In the week leading up to the London Triathlon, competitors should focus as much on their downtime as on their workouts, ensuring they rest properly and wake up on the race-day energised, confident and injury-free. Given then that our three competitors are taking part in the London event and over the Olympic distance for the first time, it’s understandable each has concerns over how to spend the final days of their preparation.

Gabbi Cahane, for example, is unsure about what time he should arrive to the start line at ExCel in the Docklands. In a race featuring about 12,000 competitors and staggered over Saturday and Sunday, he races at 7am on the second day, but suspects he will need to set aside at least an hour to register, rack up his bike, and put on a wetsuit. “Though I’m wondering do I have to get down there at half five?” he says, laughing at his plight.

Unfortunately for Cahane, Dan Bullock, a co-owner of the Swim for Tri coaching service and a former triathlon coach of the year, says that the scale of the event means 5.30am is the latest he should turn up and that even earlier would be ideal. “He needs to get there as soon as they open the doors,” says Bullock, who has been advising our interviewees over the past month. “The ExCel is huge. It’s very easy to take a wrong turning in the transition from the swim to the bike. So you should really walk through the transitions before the race.”

He also recommends that Cahane analyses the performance of the swimmers starting before him at 6.30am. “Royal Victoria Dock is enclosed but wind still blows across it,” Bullock says. “By watching other competitors, you can judge the affect of the wind and see who has chosen a good course through the water.”

Jen Herrera has had conflicting information about what she should eat before and during the race. Some have sworn by the benefits of an energy bar while she has found that drinking before and during a workout gives her a stitch. On the same subject, Cahane has concerns over how he should adapt his diet leading up to the weekend.

He has, for example, wondered about carb-loading, whereby competitors drop their carb-intake early on in the week before an endurance event and then quickly increase it just before it to build up their energy stories. Bullock says such drastic alterations to your diet are unnecessary for a challenge that is likely to last between three and four hours. “If you’re planning a 40km trek across the desert, say, then it’s a good idea,” he says. “But as long as you eat a healthy-sized meal the night before and a snack at least 45 minutes before the race, you should be fine.”

However, he says it is important to stay hydrated and advises Herrera not to cut back on fluids. “If Jen is suffering a stitch, it is probably because she is drinking too quickly or in gulps,” he says. “You should only sip, albeit fairly regularly.” Should you snack mid-race, too? “I don’t think an energy bar or carbohydrate gel makes much of a difference, other than providing a caffeine-kick. You’re not skipping a meal, so you don’t need to eat.”

David Smith has a quite different concern. His confidence has dipped because of his performance in a recent sprint-distance triathlon, which he entered it as a warm-up to this weekend. He felt sluggish during the race and recorded a time that he has beaten in the past with less preparation. “I was rubbish, basically,” he says.

Fortunately, Bullock says there is no reason for Smith to be disheartened. “It is impossible to compare different courses,” he says. “London, for example, is a slow course because of the length of transitions and the number of competitors, while Milton Keynes is quick because only 1,000 people enter it. Plus, even though race distances are standardised, they can still vary between courses by up to 20 per cent.”

Each of our three competitors has enjoyed their training and plan to start again soon after the weekend. Smith and Cahane have even pencilled in tougher challenges, with the former hoping to take part in the UK half-Ironman next year, and the latter planning to spend a “holiday” cycling 600 miles from Britain to France. All three would like to try another triathlon (though Herrera plans to give up swimming in murky open water).

Bullock is encouraged by their attitude but warns against over-exertion. “The season starts to wind up now but people are often still keen for the next event,” he says. “They will start training now and be burnt out by February. It is better to cut back for a while, fine-tune your technique and start again in October or November.”