I can guarantee that, if I arrive to my hotel covered in stubble, then I am also under-nourished, running on little sleep, poorly hydrated, and concerned I’ve forgotten something important.

That, for me, is the power of routine.

The day before I fly, either in the morning or right after I check in for my flight, I need to trim my nails and shave. When I do those things, I tend to review my travel checklist in my head. Then I grab my go-bag, add the clothes for the trip, and check my pack of chargers. Then I typically fill my bottle, drink the whole thing, and put it in the side mesh pocket.

After that, there’s still room for me to screw it all up, but it gets my mind in travel mode early. More times than not, I make an honest effort to get extra veggies and go to bed early.

Dan John talks about the power of checklists – how, yeah, they keep you from forgetting your shoes going to Nationals, but really how they get you in the right mental space to compete. He says those checklists – routines and rituals that ensure you arrive ready to do your thing – are a bigger portion of peaking than how many reps and sets you do in the weight room.

I agree.

In fact, checklists are the only thing that work for me. I’ve showed up to hurdle races on the tail end of a week on the road and a vicious cold, but knew my bag was packed, hit my standard warmup, and run PRs.

I’ve spent 5 weeks doing specific prep for a downhill race and arrived in the best condition of my season, just to find that I didn’t have my camp stove to make breakfast on practice day and didn’t have the right shoes for my pedals…I didn’t race well that day.

So taking 20 minutes to write down all the things you need to do, taking that time months in advance of your A event or your regional championships or whatever could make all the difference.

Unpacking then repacking your go-bag (you’re surely not rummaging through your closet for a bag before every trip right??) 3-5 days out from your trip to the big event could make all the difference.

And shaving before you fly, therefore kicking off your mental journey to success well in advance of starting the physical journey, could just make all the difference.

Now, let’s be clear, I started writing this one while waiting for a flight that got delayed rather fortuitously – given that I had forgotten my wallet at home, drove 20 min back home for it, and was still in the security line at my original boarding time.

I got to my gate thirsty, hungry, stressed…and covered in stubble.

Still learning my own lessons here, friends.