Tackling TriDot Workouts: Race Rehearsals

TriDot Podcast Episode 321

Tackling TriDot Workouts: Race Rehearsals

Vanessa Ronksley: Today we're talking about one of the most telling workouts you'll ever do. It is the race rehearsal. Now there are some big sessions that show up a few weeks before race day and that can bring excitement, it can bring nerves and sometimes a healthy dose of reality. But these workouts are also the best tools that are going to help you step to the start line calm, confident and ready to go. Now joining me today is one of my favorite coaches who has not only experienced an abundance of race rehearsals over her triathlon racing career as both an age grouper and as a pro, but she has also helped countless athletes navigate these all important workouts. We are so lucky to have TriDot coach Elizabeth James here to help us decode what race rehearsals are all about, how to approach them, and what to do if things don't go exactly as planned.

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.

Vanessa Ronksley: I thought that because we're talking about simulating race day conditions, EJ our fabulous coach here. Do you have any pre race rituals or superstitions? So maybe like a go to breakfast, a lucky pair of socks or a playlist that you're going to be listening to before the start line?

Elizabeth James: I've got a couple. What you would say are like pre-race rituals or superstitions maybe a little more for running races than triathlon. I've got my lucky shirt and my hat for running races. Seems like all my lucky stuff from triathlon I've completely worn out so maybe I need to like reestablish some lucky items there. But then gosh, I think of pre race rituals and I've adopted a number of pre race and I don't know whether you call it like superstition or pre race ritual or just like a usual routine. But I actually find a lot of comfort in knowing what I'll be doing the day before the race and the morning of the race. So I, I think I've actually got quite a long list. How about you Vanessa?

Vanessa Ronksley: Well, I am thinking that my, I don't know if I actually have a pre race ritual but I do have a lucky pair of socks and it doesn't always have to be the same pair of socks, but it seems to be the pair of socks during that training cycle where I, I get like the most, you know, epic run time or run pace or something like that. So I will wear those socks on race day just because I know that I've worn them before. And I'm not going to get any ridiculous blisters or anything like that. And then. And yeah, I think that it just, it has to be the socks. Um, otherwise I'm pretty casual on race morning. Um, I, I will obviously have the same breakfast that I always have, but that's just because I want to make sure my gut's fine. So, yeah, not. Not too many race rituals for me, except for my lucky pair of socks. So we're gonna throw this one out there to all of the people. Anyone who's listening, please let us know what your race day ritual is. I can hardly wait to hear what you have to say. So find us in our community hub, on Facebook, on Instagram, anywhere that you're catching this podcast. And I can't wait to hear what you have to say.

Announcer: Let's go.

Vanessa Ronksley: So, first things first. Can you tell us when an athlete can expect to see race rehearsals on their calendar? And as we know, with everything that predictive Fitness does, it's 1000% intentional. So why are they placed there? What's the strategy behind that timing? Let's hear about it, Coach EJ

Elizabeth James: This is the perfect place to start with just when these sessions happen. So race rehearsals are planned for four weeks out and two weeks out from an athlete 70.3 or 140.6 event and doing a big workout four weeks out and two weeks out from race day is really ideal physiologically because it aligns well with the body's adaptation and tapering processes. And, and what I mean by that is like the one four weeks out really allows for a peak fitness stimulus. So the timing of this allows for a final intense training stimulus that really pushes the body toward its peak condition. Four weeks from that point. When we approach race day, the body really requires about two to four weeks after a hard training session or hard training block to fully recover and realize those fit fitness adaptations. And this is the super compensation that we see in, in the training plan. And so a big workout four weeks out really taps into that ideal adaptation window. So it's boosting aerobic capacity, muscular strength, and then really helping create that specific race day fitness. Um, then the one two weeks out is really about sharpening things and then race readiness. So a second session two weeks out before race day really kind of serves as that sharpening workout. So it reinforces all the physiological gains that were taking place during this training block, but it still allows adequate time for recovery, like in the tapering process. So it's not too close to race day, not too Far out. It, it's really like perfect timing. Um, and with that being two weeks out, like the overall training volume is starting to reduce and so we're avoiding some of that residual fatigue, but then the quality is remaining high. And so we're really maintaining that neuromuscular sharpness and then confidence going in and then, I mean, two weeks out you're, you're really entering the taper period. So after those key workouts, you know, those, those final weeks serve as a taper training volumes decreasing significantly. We're reducing fatigue, we're preserving fitness and we're really just coming into race day like fresh and strong. So yeah, four weeks out, two weeks out. As you said, a thousand percent. They are strategically planned, placed there for a reason and you're going to stimulate that adaptation and then have some race specific readiness for that second one coming into race day.

Vanessa Ronksley: I think this is one of the things that is really, really wonderful about TriDot is that you get this opportunity to really dive into what it's going to feel like on race day. And, and it's so amazing to have this built into the program. Now I'm curious about the goals that an athlete might have between the first and the, the second race rehearsal. Is that first one more of like a learning rehearsal and the second one is more of a, a confirmation run through? Like how do, how do you approach that with yourself and with your athletes?

