Worst thing you ever forgot on race day (Page 3)

I have multiple pairs of running shoes. I brought two right shoes and no left shoe. I ran in old beat up sneakers I use for driving. They came untied multiple times. D'oh!

Oh, boy.

I forgot the key to the trailer.

The trailer contained nearly 20 bikes - every one of them was racing. It was a race at USAFA, and they wouldn't let us on-base until we could open the trailer, so no one could set up transition, check it, etc, until we got the key.

Luckily, someone was sleeping in. Bwahaha. He had to drive the key to us.

I remembered my water bottle...was ready to put it on my bike...but there was no bottle cage on the bike. Glad it was just a 9 mile bike leg.

My training partner drove to VA beach for the 1/2 marathon. He forgot his running shoes so he ran in a pair of hiking boots.

A friend of mine went mountain biking. Was having a horrible time getting clipped in. Finally stopped and realized he had put on 1 mountain bike shoe and 1 road shoe with different mounting systems...he claims the shoes look very similar.

This is why I rehearse transitions several times the night before a race, then pack everything in my bag.  And I still empty it out and recheck the next morning before we leave.

Forgot to take water and trainer to a time trial the other night.  Called hubby to bring it with him when he met me at work to drive to the race together -- he also forgot them.

I frequently forget to use my inhaler beforehand and leave it in TZ which always closes before I remember so I have to try to induce an asthma attack and recover before the race (helps to avert an attack during the race) -- I get some slightly concerned looks

If I had two bikes, I would also...

I had to slam on the brakes on my way to the UCSB (Guy in front of me decided to re-create the flat-spin scene in Top Gun in a pick-up on the 101), the contents of the van flew --- broke a spoke, but was still able to ride... barely.

Two of my Donkai colleagues forgot to take off their helmets during T2 during a sprint, and since I was a volunteer I got to yell it out to them - it was kinda funny.

I forgot to pick up my prescription sunglasses at the swim table after the swim during IM WI (Moo) last fall.  I tacked on an additional 8 - 10 minutes during T1 because of that blunder while waiting for a very helpful volunteer to grab them for me (he had to run from the changing room, down the helix, back up the helix to the bike area, which is probably close to a quarter mile at least of distance or better - NOTE: what is the "helix" you ask? From IM WI site - "After running up the "helix" or ramp up to the transition area in the parking lot here at the Monona terrace").

I'm going to join the "my first race is soon and this thread is freaking me out!" club.

Breathe in, breathe out...

This user's post has been ignored.

Be prepared for everything and anything, relax, have fun, and if something happens, just accept it.

Due to an OCD level of organization in my packing, I have yet to forget anything on race day.  *knock on wood!!!*

Also, this is totally hilarious!!!  If this happened to one of my friends, the jokes would never end.

And of course make 2 lists ('cause you might lose the first) and check over the list and your items twice laid out before you pack them away.  Then in the morning you need to check to make sure you a) have the bag and b) make sure your bike's front tire is actually in the car and not leaning against your rear bumper.  Then, once in the car, make one final check that everything is in before you are on the road.

Just sayin'.

I am typically super organized before a race,  but once I forgot to pick up my timing chip at the race that morning. Because of that I didnt have an official time. The worse part is it would have been the first time I would have won my age group.

x2 I'm usually pretty organized, and have a great race day checklist: http://www.coachtj.com/?p=390

I left wetsuit in the car at Ironman Canada 2008. I was at the race with with my youngst two girls who were 15 and 13 at the time. We parked (far away), unloaded the SUV, and made our way nearly to the entry to transition. IMC has corrals everywhere and it's a bit hard on spectators, so I kissed them goodbye and handed over my keys to them and went in to get body marked. After the volunteer marked me I went to pick up my bags off the ground and went "OMG where is my wetsuit!" and realized I never had it.

So there I was alone, no phone, no keys, and my daughters had disappeared more than 5 minutes before. And the lake at Penticton is way too cold for me to swim without a wetsuit.

I ran and ran up along the corrals, here there and everywhere, and amazingly I found them walking along the other side of the corral. I had them pass the keys through the fence and I managed to run back to the car and get the wetsuit and save my race.

That was only the first mishap of the day, BTW. I had a crappy race day, died on the bike and froze on the run, and then after the race I found that the girls had killed the battery in the SUV reading. I specifically told them not to turn on the lights because it would kill the battery, grrrr. So CAA had to jump it.

Edited by brucemorgan 2010-04-10 9:03 PM

This thread had me spooked, I didn't want to look at it because I was sure something would be forgotten at my race this morning. I didn't need to worry, I didn't look and I still forgot something.

I forgot to fill my water bottles on the bike. I did the ride with two empty bottles. I was looking for some water as soon as I got out of T2!

MEE TOOO!!!!!!    Fingers crossed!

At my last race last year, I was cruising along on the bike.  I was having a great race, despite the pouring rain!  And then I got a flat.  Got off and realized I had no spare tube.  My husband and I had gone for a ride the weekend before.  My bike had carried the cell phone in case we broke down, but it didn't fit with my spare tube.  Needless to say, I never remembered to put the tube back in.

It was a LONG, cold walk back in the rain.

For my very first tri I was doing such a great job of relaxing the day before that I forgot to go to packet pickup.  I didn't remember until right about the time the expo/pickup was closing and it was about 45' away in Boulder.  So I flew up there and got there just as they were finishing packing everything up.  Luckily my packet was easy to find since it was one of the only ones left.

I've totally done that before - luckily only on a training ride with my friend (about 45 mins from home).  I have one of the racks that the bike tires sit on and the bar goes over the top - we had to flat the tires to get them off.  Guess those locks are next to useless!