● GUIDE

Ironman Race Week Checklist

8 min read 9 sections Race Week

An Ironman race week has more moving parts than any other triathlon distance — mandatory bike racking, compulsory athlete briefings, special needs bag deadlines, and a 140.6-mile race that lives or dies by your nutrition plan. This checklist covers every key task from Sunday through race morning.

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Why Ironman race week is different

Full-distance Ironman events have specific mandatory procedures that shorter-distance triathlons do not. Bike racking is compulsory the day before the race. Athlete briefings are typically mandatory and attendance is checked. Special needs bags must be handed in hours before race start. Missing any of these steps means a penalty or a DNF before the gun goes off.

The sheer duration of the event — 8 to 17 hours for most age-groupers — also means your nutrition and pacing plan needs to be more detailed than for any other distance. One missed gel window at hour four can cost you thirty minutes by hour ten.

Sunday (7 days out): the admin day

A week before your Ironman, your focus should be on locking in all administrative decisions. Confirm accommodation and travel bookings, review the athlete guide (usually available on the race website at least 30 days out), and create your race week schedule.

Download and read the official athlete guide.

Confirm accommodation, flights, and bike transport bookings.

Check registration confirmation and number assignment.

Order any replacement nutrition, CO2 cartridges, or kit you need.

Book a bike service appointment if not already done (needs 3–4 days).

Monday–Tuesday (6–5 days out): last training, first packing

Monday typically includes your final moderate training session — often a 90-minute brick or a longer swim. From Tuesday onwards, sessions are purely activating rather than building. Use the recovered afternoon or evening to begin your first systematic kit check.

Lay out all race kit on a flat surface and photograph it. The photo acts as a reference if you forget whether something was packed once bags are closed.

Complete final moderate training session (Monday).

Lay out and photograph all race kit.

Check wetsuit for any tears or zip issues.

Verify helmet certification label is present and visible.

Check bike for any creaks, shifting issues, or brake problems.

Confirm tyre condition — replace if worn or cracked.

Write out your full nutrition plan cue by cue.

● Race Preprr

Map your Ironman bike and run GPX files in Race Preprr so you can see exactly where each aid station falls relative to your nutrition cue timing — critical for a 180 km bike leg.

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Wednesday (4 days out): carb loading and kit check

Wednesday marks the start of your carbohydrate loading phase. Increase carb portions at every meal and reduce fibre, fat, and protein proportions. Your gut needs to be as calm as possible on race day.

By Wednesday evening, every item on your kit checklist should be accounted for. Anything missing still has time to be sourced locally or ordered on next-day delivery.

Increase carb portions — aim for 8–10g per kg of body weight.

Reduce fibre: cut raw salads, brassicas, and legumes.

Check all nutrition is stocked: gels, bars, hydration tabs, special needs items.

Confirm quantities match your race plan (count everything).

Begin packing T1 and T2 bags — do not finalise, just first pass.

Thursday (3 days out): finalise bags and nutrition

Thursday is the most important logistics day. By evening, your T1, T2, and special needs bags should be fully packed and checked. Your nutrition plan should be finalised — not adjusted, not reconsidered, finalised.

Run through the race morning timeline: what time transition opens, what time the first wave starts, how long it takes to get from your accommodation to the venue, and what you need to do when you arrive.

Finalise T1 bag: helmet, sunglasses, gloves, bike shoes, sunscreen.

Finalise T2 bag: run shoes, visor, race belt, run nutrition.

Finalise special needs bag (bike): extra nutrition, CO2, tube, snack.

Finalise special needs bag (run): extra nutrition, blister kit, change of socks if needed.

Write race morning timeline with exact times.

Inflate tyres to race pressure and check once more.

● Race Preprr

Race Preprr's bag packing tool lets you create separate T1, T2, and special needs bags, assign every item, and tick each one off as it goes in. Print the checklist for a final run-through.