Elizabeth James: Ideally, yes, that first one is, you know, maybe a little more of testing things out and then the second one is that confirmation. But this is also why we have two of them. You know, it's, it's not all the time where an athlete is going to nail that first one and if they can nail the first one, then fantastic, like, great, let's just go and repeat that session two weeks later. But if something doesn't go perfectly in that first one, then, then we certainly have that second opportunity. Um, as I mentioned before, you know, that first one, we really still are in that adaptation process with the entire training block. And so this gives the opportunity to practice all the things. You know, we're getting a good fitness boost, but we're practicing pacing, transitions, nutrition gear setup, the mental strategies. And this is all near the race intensity. It provides the time to identify like what works, what needs adjustment. And some athletes feel a lot of pressure going into these sessions which, you know, good or bad, that that can really simulate what they're going to feel on race day, going to the start line as well. Um, and then hopefully that goes well and then Two weeks out, we can really just sharpen things up and, and hopefully repeat it. But yeah, if there's an opportunity to maybe tweak things in, in a more positive way, whether that's the mindset, the nutrition strategy, the pacing, that gives the opportunity to really just fine tune things in another session before we get to the race venue.

Vanessa Ronksley: Um, now, do you find athletes, you did talk about, like, the potential nervousness that an athlete might feel prior to doing a race rehearsal. Do you find that they're usually more confident or nervous going into that second one?

Elizabeth James: This is an interesting question. Um, I'm usually much more nervous for the first one, but I think that's because I really want the first one to go well so that I've for sure got that in my back pocket. And then, you know, if the second one goes great, that's just icing on the cake. Whereas I know, like, man, if that first one doesn't go well, I've, I've really got to regroup and reflect and figure out what to do for the second one. Um, I've, I've seen this as quite the mixed bag about which one an athlete goes in more nervous for, and I really think it depends on how that first one goes. So, yeah, if they, if they get it right the first time, then they might feel less nervous going into the second one because they've already confirmed they can do it. They've built some confidence going into that first session, but if they didn't nail it on the first time, they're often really nervous for the second one because they feel like, oh, man, this is my last opportunity to, to really get things right before race day.

Vanessa Ronksley: Yeah, I, I honestly feel like this is one of the massive benefits of having a coach as well on board, just because if you do have any of those, you know, lingering mental blocks that you might have, or you get really nervous having a coach to, to be able to, you know, be that, that sounding board for you to say, hey, this is what I was nervous about. What are we going to do about it? It's just really been very helpful. I know for me personally and, and also for the athletes that I've been able to coach as well. They really do appreciate that, that wisdom that, that of course, you impart on your athletes, um, when they do get the nerves, regardless if it's race rehearsals or, or pre race or whatever.

Vanessa Ronksley: Um, now in terms of the, this podcast, here we are doing the same that we've been doing in this series where we're decoding the different types of workouts that we have. Um, so we're going to be pulling up a sample bike race rehearsal workout that the TriDot athlete would see on their schedule. So if you're watching us on YouTube or Spotify, you're going to see what the workout looks like. And as you can see, there's a lot of room for interpretation. This is one of the less specific style of workouts that we have. Um, now for those of you listening, the main set instructions say entire session at race pace. Um, so I have a loaded question here for you EJ, but I know you can handle it because you're a rock star. Um, so what is the purpose of this session? What system is it utilizing? And how does an athlete go about figuring out what their race pace is and how they need to execute this session?

Elizabeth James: Let's start with like, why do we do this? Um, and typically throughout the, the training block, athletes see a lot of zone two and they see a lot of zone four. And then here we go, here's this big long session and we're like, hey, please train in zone three for this entire thing. Training in zone three does have benefits that, you know, it sometimes gets a bad rap, you know, be in the gray zone and we don't want to be there and we only want to be zone four, zone two. But there are important things that happen, particularly as we get close to racing, because a lot of long course racing does happen in zone three. I mean, you are racing for a number of hours and so you can't hold, you know, a high intensity zone 4, zone 5 for a number of hours. We really do have to be in this zone three. So part of the reason that we do this is to mimic race day. What is happening within the body here is that we are increasing the aerobic capacity. So zone three training stresses the aerobic system and it's making sure that we are sufficiently able to, to deliver oxygen without an excessive accumulation of lactate. And so that's, that's part of, you know, what we're doing this entire session for is, is to really work on that oxygenation and making sure that we're not accumulating a lot of lactate as we're doing it. This is also going to boost muscular endurance. So riding or running for prolonged periods in this kind of moderate to hard zone develops the muscles endurance capacity and that helps the them resist fatigue during the longer race efforts. Now this is also, I mean, going into like the cellular level and everything. Like zone three workouts really do stimulate cellular adaptations like increased mitochondrial density and improved capillary networks in the muscles. All of this is going to enhance the energy production and endurance systems as well. And then finally, kind of like from a physiological level, I, I don't want to make too many generalizations about like the metabolic side of this session. Um, and that's just because the dietary profile and fueling strategies of athletes can vary very widely. But I will say that this session is really important to confirm what fueling strategy is going to work well for an athlete on race day. So that's kind of the, like, why, why we do this and like what this is, you know, really trying to train within the body and then let's move into the best way to do this. And I, I've got like one word here and it's RaceX. So RaceX is going to be an athlete's best friend for executing this workout to the best of their ability. As we mentioned, the trot out session is often going to show up that the entire session is like in zone three or it's going to say entire session at race pace. However, if we go into RaceX, you can see specific path power segments for each section of the course. So this is a huge benefit to an athlete. Whether the race is one that is like an IRONMAN brand or challenge brand. We already have those courses that are already input into the software, or if it's not one that's already in the software, an athlete can load the course elevation profile for the race that they're doing. And based off of that elevation profile and their training and their threshold and I mean, oh my gosh, the like gazillion calculations that go into all of this, RaceX is going to provide those power segments and say, all right, basically here's what you need to do in terms of power from mile zero as you're leaving transition to the end as you approach transition and you know, rack your bike again. And so this is a way where athletes can really go in and use those power segments to mimic as much of the race course as, as they specifically can. And if we think back to the main purpose of these race rehearsals, it is to mimic as much of race day is as feasible in a training session. Now, it would be amazing if athletes could do their race rehearsal on the course where they're racing. That's not always possible. I, I think I've done that a handful of times. Like for 70.3 Texas and Galveston. I've done that on the actual course, 70.3 Waco. I was able to do that. But most times I'm racing in locations where I don't travel to them until race week or you know, they're on, on a course like IRONMAN, Texas where I'm, I'm not going to get access to the Hardy Toll road except for race day. And so knowing the course profile and then being able to find a route that mimics those power segments or being able to ride indoors and export that power file to like their smart trainer or ride something on like Rouvy or Zwift can be incredibly beneficial. So I, I realized that that was a super, super long answer, but I get really excited talking about race rehearsals because the more specific we can be in these sessions, I feel like the more confident athletes are going into race day. So yes, they're super important from a physiological standpoint, but also like using RaceX can help you get the most benefit and best mimic what you're going to be ask asking the body to do on race day as well.

