5 Lessons from Racing and Traveling Across the Globe
Fitness only gets you so far.
At the end of the day, fitness is only one part of what determines your race-day experience. A strong mindset, adaptability, execution, and good decision-making become even more important when things don’t go exactly according to plan - especially on a competitive world stage. You can arrive incredibly fit, but if you struggle to adapt in the moment, make smart decisions, or stay composed when the race throws something unexpected at you, the day you envisioned can unravel quickly.
I was reminded of this during the bike at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Before beginning the climb up the Col de Vence, I had a decision to make: finish the high-carb mix remaining in my bottle and swap it for an electrolyte bottle without carbohydrates, or hold onto it and slowly sip it throughout the climb. Based on the climbing I had already done, how I was feeling, and what I knew about the climb ahead, I decided I would rather top off my carbohydrate intake before the major ascent than “wait and see” how I felt later. That decision ended up mattering more than I initially thought.
Had I waited too long to fuel, I’m fairly certain I would have paid for it by the top of the climb. I felt confident making that call because I had spent countless training sessions learning how my body responds to different amounts and timing of carbohydrate intake.
Did my fitness help get me up that mountain? Absolutely. But fitness alone wasn’t what made that section of the race successful. The ability to assess the situation, trust what I had learned in training, and make an unexpected game-time decision helped me climb more steadily - and ultimately set up the rest of my race.
The takeaway: Train your fitness, but also train your ability to think, adapt, and make decisions. Race-day confidence doesn’t just come from knowing you’re fit. It comes from knowing yourself well enough to respond when the plan has to change.
No race goes exactly according to plan.
Picture this: You’re flying out of T1 at the World Triathlon Championship Finals. Your shoes are banded to the bike, you’re proudly repping Team USA across your chest, you’re moving with a group of athletes you can work with on the bike, and your heart rate is already bumpin’.
You hop on after the mount line and suddenly realize there’s an issue with one of your cleats.
Now, instead of settling into the pack, you’re forced to come to a complete stop, unclip the shoe, put it on properly, and restart from a dead stop... while the group you planned to work with in a draft-legal race disappears up the road.
Sounds like the bad dream I had last night! Unfortunately, I probably keep having that nightmare because it actually happened to me at the World Triathlon Championship Finals.
The point is this: No race goes exactly according to plan, no matter how experienced you are. World Championship racing can make that even more obvious. Travel stress, disrupted sleep and circadian rhythms, unfamiliar food, logistics, equipment issues, and a dozen other variables can all show up before you ever reach the start line.
That’s why part of race preparation is learning to expect the unexpected. You can’t control every variable, but you can control how quickly you reset, adapt, and move forward when something goes sideways.
And really, if we could control every single thing on race day… would it even be as fun?
Recovery is a Skill.
We talk a lot about the workouts on our schedule, how many carbs we’re taking in on a long ride, and how much fluid and electrolytes we need, but we rarely talk with the same intention about how we plan to recover. And maybe we should. Because recovery is a skill that needs to be practiced and executed just like training does.
While traveling between my two races, I ended up getting sick, which, between the plane time, stress, disrupted routine, and general chaos of international travel, probably wasn’t all that surprising. This was where I had to pull out one of my most important recovery tools: sitting my bum on the couch.
Sometimes slowing down when our bodies need it feels completely counterintuitive. We’re used to moving, doing, training, and being productive. As driven athletes, we can also be pretty terrible at patience. But recovery doesn’t always look impressive... rest, sleep, hydration, eating enough, cancelling a workout, or simply giving your body the time it needs to come back around. The hard part isn’t always knowing what to do. Sometimes the hard part is actually allowing yourself to do it.
Traveling as a triathlete is hard work. There’s no playbook for delayed flights, lifting a 50-pound bike box into an oddly shaped European vehicle, trying to explain in another language that you just need to leave your bike bag outside the bathroom stall for one very urgent minute, or discovering that your Airbnb host has hidden your key in a random cactus nowhere near the apartment you already struggled to find.
These may or may not all be real-life examples from my recent travels...
Racing is hard. Traveling internationally to race can be even harder. My best advice? Get comfortable with going with the flow.
As athletes, we’re often used to managing every little detail during race week. But international travel introduces a whole lot of variables you simply can’t control. Fighting every inconvenience, delay, or unexpected hiccup usually just turns you into a giant ball of stress and burns energy you should be saving for race day.
That’s the part I think we forget:one of your biggest goals during race week is to conserve energy as you taper into your event. Not every problem deserves the same emotional investment, especially when most of them will ultimately be manageable.
And conserving energy applies to the fun stuff, too. Race week can come with a lot of opportunities: Parade of Nations, group rides, group swims, flashy expos, meetups with friends, sightseeing, late-night dinners... the list goes on. You do not have to do it all and it’s okay to say, “I’m tired.” It’s okay to skip something. It’s okay to head back to your room early while everyone else keeps exploring. Sometimes the smartest race-week decision isn’t about your swim, bike, or run at all. It’s protecting your energy so you can show up on race morning ready to use it where it matters most.
5. There is always another level to learn from.
Being surrounded by athletes from around the world has a way of making you a student again, even after years of racing and coaching. Traveling abroad to compete can give you a completely different perspective. It reminds you that there is so much happening beyond our own little American bubble, and that there are incredibly talented athletes, coaches, and humans everywhere who can teach us something if we’re humble enough to observe, listen, and stay curious.
To grow in this sport, you have to stay committed to being a student of it. No matter how experienced we become, there is always more to learn - whether it’s a new approach to training, a different way of racing, or simply a fresh perspective that challenges the way we’ve always done things.
Stay open-minded. Stay humble. Keep learning. And keep working toward those limitless possibilities!
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