Today I did a light paddle in the harbor, then loaded my boat on the car for the trip to Ridgeland, Mississippi (a suburb of Jackson), site of tomorrow's Gator Bait Waterfest Regatta. It's about a three-hour drive from Memphis; I'll leave early tomorrow morning.
My pre-race routine is fairly straightforward. The day before the race I gather together the clothing and equipment I'll need. I grab my small toolbox in which I keep tools for making adjustments and minor repairs to my surf ski in case I need to. I try to pack sets of clothes for different weather conditions. I make sure my camel back is in good working order.
In the nutrition department, I don't deviate from my normal rule, which is to eat only what I can identify. In other words, if I look at the ingredients list and see a lot of stuff I don't recognize as food, I don't eat it. (Yes, I occasionally break this rule, but not that often. Sharing a home with a spouse who feels the same way is a big help.) Vegetables, meats, fruits, grains... I try to eat them all in good balance. If I do anything different in the day or two before a race, it's to make sure I eat plenty and store as much glycogen as I can, and also avoid anything that might upset my stomach.
On race day I try to arrive at the race site about 90 minutes before the start time. That gives me enough time to pick up my race packet, put my number on my boat, do a full systems check, do a little stretching, and get in a good warmup. I try not to be on site much earlier than that, because then I'm just standing around cooling my heels and wasting energy. And I should mention that racers like me are very grateful to race directors who make sure their race starts at the announced time. Sitting in the boat waiting for the start of a delayed race is another big energy-waster and concentration-buster.
Pre-race mode... that's the mode I'm in right now. I hope to have a good report posted here by tomorrow night.
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