70.3 Maine Webinar 3
Execute With Confidence
IRONMAN 70.3 Maine · Sunday, July 26, 2026 · Augusta, ME.
Tonight is the last conversation before the day. If your stomach drops every time
you think about Sunday — you are not broken. You are tapered.
The fitness is already in your body. This week is about protecting it —
and then letting it out.
Open warm. 60-second land: "I know you're nervous. Good — that means you care. We are not
going to add anything new tonight. We are going to take what you've already built across 6 weeks of base
and 3 weeks of dialing, and we are going to walk it to the start line. The work is done. The job this
week is to not screw up the work." Smile. Breathe. Set the room.
You've been building toward this for nine weeks.
Webinar 1
6 weeks out
Build the base. Sharp, not fit. Inside out first. The boring weeks.
Webinar 2
3 weeks out
Dial it in. Fuel, heat, sleep, cycle, race-day card. Execute what you decided.
Tonight
5 days out
Execute with confidence. Walk the work to the start line. Then let it out.
Status check — be honest, kind, and fast.
- Bedrock holding (sleep ≥7h average, fueling consistent, stress managed)
- Race-day nutrition card from W2 finalized and rehearsed in at least one long brick
- Female-athlete fueling cued to where you are in your cycle this week
- Gear ridden, run in, swum in — nothing new for Sunday
- Plan A · Plan B for swim, bike, run already written down
Don't have all five? Doesn't matter. You're not chasing fitness this week — you're
arriving with what you have. Read on.
Tone: matter-of-fact, not anxious. The checklist is for grounding, not grading. If
someone is missing things, immediately reassure — slide 4 will tell them what to do about it.
What we'll cover.
- Race-week mindset — get out of your own way
- Day-by-day from Monday → Saturday (sleep, training, packing, food)
- Final heat protocol & weather contingencies
- Packing list — three piles, no missing items
- Race morning timeline — from 3:30 AM to "go"
- Transitions, pacing, and the mid-race check
- When it goes sideways — contingencies & safety
- Crew briefing
- The heart of the deck — a letter, the mental game, your dark-mile script
- Visualization, post-race, and the rest of your life
- Your one-page race card · Q&A · go race
Don't read this aloud line by line — point to it, then move. The roadmap exists to lower anxiety
("she has a plan for tonight, I don't need to track it myself").
Get out of your own way.
Race week is the week your brain tries to undo your training. It will tell you to ride one more hard ride, run one more tempo, "test" your fueling one more time. Ignore it.
Do this
- Trust the taper. Legs feel weird. That's normal.
- Shorten sessions, hold a couple of openers, keep moving.
- Eat normally. Don't carb-load by panic.
- Sleep is the work this week. T-2 matters most.
- Tell three people you love that you are excited and nervous. Out loud.
Don't do this
- "Test" new gels, new shoes, new bike fit, new anything.
- Scroll Strava for splits of people doing your race.
- Read pro race reports and "compare your taper."
- Stand around the bike racks comparing setups.
- Google "average finish time 70.3 women 40s."
Comparison hygiene rule of the week: Strava is closed. Instagram is for cat videos.
Your race is your race. The woman next to you in transition has her own story — let her have it.
Race week isn't where fitness is made. It's where fitness is protected.
Energy here: firm but warm. Permission to not do more. Most of these women
are people-pleasers who train extra to feel safe — race week breaks that strategy.
If you didn't get to do it all — read this.
If you missed a key brick. If you never quite nailed heat. If the last 3 weeks were chaotic because of work, kids, illness, hormones, or life — read this slowly.
From the ECHO playbook
You don't need to make up missed sessions in race week. You can't.
Compressed training in the last 5 days only erodes the work you already did.
The body adapts to load with recovery — and you are out of recovery time.
What to do instead:
- Arrive. That is the assignment. Just get to the start line healthy.
- Sleep 7+ hours every night this week. Especially Thursday and Friday.
- Practice your race-day nutrition from W2 on one easy ride this week. That's it.
- Re-read your "why." You signed up for a reason. It's still there.
You don't need to make it up. You need to arrive.
Read it twice if you have to. This is the slide that gets DM'd back to you after the race.
Some woman in the room is one missed run away from quietly DNS-ing. This slide is for her.
