Inputs
- Nothing — it sequences the tools you already have
Outputs
- A guided path through fueling, hydration, race morning, packing, and recovery
- Links to every deliverable the week needs
7–4 days out
Build the week
Plan every meal once at the start of the week instead of improvising nightly — race week is about rehearsal, not experiments.
Produces: 7-day meal-by-meal plan
3–2 days out
Set the carb targets
Loading depends on race length: a 5K or 10K needs one day of carb emphasis, while half marathon and longer earns a real multi-day load.
Produces: Daily gram targets scaled to the athlete
All week, especially 48 hours out
Run the hydration plan
Arriving at Saturday hydrated beats chugging at the start line — and hot forecasts change the plan, so check it against the weather.
Produces: Before/during/after plan + team text + parent packing note
Night before + race morning
Lock in race morning
The morning runs on timing, not willpower — dinner deadline, wake-up, main meal, top-offs, and final sips, all matched to the gun time.
Produces: Hour-by-hour timeline + coach team text + parent notes
Night before
Pack the bag
Everything decided the night before is one less decision on a nervous morning.
Produces: Printable packing checklist
Within 30 minutes after
Close with recovery
The first half hour after the race is when muscles restock fastest — it matters double if there is another race this week.
Produces: Recovery carb + protein targets
By Saturday morning you will have
- • A 7-day meal plan on the fridge
- • Carb targets the athlete can actually hit
- • A hydration plan matched to the forecast
- • The race morning timeline, hour by hour
- • Team texts and parent notes, already sent
- • A packed bag and a recovery plan
Use this in practice
- Open the playbook when the meet lands on the calendar and work top to bottom — steps 1 and 2 once, step 3 against the weather, steps 4–6 in the final 24 hours.
- Each step ends with something to print or send — post the plans, text the texts, and race week stops depending on memory.
- Bookmark it for the season: same six steps, every meet.
Each linked tool carries its own evidence and citations — this playbook sequences them.