Vanessa Ronksley: I just, I was smiling so much during that entire answer, EJ, because you made my nerd brain so happy with talking about all of the physiological aspects that, that happen during a race rehearsal. And to be quite honest with you, up until this very moment, I legitimately thought the only purpose of the race rehearsal was to get the mindset right and to pair it with what was expected of you in that actual in the RaceX profile. Like, I would always talk with my coach and we'd look at like, why, what powers we're going to be pushing here and what paces we're going to be pushing there. And, and so I thought that it was really just kind of jiving the mindset and overcoming the, the thought that, oh, can I actually do that?

Elizabeth James: So to hear you say that there's.

Vanessa Ronksley: Like all of these ridiculous physiological benefits and to say that this is still a training day and that it's still enhancing your fitness and having these effects on the cellular level and that's just like, I'm just so happy right now. Thank you. That is so wonderful. Um, so obviously like these race rehearsals, these are for longer course races. Like we're talking about the 70.3, we're talking about the full distance IRONMANs, they can be really long. Like these race rehearsals can be long and depending on the distance of the race, obviously, and they can feel kind of lonely the longer they get. So what do you encourage athletes to focus on both in terms of form and mindset on these race rehearsal workouts?

Elizabeth James: Yeah, form and mindset are really important, but I'm going to add two more to that as well, which are the nutrition and then, and then fun like this is, this is still, let's remember that. I mean, it's a long, long day, but, but there should be an element of fun there too. So yeah, going through those, like form, cadence can be a really good indicator of form, both on the bike, but then especially on the run. I know we'll, we'll talk about the run in a little bit, but you know, thinking about keeping a good, consistent and efficient pedal stroke can be really key for athletes, especially if they're going to be racing on something that has like a number of climbs and just really thinking about like shifting gears and finding an efficient cadence so that they're not mashing on the pedals and really demanding more muscular strength that might burn a match and come back to bite them like later on in the day. And then mindset. What, you know, what mantras are the athlete going to use on race day? Like, let's practice those here too. Maybe you were talking about sitting down and you know, going through it with your coach and saying, okay, what power do I need here? And thinking, can I really do that? And this is the great place to like reassure yourself that yes, you can. And I'll be honest, these, these sessions are not easy. And so being able to have that mantra that you are going to use during race day and practicing it on these sessions is really important too because you are going to come to maybe a low point in these sessions and you're going to come to that in race day. And so how, how do we handle that? And some of that is handled with nutrition. So the good news about fueling well on the bike is that this naturally breaks it down into smaller segments. And so this is one thing that I work with athletes on all the time. It's like, what cue are you going to have to eat again to drink again? And oftentimes it's every, you know, 10 or 15 minutes. And so just breaking that super long day into small manageable chunks of like, all right, you know, this 15 minutes and then I eat again this 15 minutes, then I eat again. And oh man, we've done that four times and woo, an hour's gone by so that, that can really help. And then I put fun in here as well. And I know that these sessions can be hard, but I don't want athletes to dread these sessions or, you know, feel like so much pressure from them. Yes, they're challenging, but they can be a lot of fun too. I Always encourage athletes, like, if they can, to enlist the help of friends or family, even if it's just for a portion of the session. You know, that can be both as, like, a training partner to help you through part of it, or maybe family or friends that can just help you set up transitions or make a little aid station somewhere along the way. I know that that's been super helpful for me, even if it's not somebody that can necessarily do the session with me. Um, I've had somebody meet me for the run off the bike, or I've had somebody drive around in the car and just be able to refill water bottles so that I don't have to make an extra stop at the gas station. So involving other people can make these really fun and kind of have, like, a nice little weekend get together as well. So I. I think those are a couple things to help maybe break up the just hours and hours that an athlete's gonna be training for these long sessions.

Vanessa Ronksley: Those are really great tips. I had never. It never occurred to me to ask someone to come along and. And be my little, you know, support wagon or something like that, or just.

