Race Day
25 articles
NutritionSeptember 16, 2026 · 11 MIN
Cycling Grand Fondo Nutrition: An 8-Hour Fueling Blueprint
A grand fondo lasting 6–8 hours demands 4,000–6,000 kcal of energy expenditure, and your fueling strategy must evolve hour by hour. Starting at 60 g/hr of carbohydrate and ramping to 90 g/hr mid-race while managing sodium, real food, and flavour fatigue separates a strong finish from a bonk at mile 80.
NutritionSeptember 6, 2026 · 12 MIN
Fueling a 100-Mile Ultra: Calorie and Carb Targets by Race Stage
A 100-mile ultramarathon burns 8,000-12,000 calories over 20-30 hours. This stage-by-stage fueling plan covers calorie targets of 200-400 cal/hr, carb intake of 60-90g/hr, sodium needs, and how to manage the palatability shift that derails most runners after mile 60.
NutritionSeptember 2, 2026 · 10 MIN
Carb Loading for Triathlon: A Distance-Specific Race Day Protocol
Triathlon carb loading differs from single-sport events because you must fuel three disciplines across 1–17 hours. Learn the 48-hour protocol, race morning meal, and discipline-specific fueling for sprint through Ironman distance.
HydrationAugust 28, 2026 · 9 MIN
Electrolyte Drinks vs Salt Tablets: Which Is Better for Endurance?
Electrolyte drinks absorb faster but salt capsules offer unmatched portability. Understanding absorption kinetics, sodium concentrations, and GI tolerance will help you choose the right strategy — or combine both for ultra-distance performance.
TrainingAugust 28, 2026 · 9 MIN
Race Day Cooling Strategies: Precooling, Ice Vests, and Cold Water
Internal precooling drops core temperature by 0.3-0.5 degrees C before a hot-weather race. Ice vests extend time to exhaustion by 7-16%. A structured cooling protocol from 30 minutes pre-race through the finish line can be the difference between a strong performance and an early DNF.
TrainingAugust 25, 2026 · 9 MIN
Half Marathon Race Day Execution: Pacing, Fueling, and Mental Strategy
The half marathon sits at the intersection of speed and endurance — too fast for pure aerobic cruising, too long for sustained threshold effort. Race-day execution, not fitness alone, determines whether you hit your goal time or fade in the final 5K.
HydrationAugust 15, 2026 · 8 MIN
Your Race-Day Hydration Plan: A Mile-by-Mile Marathon Drinking Strategy
Drink too little and you bonk. Drink too much and you risk hyponatremia. This mile-by-mile hydration plan — calibrated to your sweat rate, race pace, and weather — keeps you in the performance sweet spot.
NutritionAugust 9, 2026 · 8 MIN
Triathlon Nutrition by Distance: Sprint to Full Ironman Fueling Guide
A sprint triathlon and a full Ironman have almost nothing in common nutritionally. Applying the same gel protocol across all triathlon distances is one of the most common race-day mistakes. Here's the correct nutrition strategy for every distance.
NutritionAugust 8, 2026 · 7 MIN
What to Eat Race Morning: Pre-Race Breakfast for Endurance Athletes
Race morning breakfast is one of the most consequential — and most anxiety-inducing — nutritional decisions an endurance athlete makes. Get the timing, quantity, and food selection right, and you start with maximum fuel. Get it wrong, and you're fighting your stomach from mile one.
NutritionAugust 6, 2026 · 9 MIN
Full Ironman 140.6 Race Day Nutrition Plan: A Complete Fueling Guide
Ironman racing lasts 8–17 hours and demands 8,000–12,000 calories of output. Most DNFs in the run are nutrition failures, not fitness failures. Here's a distance-specific fueling framework for the bike and run.
RecoveryAugust 3, 2026 · 7 MIN
Race Visualization and Mental Rehearsal for Endurance Athletes
Mental rehearsal activates the same motor pathways as physical practice — and for endurance athletes, pre-race visualization reduces anxiety, builds confidence, and improves pace execution. A complete protocol for runners, cyclists, and triathletes.
