Making The Most of Your Race Weekend

TriDot Podcast Episode 330

Making The Most of Your Race Weekend

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Andrew Harley: Welcome to the TriDot podcast. Really fun episode. Today we are talking about race weekend. I love going to the races. I know you guys love going to the races. We would not be in this sport listening to a podcast if you didn't like doing races. So today I have two folks with me here to talk with us about how to make the most of your race weekend. We do a lot of training, we spend a lot of money, a lot of blood, sweat and tears all through the training week after week after week. I want your race weekend to be a smash hit and for you to enjoy it and our two guests are going to help us do that today. My first guest today is the Chief Operating Officer of Clash Endurance, Andre Lapar. Hey Andre, welcome.

Andre Lapar: Yeah, hey guys, thanks for having me. Always a pleasure with the TriDot folks. Excited to spend some time with you guys and I know we got a bunch of fun stuff to talk about and hopefully present some good information to all your listeners.

Andrew Harley: Hopefully. Hopefully that's the goal, as always. Also with me is coach Dan Caskie, the leader of TriDot Ambassadors. Dan, good to see you, friend.

Dan Caskie: Hey buddy. How we doing? Andrew? I'm excited. You know I love a good racecation, good race weekend. So this is going to be fun. I know we've got some good tips for folks on how to make this out of the park for them.

Andrew Harley: Well, I am Andrew, the average triathlete, voice of the people and captain of the middle of the pack. As always, we're going to start off with our warm up questions, settle into our main set conversation learning from these two guys and then we'll wind things down on the cool down with a question from the audience for coach Dan. Lots of good stuff. Let's get to it.

Announcer: This is the TriDot Podcast, the triathlon show that brings you world class coaching with every conversation. Let's get started with today's warmup.

Andrew Harley: For our warmup question today, I want to know what is the best finish line moment you have witnessed at a multisport or endurance event? This can be one of your personal finish lines. It could be the finish line of a friend. It can be the finish line of a stranger, an athlete you knew. But all three of us have been at the races a ton. Andre, probably the most of every athlete you've seen cross the finish line. What is your favorite finish line moment? Over to you, Andre.

Andre Lapar: All right. I guess the easy low hanging fruit is when my kids cross the finish line in their first triathlon here at the Daytona International Speedway. But the one that really got me after being in the sport for, you know, 25 years now, 28 years, geez. I was race director of the IRONMAN 70.3 in Costa Rica. And you guys may be familiar with professional triathlete Tim Don.

Andrew Harley: Yeah.

Andre Lapar: From the UK, Olympian world champion. If you guys are familiar with the story with him and the bike accident breaking his neck, being in the halo, right. With all the stuff fused together to keep his spine in line, he went through that. I know we were talking about our kids before jumping on the podcast with young toddlers running around the house. His wife was taking care of everything, you know, from bathing all, I mean, you name it, he went through that. And he came back from that type of injury and that was his first race back out of that injury and he won. And I, I, I don't get choked up. But knowing Tim, and I've known Tim for years and years and being a father myself and knowing just the amount of dedication and blood, sweat and tears for the entire family that he had around him to get him not only to win, but to get him back to the start line and for him to cross the line in first, I mean, it was, that was it. I had tears in my eyes because I've known him for so long. And again, if you have kids and you know how hard it is with toddlers, imagine going through that and that kind of rehab to get back to world class level. So that one really got me.

Andrew Harley: I think, yeah, there's a documentary about Tim and that documentary is called "The Man in the Halo" or something like that. And I watched it with my wife years ago and really impactful story for listeners that don't know. When he had that injury, the doctors basically told him there's two routes to treat this. And I don't remember the nuances of what those two routes were, but Tim's response was, well, which route lets me still train? And they're like, what are you talking about? Yeah, I still want to train. And so the answer was, you can put this metal halo around your head that basically immobilizes your head at all times and you could hypothetically still train that way. And so he did. And it was wild. Fascinating documentary and a really great answer here.

Dan Caskie: It's screwed into your...

Andre Lapar: Yeah, it's crazy to his collarbone to stabilize. So you think about the open wounds of something being screwed into your... And this is for weeks and months at a time. I mean...

Andrew Harley: Yeah.

Andre Lapar: And the screws coming into your skull to hold it in place. I mean, that, as you said, in and of itself is an amazing story to see that and an athlete of that caliber to come back and then cross the line in their first race back and win was, I mean, he was choked up and emotional. So...

Andrew Harley: Yeah, yeah, really good answer. Coach Dan, over to you. Follow that. Good luck.

Dan Caskie: All right. It's hard to follow that. I definitely, having recently experienced that family moment with my son who's been mimicking me for years, getting to cross a few finish lines this summer, including in December at Daytona, was just a beautiful thing. And I too have seen this. I love the comeback story. I'm a huge fan of that. We've been through... My wife's a cancer nurse and so we've done some events with the cancer folks who are putting on some runs here locally. But I think today I'm going to go with not a podium finish, but actually the dead last finisher at a half marathon I put on. When she showed up, she had asked questions. She was concerned and said this was a really goal of hers. She had promised it to her family and had lost somebody, but was committed to it. She wasn't the healthiest person, but she wanted to show up. She was asking about cutoff times beforehand. And I told her if she made it to a certain point by a certain time, we'd let her finish. And sure enough, we had done awards and she was coming in and you know, that lull that happens after the race. We said she was coming in and I'm telling you, hundreds of people getting out of their cars to come back. It was so moving to just cheer her on that last stretch as they come through the parking lot to the finish line and everybody was super excited about her. And I mean, it just fires you up that you can do it and talk about the hugging and everybody's like, I'm not crying, you're crying kind of thing. So that was just one of those push through moments that was beautiful, just to do something hard and to stick to your commitment. So that's what I'm going with today.

Announcer: Let's go.

Andrew Harley: All right, into our main set for today. We're going to learn from the two of you how to make the most of our race weekend. And Andre, you work for Clash Endurance. We've had the founder and CEO of Clash Endurance, Bill Christie on the show before, but our listeners haven't met you before, so can you just tell our friends and folks what your background in the sport is, how you got connected with Clash and what your role is for the company?

Andre Lapar: Yeah, so I am COO at Clash, so that means I'm the head of operations. Right. So that's everything from course design to logistics of how we're getting cones out on course and stuff out at aid stations. We've got a great staff. My history: I came up, swam through high school and college, got into triathlon, did my first triathlon after my senior year of college. That was back in 1998. I've done at least one triathlon a year since then.

