Well, it's almost the end of February and seeing as how I haven't posted anything of importance in quite awhile - and how my training is not exactly at peak intensity and, frankly, quite boring (hence the lack of training posts) - I figured I would write up a little something on choosing your race calendar and provide some feedback into how I go into planning mine.
In reality, the end of February is pretty late to start planning your calendar. At this point in time, many of the races that have a lottery entrance are already closed (Aquaphor New York City, Escape from Alcatraz, Survival of the Shawangunks (SOS), etc.) and their lotteries have either already been drawn or will be done shortly. These races are, in general, the more popular, large city races and/or have a very limited number of spots available and/or require a qualification time (SOS). However, fear not, because there are still PLENTY of smaller races out there that are not full yet, and might not even be open for registration yet (typically the later season (September - November) races and any smaller local races).
As a general rule (which most of this column will be based on seeing as how I have no quantitative way of measuring any of what I say besides the personal experience of myself and triathlete friends), any race that is fancy enough to have a full-page advertisement in
Triathlete magazine will probably sell out in a short amount of time, so if you see a race that looks interesting to you, write down the date registration opens for next year in your calendar (or your phone) and get on it early. Lots of races advertised in magazines are part of a series (HITS, Rev3, TriRock, etc.) that have multiple races across the US and multiple formats (sprint, Olympic, half/full), so if you are early enough - or want to travel - then you'll have your pick of races to choose from.
But what if you don't subscribe to any triathlon magazines? Well, you're screwed.
Just kidding.
There are plenty of different ways to find out about races, the easiest one being to go to Google or Bing or whatever search engine you use and type in: "triathlon races in (insert state/region/country/etc. here)" and there will be tons of different options that arise. A good website that I like to use is called TriFind.com - you can search using different criteria and narrow down options as you go. It's not going to list every race possible, but it comes close.
Another great way is to get in touch with other triathletes. Trust me when I tell you that no triathlete will turn down the chance to talk about races that they've done - ever. In fact, you will probably get more information than you cared to know, some of which are relevant (accommodation suggestions, parking) and some of which are not (their gastrointestinal issues, what kind of shoes they were wearing during their run and their caloric intake). But it's a great way to find out if a particular race sounds appealing to you or not. Sometimes a great race on paper is actually a
logistical nightmare that just isn't worth it.
But hold on a second, before you start registering for races willy nilly, you have to do a little thinking - and planning. First and foremost, sit down with your calendar - work, personal, family - and write down every big ticket thing that you have going on between March and November of the year. I'm talking about weddings, vacations, work events/conferences, milestone parties, etc. Essentially, anything that will require the use of an entire week and/or weekend of your time should be included. Now that you have your "important life events" set, you can start to plan your season around them.
Listed below are the criteria that I use each year to come up with my race season. Each season is different, and I adjust things accordingly when I'm planning my racing calendar for the following year and you also have to be able to have some (but not much) flexibility.
Set Your "A" Race
What's an "A" race? It's essentially the race that you want to peak for. It is the race that will come above all others and the one race that you are aiming to do your best at. It doesn't necessarily have to be your longest race or the biggest race, or even come at the end of the season, but it is the race that you are shooting to PR in. You can have multiple "A" races during a season, but I don't recommend having more than two and they should be a fair distance apart to allow for better recovery and tapering.
For example, last year I had both the Nation's Tri and the NYC Marathon as my "A" races, which complicated things, but was not impossible. One was in the beginning of September and the other was in the beginning of November, which gave me more than enough time for recovery after the first and then building and tapering for the second. I just had to budget my training time to ensure that I was logging the appropriate amount of running miles to ensure I could do the marathon, but also not neglect my biking or swimming. In reality, the speed and hill work that I did during my marathon training actually benefited me the most in terms of my 10k splits in the Nation's Tri, so two completely different "A" race events actually turned out to be a boon for my ultimate PR.
What Does Your Year Look Like?
Do you have five weddings, two bachelorette parties, work conferences and a two-week vacation to Africa planned? Well, that's going to complicate things when it comes to both the races that you can do and the races that you can adequately train for.
Is your calendar wide open? You should probably get a life, but at least you have plenty of weekends to choose from!
This is where planning comes into play and why it's important to know what big events you have coming up in your life. It's unrealistic to think you are going to PR in a race after being on vacation in the Bahamas for a week prior to the event - your training schedule will more than likely be thrown off as you sip Pina Coladas by the pool and while yes, dancing is a great form of exercise, it's probably not going to get you into peak shape a week before the big race.
So plan your "A" races accordingly. This doesn't mean don't do that race, it just means don't make it your "A" race and instead use it to work on your speed through transition or getting ahead of the pack on the swim or negative splitting the run. Whatever your weakness is, work on it.
Early Season vs. Middle Season vs. Late Season
Again, take a look at your calendar - if you are overbooked in the beginning of the year, but the later half looks open, think about trying for a late season PR. Or if you're second half of the summer is devoted to a family vacation, then try for an early summer race. But be aware of starting too early - I know when it's 25* and snowing outside in December that that early season race in San Juan looks inviting, but just remember that the majority of your training will have to be done either inside on a trainer, or outside in the cold and you're more than likely not going to be able to get any open-water swim training done prior to landing in sunny Puerto Rico. Your body won't be acclimated to the weather, so an early-season PR is unlikely, and might even be dangerous. Unless you are planning on spending a serious amount of time somewhere comparably warm in the month leading up to the race, you're better off picking another race.