TrainingJuly 31, 2026 · 9 MIN
Open Water Swimming Anxiety: Mental and Physical Strategies for Triathletes
Open water swimming anxiety affects up to 35% of triathletes, including experienced swimmers. This guide addresses the physiological causes of panic, desensitisation protocols, and race-day tactics that convert fear into controlled performance.
RecoveryJuly 28, 2026 · 7 MIN
How to Sleep Well Before a Race: Evidence-Based Strategies for Race Night
Most athletes sleep poorly the night before a race — and research shows this is normal and manageable. The sleep two nights before race day matters more than race night itself. Here is a complete pre-race sleep protocol.
TrainingJuly 24, 2026 · 8 MIN
Triathlon Wetsuit Guide: Benefits, Selection, and T1 Strategy
A properly fitted triathlon wetsuit can save 2–5 minutes in an Ironman swim and reduce energy cost by up to 14%. This guide covers every variable from thickness to T1 removal strategy.
TrainingJuly 14, 2026 · 7 MIN
Mental Fatigue and Endurance Performance: The Cognitive Cost of Hard Training
Mental fatigue — from work, study, or sustained decision-making — reduces endurance performance by 5–15% even with identical physical readiness. Here's the research on cognitive fatigue and practical strategies to manage it around race day.
NutritionJuly 13, 2026 · 7 MIN
Sodium Bicarbonate for Endurance Athletes: Evidence, Dosing, and Managing GI Side Effects
Sodium bicarbonate (0.3g/kg) consistently improves performance in events from 800m to 10km and enhances sprint-finish capacity. One of sport science's most evidence-supported ergogenic aids — and one of the most underused by endurance athletes.
NutritionJuly 13, 2026 · 6 MIN
Caffeine Tolerance and Race Day: How to Maximise Ergogenic Effect With Strategic Withdrawal
Habitual caffeine consumption reduces its ergogenic effect by up to 50%. A structured 4-day withdrawal before key races restores full performance benefit — but requires careful management of the withdrawal cost during training.
TrainingJuly 11, 2026 · 7 MIN
Pre-Race Anxiety in Endurance Athletes: Evidence-Based Strategies to Channel Nervous Energy
Pre-race anxiety is universal — even at the elite level. The goal is not elimination but optimisation. Here's what sports psychology research says about turning race-day nerves into a performance advantage.
TrainingJune 24, 2026 · 8 MIN
Mental Toughness in Endurance Sport: Evidence-Based Techniques for Racing Through Suffering
The ability to sustain effort during discomfort separates good athletes from great ones. Sports psychology research has identified specific, trainable mental skills that predict endurance performance — and you can practise every one of them in training before race day.
TrainingJune 22, 2026 · 7 MIN
Triathlon Transitions (T1 and T2): Speed, Nutrition, and Race-Day Strategy
Transitions are the fourth discipline in triathlon — and the most undertrained. A 2-minute T1 and sloppy T2 can be cut to under 90 seconds combined with modest preparation and the right race-day nutrition strategy.
TrainingJune 21, 2026 · 6 MIN
Race Day Warm-Up: The Physiology of Priming Your Body for Peak Performance
Most recreational athletes walk to the start line with no warm-up and spend the first kilometre in an oxygen debt. The right warm-up protocol — tailored to your race distance — eliminates this entirely.
NutritionJune 13, 2026 · 8 MIN
Pre-Race Meal Timing: What to Eat Before a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Marathon
The right pre-race meal depends on your race distance, start time, and gut sensitivity. Here's the evidence-based framework — with specific recommendations for each distance.
NutritionJune 12, 2026 · 7 MIN
Gut Training: How to Eat More Carbs on Race Day Without Stomach Issues
Most GI problems in races aren't bad luck — they're untrained guts. Here's the progressive protocol to teach your intestines to absorb 90g of carbohydrate per hour without cramping.
NutritionJune 10, 2026 · 8 MIN
Triathlon Nutrition: How to Fuel the Swim, Bike, and Run
Triathlon nutrition is more complex than single-sport fueling — transitions, gut stress, and effort shifts across three disciplines create unique challenges. Here's the evidence-based approach.
NutritionApril 21, 2026 · 7 MIN
What to Eat the Night Before a Marathon (And What to Avoid)
Your pre-race dinner can make or break race day. Here's exactly what to eat — and what to skip — in the 12 hours before the start line.