Elizabeth James: To join for me today. Yep.

Vanessa Ronksley: Yes. That sounds like a lot of fun. I have to see if I have any friends who would actually do that.

Elizabeth James: For me, but they're usually enticed with, like, food afterwards. It's like, you know, when we're done with this, lunch is on me, you know, or buy their coffee as they're driving around in the car. So.

Vanessa Ronksley: Good call. Well.

Elizabeth James: Well, something to give back for all the time they're going to invest.

Vanessa Ronksley: Yeah, absolutely. And I have one other way to add some fun to this race rehearsal. If there's any races that are around you, I don't know. I was able to find a gran fondo this year that happened to be on my race rehearsal weekend. And I was like, what better way to go out and do a race rehearsal and to actually race? And it was really great. And the course was short. I didn't actually get the intended amount.

Elizabeth James: Of time that I was hoping for.

Vanessa Ronksley: And so I went to the finish line, said, hey, I'm done. Here's my timing chip. See you later.

Elizabeth James: I'm going back out.

Vanessa Ronksley: And so I just carried on until. Until I was actually finished my ride, which was super fun. It was so much more fun than going out on. On my own, that's for sure. So if anyone has, you know, some. Some grand fondos or anything near you that can simulate that experience, it makes it a lot More fun. Now, in terms of, like, during the execution of this race rehearsal, especially on the bike, what kind of things do you do? Like, oh, my goodness, what if your legs start to fade? Or what if everything feels like it's a total grind? Is there any way that you can suggest that someone can stay positive or provide some kind of a pivot or how. How do you go about doing that with your athletes?

Elizabeth James: This is a great question, because there are going to be, you know, those. Those thoughts that creep in, especially after hours of being on the bike. Um, one of the things that I have found to be most effective are some of the same cues and positive reinforcement that athletes have used in the training sessions leading up until this weekend. Um, it's not often that athletes will all of a sudden adopt a new mindset on these long days. Um, but it's really just an opportunity to reinforce maybe some things that they've been practicing in training before. And so if their legs start to feel heavy, I mean, one of the things we talked a little bit about form and cadence, but coming back to that, and, you know, if you are really at a low, low cadence, you're. You're putting a lot more strain through the muscles of the legs than you are necessarily the cardiovascular system. So if the legs are feeling heavy, like, maybe we need to spin them a little faster and take the overall load off of the muscles and transfer a little bit more of that work to the cardiovascular system. Um, and that's one of the things that I, I see athletes struggle with in some of the threshold, like interval sessions, the threshold and hold sessions that are leading into this race rehearsal. And so if that's something that we know, an athlete maybe starts to drop their cadence as they fatigue, which is. Which is a very common thing we can think about, all right, Reflect, maybe have cadence is one of those metrics that you're watching on the bike computer. And if the legs start to feel heavy, then let's look at cadence and maybe make that change and adjustment. Another thing that is great to have, like on the bike computer display is heart rate. Because sometimes our perceived effort doesn't always match necessarily the output that's there and that, that can go in either direction. I mean, we could be thinking that this feels really hard, or we could be thinking, oh, this doesn't feel that bad. And, you know, depending on the conditions of the day, we, we may, you know, need to. To make some adjustments for power based on how the heart rate is responding. You know, if it's a super, super hot day and the heart rate is high and we're in that zone 3 heart rate zone, but the power isn't quite there. Well, it, it could be because it's 100 degrees outside in Texas in the summer, and, you know, we need to adapt to those things. And so looking at some of those other metrics and taking the opportunity to reflect can be really helpful, can be reassuring to athletes and help them understand what's going on as well.

Vanessa Ronksley: All very sage advice. Now, I know we've, we've answered this question on the podcast before, but it could have been a really long time ago. I can't remember when it was asked. So we're going to revisit it again just to give people a reminder. And for those that are new listeners, they will have not heard what, what our lovely coaches recommend here. But specifically for the bike, if the race terrain is really, really hilly and the athlete lives somewhere that is pancake flat or has rollers. Right. Rollers are sometimes really difficult to manage as well because you do get that micro break. What is the best way for an athlete to adapt to that?

Elizabeth James: Yeah, it can be done outdoors, but. But it is challenging. So if an athlete is doing a race rehearsal session outdoors and, you know, they're trying to mimic hilly race terrain, you know, lowering the cadence, really looking for that higher power output can, can be beneficial. But this is where riding indoors can, can be a really good tool as well. And so a trainer can provide a really good simulation for the course elevation profile of where an athlete's going to be racing. You know, if it's very possible that they could ride on a virtual course like on Ruby, that's a good option as well. And then I know we were, you know, starting to dig in a little bit to RaceX earlier, but athletes can export that RaceX file and I mean, drop it into Rouvy, they can drop it into Zwift if they're using Zwift, and that will replicate the power segments that they're going to be targeting on race day. I know I did this when I was going to St. George, and there was no way I could figure out how to replicate some of those climbs here in flat part of Dallas. And so what I would do is I would just export that, that file and I rode the power segments on Zwift. And so, yeah, it's a virtual course, but it gave me the opportunity to really replicate some of those climbs. And I mean, there's no way I would have come close to being able to practice something like Snow Canyon here. In Texas. So that was. That was very helpful for me.