Local vs. Long Distance
This is where your personality-type comes into play, as well as your triathlon prowess. Is this your first year of actually scheduling a race season? Are you still somewhat new to the triathlon scene? Do you freak out if plans get changed and you get thrown off schedule before a race? If any of these sound like you, you might want to keep your racing net within a car trips' distance, thus ensuring a relatively stress-free weekend.
Should you choose to fly to a race, there are a number of different factors to keep in mind:
Bike transportation - Will you be checking it, because depending on the airline you take, you could be looking at a $150 fee each way. Check the airline restrictions before you book your flight. There is also the option of shipping it out via UPS or FedEx which means that you would have to give yourself a minimum of a week, or pay the extra cost of guaranteed shipping, to ensure that it gets to the hotel in time. There are also a couple different services like
TriBike Transport and
Raceday Transport that will do the heavy lifting for you, at a cost.
Flights - Be prepared for delays and know the restrictions for luggage and carry-on bags. The last thing you want is to get to the airport and have to pay an extra fee because you didn't know that your gear or wheel bag would be over the weight limit or count as a third bag. When in doubt, call ahead.
Packing - Triathlons require stuff. And a lot of it. That means knowing exactly what you need on race day, laying it out before you pack, checking it, rechecking it, then rechecking it again as you pack it all. Some stuff you can get when you land, like PowerBars or gels or sports drinks, but if you just have to race with your favorite homemade granola and you can't even fathom thinking about starting the day without your favorite protein shake, you're gonna want to make sure that you can bring it with you. And while just about any major race in America and overseas will have a pretty big convention to stock up on any last-minute supplies, you really don't want to race in new shoes because you forgot yours.
Lost Luggage - It happens, more than airlines probably would like to admit it, especially if you don't have a direct flight (tangent: I coached women's lacrosse at the college level and the airline lost our bag of sticks that they required us to check on the way back from Florida, essentially leaving us stranded in the middle of the season until they found them and got them back to us. It happens.). To ensure that you don't get screwed, pack every essential race-day item in your carry-on. This includes: racing kit, running shoes, bike shoes, helmet and anything that you consider to be "vital" that you can't get at your destination. That being said, triathletes are friendly folks and should you get to your destination and the airline has, in fact, lost your luggage and you didn't heed my advice, just let the race director know and there are inevitably great racers out there that over-prepare and bring extras of lots of different things. No one wants to see someone else's hard work go down in flames before the race has even started.
Obviously, traveling by car has its' issues as well, especially if you are racing around a holiday weekend and you happen to live along the I-95 corridor, but in general, you are a bit less stressed knowing that all of your important items are never truly traveling out of sight or out of your hands. And while destination races are always fun, racing locally has it's perks as well, including getting to sleep in your own bed the night before and also meeting up with lots of other local triathletes.
Building Distance
If your "A" race is a half or full Ironman distance, I recommend building up distance as you progress through your training. For example, let's say you're racing Timberman 70.3 in August as your "A" race, I would try and race an Olympic race in both June and July, a sprint event in mid-to-late May, and begin the season with some road races to get your legs going, as well as add a 5k or 10k in June and July for some added speed work.
After your (hopeful) PR is set in August, then you can either relax and take some time off, or continue racing other events but at a more casual speed. This isn't to say that you won't be racing those later events hard, but just know that a PR is not necessarily your main goal. If you felt the burning desire to add a second "A" race to the calendar, I would shoot for a late September into October race, giving yourself plenty of recovery time, especially if you are racing a longer distance, or even switching gears entirely like I did.
Athletic Supporters
By this I don't mean "cups" or "bras", I mean your cheering section. Do you want one? Because don't expect friends and family to follow you to those exotic racing locations, no matter how many pina coladas you promise to buy them. And especially don't plan on them traveling anywhere along the East Coast during any holiday weekend. If you have an amazing significant other (
shout out SJ), then yes, they will probably be waiting at the finish line waiting to give your sweaty, nasty smelling body a giant hug - as well as a cold adult beverage - no matter where you race. However, if you want to pack the house with friends and family and generally have the loudest cheering section at the event, stick to local, easy-to-get-to or fan-friendly events. Just remember, triathlons usually start at ungodly hours before most normal humans without infants or toddlers are even thinking about waking up or, in my case, before some of my friends have even gone to bed, so you may have to entice people to come with the promise of post-race booze and food or, since they aren't racing, pre-race Bloody Mary's and mimosas, too. And it never hurts to bake fresh banana bread!
There you have it friends. I'm sure there are things that I have missed and things that I will think of to add, and if so then I promise to edit this list, however, as a general guideline I think I've hit all the important parts. Just remember, your season is only as good as your training plan, so no matter how meticulous you are in planning your racing calendar, if you don't train you won't get the full benefit of that meticulous schedule anyway. If you have any questions then shoot 'em at me and I'll try my best to respond with something witty and useful!
And, as always, don't forget to tell your triathlon widow how much you love them and appreciate all of the delicious meals that they cook so you don't get the runger pains, or how the yard looks amazing because while you were out tooling around in your spandex for three hours they mowed the lawn AND trimmed the hedges. Or you can always add up the cost of your bike, triathlon registration fees and hotel costs, multiply it by two, and then buy a diamond of similar cost - that usually does the trick.*
*Note: I have never done this, but I'm sure SJ will be waiting now.