Andrew Harley: Amazing.

Andre Lapar: Did Lake Placid back in 2000. Did a number of 70.3s way back in the day, and then just kind of grew and evolved with the sport. Started working for a company called IRONMAN North America. They launched Lake Placid, Panama City, Coeur d'Alene, all those races. So just kind of the last 25 years, sort of grew up in the industry. I did some coaching. I worked at USA Triathlon for a few years coordinating their coach education program. So had a level two coach certification. And then just working on the background, I found I'm much better at producing events than I ever was at racing them. I will tell you, it's also a lot harder to produce races than it is to actually race them because you cross your finish line, you know, you're done. Our finish line just keeps moving. You know, the weather's bad, we have different things happen. But wouldn't trade it for the world. You know, I work in an office setting, but we get to put on swim bike run. It's always swim bike run, but it's never the same, even from year to year with the same event. So, you know, we have spreadsheets and PowerPoints and everything else, Word documents, but we get to see all that work come to life on event weekend and the smile of athletes and, you know, the pain and suffering and all the emotions that go with it. So it's a very rewarding experience and career that I've had. Spent a number of years, 14 years at IRONMAN prior to Covid. So my quick feather in the cap is I was race director for the first IRONMAN branded events across Latin America in eight different countries. So experience with big events, small events, marathon events, all kinds of stuff. And so I've really seen the industry grow and evolve to what it is now. And so trying to just use all those experiences to help Clash provide a great product for the athletes, you know, and still be relevant in the market that we're in today.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, and all that experience you have is exactly why you're the perfect guy to be on this topic today. And our athletes have certainly heard me talk about Clash Daytona, and Dan is a big fan of Clash Daytona. Dan and I have both raced that many, many times. And a lot of our athletes, a lot of our ambassadors have done Clash Miami over the years, Clash Daytona over the years, Clash Watkins Glen, which you and I were talking about before the podcast started. That was a race I wanted so badly to do. And it came... You guys did it one time, and it had to be maybe temporarily discontinued. But for our folks who maybe have heard about Clash Endurance or heard about us talk about these Clash races, but aren't as familiar with the company and what you do at a race weekend, just tell our folks what is Clash Endurance about? What are you trying to do with these experiences and what makes you different and special in the marketplace?

Andre Lapar: So, I mean, we try to offer something for everybody at our endurance weekends, right? Whether that's... We have the kids races, we have duathlons, triathlons, we have some standalone bike events, standalone 5Ks, stuff that we can kind of marry together in a way that makes sense at these amazing venues that we have access to, like Daytona Speedway, Miami Speedway. And I like to say, you know, we focus on the big rocks, which is swim, bike run, big show. People have said that they go to a Clash race and they're like, wow, that has one of those big race feels. They have a great expo, athlete food. I mean, the place is dressed to the nines. So that's kind of the world I came from, is that big race feel. And we want to make every athlete, whether they're doing their first sprint triathlon or just a 5k, we want them to have that big event experience, and hopefully that sinks the hook in them. And, you know, we're doing our part to just try to get people across that finish line and have a good experience, and hopefully they stay in the sport for years and years to come.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I love personally how every time I do a Clash event, it truly feels like a race weekend and not just a race. Right. A lot of events you go to them and everybody there is prepping for the one race and the race goes off and then it's done. I mean there is... I'll be checking in my bike and racking my bike and there's a kids triathlon happening at the same time, a day or two before the race and then the next day there's a couple of other things happening and then the day after that there's a professional event happening. You can go watch the pros race after you're done. And so there's just... it truly feels like a multisport festival. Every time I've rolled into a Clash event in a way that really feels alive and feels different and it lets you do different stuff. We've had TriDot athletes in Daytona, for example, do the Jingle Jog 5k a couple nights before the race and the next day we're all doing a middle distance. And the next day people can do the sprint. And Dan and I did a relay one year at Clash Daytona. Me, Dan and coach Tony all did the middle distance as a relay and then the next day we all did the sprint. And so there's just so many different ways to plug in. It's kind of my personal what I like about Clash. And you guys have a new race on the calendar in 2026. Tell us what you're doing in coastal Mississippi.

Andre Lapar: Coastal Mississippi. I mean, we're...

Andrew Harley: I've had a lot of espressos today. Just... I've had a lot of espressos. It's a Friday.

Andre Lapar: I had a solid one this morning. Coastal Mississippi. And I got a map up of all the counties around here pinned to my wall. But just a beautiful community really looking to showcase their beaches and their tourism side and just Mississippi as a destination. They are 100% on board. I mean from the tourism at the state level for Visit Mississippi down to the local tourism board, which is coastal Mississippi. The mayor of Gulfport, I've got his personal cell phone. He said anything you need. I mean they want the event there. So what is the event? Right. It's Clash Endurance weekend. But there's a few different facets to what we're bringing and doing in coastal Mississippi. The one, and probably the biggest one of all is USA Triathlon's collegiate club national championship. So that's cool. We hosted that last year in Miami. So you're looking at 1400 college kids across 80 plus schools represented. It's a true national championship. Right. They're all flying their colors, whether it's Michigan or University of Wisconsin or UC Berkeley or Air Force Academy or Navy, they're all there. And what's exciting about that is their marquee event is the Olympic distance.

Andrew Harley: They all race draft legal Olympic distance.

Andre Lapar: The marquee one is the non drafting Olympic distance race. Then we have a sprint distance draft legal race which is capped at 75 men, 75 women. Same format as the elites and the World Cup and the developing Olympic cycle. So the best of the best in the collegiate world are racing on that draft legal format. And then probably the most exciting triathlon I've been a part of producing is the collegiate mixed relay.

Dan Caskie: Amazing.

Andre Lapar: And you were there. Tell us about the energy of what was there.

Dan Caskie: Well, it's like, I was going to say that it's so intense. Talk about the stories because it's three races, it's three sprints and so it's over and over again.

Andre Lapar: Four sprints.

Dan Caskie: Yeah, it's four.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. Two men, two women.

Dan Caskie: That's right. Four.

