How to plan your 2017 race season

Do you love to race as much as you love to train? 

Training is fun because you are in control, in your own environment. No one is watching or tracking you. You have nothing to prove. 

Racing can be scary as it's filled with unknowns. You are nervous and you feel a lot of pressure to perform. You have expectations that you feel must be fulfilled or else you term the race as unsuccessful. 

While it's great to be passionate about your training, don't forget why you train...so you can be physically and mentally prepared for race day. 
And just because you race, it doesn't mean you have to PR, podium or beat your closest competition.

Carefully selecting your races is a great way to set yourself up for a great upcoming season as it’s the map that helps guides your training. It's also the easiest way for you to envision and visualize yourself developing as an athlete so you know where your training is going.

Planning ahead also shows your coach (and yourself) that you are committed to your long-term journey as an evolving triathlete.

While racing is a great way to test your fitness, be mindful that fitness improvements happen over an extended period of time. For example, I have been racing endurance triathlons for 10 consecutive years and my best race results have occurred in the past 3 years.
Certainly, the bigger your goals, the more patient you need as big goals aren't achieved in just a few seasons.
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TRIMARNI TIPS ON PLANNING YOUR RACE SEASON


1) Select 5-6 possible key races for your season (which you will then narrow down to only two or three). These races will be the most important races in your season. You are willing to make the necessary investments (time, energy and money) for these races.
-Consider any and all family, work and life obligations before selecting your key races.
-While you cannot plan ahead for everything in life, consider that your greatness commitment to training will occur in the 8-10 weeks before each of your key races.

-Consider the distance of your race so that it makes sense in your season development (choosing a key half ironman in March/April or an Ironman in May/June will not make sense in your season development – some exceptions may apply in the case that you were injured or sick late season so you don’t need the typical “off-season” in Nov/Dec).

-Consider the timing of your event based on where you live (if you train indoors until April/May, choosing a key race in May/June may not make sense if you need to acclimate to the heat).

-Consider the logistics (and cost) of getting to your race and allow adequate time to see your race course, settle into your race environment and to not feel rushed with travel to and from your race venue. We suggest to arrive to an Ironman race venue at least 4-5 days before your race – if your race is on Sunday, you should plan to arrive on Wed or Thursday. For a half IM, plan to arrive at least 2 days before the race.

-Think about your key races - Consider races which have a swim/bike/run course that you feel confident racing on (flat, long climbs, rollers, etc.). While  it's not always necessary, your race should have a similar terrain that is similar to your home training environment. If not, plan a few long workouts to train somewhere else in a similar race environment. Also consider typical weather (cold vs hot), water conditions (wetsuit legal or not, lake, ocean or river), competition (if you are wanting to qualify for a World or National championship), elevation (altitude at race venue and total elevation on the bike and run course), or anything else that is important to you when selecting your race.

-While we love the idea of a race-cation or racing with teammates/friends, you should select races which suit your athletic strengths and provide a race venue which makes you excited for training and racing.

Write down your top 5-6 possible key races (name, distance and date/month)--------------------------

2) Establish a few goals for your key races. Are you chasing a time goal, a PR, a podium or overall placement, a qualification to a national or world event or something more personal?
We encourage at least three goals for your key races, with at least one or two being a non-metric or non-placement goal.

Write down your personal goals for your key races---------------------------

3) Based on your responses for #1 and #2, you should now have a good understanding of the two or three clear choices for your key races for your 2017 season. 
You should plan to commit to these races now, which means registering for the race after you get the OK from your coaches.

Write down your top 2-3 key races and goals
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4) Now it's time to select a few lower priority races throughout your season.
These races can be used to practice pacing, to put yourself into a race environment, to break-up the monotony of training (especially if you train indoors or alone a lot), to practice transitions, to get out some racing nerves and anxieties or to test your fitness.

Some athletes see these races as tune-up races before a key because there should be little emphasis on time goals and placements. Never use a low priority race to validate your fitness or readiness for a key race. Low priority races are a great way to learn, which means it's ok to make mistakes.
You should plan to go into these races with no expectations (and not always with a taper) and these races should not require a big cost (money, time and energy) from your life.  Many times, low priority races will be incorporated into your training.

While these are low priority races, you may surprise yourself as to how well you perform at these races, especially when the pressure is off, you are building fitness and you are not overly focused on the end result.

I find great importance on selecting low priority races as they assist in your journey as you prepare for your key races. Many athletes don't like to spend money on low priority races because there is a "why bother" attitude (why spend money on a low priority race?) but there is great value in putting yourself in a race environment as no workout will ever simulate the same motions and emotions you feel on race day. On race day, you are put into situations that you never experience in training and only on race day, do you have to figure out how to get through those oh-no situations.

