11pm 'In bed the night before is the perfect time to prepare mentally,' says Jack Maitland, director of triathlon at Leeds Metropolitan University. 'Visualise a great start, smooth transitions and a strong performance. Think about those races you nailed and picture everything that made it happen. Now is also a good time to think about what could go wrong and how you'd cope. This will prevent panic if there is a problem.'

9am 'Don't let your nerves make you spend too long dashing about,' says Simon Ward, a British Triathlon Association Level 3 coach. 'Prepare a timetable listing all of the tasks you must do when you get to the race. Then stick to it no matter what and spend the rest of the time sitting down sipping an isotonic energy drink to pre-hydrate and keep your carbohydrate stores topped up.'

10am 'Rack your bike at transition, putting it in a low gear so you can get away quickly when the time comes,' says David Tilbury-Davis, a coach at PhysFarm Training Systems. 'Check your tyre and suspension pressure and make sure nuts and bolts are tight, because they may have worked loose during your journey to the race.'

10.15am 'If you are not in the first wave, get close to the water and spot where the bottlenecks are,' says Maitland. 'Also look at where the current is taking the swimmers so you can choose the best start position to get away fast and avoid hold-ups. If you are first off, get in the water as part of your warm-up to get a sense of the conditions and pick sight markers - such as a tree, a house or the sun - to make sure you swim as straight as possible.'

11.15am 'A proper warm-up will improve your speed and strength,' says Steve Lumley, a British Triathlon Association Level 3 coach. 'It also primes your aerobic system, reducing the oxygen deficit that occurs at the start of a race as you go from stationary to race pace. Spend ten minutes jogging and then do three faster one-minute intervals with three minutes' rest in between.'

11.40am 'It's time to put your wetsuit on, but don't rush,' says Tilbury-Davis. 'Remember to put lubricants around your neck to stop chafing and around your wrists and ankles to help you take the suit off faster at the other end. Spend time pulling the arms and legs up fully for a comfortable fit because this will make you a more efficient swimmer. Stop taking carbohydrates on board because your body won't have time to digest them before the swim so they may just upset your stomach.'

12pm The race starts. If you've followed all our training tips and advice, you should make it to the finish in good time with no problems. Good luck!

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