Andre Lapar: Yeah. For those who don't know, it was added to the Olympics two cycles ago. So mixed relay is two males, two females comprise a team. So in the Olympics it's from a country and so it's male, female, male, female. They've actually switched it for the coming cycle into LA. So it'll be female, male, female, male. But each athlete does their own super sprint triathlon. So 300 meter swim, a 5k bike and a 1k or you know, roughly half mile run. So each triathlon takes between 15 and 18 minutes.

Andrew Harley: Yeah.

Andre Lapar: And as soon as they finish the run, they high five their teammate who then runs down into the water, does their mini triathlon, high fives and so forth and so on. And so in the Olympics, amazing venue. Paris was great. The US won the silver medal. But you had about 30 teams, 30 teams of four for this collegiate national championship. We had 65 teams of four. So you're already thinking that's 250 athletes racing and all 1200 other athletes from those respective universities that were not racing were all lined up around the transition area, the relay exchange zone, the finish line cheering. I mean they had the vuvuzelas going. I mean it was nuts. Probably the biggest mixed relay in the world. I would say not even at the World Cup circuit or the Olympics do they have that many teams. And just, you know, when you pit those collegiate rivalries one against another, it's just such a unique atmosphere. I mean, Dan, you were there. You saw it, you felt it.

Dan Caskie: Yeah. Electric. I mean, it's the only way to describe it, Andrew. I mean, if you've ever been in that tight environment, they're flying around you. It was so cool and so inspiring. I mean, I was totally looking forward to it this year, I think. And my request to you Andre is we need to find the adult version of that. It's kind of like roller derby or something. Like there's an adult version of this that is just so compelling and epic. So I'm ready for you to put on an adult version. And I got a team ready. So it's amazing.

Andrew Harley: I did it once, Dan. I did it once. USA Triathlon, when they put the national championships in Los Colinas, Texas right up the road from me, I did a mixed relay with some TriDot folks that traveled in for that race and they made me go first. I put us in the back of the pack with my strong opening leg. But super, it's a super fun format for sure. And that's what I'm talking about, Andre. Like, that's what I love about Clash events is you roll into one and at most triathlon events, I'm showing up, racking my bike, doing the race and going home. Like, you get to watch that. You get to be part of that scene. Like as you're going through the motions of getting ready for your own race and the next day you race or the day before, you're like just to have all that happening in the same weekend and you can participate in the stuff you're participating in. You can witness the things that are going on that have nothing to do with you. It is super cool. So in Mississippi specifically, what's the course going to be like for our age group folks? And I know it's coming up. It's in March, right. So how can folks jump into this?

Andre Lapar: This year, 27th through 29th. I'll give you the other pieces. So collegiate piece is amazing. Sunday is dedicated to the age group athletes. So we have a 1 mile open water swim, we have sprint triathlon and duathlon. And then we have what we affectionately have dubbed the Daytona Distance, which was adopted by the pros for our pro races here, but it's one mile swim, 30 mile bike and a nine mile run. So that is longer than Olympic, not quite 70.3. Those athletes who are racing longer later in the season, it's a great way to come out, test your fitness, see where you are without completely overcooking yourself that early in the season. So for athletes looking to get an early season tune up, it's perfect. So age group racing is going to be amazing. And then one other piece that we have, we've now done three years in a row. We're the only ones hosting Continental Cups. So that's one step down from the World Cup level. And that race will be Friday, right before the collegiate draft legal. So 75 men, 75 women, all the developmental US athletes that are gearing up for LA 2028. We'll have a number of Olympians on the start line, both from the US and Canada. It's an Americas Triathlon Cup. So that means US, Canada and everything down through South America and in between falls into that Americas category. So they'll be chasing prize money and valuable points towards qualifying for the World Cup circuit, which leads them to Olympic Games qualifying. So we have found our niche to support elite level triathlon on this front. That's the only chance for our elite national team to race on home soil. If you go to World Triathlon's website right now and you sort upcoming events by country and you put in US, it is Clash Endurance Gulfport Mississippi and LA Olympics 2028. Those are the only two high performance draft legal races in the US at the current moment.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, very, very cool. Dan, you and I have been in Daytona together quite often. And you, man, you got the right setup because anytime you want to go to a triathlon, you throw the family in the RV. You drive there as a family, you make a family weekend of it. Your kids race the kids races, you race the adult race. Your wife sometimes jumps into the mix. You mix and mingle with all the athletes in the village, wherever the RV campground is. So you really, my friend, nail these races, especially Daytona, where you can camp in the infield. But are you going to Mississippi?

Dan Caskie: It's on the radar. We've got a lot of things going. We had a great conversation about how we're helping some folks get there, but I'm getting a lot of requests about will you be on my relay team? We've got TriDot folks going. I mean, my philosophy, if I'm going, I want to spend the weekend there and I want everybody having fun. I just love how they make the athlete experience great, but family friendly. Where's the parking and where's the hydration? We'll call it that for post race and for free hydration for anybody that shows up. Spectators can engage all over the place. So super excited to see the layout in Mississippi. Had a great time in Miami and Daytona, of course, for those previous ones. The energy, man, like you said, sometimes you get in your car, you show up at the race, it's dark, you finish, you get back in your car and you're gone. This is, it's just the casual. It's fun, man. I wouldn't miss them.

Andre Lapar: Yeah, yeah. And you said family environment. I mean some of the specifics for coastal Mississippi and Gulfport, it's amazing for sea life. You can take some amazing dolphin tours out there towards Ship Island or Cat Island, literally across the street from our venue. Our venue is Jones Park there right at the Gulfport Marina, which is all a brand new facility. It's about seven years old, but multimillion dollar facility. All these mega sport yachts out there, some shrimp boats. I mean it screams coastal Mississippi. Right across the street there's a pedestrian bridge that goes up and over US 90 from Jones Park right into the Mississippi Aquarium, which was just completed in 2021. So it's a pretty new facility and amazing aquarium. They have an aviary there. We're working with them as a partner to get some discount codes out to athletes that will be racing with us. So lots to do for the family if you want to stay. 15 minutes down the coast in Biloxi, there's the big resorts and casinos there, if that's your thing. If you like the small boutique hotels and the coastal feel, you can be on the other side in Ocean Springs or Long Beach. It really does offer a little bit of something for everybody. And it's one of those off the radar destinations that once you get there you're like, man, I gotta come back to this place. This place is cool, it's affordable, the people are polite. Like I felt welcome being there. So beautiful beaches.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, beautiful.