Although you can register for your low priority races ahead of time (ex. if the race is known to sell out and it's your only feasible race option or to keep you mentally committed to racing and not just training), you should never ever risk your health or race with an injury in a low priority race. The same goes for a key race as very few exceptions apply that it is worth racing sick/injured.

Please keep in mind that lower priority races should still be sport specific and should assist in your development in your primary sport.

Write down your lower priority races (name, distance and date/month)
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5) Now the fun part. Select a few “fun” events that you can incorporate into your training in the off-season or early season (Oct-Feb). 
You do not have to register for these races ahead of time but instead, you fit them into your training when they make sense in your season. Fun events include: a local 5K or 10K, a swim meet, a cycling event (ex. Gran Fondo) or sponsored group ride, a duathlon, an aquabike, a sprint triathlon. You can do fun events with friends or family as not ever race has to be a "hard" effort. These fun events are great for involving loved ones who sacrifice their time so you can train and race.

Write down your fun events (name, distance, date/month)

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6) Now that you have your season planned, you need the OK from your family, spouse, boss, etc. to make sure that your planned season makes sense. Once a race is approved, it’s never too early to start planning your upcoming travel so that you can get you (and your family/friends) to and from your races. Always be sure to discuss/consider the financial costs that are needed to help you achieve your goals/dreams.
Consider planning a few days after your race to enjoy with your friends/family for sight-seeing as you recover from your race. 
Example of a well-designed racing season for an athlete who is training for two half ironman distance key races.
November - Start 2017 training, 10K Turkey Trot (fun race)

December - No race – family time over the holidays

January - keep on training

February - Swim (pool)/run event (fun race)

March- Olympic tri (low priority)

April - Half Ironman tri (low priority)

May- Half Ironman tri (key priority)

June - Open water swim event (low priority)

July - keep on training

August - 4 day triathlon camp

September - Olympic distance (low priority), then Half Ironman tri (Key priority)

October - 50-mile bike event (fun race)

Planning your 2017 race season

Cheers to your 2016 season!
If you haven't started already, it's time to start thinking about your 2017 year of racing.

When it comes to season planning, there are typically two types of athletes who fail with season planning.

Athlete 1 - signs up for races without any thought as to the season as a whole. A race is open, looks "fun", wants redemption from racing it in the past or knows other athletes who are racing the same event are all typical responses as to how athletes plan their races. There's little thought as to the logistics and timing of these races and many times.

Athlete 2 - So overwhelmed, doesn't like to plan or commit and just waits to register when the timing is right (typically, races close and the athlete has to find other options). 

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With so many races to choose from and so much unpredictability in life, you may be overwhelmed with the thought of having to register for races, book hotels/flights and ask time off work, so far in advance.

We understand that your mind and body may be exhausted from your last season of racing and that it may be difficult to think about your 2017 goals right now, let alone planning your racing schedule, but as a performance-driven athlete, careful consideration of your races will allow you to not only peak appropriately for your key races but you will find yourself developing as the season progresses. 

A common mistake is for athletes to only train for one race at a time. Example, Half IM in May  - Starting on January 1st, I am training for Ironman ______ for the next 5 months. Ironman in August - from January 1st until August, I will be training only for my Ironman.

In order to ensure smooth development throughout your season, your focus can not be on one race. Sure, you may want to excel at that race or it may be a high priority race but this thinking does not foster long lasting performance gains. Generally, athletes get too fit too fast and can not maintain that fitness throughout the season. Or the opposite, they try to train too hard for too long and get burnt out or injured and can't peak appropriately.

Many athletes have a tendency to become hyper focused on training and racing and ultimately, every race on the schedule becomes a key priority race (with too much pressure to be very fit for every race). The athlete races too hard, too often and the athlete is unable to properly recover from each race and maintain consistency in training. Consequently, when the athlete needs to really commit to peak training for the real key race of the season, the body is exhausted.

Or the opposite happens – an athlete doesn’t race enough and too much pressure is placed on the one or two races on the schedule (ex. Ironman in September and only 1 or 2 races prior) and sadly, the athlete lacks the necessary mental and physical skills that are needed to perform well on race day because great racing is built on prior racing experience.

A haphazard approach to selecting races (start too early/late, finish too early) combined with an “all-in” training attitude can often leave you needing an extended off-season, and you may struggle to transfer your accumulated fitness from one season to the next.

In my next few blogs, I will help you properly plan your 2017 season of racing/training. 