The first half of race week.
| Day | Training | Life |
|---|---|---|
|
Mon T-6 |
Easy 30–40 min spin or walk. Mobility 10 min. Nothing heroic. | Hydration up. Meal-prep simple foods you already eat. Caffeine: hold steady, don't cut. |
|
Tue T-5 |
Short run 25–35 min with 3×30 sec at race effort. Quick swim form drills if pool is convenient. | Print Athlete Guide. Confirm housing, parking, athlete check-in window. Reread W2 race card. |
|
Wed T-4 |
Ride 45–60 min with 3×3 min at race power/HR (just to remind the body). Easy spin between. | Begin laying out gear in three piles (next slide). Light dinner, in bed early. |
"Openers" rule: Short, sharp, friendly. You are not building anything Mon–Wed. You are
keeping the engine warm so it doesn't feel foreign on Sunday.
First-timers: emphasize that "less than you think" is the goal. They are used to feeling productive when
they train. This week, rest is productive.
The second half of race week.
| Day | Training | Life |
|---|---|---|
|
Thu T-3 |
Easy 20–30 min run + 15 min swim. Done. | Travel day for many. Pack gear into three labeled piles. Eat normal carbs. |
|
Fri T-2 |
Optional 20 min spin OR full rest. Whichever helps you sleep. | Sleep is the workout. 8+ hours if possible. Light meals. Athlete check-in. Drive the bike course if it calms you (skip if it spikes you). |
|
Sat T-1 |
15–20 min total. Easy spin + 5 min jog + 2 min swim. Sharpen, don't drain. | Bike check-in. Walk your transition rack — touch the spot, walk the exit. Race briefing. Dinner by 6:30 PM, in bed early. Set 2 alarms. |
From the ECHO playbook · sleep banking
Friday night (T-2) is the night that matters. Saturday-night sleep is usually wrecked
by nerves and a 3:30 AM alarm — that's normal. Bank the deep sleep two nights out. If you only
protect one night this week, protect Friday.
Repeat the T-2 rule out loud. It is the single highest-leverage piece of advice in the whole series.
Most athletes obsess over the night-before sleep they can't control, and squander the night-before-that
sleep they can.
Late-July Maine isn't Kona. But it's not cool, either.
Expected race-day conditions: 65–80°F air, dew points climbing into the 60s, possible humidity by late morning on the run. Water temp typically wetsuit-legal but borderline on warm years.
In the week
- 2 short heat exposures earlier in the week (sauna 15 min, OR easy ride in warm garage 30 min)
- Sodium up: 1,000 mg/day baseline + drink mix daily
- Pre-cool race morning: cold drink, cold shower, ice in jersey at start
On race day
- Ice in tri suit & under hat at every aid station from mile 4 of the run
- Cold sponges down the suit, not just over the head
- Sip water + electrolytes at every aid; don't wait for thirst
- If HR spikes >10 bpm above target for effort → walk 60 sec, cool, restart
Race-week rule: if you didn't train with ice socks, neck ties, or a specific cooling
gimmick — don't try it Sunday. Same with new electrolyte brands or salt tabs.
Nothing new. Heat is not the day to experiment.
Heat is the #1 reason fit athletes blow up at 70.3. Drive home: cooling is a strategy, not a
reaction. Plan it before you need it.
If it's not in a pile by Thursday night, it doesn't go.
🏊 Swim pile
- Wetsuit (legal)
- Tri kit (the one you've trained in)
- Goggles · backup goggles
- Swim cap (race-provided)
- Anti-fog · earplugs (if you use them)
- Body Glide on neck, underarms, inner thighs
🚴 Bike pile
- Bike (tuned, tires checked Sat)
- Helmet · sunglasses · shoes
- 2 bottles (PH 1000 + plain water)
- Nutrition pre-loaded (Maurten gels labeled)
- Spare tube · CO2 · multi-tool
- Race belt with bib (already attached)
🏃 Run pile
- Run shoes (the ones you've run in)
- Socks (the ones you've run in)
- Hat or visor · sunglasses if you run in them
- Run gels / flask
- Body Glide for inner thighs / sports-bra line
- Anti-chafe re-applied if needed
Don't forget (the easily-missed ones):
- Sunscreen — apply morning of, reapply in T1 if you have time
- Body Glide / anti-chafe — humid Maine bike eats inner thighs alive
- Throwaway warm layer for transition (mornings can be 60°F)
- Photo ID + USAT card for check-in (in your race packet bag)
- Phone + small cash for after
- Recovery bag for after the finish — dry clothes, sandals, snack, electrolytes
Thursday-night ritual: Lay out all three piles on the floor. Take a photo. If
something is missing by Saturday morning, the photo tells you.
