Common racing mistakes - logistics

You have trained for weeks, months, or years and it’s finally time to put all the effort to good use. It’s race day!

Everything is mapped out, you see yourself finally crossing the finish line, achieving a personal best, or even making it onto the podium.

Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out as you expected. You have made some silly logistics mistakes which caused you to miss or barely make it to the start.

Let’s have a look at some mistakes when it comes around logistics

Logistics

Logistics includes everything you do on race morning to get yourself to the start line in top shape. For most races you will have to drive somewhere so it’s very important to know how long it will take you but keep in mind that things can take a turn for the worse on race morning because you have forgotten about something.

Road closures

On of the most annoying problems you will encounter when getting to a race venue are road closures. They are there for a reason - so you can race. If you don’t take this into account your 20 minute drive to a parking lot near the start can turn into a frantic search for a parking spot as close as possible while traying to navigate and have the occasional argument with a police officer or volunteer who won’t let you through.

All organizers and cities announce road closures in advance so make sure to get to the venue early enough that you avoid any surprises.

Start location

This might seem strange but sometimes races change locations and, if you are participating in a race quite often, you don’t bother checking if it’s still in the same place. You arrive in time only to realize that there is no one there. You check your phone and realize that they have moved the start to another location you can’t possibly make it to in time for the race start.

Just as above, double check that you have all the facts about the race correct and you know where to go and at what time the gun goes off. It’s a 10 second task but it can prevent a lot of problems from happening.

On site registration (number pick up)

Many races have timeslots for when you can pick up your race number and other goodies you get with your registration. If it’s a bigger race, you will have very strict timeslots and if you miss them you risk not being able to attend the race or will have to wait in line for everyone else to pick up their number so you can pick up yours.

Again, make sure you double and triple check all the information about it so you avoid unnecessary stress.

Warm-up

All of these issues mentioned above can have a big impact on your warm up. You might have to cut it short or won’t be able to warm up at all. This than has a cascading impact on your race performance and enjoyment of the race in general.

Also, many athletes worry that warming up too much will impact their performance on the race but nothing can be further from the truth. Your body usually needs some time to kick into racing mode and it’s always better to start sweating before the race than to have your body catch up to what you are planning to do.

Start by engaging in light activities (jogging, easy spinning on the bike) and, once you feel like you are warming up, add a few sharp bursts of high intensity movements to really get your systems running. Add in a few mobility exercises to loosen up and you will be ready for the start.

Things that seem as simple as getting to the race location can sometimes turn out to be an adventure just like the race itself. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to arrive, settle down and properly warm up so you can have the best race you can.