Nutrition
• Breakfast 3 hours prior to wave send off• 1 gel prior to swim 15 minutes before• 1 bottle on bike – w/at least 200 calories – take water at aid station as you need it and 1 gel with 3 miles to go on bike•

Run:
Water or Gatorade at every aid station – take something!

Heart Rate Monitor:
Wear it so you can see the numbers later – good information for you, and information can be compared to races later in the season. Look for HR to be around LT or + during the entire race for an experienced racer and a strong Zone 3 effort for a beginner triathlete.

Power Meter:
Once again, use the numbers later, but be smart enough not to exceed your Functional Threshold for too long. 
Race Strategy for a Beginner Racer:Swim: Ease into swim, get into your flow and your own rhythm. Maintain form, back off last 25-50 meters, and ease into the end of swim.

Bike:
Start out in a gear you can maintain at 90 RPMS (no bouncing in the seat), warm-up for at least 3-4 miles at an easy effort, and once you feel your breathing is more regulated you can start to push the pace a bit. On the EAS 5430 Sprint course, the first 4 miles are uphill – so this is a very important rule to keep in mind. Keep the heart rate down. After 4 miles, you can go harder – not all out, just enough to get your HR up. Ride hard but not so hard your legs are getting fried or that you can’t run. Once you crest the hill on US 36, you are going to be riding on a downhill or flat course for quite a ways. There are a few short hills (30 secs to 90 secs) but take them conservatively to save something for the run. As you come back into the Res there is a sharp right hand turn by the main gate, so take this with caution.

Run:
Run easy out of Transition 2 (T2), grab some water, slow down and get your HR down – ease into the run. The first 400 meters is uphill and I recommend my athletes to keep their cadence up here and lean into the uphill as you’ll have plenty of time to pick up the pace later. You want to run the second half faster, so pick up the pace ever so slightly, check your splits/effort the first mile, and if you feel comfortable then pick up the pace. At the halfway mark, it’s time to pick it up. If you paced the race right, here is where you can make up a lot of ground and just go by people like they are standing still. It’s only a short period of time so push for all you are worth. Once you make the turn around the course is a slight downhill until you hit the last 400 meters and then you have a steeper downhill, it’s fast and be ready to turn on the jets. You’ll take a hard right into the finish and cross the finish line. Congratulations! You’ve just finished one of the best sprint races in the country!
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Race Strategy for an Experienced Racer:

Swim:
Swim flat out Time Trial speed – maintain form, but swim upper steady effort, back off last 25 meters, kick your legs a bit, and ease into the end of swim.

‍Bike:
Start out in a gear you can maintain at 90 RPMS, warm-up for at least 1-3 miles at a steady effort, and once you feel your breathing is more regulated, you can start to push the pace a bit. After 3 miles, you can drop the hammer. This should be about 90-95% of LT effort- hard but not so hard your legs are getting fried or that you can’t run.

Run:
Run easy out of T2 – grab some water, slow down and get your HR down – ease into the run. You want to run the second half faster, so pick up the pace ever so slightly, check your splits/effort the first mile, and if you feel comfortable then pick up the pace. At the halfway mark, time to GO! Let it fly just like you were running the last mile and a half of a 5k. If you paced the race right, here is where you can make up a lot of ground and just go by people like they are standing still. It’s only a short period of time so push for all you are worth. It’s only a short period of time so push for all you are worth. Once you make the turn around the course is a slight downhill until you hit the last 400 meters and then you have a steeper downhill, it’s fast and be ready to turn on the jets. You’ll take a hard right into the finish and cross the finish line. Congratulations! You’ve just finished one of the best sprint races in the US!