Vanessa Ronksley: Yeah, I agree with you. I, I did the very same thing when I was training for Nice, and I was unsure because I have a one by. I was like, will I be able to get up those hills? Like, there's some almost 20% grades there. Like, am I gonna be able to do it? So I, I was. I did the exact same thing. Like, I would go on Ruby and I would. I would make sure that the settings were. Sometimes the settings are automatically. They make the hills seem a little bit less. So you have to watch the percent that they put in there. So I had to go in and change some settings to make sure that I was getting 100% of the hill so that I could actually feel if I could get up the hill. I was very pleasantly surprised when, when I was. So that was a huge mindset. Win for that one. But let's switch here to the run. So we're going to be pulling up on screen a sample run, race rehearsal, and what that looks like. Now, if you are in the app, you can see that an athlete might have some questions by looking at what this, what this, this workout actually looks like. And I'm just curious, like, can you describe the purpose of, of these run sessions and what system it's utilizing and explain the run aspect of the race rehearsal and an athlete can set themselves up for success here?

Elizabeth James: Yeah, certainly. So again, we see this as, you know, an opportunity to practice race face. And what I would say here is this is. This is really kind of like a tempo effort. So you're running at a comfortably hard pace. I don't know if it's comfortably hard. Even a thing like. Yes, okay. As soon questioning it, I was like, does that make sense?

Vanessa Ronksley: But.

Elizabeth James: Okay, thanks for the confirmation. Um, but yeah, this is like a tempo effort. You're below threshold and, and you're helping the body become more efficient at sustaining these faster paces for longer periods of time. And so again, we're looking at this fatigue, resistance. Um, and so these, these tempo sessions, this zone three, the race rehearsal run in a similar way to the bike. It's enhancing that aerobic capacity. We're building the muscular endurance. Um, you know, the mental side of this is huge. Building that mental toughness. And this is partly why, you know, this is such a key workout for the race rehearsal and improving our, our race performance. There's both that physiological and psychological benefit for the sessions. And so, yeah, we're, we're doing this at race pace. It's a fitness Boost. It's practicing grit. And, you know, in a similar way to how, how we've looked at the bike, we. We can also look at the run. And again, you know, if an athlete is able to do this on the run course, where they'll be racing, fantastic. Lucky them. I feel like that is, you know, not. Not often the case. If you have that opportunity, take advantage of it. But if not, again, let's go and let's look at what this run course is going to look like. Are. Are you going to be running on a pancake flat course? Great. Then let's, let's simulate that. Are you going to be having a climb right out of transition? What, what is the elevation profile here? And then let's do our best to, to mimic this and, and do that off of the bike. Because, you know, running. Running hills after coming off of the bike is a little different than running on pancake flatland, too. So there's, there's a technique that's involved there. There's pacing that's involved. And so when it says entire session at race pace, like that could be, you know, just one steady pace. If the elevation profile of your course is pretty flat, this could be very different if you are going up a couple big climbs. And so your race pace might vary. And this is where we could use tools like power. Um, we can use great adjusted pace to make sure that we are staying within the appropriate effort to be able to have a solid run off of the bike, even, you know, beyond the miles that we'll be doing in practice.

Vanessa Ronksley: Again, you're blowing my mind here, ej and just in the way that you're, like, interpreting this and, and bringing so much valuable information about the. These kinds of workouts. It had never occurred to me to, to try and simulate the run course in terms of power, like, oh, at this minute, you're going to be hitting a race, or at this kilometer mark, you're going to be not a race, you're going to be hitting a hill. So let's increase your power here. Um, that is so. That's amazing. Um, thank you so much. You're such a wealth of knowledge. Oh, my goodness. This is great. Um, now, in terms of, like, we. We did have a bike and we are transitioning to the run. So do you think that it's like, what do you. How do you approach that transition and nutrition for your athletes? Are they doing that transition as if it's a race? Are they, you know, simplifying it a little bit?

Elizabeth James: What do you.

Vanessa Ronksley: What do you usually recommend for the transition from bike to run during the race rehearsal.

Elizabeth James: Man, great question. Um, because there is ideal, and then there's reality. So my transitions are rarely as quick in the race rehearsal session as they are on race day. And honestly, it's just because I'm not going to leave my bike out. And usually I have driven somewhere to ride, and I have to load the bike back into the car and then, like, get my run stuff ready. You know, I don't have a transition that's just set up there and that I would feel comfortable leaving my bike out now. Like I said, you know, every now and then, I've been lucky enough to recruit either my husband or some friends that can really help out, and. And then I can make that a very fast transition. I had a great race rehearsal just a. A month or so ago, and, I mean, I utilized kind of like your idea, Vanessa. There was a bicycle rally, and so I did that for the bike ride. My husband was great. He met me at the finish line of that and just. I handed the bike off to him, put my running shoes on, and took off. I was like, all right, I'll be right back in 40 minutes. But you know that that's not always possible. And so as quick as athletes can make that, that's great. Because we do want to get the feeling of going from the bike to the run. We want to understand how our nutrition plan that we took in on the bike is going to translate into how we're feeling in those first couple miles of the run. So we want this to be quick, but at the same point, like, it has to be realistic. It has to be practical. Like, please don't leave your precious bike just out in the open as you go for a run. Um, so, you know, there might be a little bit more of a delay. That's. That's fine. You're really not hurting the training benefit. Um, all I would say to that, though, is that if you can't practice a super fast transition on these race rehearsals, and I mean, you should do this even if you can practice a. A super efficient transition on those race, you need to spend some time practicing transitions anyway. So set up, you know, front yard, backyard, wherever at a park, you need to be able to do that efficiently and think through all the steps that you're going to be doing. And if you can practice it on these race rehearsal sessions, like, great, that's another opportunity. But definitely take the time to do that going into race day at. At some point.

