Your personalised race execution plan

A race plan turns months of preparation into a sequence you can follow on the day. Work through the downloadable template with your coach, revisit it as details become clear, and keep a short summary close to hand during race week.

The template is set up for full-distance triathlon: a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42.2 km run. Adapt the distances, timings and prompts to your event. Example goals and transition times are placeholders, not targets you need to follow.

Start with your goals

Record your athlete name, race, date and coach. Set out your overall goal and your swim, bike, run and transition expectations. Add other goals that matter to you, then identify the actions that will make those outcomes more likely.

Map out race week

Use the race-week plan to list the tasks that need completing before the start. Record accommodation, expo, swim-start, transition and finish addresses, along with flight information where relevant.

• Confirm registration and collect your bib and timing chip.
• Pack transition bags and label your equipment.
• Record bike and run-bag check-in times.
• Plan your pre-race meal and breakfast.
• Check the athlete guide for event-specific requirements.

Build your race-day timetable

Work backwards from the start time. Include waking up, breakfast, leaving your accommodation, arriving at the venue, preparing transition, warming up and getting to the start. Leave space for travel and queues.

Walk through transition and know where your equipment will be. Include the small jobs that are easy to overlook: tyre checks, sun protection, goggles, cap and timing chip.

Swim and first transition

Set a swim goal, identify the keys to executing it and write down the words you will use to keep yourself focused. Plan the sequence from leaving the water to reaching the bike.

List what belongs in your transition bag and what should already be on the bike. Rehearse your order for wetsuit removal, helmet, shoes and other equipment, following the event’s rules and transition layout.

Bike plan

Record your pacing targets, nutrition and hydration plan, and key course sections. The template includes space for heart rate, power and cadence. Agree these targets with your coach using your current training zones and the demands of the course.

The original guide emphasises conservative pacing for a first full-distance race. Treat specific zone guidance as a discussion with your coach rather than a universal prescription. Decide in advance how you will respond if conditions or your effort differ from expectations.

Second transition and run

Plan where to rack your bike, collect your run equipment and change shoes. List the items you need in your run bag or belt. Set a controlled start to the run and identify your focus for later sections of the course.

Record your run pacing, nutrition and hydration approach. Choose simple reminders that help you stay calm and execute the plan when you are tired.

Write the one-page summary last

Once the detail is complete, distil the important decisions into the summary page: swim focus, bike and run pacing limits, nutrition and hydration. Read this regularly in the days before the race so it feels familiar.

Finish with a coach review

Send the completed document to your coach and arrange a conversation to check the plan together. The download also includes packing prompts for travel, hand luggage, race-day essentials and each discipline. Personalise these rather than treating every example as something you must take or use.

Use the Travel & Race Day Checklist alongside your plan to organise your equipment.