Andre Lapar: Part of why we're excited: a lot of athletes have commented to us that getting to coastal Mississippi is six hours closer than getting down to Miami. On the college team side, they are super excited. So we're hopeful that we're going to be closer to 1500 collegiate athletes and just all the energy and the vibe that they bring. So all good things. We're going to be sharing all that out on our website. The tourism folks, as I said, even from the mayor on down, they're all welcoming. So we'll have eating guides, hotel guides, kind of the stay and play things, what to do there. So something for everybody.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. And along those lines, Andre, that's kind of what I wanted to tap into today, because we've had a lot of episodes where coaches come on the podcast and talk us through pacing our race or fueling our race or how to troubleshoot the things that can go wrong on your race. And today I really want you guys to help me focus on how to get the most out of your race experience. Because sometimes that's a soft skill or it's intangibles or it is taking time to enjoy the scenery or taking time to enjoy the location of the race. And I just want to pick both of your brains. Dan, as a coach, Andre, as a very experienced race producer, on what really takes a race weekend from "yeah, I went and did a race this weekend" to "oh, man, I had an experience this weekend," right. And that's what I want to talk about today. So as we get into that, what I want to do is we're going to walk through the race week, right? What can an athlete do on race week to set themselves up for success? What can they do in travel mode? What can they do on race morning? What can they do during the race, after the race to really make the most of the experience? But just to ease us into this, from all the athletes you've watched go through their race process on site, what are the big ticket things you see athletes get wrong about race weekend? Coach Dan.

Dan Caskie: You know, this is a good one.

Andrew Harley: How do we sabotage our race experience before it even has a chance to be amazing?

Dan Caskie: I think that athletes try to control too much when the goal really should be prepare, prepare well and let the weekend unfold. Over scheduling, gear panics because they didn't have a good system to make sure they got everything. They treat the weekend like it's the test of their fitness instead of celebrating what they built or maybe they're glued to their watch and every second they got to hydrate and when do they got to do two squats. So that's what I would say. That's what my start is: too much. It's the party has, you know, the hay is in the barn, that old phrase, as they say. Right. So if you plan it well, it can be just a celebration from beginning to end, stress free and just a joy.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. Very, very good. Andre, same question over to you. What do you see athletes get wrong about their race weekend?

Andre Lapar: Exactly what you call it, race weekend. They make the entire weekend about their race. Right. Are you traveling with a spouse? Are you traveling with kids? Are you traveling by yourself to a place you've never been? Right. You want to get a little bit outside of your race box. Right. The race is why you're going. But give yourself another reason to be there and another thing to look forward to. Whether it's... you're coming in from Michigan in March and you know what, you're just excited to be able to lay out on the beach for two hours and get some sun.

Dan Caskie: Right.

Andre Lapar: You stay hydrated. Whether that's pre, the day before the race or post race. Maybe it's a new type of coastal cuisine. You can't wait to go get shrimp and grits at that Michelin recognized southern restaurant, the Siren Social Club there in Gulfport. Or you know what, you and your spouse are traveling together racing, or one is racing, the other one's not, and you guys want to go post race, hit the tables at the casino, whatever it is that is that signature thing for that area. Put that on your to do list. Whether it's catching a show the night before or a dinner or a breakfast spot. So you have more to look forward to than just the race. Because we all know if you've been around long enough, things happen in races. They can be awesome. Weather can be great and all these things, and things can go sideways. You get a flat tire on the bike. I mean, you get food poisoning, who knows? There's all kinds of things that can go awry. Give yourself something else to really look forward to and enjoy on the weekend with your little core nucleus of people. Maybe it's folks with your tri club. You guys want to plan a dinner out or something. Add one other thing to your to do list outside of just racing and make that the secondary focus of the weekend. So when you get home, no matter what happens out on the race course, you had a successful weekend.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I... What I love there Andre, is the mindset of this is a race weekend. It's an experience weekend. And the race day, the race itself is just part of that. It reminds me of... I flew to Florida one time. You and I were talking about, my family's from Florida and I flew into Miami airport. My dad picked me up in Miami airport. We drove down to Key West for the Key West Triathlon in December. They have it every December in Key West, Florida. A great Olympic sprint race. I forget what the race producer was, but a really well run event. And the first time I did that, I flew into Orlando. So it was a flight into Orlando and an eight hour drive with my dad from Orlando to Key West. And that year it was beautiful weather, totally fine. Everything was going great. The morning of the race, one of those Florida two hour thunderstorms rolled in for the exact two hours the race was supposed to take place. And there was lightning popping everywhere and wind blowing, the palm trees blowing. They delayed the start 30 minutes, delayed the start 30 minutes, delayed the start 30 minutes, canceled the race. And so that was it. It's done. And so you're talking round trip, 16 hours of driving, five hours on plane in the air and didn't get to do the race. Guess what? I got a lot of time with my dad. I went down to Key West and back with my dad. If I had flown on my own for that, just a solo trip, I want to do this race on my own accord, that would have been such a wash. But it was a weekend experience with my dad where we had a lot of memories aside from the fact that the race got rained out. Right. And then the next year went back and did it the next year, everything went fine. Wonderful race. But that's... I think of that because there's so many times where I remember my first half IRONMAN. There was so much pressure on man, like I've done all this training, I put all this pressure on this race. I want to do so well on this race. I've never done this distance before. That one went fine. The weather was great. We had a great trip, we had a great experience. But if that race had gotten rained out, I would have been crushed. And so not putting all this pressure on the race itself because the experience is larger than that. Love that mindset, Andre.

Andre Lapar: And I think the pendulum is swinging back around. I mean, back in the 90s, very early 2000s, it was about train hard, race hard, and then get a beer and a burger afterward and have a good time. And then it somehow became you had to upload everything into your spreadsheet. And I just crossed the finish line. I don't have time for a beer. I got to send my workout to my coach so he can critique my performance. And people kind of lost sight of, we're not going to the Olympics. None of us here. We're not going to be racing pro. We're doing this for fun. And I think that is swinging back around now where people are realizing that it can be fun and it should be.

Andrew Harley: Right? Yeah. So, Dan, obviously at TriDot, we are all about triathlon training. It's kind of our thing, kind of our specialty. If you listen to the podcast and you don't know, we have wonderful training in the TriDot app for you to get ready for your Clash Coastal Mississippi race coming up in March. But having a good race weekend can start with training. And I've certainly rolled up to some races having not really trained and gotten through it. It wasn't the best experience. So talk to us about what can we do in our training leading up to a race to make sure that the race experience is good.