Vanessa Ronksley: Yeah, that. That is a really key point there, those transitions, they can make or break you. Like, there have been a number of races I've been in where I've been ahead or behind the people in the standings by 20 seconds. And we're talking like, full distances, we're talking half distances. And so that is easily, easily taken off in a transition. And so it is important. Like, people think, oh, it's not as important, but it really is. If you're, if you're, you know, wanting to, to break a certain number of, of ranking, then, yeah, you do need.

Elizabeth James: To practice those transitions, for sure.

Vanessa Ronksley: Um, I'm just trying to think here. When, when an athlete heads into their race rehearsal, what should they be trying to accomplish? Um, is this about hitting exact numbers? Is it more about testing the plan, like the nutrition plan? Like, what is your take on, on that?

Elizabeth James: Yes, and yes, and yes, it is. It is all a part of the session, which I think is why they, they get so, like, they. Athletes get stressed about them because there's so much going on. And it's a really good opportunity to think about all of these things before you get to race day. Because all of a sudden athletes are thinking like, oh, my goodness, like, what time do I need to wake up and what am I having the night before and what's for breakfast and how many carbs per hour? And wait, did I put the disc wheel on and do I need to adjust the brakes? And I, I mean, there are all of these little details that come into it. And so, yes, yes, and yes, I, I think that the more specifically athletes can practice the race rehearsal, then that takes care of a lot of the logistics and a lot of the stress going into race day. And I really emphasize this for, I mean, anybody, no matter what their performance level is, like, the more we can practice within this session, you're going to have confidence. You're going to just have, like, a good plan going into it. And so, yes, we want to really be hitting the numbers from an execution standpoint, but this is an also like a reflection point. So yes, we want to go in with a particular pace or a particular watt, like, number that we want to hit and then reflect as to, like, how did that feel? Was it possible? Was it not? You know, then what maybe prevented them from hitting those exact numbers? Was it the conditions? Was it nutrition? Was there something wrong with the gear that they were so uncomfortable? So I, I feel like I kind of talk myself in a circle there, but I'm like, yes, it's all important. Like, we want, we want to do all of it.

Vanessa Ronksley: Okay, so just like, here we go. Are we. Are we talking, like, for race intensity, should they go full send or more of a smart send than a full send?

Elizabeth James: Ooh, I feel like this is a trick question. It's. It's race intensity. So, like, it is full send, but you're. You are being smart about it. Like, you are going full send of the intensity that you should, but it's not, like, 98% intensity during the race. Like, as we talked about, a lot of this is going to fall in an athlete's, like, zone three. And so, you know, if you're going as, like, full send, you know, we don't want to be zone five, zone six. That's not going to last very long. Like, you can only go full send for a little bit, and then you're going to crash and burn. So we still need to be smart about pacing. But I, you know, if you want to be hitting, like, 210 watts for your 70.3, like, we need to hit 210 watts in that race rehearsal, or, you know, we're. We're hitting close to that. Certainly there's some residual fatigue that you're carrying into these race rehearsals that you won't have in a full taper on race day. And so that's also where, you know, working with a coach can be incredibly beneficial. And, you know, if the coach is seeing, like, okay, yeah, we were at the right heart rate, like, and this is just where the body was at today with the conditions, like, we're still going to be able to hit, you know, 210 on race day. Great. So full send in a. In a smart way. Can I. Can I say that that's, like, both answers?

Vanessa Ronksley: Yes, you can absolutely say that. Now, I'm just thinking, like, let's say an athlete does do the full send potentially, and they. They realize that maybe they missed their pace or they overshot their pace or they bonked or they had a mechanical nutrition issues. And if. If you're having a really bad day, all of those things happen on the same day. I mean, that can happen. Right? And what's the best way for an athlete to handle a race rehearsal that just goes right off the rails?

Elizabeth James: Well, I will say that they are in good company. Um, I. I have had probably just as many race rehearsals go horribly wrong as ones that went well. Um, and so, you know, you're not. You're not alone in that. I've probably been in every single one of those scenarios. Like, I've had an early mechanical. I've had a mechanical that left me stranded on the side of the road for two hours so I could get a ride. Like, I've had nutrition issues and. Oh, man. Like, I've. I've had race rehearsals where I made it through the bike and then I walked the entire run. Um. Cause I pushed it too hard. Right. I guess I went more on the F side. So, you know, at the end of the day, the good news is this is a training day and this is not race day. So let's use this as an opportunity to reflect, regroup, you know, learn from it, adjust what needs to be adjusted, you know, whether that's nutrition, mindset gear, you know, if you had a mechanical. And then this is where, you know, there's the positive.

Vanessa Ronksley: We.

