What do you carry on race day? (Page 3)

smart man, you'll be done with the run before that gel does much/if anything.

Nice try.....maybe could have formed that rant a little different.  I understand what you mean...but this wasn't exactly the place.  FWIW if I flat, I don't consider my race "done" but I also have never flatted and don't carry a tube with me.  Running five miles + in my hard shelled sidis sounds like a crappy time to me also.  I'm pretty sure I'd still finish the race, but you better believe I'm going to rant and rave over the flat.  Because I can.

For sprints I just take a gu before the swim and bring a bottle of 1/2 water 1/2 gatorade on the bike.  I go with the decaf. gu most of the time, but I like orange the best...and honestly I don't think I feel a difference from the caffiene....if I feel slugish in a sprint it's because I'm underprepared for the heart rate.

Ok, first, you did offend me at least.

Now, as someone trying to race as an elite triathlon (not elite age group, and not my choice of labels. USAT calls them Elite and not Pro because professional they say makes it sound like they are making a living doing it, which almost no one is). My goal is not to go out and complete the course. i KNOW i can do that. i cover those distances and much more most days in training My goal is to try and WIN the shorter races, and do what i can with the longer ones. If i get a flat, or somehting else that cannot be quickly fixed happens in a race, my race IS over. a 1 min setback on the bike is likely and almost always is enough to knock me out of the race. and thats assuming i am even off theb ike and have my spare off and ready to change that quickly (for those of you that have changed a flat in a race you know how much harder it is than in training, you are jacked up, HR high, hands are shaking, and you are trying to go fast, all of which slow you down).

To me no, its not worth fixing it and "getting in a good workout"
By the time i get it fixed, there are going to be a LOT more people on course, and its going to be a lot more dangerous for me to be out there going hard with people of diff speeds. that is 100% not worth the injury risk to me (my worst crash to date came in a race where they started the elite wave in hte middle of the race and there were people a lot slower all over the bike course and people everywhere). I"m not trying to say people of diff speeds should not be there, it is simply not a smart idea for me to do that. I dont want to get in anyone elses way more than they want to be in mine.

There is no reason we cant all race for our own reasons, but i am going to get nothing out of walking half the course, or finishing the sprint in 1:30. For me it is better to cut my losses and go help with the race, i've gone and volunteered on the course both times i have flatted in races, and after EVERY single other triathlon i have done, either with the aid stations/transitions, or later with tear down.

I race a LOT during the season, and any race i dont have to recover from gives me a chance to get back into training faster.

just my "elitist view"

I expected to have detractors after what I posted. All this 'pack it in if I flat' stuff reminded me of that guy from my race. In no way did I mean to imply that you guys here are quitters, d-bags, a-holes or the like. For the most part when I have asked questions here, you quite experienced folks have been really helpful and supportive to this BOMOPer. Again, I was just reminded of the incident and had to vent. This was probably the wrong place to do that, but hey, I do feel better for having gotten it off my chest. And really, the guy got his, because he did ONLY get third place. Jerk.