Dan Caskie: Absolutely. I think you build that confidence in the weeks before with your nutrition plan and even the timing of the day. If you normally work out super early in the morning, that helps you because you got to get up early on race day. But what if you're in one of these ones, especially running events where the waves may be later? You need to dial in what I'm eating before, what I'm eating on the race. Race morning routines can be part of your training. Right. I say dial that in early. That'll build confidence in you. You can't just figure that out in the last 48 hours or on race morning. We do two race rehearsals four weeks and two weeks out. So the other tip I'll say that helps you that you can do is transitions. Confidence in your transitions. You know, think how you'll lay stuff out ahead of time. Like you set your bike up, maybe make a little bike rack in the garage and have your stuff there. So you're thinking about it. It's natural to you, and that gives you systems. Right. So it builds the... You know, you need fitness, but you need some clear systems on how you're going to get from A to B and how you're going to get set up for the event. I think you can test those all the time.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, yeah. Very well put. Now, sometimes we get lucky and there's a race right up the road. We can sleep in our own bed, use our own toilet in the morning and drive down there and do the thing. And most of the time, we have to travel a little bit of a ways. So when an athlete slips out of real life person mode into weekend triathlon mode and we're traveling to whatever our upcoming event is, what are some things that we can do to make sure that we're maximizing that travel experience to the race and making sure everything goes smoothly? Andre?

Andre Lapar: Well, I think first thing you gotta look at is what type of travel it is. Is it you're driving three to six to eight hours? Some people driving up to 10 hours, you know, based on budgets. Or maybe there's three or four people that are going in together. They're like, hey, I got rack on the back of the car, put all the bikes there. We'll make it a road trip, have fun with it. Or are you boxing up your bike and you're flying somewhere and then you got to get it built on the other side? So I think there's a couple variables with the type of travel, right? That's the first thing you got to figure out. And then once you do figure that out is the front end and the back end, right? Do I have my packing list? Do I have everything I need? Is there specific type of hydration or nutrition stuff I've been working with? Did I buy enough ahead of time that will last me through the weekend? And I can pre mix my drinks?

Andrew Harley: Can I buy it there or can I not?

Andre Lapar: Yeah, exactly. Or is there a running store or a bike shop on the receiving end? Like, if I'm flying in and I'm the common triathlete who doesn't know how to lube the chain on their bike, just the pot calling the kettle black or whatever, but is there somebody on the flip side that can help me out, do that sort of thing? So that starts with, believe it or not, reading the athlete materials, the athlete guide. I mean, most race directors try to put the info in there for you, but people might not read it. If you can't, if you don't have time, reach out to the race or put something on their Facebook page, on their socials. Most of them... We try to be really good about answering folks within 24, 48 hours via email inbox. So it's all about that planning and preparation. You're trying to leave as little unknowns and as few curveballs as can be thrown at you because that just adds stress and you don't want to be thinking about, oh gosh, who's going to build my bike together. And I got to be there for packet pickup and I got to get across town and I need to get a rental car. And athletes go into this crazy spiral in their brain. So cut as much of that opportunity for stress out as possible and try to make it an enjoyable trip.

Andrew Harley: It's such a boring, unsexy answer to just say plan, plan ahead. Make sure you have your stuff. Make sure you have your logistics worked out. But that's the truth. Like that's what, when you're in travel mode to your race weekend, that's what you can do to maximize your race weekend. Don't forget anything. Make sure you got all your boxes checked because yeah, that can throw a wrench in your race weekend real quick. If you show up to the race site and you forgot something or you can't buy something you thought you were gonna be able to buy, or you don't have a part for your bike that you thought you were gonna have, or if there's something broken on your bike and you don't have what you need to fix it. So very, very well put, Andre. Again, not a sexy answer, but the truth. And like you said, that removes the stress to help you maximize your race weekend, right?

Dan Caskie: Yeah.

Andre Lapar: And I always boil it down to the most simple. Do I have something to swim in? I got a cap, goggles and a suit. Do I have a bicycle, a helmet and bike shoes. The very basics. And I have running shoes and a race belt. And I mean that's the bare minimum of what you need. Put that away. No stress. And if you forgot your sunglasses, you'll be okay. If you forgot a hat, maybe you end up with a sunburn on your receding hairline like me. You'll be okay, but just simplify it. So many athletes get so stressed in all the little outside details and the minutiae. Triathlons, it's swim, bike, run. It doesn't have to be that complicated.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I... I don't have a question really geared for this, but I think when I think about this topic and when I think about what I would tell an athlete in terms of how to maximize their experience going to a race, like the number one thing I would say... And you said the word logistics, Andre, and it made me think of this. I would say stay as close to the race site as you humanly, possibly and budgetly can. Right. Don't blow the budget. But if you can afford the host hotel or if you can afford the resort right there by transition, or the hotel across the street or the hotel just down the road, or an Airbnb that's close, like, stay as close as you humanly possibly can. Because that makes so many logistics easier. It makes it that much easier for you to pop down to the expo and back. It makes it that much easier for you to go partake in the events that are happening or the meet and greets that are happening or the welcome dinners that are happening or whatever. I have never regretted paying double for a hotel accommodation because it was right there on site or across the street than saving a little bit and having to cart in 10, 15 minutes every single day.

Andre Lapar: Yeah. And if you're staying farther away, which is okay for whatever reason, I cringe when people say I'm not gonna show up till race morning. Try to get your packet checked whenever you can, see things during the daylight, get some familiarity with parking.

Andrew Harley: Yeah.

Andre Lapar: Doesn't matter how many light towers you put up.

Andrew Harley: Right?

Andre Lapar: Just that familiarity ahead of showing up race morning is worth its weight in gold again. Just takes a whole stressor off the whole thing. It makes it a much more enjoyable experience. And you can look at maps, you can look at Google Earth, you can talk to somebody who's done it a dozen times, but until you see something, you've been to a place in person, it's just another unknown that you can fix so easily.

Dan Caskie: Yeah.