Elizabeth James: We started by talking about how there's more than one of these. So, you know, it's not like an end all be all. Like, you get one shot and that's it. There's a reason that we schedule more than one. So if something didn't go well on that one, like, if it was the first one, let's reflect, regroup, make some adjustments and. And let's nail the second one. If it was the second one. Well, I mean, you know, hopefully the first one went well, or if not, like, let's. Let's have you get in touch with your coach or, you know, reach out and talk to the community. Find. Find some things that still can be tweaked before race day. So if you have a poor race rehearsal, like, the good news is it. It wasn't race day, and there's still an opportunity to learn from that and, and to have a great day on race day. Just because a race rehearsal doesn't go well doesn't mean that's going to happen on race day. Oftentimes I'm reassuring athletes. I'm like, oh, let's. Let's celebrate that this happened today because it did not happen on race day. Um, gosh, this happened to me. It wasn't necessarily a race rehearsal, but I have completely worn out the rear derailleur in. In my bike. Like, it just is done. The motor's done. It will not shift anymore. And I took it into the mechanic. He's like, man, you are so lucky. This didn't happen during a race. Like, it. It just died. Like, you're done. It needs a completely new part. And I was like, you know, at first I was so frustrated about missing the workout. I was like, man, that's a good reflection point. Like, this could have happened at any point. This could have happened on the race course. So, yeah, better. Better during a training day than race day.

Vanessa Ronksley: A hundred percent agree with that. That's crazy. Um, I always think the same thing whenever I have a mechanical. I think to myself, okay, if this were race day, what would you do? That's the first thing I think of. And then the second thing, I'm like, yes, it's not race day, thank goodness, because chances are this is not going to happen again. So it's always, like you said, a little bit of a celebration. Now, let's just say I don't want to play the what if game too much here, but if you have an athlete that they're on their second race rehearsal, and there's part of it that went horribly wrong, do you just suggest to learn from it? Do you suggest to move on, trust the work, or. Or is there ever a time when you might have someone redo a portion of it or, you know, just.

Elizabeth James: Yeah, great question. And like you said, I mean, we could play what if, because there's so many different scenarios that are possible here. I have had athletes redo a portion of their race rehearsal if it was, like, physically smart to do so. And so we have to take a lot of things into consideration with the training plan. And when we're redoing parts of this, like, the rest of the training around, it has had to have significant adjustment. And I mean, here's. Here's an example, actually. I've got two examples. We'll go one in, one in each direction. So I had an athlete that had a mechanical, like, less than 30 miles into their race rehearsal. So, you know, they. They had been riding strong about race pace for a little over an hour. Um, they got a mechanical, and it was one where, you know, they had to wait forever for a ride. It wasn't really going to make sense for them to do, like, a run off the bike anymore. And so we kind of just moved on with the rest of the day. It was like, all right, you know, get home, do some mobility, refuel. Like, that was just a bike session for today. And then we redid, like, the full race rehearsal two days later. Now, you know, the athlete did have the flexibility to do that. Um, they were able to do that on a Monday. And, gosh, I can't even remember, like, if it was a Monday holiday or they took the day off or woke up or. I don't. I don't remember those details. Um, but I remember that they did it on Monday. Cause we did it two days later and that that worked out great. And so we did need to make some adjustments to, you know, what the athlete did on Sunday. Obviously Monday was their race rehearsal. So that training for the next week looked a little bit different too. Um, but that was a key session that we wanted to get in and something that they were able to address in terms of the mechanical and then move on. Um, but I've also had an athlete ask like if they can redo a race rehearsal after it didn't go to play in the first time. And so, you know, they maybe didn't perform as strong as they wanted to. They're like, oh, I know I can do better. Like I really just, can I do it again next weekend? And it's like you just completed almost like a seven hour training day. We have another one in two weeks. Like you will get another crack at it. They're like, oh, but I really want to do like two more. And I mean I, I said no. It's like, no, we're not going to put two more seven hour training days on your schedule leading into race week. And so that's where we just need to go back, reflect on the session itself, talk about like why they maybe weren't as strong in that as they anticipated that they would be. In this case, it was fueling and we just needed to fuel a little bit better on the bike. And so we really focused on fueling for the next Saturday session, which wasn't super long, wasn't that race rehearsal one. But then going into that next race rehearsal one, like making that a big focus. They crushed their second one. It was great. And so it really can depend more often than not, I would say, you know, to reflect, learn, move on. Trust the work that you've done, trust the training that you've done. There are, you know, a couple instances, like if it gets cut short for a mechanical or, you know, if an athlete is ill and isn't able to do the first race rehearsal, we may tweak things a little bit to give them kind of two longer days. But that, that really depends. I've also had athletes that, you know, we're, we're sick and missed a race rehearsal, but if it wasn't their very first race, if they raced a couple times that season, we, we maybe just have one. So I'd say more often than not, you know, you just, you kind of move on with the training day. Um, there are a couple instances where it might make sense to, to redo part of it.

Vanessa Ronksley: Yeah, that sounds like, that sounds like a good way to approach the various situations that you mentioned. That's really awesome. And now I have another question here on the technical side with warmups. And I know we've done some podcasts before about warming up and, and how to manage warming up for different types of races. But for race rehearsal day, should athletes do their full race warmup or should they keep it shorter? What do you normally recommend?

Elizabeth James: This is great. Oh, I'm so glad that you asked this question, because I, I think that athletes are honestly kind of terrible about warming up for these sessions. But if we're asking our body to be, I know, I, I, I'll, I'll claim guilty to that one, too.

Vanessa Ronksley: Yep. For those of you that didn't see this online, I was pointing at myself because I never do race rehearsal. Like, I never warm up before race rehearsal. So I was wondering, like, wait, should I be warming up?

