What to Pack for your Next Triathlon

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You hear it at very race: “Does anyone have an extra pair of…” or “We have an athlete who forgot “X,” can someone help him or her out?” While the Cult of Triathlon is very generous and usually come through to help fellow competitors, no one—especially type A personality and anxiety ridden athletes—likes opening up his gear bag and realizing that some vital equipment is missing. Fortunately, all this anxiety can be avoided with proper planning and time.

In the week leading up to a race, I begin to form a list of what I will need. When an item pops into my mind, I write it down and then go and put it aside in a specific corner of my training cave. Then two days before, I assemble everything and go through the race. I visualize the whole weekend from the moment I leave my door to the time I get back into my car after the race.

What will I need for the expo? USAT member card? Wallet (knowing my tendency to be a kid in the candy store at these events I conveniently tend to forget my wallet in my car)? What workouts am I going to do the day before and what will I need for them? What will my prerace meal be and should I pack my own food or is there a restaurant I can go to? If so, will it have my dietary wants/needs? On race day, what food am I going to eat for breakfast? Knowing the conditions and forecasts, what will I need for the swim/bike/run and the transitions between them? What nutrition do I need to pack? After the race, what am I going to change into and eat so that my body can recover fully?

Answering these questions will give you peace of mind and significantly reduce your stress levels in an already stressful week. Here is what I packed this past week for Eagleman 70.3:

Pre Race Gear:
• USAT membership card
• Wallet
• Cell phone/iPad
• iPod fully loaded with audio books, workout tunes, and podcasts
• Toiletries (Don’t forget the sun block!)
• Nutrition: Morning breakfast of sweet potatoes and whey, supplements and pills
• Workout clothes for the day before

Swim:
• Racing kit/jersey
• 2 pairs of goggles
• 2XU sleeveless wetsuit
• De Soto Lift foil speed suit (in case it was not wetsuit legal)
• Body glide
• Swim cap for the tune up swim the day before
• Nutrition: Clif Mocha Gel to take 20 minutes before the start

Bike:
• Garmin and Heart rate monitor
• Aero Helmet
• Water bottles
• Sunglasses
• Bike
• Shoes
• Multi-purpose tool for any tune ups that I need to do before check in
• CO2 cartridges
• Spare inner tube
• Tire wrenches
• Bike pump to pump up the tires the day before and the morning of (this is obviously optional since there are most likely going to be plenty of people who will bring them but I still like to have my own just in case. If you are flying you can pack this in your bike box.)
• Nutrition: 3 bonk breaker bars, 4 gels (3 to use, one for back up)
• De Soto Cooling skull cap (a must have for any hot race)

Run
• Garmin foot pod
• Racing flats
• Trainers for warm ups on race day when my racing flats are in transition
• Fuelbelt
• Visor
• Socks— If you wear them but I go sockless
• Nutrition: 1 pack Sports Beans

Transition:
• Towels
• Bike jacket (covers the bike the night before the race so that you do not have to wipe off morning dew)

Post race:
• Protein/recovery shake (better than the highly inflammatory foods that they usually serve)
• Water (usually provided)
• Flip flops
• Compression gear
• Change of clothes
• Action wipes

Miscellaneous
• Can do attitude
• Fun

As you can tell, it is not a lengthy list. When traveling, it is best to keep it simple. I see a lot of people who pack a steamer trunk the size of my bike box full of possible gear, but most of it is unnecessary. You do not need most of the stuff that you train in. I find that the less you pack the less you have to worry about. As I like to tell my athletes “Prepare to fail if you fail to prepare.”