First-timers panic about packing. The photo trick is real — it makes the gear feel finite and
manageable. Mention that "I forgot something" is on the next slide so they don't spiral.
If you realize you forgot something — read this before you spiral.
It will happen to someone in the room. The morning of, or the night before, you'll do an inventory check and realize you forgot socks, or your gel flask, or your anti-chafe. Almost nothing on your list is unfixable in Augusta.
The 3-step protocol
- Name it out loud. "I forgot socks." Saying it lowers the cortisol spike.
- Is it fixable in town? 95% yes. Augusta has stores. Expo has vendors.
- Can you race without it? If yes (and most of the time, yes), move on.
What's actually fixable Saturday
- Socks, anti-chafe, sunscreen, gels, electrolytes, sunglasses, hat — all easily replaced
- Goggles, race belt, swim cap — vendor expo or Walmart
- Even a tire/CO2 — expo mechanics or local bike shops
The two things that aren't fixable race morning: your bike (if you didn't check it in
Saturday) and your wetsuit (if the swim turns non-wetsuit-legal). Plan B for both is on slide 14.
Forgetting something is not a sign. It's a Saturday errand.
Light tone here. Almost laugh through it. The point is to deflate the catastrophe-brain before it
gets a hold of them at 9 PM Saturday.
Minute-by-minute. Boring on purpose.
| Time | What you're doing |
|---|---|
| 3:30 AM | Alarm 1. Lights on. Coffee on. Sit on the edge of the bed for 30 sec — feet on floor. |
| 3:45 | Breakfast: oatmeal + banana + honey + small coffee. Practiced, not new. ~500 cal, ~3 hrs out. |
| 4:00 | Sunscreen. Tri kit on. Body Glide everywhere. Bib on race belt — confirm. |
| 4:15 | Poop window. Sit. Don't rush. This is normal and planned. Coffee + magnesium help. |
| 4:45 | Leave for venue. Sip water + electrolytes on the drive. |
| 5:15 | Body marking · transition entry. Pump tires. Set bottles. Lay out shoes/helmet/glasses. Walk T1 and T2 exits — touch the spot, walk the line you'll run. |
| 5:45 | Leave transition. Wetsuit on by 6:15. Last sip of water. Pre-race gel ~30 min before swim. |
| 6:30 | Walk to swim start. Self-seed. Breathe. Look at the river. This is the moment you trained for. |
| 7:00 | GO. |
Confirm exact start time, swim-cap colors, and transition close-time in your 2026 Athlete Guide.
These times are typical; the Guide is final.
Self-seeding at the swim: rolling start. Predict your swim time honestly →
under 35 min: front. 35–45 min: middle. 45+ min:
back. Don't be a hero at the front — don't be ashamed at the back. Honest seeding saves the first 200m.
Walk through this slowly. The morning timeline is the single most calming thing you can give someone
the night before. Mention the poop window with a smile — first-timers don't know it's universal.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
T1 (swim → bike)
- Run to your rack. Eyes up, find the landmark you picked on Saturday.
- Wetsuit off to waist on the run in; rest at the rack.
- Helmet on and buckled BEFORE you touch the bike. Non-negotiable.
- Sunglasses. Shoes (or cycling shoes already on bike — your call).
- Walk/run bike to mount line. Mount past the line.
T2 (bike → run)
- Dismount before the line. Walk in if your legs are wobbly — totally fine.
- Rack bike. Helmet stays on until bike is racked.
- Helmet off. Run shoes. Hat. Race belt to front. Gels.
- Walk the first 20 steps out of T2 if you need to find your legs.
The helmet rule is non-negotiable. Touching the bike before your helmet is buckled,
or unbuckling before the bike is racked = DQ. Every year. Don't be that story.
