Race week is not a final training camp. It is logistics, recovery, and restraint. The physical work is largely done; the last seven days decide whether you arrive fresh, organised, and calm — or tired, under-fuelled, and scrambling for a spare valve at 5 a.m.
The fitness from your training block only shows up if you stop adding load and sort your equipment once, properly. On a WattX Race Plan PRO, this is the Race week on your Plan Page — lower volume by design, not a signal to squeeze in extra work.
Lock pacing in the Race Simulator before you travel. Long-course carb numbers live in the nutrition guide. This guide is the practical companion for the final seven days.
No banking
1. Stop Trying to “Bank” Fitness
The most common race-week mistake is one more hard session because you feel good or guilty about reduced volume.
Extra intensity now does not improve race-day performance — it only adds fatigue you cannot clear before the gun. If you are tempted to “test” fitness with a long ride or an aggressive brick session, redirect that energy into sleep and setup.
What to keep
- Short openers: 20–40 minutes total, with a few minutes at race effort (swim, bike, or run) and the rest very easy
- Technique and feel: smooth pedal stroke, relaxed shoulders in the pool
- Nothing that leaves heavy legs for 48+ hours
If you finish a session wondering whether it was too much, it was too much. Race week training should feel almost disappointingly easy.
Fuel
2. Feed and Hydrate Like It Matters
You are not eating for tomorrow’s workout — you are topping up your glycogen stores and keeping the gut calm.
- Carb-forward meals you already use in long training (rice, potatoes, oats, familiar sports products)
- Avoid new gels, spicy food, lots of fibre and heavy drinking — especially 48 hours out
- Hydration: steady fluids through the week; add sodium in heat if that is your race-day protocol
Lock numbers before you travel: use the Nutrition Strategy tool with your predicted split from the Race Simulator. Race morning is not the time to invent carb targets. For 70.3 and full-distance science, see the nutrition guide.
Sleep
3. Sleep and Nerves
Sleep debt is not fully repayable in one night. Prioritise consistent bedtimes early in the week, not just the night before — travel and expo days disrupt rhythm.
- Dim screens, pack early, lay out morning kit the night before
- Short walks and breathing beat scrolling race results and comparing yourself to others online
- Accept that pre-race sleep may be fragmented; a rough night is common and rarely ruins a well-tapered athlete
Rest is a performance variable, not a reward for finishing your checklist.
Gear
4. Prepare Your Stuff — Once, Deliberately
Transition chaos costs minutes and focus. One structured pass beats repacking from memory every evening.
Use the Race Checklist for:
- Swim: goggles (spare), cap, wetsuit, lubricant, timing chip strap
- Bike: shoes, helmet, bottles, nutrition you will actually carry, pump/CO₂, spare tube, multitool
- Run: shoes, hat, race belt, socks if you change
- General: sunscreen, chamois cream, watch, anti-chafe, pre-race breakfast you will replicate
Check items off as you pack; fix gaps mid-week, not at the venue hotel.
Bike check
5. Check the Bike — Maintenance, Not Experiments
Race week is for verification, not upgrades.
- Confirm brakes, bolts, and shifting — no new cables or untested components
- Check what’s due in Garage: chain wear, brake pads, last bleed, tyre age
- Set tyre pressure from the Tyre Pressure Calculator using system weight and course surface — then re-check on race morning with the same pump
Read tyre pressure for why PSI is not one-size-fits-all. If something feels wrong on a test ride, fix it early in the week — not the night before.
Race Checklist tracks transition and bike items; Garage tells you what's due so the machine is race-ready before you travel.
Mental prep
6. Mental Rehearsal, Not Panic Revisions
- Review pacing from your Race Simulator targets — swim, bike, run as one system (race pacing)
- Confirm CSS, FTP, and FT are current via Threshold Testing or a recent clean race in the Race Vault — protocols in how to test
- Visualise transitions: mount line, nutrition handoffs, first km pace discipline
- Read the athlete guide for course rules, wetsuit cut-off, and on-course nutrition brands
Do not overhaul your race-day strategy because someone faster on Instagram does something different.
Timeline
Race Week Timeline
Carb emphasis; travel; test morning routine once.
Very easy movement; pack bike box; confirm nutrition from Nutrition Strategy.
Short spin or swim; lay out kit; early meal; sleep hygiene.
Tyre pressure; familiar breakfast; arrive with time to breathe.
After the race
After the Race
Win or learn: log the race in the Race Vault. Race Analysis compares splits to your pacing targets and lets you sync proposed thresholds when the day was a fair read on your fitness.
This week, train less, prepare more. Open the Race Checklist, confirm the bike in Garage, and trust that freshness is fitness showing up on time.