Andrew Harley: Yeah. I think one of the coolest race experiences I ever had: my wife and I went out to Greece for the inaugural 70.3 Greece. When we got married, my wife wanted the honeymoon there. And at the time, we couldn't afford it. But years later, I'm a triathlete. And when I saw brand new race IRONMAN 70.3 Greece, I was like, yeah, we can do this. So we made that our Greece trip. And anyway, they've moved that race. That race still exists, and they've moved it up the coast a little bit. But that first year it was based around two resorts that were side by side and there was nothing, no town, no city, like there was nothing else around other than these two resorts. And so it kind of not forced you, but you kind of needed to stay on site in one of the two resorts. And it was so awesome because you literally had all 2000 people doing a race staying in the same little... it was like being back at college. Like everywhere you walk it's just triathletes hanging out and talking and chatting and playing in the pool with their kids. And eating at the restaurants that are on site. Like it was just... it made it this little microcosm of like we're all doing this together. Not just the race, but the whole experience. Because there was nowhere else to stay. And it was one of the coolest experiences talking about the whole weekend other than the fact that we were on the coast of Greece in my life. And anyway, I think of that here. But let's move from traveling to the race to we are at the race now. Some events, depending on what the event is, there might just be the day before and then it's race day. Some races have events a couple days leading up to your race. So there's kind of some differences there. But no matter what, there's always the lead up to race day on site at the event. And what should an athlete do on site at the race before their race and the days leading up to make the most of their weekend? Coach Dan?

Dan Caskie: Yeah, I think this is a great one. So my tips are buy everything in the Expo.

Andrew Harley: Spend money easy. Shopping makes everybody happy.

Dan Caskie: I think it's a great one to budget for. For sure it can get you pretty easy. But I'm a fan of checking in early and walking that. Like Andre said, you got to put your eyes, go find the finish line, go find the transition with your eyes so that you can really see that, learn that flow. It's gonna drop some things down. Definitely wanna see some other people, right? The Expo... The reason the Expos exist is to sell you stuff. They're not here to help replace stuff. But you know, listen, plan for it, right? I mean, you wanna get the shirt, okay, plan to get the shirt. You're already this far in. But don't come out with new shoes and shirts and stuff and then just regret it afterwards. Don't rely on it as your backup situation. Definitely plan ahead for it. And one gem I'll toss in here: you're always wondering what to buy a triathlete in your life is the VIP pass. A lot of VIP passes with Clash for sure. And with IRONMAN. Right. IRONMAN VIP status. You get easy check in, you're not standing in line. The Nirvana program and some others of those programs... I love what Clash does because they do NASCAR Foundation and I'm a big fan of Speedway Children's Charities and so our family always supports that organization. But the team then has all our packets ready to go. We just walk up and smile and we're walking away and our bike's ready to rack. There's some other perks that come with some of those things. They're all a little different. I know at Clash they do a really good job of having a private orientation, a private area with food and shelter for the family. And so if you got your wife or spouse, the VIP package where they get to sit in an area so they're at the finish line for the photo and you get the perk of race day check in without the line. I mean, win, win. Right? So that's my Christmas gift. If you got a race on the schedule and you want to tell people what can you get me? Well, this VIP package might be the gift. That's where I'd spend my money and not in the expo.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, really good point. I... This is a total side tangent that maybe I'll cut for time later, maybe I won't. We'll see. But Andre, while you're on, I will personally thank you as the COO of Clash Endurance. You guys got me frickin hooked on Nespresso coffee. True story. This is a true story. Clash Daytona years ago, a couple of us from the TriDot team had VIP passes as leaders of the TriDot team. And it was a day I wasn't racing and we popped up to... it might have been the day that pros were racing. We popped up to the VIP area which was indoors at one of the NASCAR pit lane facilities. And you guys had snacks there, a whole snack tray and there was an espresso machine and I popped a little dark green Stormio pod in that bad boy and I came out a changed man. And now that is all I will have in terms of coffee at my house. And it's all thanks to you guys.

Andre Lapar: No, we had that conversation earlier today in the office. I spent a lot of years managing IRONMAN events all over Latin America and coffee culture is strong there. The coffee is good and I just... having just a nice little espresso shot. You get your caffeine fix. It's not this Starbucks way of 32 ounces of coffee sugar frothed latte where you're just full and bloated. You just have your little shot like you're shot out of a cannon. You're ready to go. You're not bloated. You're speaking my language.

Andrew Harley: Yep, yep. Anyway, yeah, so yeah, totally agree there Dan. Some great stuff. And the VIP experience whenever I have had a VIP pass has always been like man, this is so helpful. Like genuinely it's so helpful. Yeah Andre, anything you would add there about what you would recommend to an athlete on those days leading up, what you might say to them to hey, maximize these days. Enjoy these days.

Andre Lapar: Well, just enjoy it, right? You're going to an event with a couple thousand like minded people, right? You can geek out. You want to talk about gear ratios or your Di2 batteries or spend time bouncing around the expo, see some new products and stuff you might not even know exists, right. Try some things out. Maybe go light on trying new types of flavors of snacks. Some people run through an expo like they're getting the free samples at Costco. I wouldn't necessarily do that the day before an event but like I said, spending time with the like minded folks, talking about different things, how you train in your area, what you've been up to, maybe you're meeting up with some old friends. And then on that coffee kick, scope it out. We always have a coffee vendor in our expo and we always make sure they're there for race morning. But in some of these places, some of these parks, these event venues, especially if you got to get up super early and you're a caffeine in the morning person, just make a little plan for it. Like hey, I saw there's a Starbucks there. Maybe look at their hours if they're not open when you need it. Like maybe plan on making the hotel room coffee, whatever it is, but you want to try to just have those plans for those simple little creature comforts that you're so used to on the home front when you're in familiar surroundings that maybe you're in a different state, different city or even a different country and you wake up and you're like, oh man, I really need that coffee so I can have my bio break. And now I'm stuck without it and it's going to wreck my whole morning. So yeah, coffee is important.