Saturday transition walk-through: stand at your rack. Touch the spot. Walk the
exit path. Walk the entry path. Do it once. Your brain will thank you Sunday morning.
Transitions are where time is found, but also where DQs happen. Repeat the helmet rule twice.
Don't ride mile 56 in mile 10. Don't run mile 13 in mile 1.
| Leg | Target effort | If watch dies (RPE backup) |
|---|---|---|
|
Swim 1.2 mi |
Steady. Sustainable from minute 1. Bilateral breathing if possible. Sight every 6–8 strokes. | Conversational + 1. You could speak a short sentence if you stopped. |
|
Bike 56 mi · rolling |
Target: 70–75% FTP / Zone 2-low 3 HR. Easy on the early climbs. Eat & drink every 15 min. | "Sustainable for another full hour." If you can't honestly say that — back off. |
|
Run 13.1 mi · single loop |
First 3 mi: 10–15 sec slower than goal pace. Settle. Build mile 4–10. Race mile 10–13 if it's there. | Could speak in short phrases. If you can only grunt → walk an aid station. |
The Kennebec is downstream. The swim will feel fast. Don't let that "free time" trick
you into riding hard early. The bike doesn't care that the swim was easy.
From the ECHO playbook · effort discipline
Every minute you "save" by going easier than goal in mile 10 of the bike, you get back three
times over on the run. Pacing is not a vibe. Pacing is a math problem.
Repeat the line: "Don't ride mile 56 in mile 10." Make it the mantra of the pacing block.
Every 20 minutes, ask four questions.
The four-question loop
- Drinking? Sip in the last 5 min — yes/no.
- Eating? Calories in the last 15 min — yes/no.
- Effort right? Sustainable for another hour — yes/no.
- Cooling enough? On a hot day — ice, water on the head/neck, sponges — yes/no.
If any "no" — fix it in 60 seconds
- Drink → next sip immediately
- Eat → take a gel now, even if not "hungry"
- Effort → back off 5–10 W or 5 bpm, recheck in 5 min
- Cooling → walk an aid station, douse, restart
Most blow-ups aren't fitness failures. They're a "no" you ignored for 30 minutes.
Drive home: the check is 10 seconds and it saves the race. It is also small enough to do when you're
suffering — you don't have to think hard, you just have to answer four yes/no questions.
Eight situations. Eight responses. Pre-decided.
| Signal | Likely cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Panic in the swim | Cold, crowd, breathing tight | Roll to your back. Float. Breathe 5 cycles. Find a kayak if needed. Resume breaststroke until calm. This is allowed. |
| Goggles fog or leak | Strap, seal, or splash | Tread water. Clear them. Re-seat. Take 10 seconds. Restart. Total cost: 20 seconds. |
| Flat tire on bike | Debris on rolling Maine roads | Pull off safely. Tube + CO2 (you practiced this in W2). 6–8 min stop. Re-mount on the right side of the bike. Breathe. Keep going. |
| Chain drop | Front shift on a hill | Unclip. Lift chain back onto small ring. Remount. 30 seconds lost is fine. |
| Bonking on bike | Under-fueled or too hard early | Back off 10–15%. Take a full gel + full bottle in the next 15 min. Don't try to "ride through" it. |
| Cramping on run | Sodium + pace + heat | Walk 60 sec. Salt + water at next aid. Shorten stride. Restart at 80%. Reassess in 1 mile. |
| Stomach revolts | Too much gel, too little water | Switch to water + coke at aid stations. Skip next gel. Walk through aid. Most stomachs reset in 10–15 min. |
| Dark mile around 10 | Glycogen, heat, head | Run your script (slide 19). Feet → breath → why → next aid. One mile at a time. |
Pre-deciding these turns problems into tasks. A task is solvable. A "problem" feels
like the race is ending.
This is the highest-value slide in the deck for first-timers. Read at least three rows out loud.
You are allowed to stop. You are allowed to ask.
I'm going to say this once, very directly: finishing a triathlon is not worth your health. The race is back next year. You are not.
