First Ironman--What to do the day-before

Oh my God!!

One day to go until my first Ironman!

What on earth do I do on that last day-before?

If you are preparing for your first Ironman, you will soon be facing this question.

Here are a few things to do and not to do on that last day.....

Whatever you do, don't do a hard workout of any sort.Do however, a short workout(15-20 minutes)in each event. Just enough to keep you sharp for your race the next morning. Its not recommended to take this day completely off. Mark Allen(a Hawaii Ironman champion many times over)suggests 10 by 10 second sprints in each event on that final day. Regardless, a short workout the day-before is important.

Do not go down to the expo and spend hours on your feet wandering around.

Visit the expo earlier in the week, not on the eve of the race. Stay away from crowds if at all possible.

Don't eat anything strange the day-before---stay out of restaurants if you can. Hopefully you will have a kitchentte and can make your own meals.

Don't eat too late on your last evening. Personally, I found that eating my last large meal no later than 4 p.m. on the eve of the race worked the best for me.

This is VERY important!! Stay out of the sun! The last thing you need is to become dehydrated the day-before your big race.

If there is any check-in business to take care of, do it as early in the day as possible.

If there is a compulsory pre-race meeting on the eve of the race, be sure to go, but when its over, leave. Go back to where-ever you're staying and relax.

Take it from the ultimate expert. I did.

I ran into Dave Scott after one compulsory pre-race meeting the Saturday before a Sunday race. I had a conversation with him. I actually asked him about that last day-before the race.

He said most people are so nervous they go to the pre-race meeting, they go to the expo, they wander around in the sun getting themselves tired and dehydrated and even more nervous.

His best advice to me....

"Do what you have to do. Then get away from the crowds. Get out of the sun. Get away from all that nervous energy and pre-race jitters. Go to your room, put your feet up. Rest and relax. Eat early, be sure you're properly hydrated."

He was 100% right. I did that and I did it every Ironman after that. It was exactly the correct thing to do.I hope this advice helps you with your final day-before your first Ironman. It sure helped me.

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