Experience is a wonderful teacher, and over the years I’ve refined my pre-race routine down to the essentials. For running it’s pretty easy to throw a change of clothes, some nutrition, and a water bottle into a bag. For triathlon it’s a little more involved because I’m doing three disciplines and transitioning between them. It’s three times the gear, and that means I’m three times as likely to forget something. (I’ve actually had nightmares about forgetting my goggles.)
So, I like to organize my gear a day or two before a race, if I’m traveling to it from home. If the race is somewhere further, then I organize my gear as I also pack for the trip. But I still like to go through my racing gear in a separate “session” as a sort of mental checklist to see if I’ve got everything.
I recorded this vlog as I was preparing my things for Triman Triathlon, so I managed to bring almost everything I needed. I say “almost” because I did bring my gel flask — but forgot to top it up with gel, which I left in my refrigerator at home. Thankfully I had an extra gel in the bag.
Watch below:
To keep things easily manageable, I organize according to discipline: swim, bike, and run. I also determine how much nutrition I need.
SWIM
The most important thing to pack for the swim is goggles. Now, while some mavericks can swim without using goggles, I’d actually like to be able to see for the rest of the race so the goggles are pretty important to me. I bring clear and mirrored ones from Dolfin Swimwear, and an anti-fog marker from Decathlon.
I also bring a spare swim cap, which helps if the race doesn’t provide a cap, or if the one issued to you breaks. In open-water triathlons I also wear double caps to minimize the risk of losing my goggles accidentally.
I put sunscreen among my swim things because I usually apply sunscreen after getting body marked and before starting the race.
BIKE
You can forget to bring a lot of things, but never forget to bring your helmet. You won’t be allowed to get on your bike without one!
Sunglasses go with my bike things because I wear them primarily as protective gear for the eyes while cycling. You do not want a bug or dirt to get into your eyes while you’re going 20+ kph on two wheels. Like in the swim, I bring mirrored and clear versions from Salice Eyewear and choose which one to use depending on weather and lighting conditions.
If you use clipless pedals, then don’t forget your bike shoes. Sure you can still finish the race using your running shoes to pedal with, but you lose a lot of power, stroke efficiency, and comfort especially if you’re racing longer distances.
I bring extra spare tires and CO2 cartridges because you never know if you’ll experience a blowout in transition while pumping your tires.
Rubber bands come in handy for a lot of things, but mostly I bring them because I keep my shoes on the bike for running mounts/dismounts. I keep an entire bag of them in my transition bag because I usually get someone asking if I have any extra to spare.
RUN
Running shoes are the first thing I pack with my run gear. I don’t intend to start running barefoot any time soon, so I don’t want to risk a DNS by forgetting my shoes.
I wear a visor while running to keep my hair in place and so that my broad forehead doesn’t get sunburnt. 😉
My race belt goes with my run things; I usually bring a spare one as well. I’ve only forgotten my race belt once, and frequently end up lending the spare race belt to someone else.
(I know I didn’t mention socks in the vlog! That’s because sometimes I go sockless.)
NUTRITION
I estimate how long I’ll be racing, and figure out how much nutrition I need. In the past two months I’ve been using Hammer gel shots in a flask, but had some extra Gu gel sachets. I also dissolve Nuun electrolyte tablets into the bidon I have on my bike.
POST-RACE
I bring a change of clothes as well as a towel so I can freshen up a bit after the race.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of things I pack, but they are my essentials. What are your essentials, and how do you pack your transition bag?
