When our family sits down to Thanksgiving dinner, we often laugh
about the meal that takes days and hours to plan and prepare that is then is wolfed
down in half an hour. But we never question that it’s worth it for the chance
to come together and enjoy a delicious feast!
Getting ready to race the ITU Grand Final in Chicago is
similar, with preparations starting well over a year in advance for races that
will take just over an hour (sprint) or two (Olympic) to complete.
What goes into the ITU swim-bike-run racing “feast”? Here’s
a sampling of my preparations.
Of course it all starts with the training! Over the past 12 months, I’ve logged about 430 hours that
includes about 900 miles run, 300,000 yards swum, 2900 miles biked, and about
42 hours in the gym. For every training session, there’s been at least another
hour spent getting dressed, readying equipment, programming technology,
downloading/uploading workouts, posting my workout on Facebook (just kidding,
only sometimes), communicating with my coach, showering, and refueling.
Registration spans
the year as it is not the single-step process of a regular race. We secure our
commitment to Team USA immediately after Nationals, then when ITU opens
registration, we register with USAT who formally registers the team with ITU.
Throughout the year we receive regular correspondence from
USAT, Lauren Rios the Team USA Coordinator, and the team coaches.
Logistics work starts about a year ahead when I make
reservations at the hotel that is as
close as possible to the race venue. There is a LOT of walking back and forth
race week, multiple times per day. I am at the team hotel, which is right
across from Buckingham Fountain and the finish line!
Transportation
takes some thought and I explored the financial and time tradeoffs of all
train, plane, and automobile options for the trek from Virginia to Chicago
before settling on “plane.” The bike is a separate issue. It can be up to $200
each way to check the bike on the plane, so I opted to fly the bike there
(quicker), then ship it back from the hotel via BikeFlights (cheaper).
Disassembling the bike, packing it, then reassembling it is all part of the
fun. That’s when bike parts you have looked at for years suddenly appear strangely
unfamiliar! (At Nationals I was convinced I had lost part of my rear wheel.)
Around mid-summer we order team uniforms. Sizing can be tricky and my advice is always to order a
few sizes and send back what does not fit. To add sponsor logos, the uniform
has to go to a local custom tshirt shop, and the logos must follow ITU’s strict
guidelines on size and placement. They do check!
The bike gets
some pre-Worlds love with new tubes and tires and a thorough check-over by the
local bike shop. They know I have a big race coming when I start obsessing
about things like tire selection, and I say things such as “how do we know the
cables aren’t fraying somewhere that we can’t see them?”
As race week approaches, the body seems to draw extra
attention to sore and tight spots. Part of my race prep has involved bodywork - visits to the chiropractor
and to my favorite (ouch) sports massage therapist to loosen up a tight and
knotted upper back, probably from too much computer work. I also become
reacquainted with my roller.
I start packing
about a week before, staging everything on our dining room table, because what
triathlete has time to entertain and actually use their dining room table for
its intended purpose? In addition to race gear, there’s training clothes,
regular clothes, rain gear, food I must have from home, some basic in-room meal
prep type supplies, and everything stars-and-stripes that I own. If the flight
is not direct I consider very carefully what goes in the checked bag and what
is in the carry on, planning for the worst case scenario!
A certain amount of second-guessing of equipment is inevitable with a Grand Final race. I may be wearing a
new helmet in Chicago. Enough said.
Then it’s time to put together the race week schedule – packet pickup (by country),
expo, swim familiarization, bike shake-out, team meeting, bike check-in,
transition area open/close, swim wave, bike and gear pick-up, then repeat for
the second race.
On the “real life”
side of things, preparation for the Chicago races means getting work done ahead
of time to clear the decks for the busy days to come. It also means getting the
family situated to weather six days without the chief chauffer, cook,
scheduler, and manager. Thank goodness for my mother-in-law who steps in and
keeps things going smoothly, and for a large freezer that holds plenty of
frozen pizzas, the manna of teenage boys.
By the time I get on the plane, and the full year of
preparation is behind me, I let out a giant sigh, and flip the switch to race
mode. The race really is the reward. It’s the Thanksgiving feast that I hope to
gulp down in personal record time!