Stop and ask for help if any of these are true:
- Chest pain, pressure, or pain radiating into the arm or jaw
- Confusion, slurred speech, or you can't remember what mile you're at
- Stopped sweating in heat / goosebumps in heat (heat illness signs)
- Severe dizziness that doesn't pass after 60 sec of walking
- You "feel weird" in a way you can't name. Trust that.
How to get help
- Wave down any race official, volunteer, or aid station worker
- If on bike → pull off the road safely first, then signal
- If on run → walk to nearest aid station
- Medical on-course is connected to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta
Body-on-bib
- Allergies, medications, emergency contact — write on the back of your bib
- Or use the IRONMAN athlete-info wristband if provided
- RoadID or similar bracelet is a good backup
DNF is a valid choice on a given day. So is a slow finish.
Adult voice here. No shame, no drama. Many of these women have a "finish at all costs" story from
somewhere in their life — give them permission this once to choose themselves.
What your people need to know.
If you have a partner, kids, parents, or a friend coming to spectate — send them this slide. Their job is to show up, cheer, and stay out of logistics. Yours is to race.
For your crew
- Spectator parking and on-course viewing in the Athlete Guide
- Best spots: swim exit, T1/T2, the Capitol finish
- Bring: water, snacks, hat, sunscreen, charged phone, cash
- Track via the IRONMAN tracker app (download Saturday)
- Expect athlete to be on course 5.5–8+ hours
The kindest thing they can do
- Take photos, but don't expect athlete to stop
- Cheer with athlete's name, not "you got this"
- Do not say "you're almost there" unless it's mile 12
- Bring dry clothes & a hoodie to the finish
- Have a meal plan for after. Athlete will be too cooked to decide.
They may not be at the spot they promised — and that's okay. Cell service, parking,
and weather all conspire. If you don't see your people, don't make it mean anything. Race your race.
They'll see you at the finish.
Lean into this. The spousal "where the hell were you on the bike course" fight is a real
post-race phenomenon. Defuse it now.
If I could sit across from you tonight, this is what I'd say.
You didn't get here by accident. You got here by getting up early when it was dark, by riding when your legs were heavy, by fueling when you were tired of chewing, by saying no to things you wanted so you could say yes to this.
You will not feel ready Sunday morning. Nobody does. You don't have to feel ready. You have to start.
When the dark mile comes — and it will — I want you to remember that I'm in it with you. So is every woman who's ever done this. So is the woman you were six months ago who decided this was possible. You are not alone out there. Go finish what she started.
— Coach Angela
Read this slowly. Don't rush it. Let the room sit with it. This is the slide that will get
screenshot and pinned to mirrors. Read it like you mean it — because you do.
You have a body trained for this. Train the head, too.
1 · Stay in your meter
Don't race the woman next to you. Don't race the woman who passed you. Race your effort, your fuel, your plan. The race comes to you when you stay in your lane.
2 · Shrink the distance
Don't think "13.1 miles." Think next aid station. Next mile marker. Next 100 strokes. Think small. Win small. Stack small wins.
3 · Build, then let it come
Don't chase. Build. Effort climbs through the day. By mile 8 of the run you'll know what kind of day you have. Race the day you have, not the day you wanted.
Your dark-mile script (from W1 — say it out loud now):
Feet. One foot, then the other. That's the whole job.
Breath. Slow it. Three steps in, three steps out.
Why. Say your reason out loud. Yours. Not anyone else's.
Next aid. Get to the next cup. Then the next. Then the next.
Six mantras (pick two; tape them to your top tube):
Sharp, not fit.
Inside out first.
Fueled is faster.
Stay in your meter.
Shrink the distance.
Build, then let it come.
Read the dark-mile script as a chant. The room should feel it. This is the through-line from W1
to the finish line. Mention the top-tube tape trick — it works.
Rehearse a capable you. Not a perfect day.
Tuesday night and Friday night. 10 minutes. Lights low. Eyes closed.
- See the morning. Alarm, oatmeal, drive in, body marking, racking the bike. See it boring. See it calm.
- See the swim. Cold water on your face. Sighting the buoy. Bilateral breath. Settling. The river carrying you.
- See the bike. Eating every 15 min. Holding back the early hills. Passing someone in mile 40 because they rode mile 56 in mile 10.
- See the dark mile. Don't skip it. See yourself in it. See yourself running the script. See yourself coming out the other side.
