Here are a few pointers that rarely make the playbooks:
* Get in the water about 45 minutes prior to the swim start and do a few brisk sprint laps – just enough to get gassed out. This will “prime” your body for the actual swim, and it will go much easier.
* During T1, after you get out of the water and dry off, blow your nose into your hand towel and take a couple of snorts of Afrin nasal spray. This will keep your nasal passages clear during the bike ride and allow you to breathe while you’re eating or drinking.
* Keep 1-2 ibuprofen tablets handy on the bike and take one after every hour you ride. This will keep the inflammation down in your body and make the run much more pleasant.
* Ditch the “fuel belt.” Most events have aid stations every mile during the run portion which are more than adequate for fueling or hydration. Also, you don’t want anything tight or constricting around your waist. Instead, just get a tri-top with side pockets and carry a small flask of concentrated Hammer Sustained Energy or Perpetuem.
* Use Hammer products exclusively. They’ve got sports nutrition down to a science. Besides, their apple-cinnamon Hammer Gel tastes great on vanilla ice cream!
* Unless you’re going all out for a personal record, take it down a notch during the last 1/3 mile of the run and pay attention to what’s going on around you. Get your head in “celebration mode” and let the coolness of what you’ve just accomplished sink in. MOST IMPORTANT – gauge your pace in relation to any other runners and adjust it so you get a cool finish line shot. This is your time to shine, and you want all the attention on you alone.