and staging process, but more on that in a minute. The 3 hour rule is for your last meal. Carbohydrates should be the primary focus - comprising 70% to 90% of your last full, actual, sit-down (or drive-thru) meal. Often, the quality of pre-race meals are at the mercy of what is available (hotel breakfast, fast food, donuts, etc.) - this is not the end of the world, but… If it’s possible for you to prepare your own tacos, special overnight oats, rice and eggs, etc - there are obvious benefits. That being said, resist the urge to make your pre-race meal “too clean” - this needs to be an energy-dense meal. A packet of oatmeal and a hard boiled egg aren’t going to cut it. Plan ahead, think about whether you’ll be at home, host housing, airbnb, hotel, camping, etc. and what tools/amenities are available. The bottom line is that your last meal needs to be 1) substantial - not light, but also not thanksgiving dinner, 2) carbohydrate-focused - with a combination of simple and complex carbohydrates such as adding maple syrup to your oats, and 3) around 3 hours* before your event start time to ensure complete digestion.
*If your race starts before 8am, it’s not necessary to wake up 3 hours beforehand to eat a meal. The practical reality is that very few people will be able to eat a normal sized meal before 6am, let alone a properly substantial pre-race breakfast. Because of the limitation on meal size/appetite, you can reduce your meal-to-race buffer window to 2 hours (or your own comfort level). Needless to say, in these scenarios, your nutrition during your warm-up and the race become even more critical, and liquid calories can be particularly useful.