- See the finish. The Capitol. The arch. The volunteer with the medal. The face of someone you love. The first breath after.
Don't rehearse a perfect race. Rehearse a capable you in an imperfect one.
Visualization isn't woo. It's pre-loading the contingencies into the nervous system so it doesn't
spike on race day. Athletes who rehearse the dark mile handle the dark mile.
Race day is just your Bedrock under pressure.
The ECHO House Model · what nine weeks built
You didn't just train swim, bike, run. You built a Bedrock — the boring, unsexy foundation that holds everything else up:
- Sleep — protected, especially T-2
- Fuel — consistent, cycle-aware, race-card rehearsed
- Stress — managed (StressLogic — load + life, not just training)
- Hormonal health — fueled enough to race, not under-eating to perform
- Recovery — actually recovered, not "rested but exhausted"
Race day doesn't add anything to that. Race day reveals it. Every aid station you nail is your fueling habit, on display. Every dark mile you run through is your stress capacity, tested. Every honest pace decision in mile 10 is your StressLogic, applied.
You don't race a triathlon. You race the woman you became while training for one.
This is the ECHO close. Series-long thread lands here. Many of these women have only ever been
told "train harder." We've spent 9 weeks telling them "build wider." This slide names what they did.
The race ends at the finish line. Recovery starts at step 1 after it.
First 30 min
- Walk through the chute. Don't sit yet.
- Water + electrolytes immediately
- Carbs + protein within 20 min (real food if you can stomach it)
- Find your people. Hug them. Take the photo.
- Then sit. Then cry, if you need to. That's normal too.
First 48 hr
- Real meals. Salt. Don't undereat the recovery — common mistake.
- Easy walk Monday. Pool/light spin Tuesday if you feel like it.
- Sleep 9+ hours if you can
- Re-test ferritin in 4–6 weeks (from W2)
First week
- No training plan. Move when you feel like it.
- Reflect: write 3 things that worked, 1 thing to change
- Schedule something gentle and joyful by Wednesday
- Don't sign up for the next race yet. Wait two weeks.
The post-race blues are real. 48–72 hours after the race, many women hit a low —
emotional, flat, weepy, "what now?" You just spent 9 weeks pointed at one Sunday. Of course it
feels strange when it's over. Plan something gentle for Tuesday. Tell someone you trust. This
passes.
Almost nobody warns first-timers about the post-race blues, and they hit hard. Naming it tonight
means it won't blindside them Tuesday.
The W2 race card, completed.
Fueling
- Breakfast 3 hr out: oatmeal + banana + honey + coffee (~500 cal)
- Pre-swim gel ~30 min out + sips of PH 1000
- Bike: 60–80 g carb/hr (Maurten gels + PH 1000 bottle + water bottle)
- Run: 1 gel every 25–30 min + water/electrolyte at every aid
- Caffeine: 1 cup AM + 1 caffeinated gel ~mile 6 of run
Pacing
- Swim: steady, bilateral, sight every 6–8 strokes
- Bike: 70–75% FTP / Zone 2-low 3. Easy on early climbs.
- Run: first 3 mi 10–15 sec slower than goal. Build mi 4–10. Race mi 10–13 if it's there.
- RPE backup: swim convo+1, bike "another hour", run "short phrases"
Heat
- Ice in tri suit + under hat from mile 4 of run
- Sponges down the suit, not just over the head
- Walk an aid station if HR is 10+ bpm above target
- Nothing new — only what you trained with
Mind
- Mantras: Stay in your meter. Shrink the distance.
- Dark-mile script: feet → breath → why → next aid
- Mid-race check every 20 min: drink? eat? effort? cooling?
- Build, then let it come.
Tape a printed version to your top tube. Save the screenshot. Send it to your crew.
This is your race day on one page. You've already decided everything on it.
This is THE screenshot slide alongside the signature. Tell them out loud: "Screenshot this. Tape
it to your top tube." Watch the phones come up.
You won't be the same after Sunday. Here's what's next.
IRACELIKEAGIRL
Stay in the community. Share your race report. Mentor the next woman who signs up scared. The whole point is the chain.
ANC Performance System
If this season showed you that you want to go deeper — Foundation, TrainingPlans+, or full ECHO 1-on-1 + Metabolic Profiling. We pick the one that fits your life.