Elizabeth James: Yes. And the answer is yes. Like, if you are going to ask your body to be at a race intensity, like, you absolutely need to warm up. I think this is kind of a typical thing, like going into bike workouts, though, and we've talked about this before, that I, I feel like, you know, there's a very good specific outline for swim warmup. Like, with the run warmup, we've got a little jog, we do our dynamics, some drills, and then the bike we just kind of get on. We're like, all right, here we go. And it's, it's the same for the race rehearsal. It's like, athletes will get on and then they'll be like, ah, you know, I didn't hit zone 3 for the whole time. It's like, well, did you prepare your body to hit zone three? Like, you just rolled out of bed or rolled out of the car and are demanding that your body is ready to race. And I mean, I, I know that I've been guilty of this too, but yes, it would be so, so beneficial if athletes would warm up. Um, now it might look a little bit different than race day because likely the athletes aren't going to go swim to bike, to run. Um, you know, if they have an opportunity to do a little bit of a swim, that's a great thing to talk to their coach about and see if that could be implemented as part of it. But I would say a hundred percent, like, give yourself the opportunity to warm up, whether that's a little bit of a jog or spinning, easy, doing some dynamics, you know, some muscle Activation before you demand that race intensity from the body, that is gonna set you up for a better overall race rehearsal session.

Vanessa Ronksley: Okay, so for the next race rehearsal that I have, which is not gonna be for a really long time, but I will. I will promise you, ej, I will.

Elizabeth James: Be warming up because that's accountable for this. It's like, you better text me, tell me, tell me that you.

Vanessa Ronksley: Yeah, exactly. So these. These race rehearsal workouts, training days, you know, practice racing, It's a really, really good check in. It. It tells your body, you know, how your respond or tells you how your body is responding to the training. And then also it tells your head, you know, how ready you are for race day. So, ej, can. Can you give athletes one piece of advice going into their race rehearsal? Like, if you could do that, what. What would that one piece of advice be?

Elizabeth James: Oh, man. Well, I'll tell you what instantly came to mind. And I was trying to think of something to not, like, sound so cliche of, like, trust the process and, like, you know, trust, trust your training. Um, but honestly, that is what came to mind. Like, you are not asking your body to do something that you haven't already prepared it for. And I think oftentimes, and. And I'm guilty of this too. I'll look at the session and be like, whoa, what am I supposed to hold on race day? Like, that looks really hard. Um, but I have to remember that that is calculated based on the training that I've already done. And so I think if I could give that one piece of advice, it. It. It really is for athletes to trust that they've already put in the work to get to that point. And by the time you get to that race rehearsal, like, you've built the endurance, you've built the stamina. Like, you have the threshold that helped produce those target power numbers. Like, you've done the run training to be able to hit those specific paces. And all of that has been calculated for. For your best possible race execution. And so. Is it. It's right there for them. So, yeah, I know it sounds cliche, but, like, you know, trust the process. Trust that you've done the work. Like, it's not asking you to do

Vanessa Ronksley: Welcome to the cool down, everybody. We are here. I'm still with Coach EJ. What a gift to be able to keep her on for a little bit longer here. We're going to be answering a question from one of our audience members, which is going to prompt me to say that if you have a question for one of our fabulous coaches to answer, please make sure that you send Andrew or myself a message. Or you can send, send in a support ticket and, and ask a question through there. Or, you know, just leave a comment somewhere on one of the socials and we might pick it up if we happen to see it that day. So the question that's coming today is from an athlete whose name is Mac. And Mac has asked, how do you practice using RaceX before the race, say, during the race rehearsals, to make sure we know how to read the watts that we're supposed to push on the bike? Um, and we've answered this a little bit throughout the workout or the, the podcast here. So I, I just want you to reiterate here, EJ, how to utilize RaceX and Watts, for example, on. On the bike.

Elizabeth James: Yes, well, great question. Um, man, I feel like, you know, this would be a great, like, YouTube video in itself to, to walk through all of this. So, Mac, thanks for, for bringing this up. RaceX is such a phenomenal tool, and one of the things that I love about it is the, the power segments, particularly for your bike split. And so if you are to pull up RaceX, I mean, the first thing there is to be able to enter the race that you plan to do. What's great is you can either put that as a simulation just to get a feel for, you know, what your watts might be on a particular course. If you're deciding between races, or once you do decide to put that on your schedule, then you can particularly mark that down as a race and then take a look at those details as you're going into the race rehearsal. So from RaceX, you're going to see just that general screen where it breaks down what your finishing time would be, kind of your swim split, bike split, run split. And then if you click on the bike plan itself in the details section there, it's going to give you a lot of information about, like, what the terrain is that you're going to be riding, what the typical temperature is going to be, what your predicted bike split it will be. And then scrolling down to the bottom, you're going to find the power segments. And this is where, based on the elevation profile of the course that you'll be racing, it's going to break that down into different power outputs based on the gradient of the hills or, you know, if you have a descent and, and really just kind of give you a play by play of where to hold what watts. So, Mac, I would say take a look at the Details section in the Bike Plan, scroll down to the bottom. Find those power segments and you could either use that as a guide or bonus. If you happen to do your race rehearsal indoors, just go ahead and export that. Export the file and you can write it on your smart trainer for practice.

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.

‍