Andrew Harley: I can't tell you again, this is a slight aside, but when we did Escape from Alcatraz, oh my gosh, it is... They had... not where the athletes were because obviously we were getting bused to go down to the boat to go out into the bay or whatever. But for the families waiting in the Marina Green, they had some breakfast vendors there. And my wife, to this day, I probably did that race five, six years ago. My wife still to this day will talk about the breakfast burrito she got from a breakfast truck, from a vendor in downtown San Francisco. Like, and she's just like, it just lit her up. I finished the race all right. I jumped into shark infested waters, swam across a bay with a current by the Golden Gate Bridge, exited, biked through the hills of San Francisco, trail ran down the sandy beaches, came across, survived the thing. I find my wife and she goes, "I had the best breakfast burrito. You'll not believe it. Like we got to go to this taco truck so you can get one." Like that was the first thing she said. Anyway, we'll get to the post race in just a little bit. But I love what you guys are saying about maximizing pre race. The one thing I would add, depending on the race you're at, there's either tri clubs or when TriDot's on site. We certainly do this sometimes. Some of the brands like Hoka or Precision Fuel and Hydration or Varlo, there's certain brands that will put on shakeout runs or pre race events like that. Pre race meet and greets with some of your favorite pros or course talks with coaches from the area that know the course really well. Go to some of that stuff. Go to some of that stuff. Plug in, meet some people. You know, I used to go to a lot of that for TriDot and I had an athlete one time at IRONMAN 70.3 down in Galveston. He came up to me at the end of the race weekend and he showed up to our shakeout bike ride, he showed up to our shakeout run. We said hey to him that morning as he was getting his stuff ready in transition. And after the race weekend, he was like, "Hey, I really appreciate you guys being here. I have a lot of... I'm an introvert. I have a lot of social anxiety. I almost didn't come to the shakeout stuff."

Andre Lapar: Wow.

Andrew Harley: And I'm so glad I did because I met some people, I felt like I had some friendly faces on course, and it really changed my weekend. And that really stuck with me. And I'm slightly introverted as well, and my predisposition is to not go plug into things. But I would encourage you to go plug into things. Right? Look at the list of what the race is offering beforehand and the things that appeal to you. Go test them out. Go try them out. I think a lot of triathletes are afraid to do too much of that because we want to stay off our feet and we want to save our energy for race day. Like Andre and Dan said earlier, it's a weekend experience. Don't be in a hotel for four days and then go do your race and go home. Okay. So we've done everything we can do before the race. It is now race day. The gun goes off, we're out on the course. Of course we're going to do our best. Of course we're going to try our hardest. But once we're actually out there racing, what can we do to make the most of the experience itself? Coach Dan, what do you think?

Dan Caskie: I mean, you got to smile, right?

Andrew Harley: Smile through the pain.

Andre Lapar: Yeah.

Dan Caskie: Smile through the pain. Smile at the volunteers, smile at the people passing you. You know, you're in it. Right. We said earlier, the hay was in the barn. And, you know, again, you may have a podium in your sights, but man, stay in the moment. You want to take it in. I'm not saying stop or walk through an interesting thing. I know a lot of folks do the Run Disney and things like that, and they're doing all the photos and everything, but at the same time, get the work done. Classic coach tips: stay patient early. Know your zones, know your paces. We use RaceX to help you know what you're on pace with and make sure you're confident in that and you practice it so you're just executing. Right. I like a big tip: think about the landmarks on race day, not necessarily the splits. You know, hey, when I get to... I think about when I've done Florida a few times. Hey, when I get to that fire tower, I know I'm feeling this way. When I get to here, you know how you got to check in with yourself, say those happy things to yourself and remember why you're there. I mean, you gave a lot to do this. I feel like if you can smile mid race at somebody, you're doing it right. So, you know, give yourself that grace. Have fun. It's hard to... again another one of these things that it's the answer you expected, but I promise you, it feels better when you're smiling.

Andre Lapar: Well, I mean, you guys hit the nail on the head.

Andrew Harley: You get out of it...

Andre Lapar: What you put into it. You ever heard that phrase, "your vibe is your tribe"? So you're out there, I mean, interact with some of the volunteers. Say, "Hey, thanks for helping out." You give out a high five, you'll get five of them right back. You give out a little, "Hey, thanks, guys. You're working so hard." Or, say it's a volunteer group from a high school rowing or cross country team. Say, "Hey, how's your guys' season?" Just something to interact and that energy will come back to you tenfold. You know, you're running one way and somebody's coming back the other way because they're either a mile ahead of you on course or they're a mile behind you. Some of those small little interactions, they do a little bit for you, a little bit for the other athletes and just makes it an enjoyable experience. And I think one of you guys said, you know, sometimes you got to stop and smell the roses. Sometimes just look up. I mean, look at the...

Andrew Harley: Yeah, look around. Yeah.

Andre Lapar: Whether it's Daytona and you see the sheer vastness of the grandstand, or coming up coastal Mississippi, just look off and just see that sugar white sand and the ocean and the sun glistening off just for a split second. I'm not saying riding the whole time with your aero bars looking like this because you're going to crash, but maybe just take your eyes off of your bike computer, off your head unit and how many watts you're pushing just for a second just to realize, like, this is cool. I'm doing triathlon in XYZ location. This is a unique opportunity. And I promise those are the moments that you'll remember, not when your watts dipped for just a second because you had to stop pedaling because you're coming around a tight left hand turn. So try to enjoy the moment and realize that 99.9% of us are doing this for fun and wellness, and that's what it should be. So make sure you're having fun out there.

Andrew Harley: I think it was... I forget who it was, but before my wedding, someone said to me and my wife, "Hey, just... you're not going to remember the whole day. The whole thing goes by so quickly. But try to walk away from the day with 2, 3, 4, 5 vivid memories that you've banked and you'll remember forever, right?" And try to, in the moment, recognize, "Oh, this is one of those moments I'm gonna remember from this day forever." And it's almost the same thing, right? You're not gonna remember every second of your time on course. Sprint up to iron, full distance. Like, you're not gonna remember all the blow by blow, but try to cross that finish line with five, six, seven tangible moments that you remember. Two or three good stories you're gonna tell your friends and family when you go get breakfast or lunch or dinner afterwards or catch up the next day.

Andre Lapar: I'll tell you a funny story about this, though. You want to make sure not to go too far the other way. This is maybe like, I don't know, 2010, 2011, IRONMAN Louisville. There's a lot of folks who were right close up on that bike cutoff time, but they just made it in. This one guy who's the last guy at transition, made the bike course cutoff by like two minutes. Spent a long time in T2, came out of T2. He's chatting with his wife, they're having a little kissing session. He's explaining everything that happened on the bike. And we're watching this guy, we're like, "Bro, you just made the cutoff, man."

Andrew Harley: You gotta start running.