Next race
Don't sign up Sunday night. Wait two weeks. Recover. Then decide from a rested body and a clear head — not a finish-line high.
Whatever you do after Sunday — don't stop being an athlete. You earned the
identity. It's yours now.
Soft sell only. The finish line is not the place to pitch. The next-race-wait-two-weeks line is
gold — many will sign up impulsively and regret it.
Trust the boring weeks.
Trust the dialed weeks.
Trust the woman who showed up.
Trust the dialed weeks.
Trust the woman who showed up.
Webinar 3 · Execute With Confidence · IRONMAN 70.3 Maine 2026
Hold the silence after this one. Don't fill it. Let them screenshot. This is the closing thesis
of the entire series — W1's "boring weeks" + W2's "dialed weeks" + W3's "the woman who showed up."
Things you're wondering about right now.
"What if it's a non-wetsuit-legal swim?"
Water temp threshold is published in the Athlete Guide. If non-wetsuit-legal: wear a tri kit you've swum in, not a brand new one. If "swimskin-legal" only: swimskins are fine if you've used one — same rule, nothing new. You can still swim slower and steadier. Most age-groupers lose 2–5 min without a wetsuit, not 20.
"What if I'm in the back of the wave?"
Rolling start. Self-seed honestly (see slide 11). Being in the back means clearer water and less contact. Plenty of women race their best swim from the back. Honest seeding is a gift to yourself.
"What if I forget something Saturday night?"
See slide 10. Almost everything is fixable in Augusta. Name it. Fix it or move on. Don't spiral.
"What if I have my period race day?"
Race it. Tampon + tri kit works. Fueling matters more than usual — your iron and carb needs are higher. Pack extras. Most women don't notice once the race starts.
"What if I can't sleep Saturday night?"
Normal. It doesn't matter — that's what the T-2 (Friday) sleep was for. Lie still in the dark and rest. You don't need to be asleep, you need to be horizontal and calm. Skip the sleep meds you haven't tried before.
"What if I have a bad first mile of the run?"
Almost everyone does. The legs feel foreign for ~10 min off the bike. Walk an aid station. Sip water. The legs come back at mile 2. Don't make the first mile mean anything about the next 12.
Don't try to anticipate every question. Cover the most common 6, then take live. If a question is
too gear-specific, defer to the Athlete Guide and the email follow-up.
The work is done.
Now go find out what you built.
You came too far to flinch. There's a version of you that started this 9 weeks ago and didn't know if she could do it. She's been right the whole time.
I'll be tracking you Sunday. So will every woman in this room. So will the woman you were the morning you signed up. Let's see what you've got.
See you at the Capitol. 🏁
Close warm. Close short. Don't over-talk this. "I love you. I'm proud of you.
Go race." Out. Stay on the call for hugs and selfies if appropriate. Don't add new info.
For Angela · pre-flight before the webinar.
24 hours before
- Re-skim W1 + W2 callbacks: boring weeks, T-2 sleep, dark-mile script, race card
- Confirm 2026 Athlete Guide swim cap colors, start times, transition close
- Confirm latest water-temp forecast for the Kennebec
- Check Maine weather forecast — air temp, dew point, wind
- Re-read the letter slide. Out loud. Twice.
During the call
- Hold silence after the letter and the signature slide. Don't fill it.
- Read the dark-mile script as a chant, not a list.
- The status-check on slide 2 is for grounding, not grading — soften your face.
- If anyone confesses fear in chat, stop and name her by first name.
- End on time. Don't dilute the close.
Energy arc to hit:
- Warm welcome (lower cortisol)
- Crisp operations (Mon–Sat, race morning, transitions) — competent voice
- Permission slide if anyone is white-knuckling (soft voice)
- Contingencies + safety — firm voice
- Letter + mental + visualization — this is where you slow down
- ECHO Bedrock callback — proud voice (this is what they built)
- Post-race + community — practical, warm
- Signature slide — silent
- Go race — short, warm, out
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Webinar 3 of 3 · Execute With Confidence · IRONMAN 70.3 Maine · Sunday, July 26, 2026
ANC Performance · IRACELIKEAGIRL · The ECHO Method