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Friday (2 days out): briefing and bike racking

For most Ironman events, Friday includes the mandatory athlete briefing and often bike racking. Check your specific race guide — some events rack on Saturday morning, but most large Ironman events require Saturday racking for a Sunday race.

At the briefing, listen carefully for any course modifications, water temperature updates (affecting wetsuit legality), and any rule reminders. This is also a good opportunity to walk transition and identify your racking spot.

Attend mandatory athlete briefing (check start time in athlete guide).

Walk transition to identify your racking position.

Check if T1 and T2 bags need to be handed in today.

Note special needs bag collection point and deadline.

Set three alarms for race morning.

Saturday (1 day out): rack and rest

Bike racking day for most Ironman events. Complete racking during the specified window, hand in T1, T2, and special needs bags at the correct drop points, then leave the venue. There is nothing more to do at transition.

Eat your pre-race dinner at a normal time (17:00–19:00). Keep it simple: familiar carbohydrates, moderate protein, low fibre. Drink to thirst throughout the day. In bed by 21:00 if possible.

Rack bike during official racking window.

Hand in T1, T2, and special needs bags at correct points.

Photograph your bike in the rack (row number reference).

Pre-race meal by 18:00 — nothing new, nothing adventurous.

Lay out race morning kit: wetsuit, goggles, morning clothes bag.

In bed by 21:00.

Race morning: execute calmly

Wake up 3.5–4 hours before your wave start time. Eat a familiar breakfast — 100–150g of carbohydrate is a common target (porridge with banana, toast with peanut butter, rice cakes). Sip water and electrolytes steadily from wake-up.

Arrive at transition early. Check your bike — tyres, computer, nutrition — and find a calm spot. Put your wetsuit on 30 minutes before start and get in the water for a short warm-up if conditions allow.

Eat breakfast 3–3.5 hours before swim start.

Arrive at transition 90 minutes before close.

Check bike: tyres, computer, and nutrition in place.

Collect timing chip if not already on.

Wetsuit on 30 minutes before start — warm up in water if possible.

Sip electrolyte drink up to 15 minutes before swim.

● Race Preprr

Export your Race Preprr race brief as a PDF the night before. Share it with your crew, support team, or family so everyone knows the course map, special needs locations, and your estimated split times.

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Ironman nutrition plan: the non-negotiables

A full Ironman nutrition plan needs to account for roughly 8–17 hours of racing. Most athletes target 60–90g of carbohydrate per hour on the bike (depending on tolerance and training) and 30–60g per hour on the run. Hydration requirements vary by temperature, sweat rate, and intensity.

The critical rule is nothing new on race day. Every gel, bar, or drink you plan to use must have been tested in long training sessions. Race-day nutrition is execution, not experimentation.

Start eating on the bike within the first 30 minutes.

Consume carbohydrate every 20–30 minutes throughout the bike leg.

Drink at every aid station — even if you do not feel thirsty.

Begin run nutrition within the first 5 km — do not wait until you feel you need it.

Have a plan B for nausea: switch to liquid calories and cola in the second half of the run.

● Race Preprr

Race Preprr's nutrition planner lets you set cues at specific times or distances — so your gel schedule for a 5-hour bike is mapped out in advance and ready to reference on race day.

Try it →

● Try it free

Plan your Ironman week in Race Preprr
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Import your GPX, build your nutrition cue schedule, pack your T1/T2/special needs bags, and export a brief your crew can use on race day.

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Ironman Race Week Checklist

Why Ironman race week is different

Sunday (7 days out): the admin day

Monday–Tuesday (6–5 days out): last training, first packing

Wednesday (4 days out): carb loading and kit check

Thursday (3 days out): finalise bags and nutrition

Friday (2 days out): briefing and bike racking

Saturday (1 day out): rack and rest

Race morning: execute calmly

Ironman nutrition plan: the non-negotiables

Plan your Ironman week in Race Preprr→

Plan your Ironman week in Race Preprr
→