Andre Lapar: Yeah, I was in charge of the run course there that year. And lo and behold, after the first loop of the run course, there was a cutoff. I think it was 10pm to start the second lap or 9:30, whatever it was at night. And guess who missed the cutoff by 25 minutes? The same guy. Like, dude, I'm glad you love your wife and you guys have such a good relationship, but maybe a little less chat chat, a little more...

Andrew Harley: Save it for after. Yeah, tell the stories after.

Andre Lapar: There's a happy medium in there, right? Let's be honest. There's a happy medium but definitely enjoy your day though. That's too far to the extreme. But enjoy your day, have fun out there. And there's always another race, right? Things don't go your way, there's always another start line.

Andrew Harley: Last part of the race weekend I want to talk about and we can do this one quickly, move to the cool down is after you cross the finish line, right? Every good race offers some amenities, some things to do, some snacks to eat and drink. Most importantly, Andre, what would you tell an athlete to do to just make the most of that post finish line experience?

Andre Lapar: Enjoy it. Yeah, I mean, you earned it, right? Give yourself a chance to cut loose. Whether that's having a beer after the finish line or you go through athlete food and they have some little packets of Swedish Fish or Sour Patch Kids or some candy or there's pizza or hot dog, whatever it is. Athlete food, it's okay, that's your treat. It's your cheat day, right? I think some athletes follow that. So you cross the finish line, that's... you can cheat.

Andrew Harley: You can cheat.

Andre Lapar: If you want to drive through McDonald's on your way home because that's your guilty pleasure, do it. I mean that's what you put the work in for. So have fun. Cheer some other friends on, talk to some other folks about their experience because you'll find you have some shared experiences. Like, "Man, that hill really was tough. That almost killed me." Or, "Man, that guy at that aid station was so funny. That loud guy with the big afro and the tutu and the blow horn." So just enjoy the day, enjoy the experience, share it with others and don't be afraid to cut loose a little bit.

Dan Caskie: Yeah.

Andrew Harley: Yeah, I love it. And Dan, I know you do too. What I would tell somebody is to... again, we talked about storing up those stories. Whatever happened to you out there, go tell someone. This is your one chance to... When you go to work on Monday and start telling your co workers about your triathlon, most of them aren't going to care. This is the one chance you are still in that environment where whether it's your loved ones or friends or just some strangers you connected with on the day, find someone and just compare notes. Share your war stories, revel in what happened out there and then move on with your life. But definitely make sure you connect with somebody. And I love it when I'm there on behalf of TriDot and athletes cross the finish line and they come up and start sharing all their stories. I guarantee you whatever happened to you out there, Andre's seen it before, Dan's heard it before. I guarantee whatever story you have is probably similar to something else that happened to somebody else at some race in the past. But guess what? It happened to you that day. And we're there to hear about it. And I love hearing about it from athletes when you come up to me afterwards, and I know Dan's probably the same way. Dan, over to you. Anything additional here after the race you would tell an athlete to do?

Dan Caskie: Yeah, so I tell people give 10 high fives and choose where you're going to use them. Whether it's the guy you saw in the corner that smoked you because he's way faster than you, whether it's the person that you waited 30 minutes to finish and you went and gave them a high five, whether it's a volunteer, a family member, or that... you know, there's the epic signs. There's somebody's family member who had the epic sign that just gave you the energy. Go give out those 10 high fives and just celebrate the completion. And to your point, Andrew, just make that human connection. And so that's what I tell people. You're not done until you give out those 10 high fives and then you can get back to all the hydration and food and stuff. But don't rush that ending. You know, this is the part you really remember. I'm a big fan of finding that red carpet. I'll never forget the first time I crossed the 70.3 finish line was in Gulf Coast. And when you come across, you make a quick turn and you're suddenly on the red carpet and it's over in 10 seconds. And I had this plan to take a minute and it just happened so quickly that I was past it and you can't take that first one back, so you go for the next one and make sure you just kind of find where that finish line is and enjoy that finish line. And we're talking about post, but I love it at Clash. They have this huge carpet and runway. You know, I park my RV at the end of it. They leave it down there. You come past the Corvette and then you're running down there with... We did it across the three of us, the relay team all across that finish line. So store it in. Give those ten high fives.

‍Andrew Harley: All right, onto the cool down for today's show. So much... the show's already been so packed with good stories, good information. I've really enjoyed this conversation, a more slightly lighthearted one than we sometimes have here on the podcast, but so many good stories in this one and having a good time on race day and walking away with some good stories is what it's all about. So for a cooldown today, we're going to keep it light. And Andre, you've been such a sport, such a champ, just to come on and just compare notes and kind of let us pick your brain as a race producer today. I just want to give you the chance to just let other people know if you're interested in racing a Clash event. Here at TriDot we love Clash events for a lot of reasons, but where can people find out more information about the Mississippi race in particular? And what else do you guys have on the calendar this year?

Andre Lapar: Yeah, so look us up: clashendurance.com. You can find us, links there to all of our socials. But that's our website. ClashEndurance.com We have the Daytona Half Marathon and 5K coming up here on February 7th. You get to run around the speedway out towards the riverfront. Just a great course here in Daytona. February is a great time to run outside in Florida. End of March, 27th through 29th is Clash Coastal Mississippi, which is a Continental Cup for elites. It's USAT's collegiate national championship and age group racing on Sunday. Gonna be a great weekend. In November, we added last year... we have Old Florida Gravel in Lake City. Those who don't know, we have some amazing roads right in the heart of Springs country. So if you ever seen those Instagrammable spots with the blue water in the middle of the jungle, those amazing swimming holes. Yeah, we have half a dozen of them within 30 minutes of our race venue. So another great place to make a little family weekend. And then obviously the big daddy for us is Clash Endurance Daytona, the first weekend in December. Whole myriad of triathlons, duathlons, kids races, 5Ks, something for everybody. So check us out at ClashEndurance.com. Love to have you. Love to see you guys at a start line and just love everything TriDot's doing for the sport to grow it from the newbies coming in to the seasoned folks, to try to get them to their potential. So really appreciate you guys having us. As always, great partnership. Always great to see Dan whether in person or behind the camera like this. So thank you guys.

Announcer: Thanks for listening to the TriDot podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on your listening platform of choice. For more opportunities to learn from our coaches, check out our YouTube channel and follow TriDot Training on social. Ready to train with us? Head to TriDot.com and get started for free. Until next time. Happy training.

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