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Here's a look at my tentative season of racing (and a few other events):

March 19th - Great Clermont Olympic triathlon (concluding our 4-day Trimarni all-level Clermont, FL training camp)

April 9th - IM Haines City 70.3 (Haines City, FL)

May 6th - IM St. George 70.3 (St. George, Utah) - Key Race

May 21st - Mountains to Main Street Half IM (Greenville, SC)

May 26-28th - Trimarni skills camp (Greenville)

June 22-26th - Trimarni endurance training camp (Greenville, SC)

August 6th - Lake Logan Half IM (Canton, NC) - Key Race

August - Purple Patch Fitness East Coast camp (Greenville, SC)

August 30-Sept 3rd - Trimarni advanced training camp (Greenville, SC)

September 9th - IM 70.3 World Championship (pending qualification at IM St George) - Key Race

October - Hincapie Gran Fondo (80-mile cycling event)

Even though my early season half, St. George 70.3, is a key race where I hope to qualify for IM 70.3 WC in September, I am not expecting myself to be in peak racing shape. While I will be strong and fit, I will not detour my entire summer of development simply to ensure that I am in my very best race shape in May. It is important that I go through all my developmental stages of training in November - May to help me maintain great resilience throughout the entire summer of training and racing.
Also, as I have mentioned in past blogs, after 3 consecutive years of IM racing (6 Ironmans), I will be taking an intentional break from IM racing to focus on the half IM distance so that I can race more and fine-tune my skills and advance my fitness. This is all with the intention that in 2018, I will return to IM racing with better skills, resilience, strength and fitness. Speed is all relative but I do hope to get "faster" this season.

7 race season planning tips

Every athletes deserves and needs an off season. However long you choose to take off and your own definition of "off" is certainly up to you and your coach but it is critical that you give your body and mind time off from structure and training stress before starting your next season. 

With so much free time on your hands without daily hours of training, the off season is a great time to plan your upcoming season. 

To help you peak appropriately as well as avoiding burnout and to maximize your time training, planning your season is one of the most important factors that will influence your season success. Pick the wrong races for your body, that occur at the wrong times, and no amount of training will trump a poorly planned season. 

The reason why athletes of all levels must plan out the season is so that you can properly periodize your training. Based on your races and the priority of those races, alongside any other stressors or life events that may influence consistent training, having a racing schedule allows you to then plan out the different training phases of your season appropriately. 
(Did you know that your season should have seasons and phases?)

The ultimate goal as an athlete is to have the best performance possible at the races that matter the most. Haphazard, random, inconsistent or highly structured training is risky. Sometimes it works for some athletes (we all know that athlete) but most athletes will gain fitness and confidence as well as peak fitness to be used on race day with the proper placement of races. 

Peaking is extremely difficult to achieve so planning your season with optimal periodization is critical for season success. 

Here are a few of my tips for season planning:

Create an ATP 
This is your annual training plan. With every week of the entire year in front of you (on a template like Training Peaks ATP) write down every race that you are planning of doing on the respective race day. If some races do not have dates, check last years date to get an idea of when the race may fall (or contact the race director).

Prioritize your races 

 As mentioned in our 2015 Race schedule , it is important to give priority to every race as your prep, taper and race strategy as well as recovery will likely differ for each race based on the priority and when the race falls in your plan. As mentioned in my last post, you should only select 2-3 (at most) top priority A races and they should be placed appropriately with adequate time to peak and ultimately recover between races. Keep in mind that even if you have 2 or 3 A races, you do not have to be in top shape for each race and just because a race isn't top priority, it doesn't mean that you do not have the opportunity to do amazingly well. From experience, an A race does not need to be a PR or Podium race to be termed successful. 

Plan for yearly life events 

Now comes the fun part! If you know of any planned or tentative travel dates for work (or leisure), vacations, weddings, family events (kids tournaments/games/recitals), events or any yearly life stressors (big deadlines/projects at work), place those in your schedule. Life doesn't stop just because you have an A race or any race (for that matter) on your schedule and it is important that your race schedule is balanced with the rest of your life. It's not selfish of you to participate in races (or train for a race) but if you find yourself planning races during important times in your life (or your family/work life) you are going to feel as if you are forced to make compromises. By properly planning your race schedule with life (the best possible) you will not only increase the chance of proper peaking with consistent training but you will minimize stress and you will have others on board with your master plan. 

Reflect 

Now that you have your prioritized races and life events planned, rethink your annual training plan. One you rethink and re-plan your season (and possibly pick new key races and remove a few unnecessary races) you should also reflect on last year to remind yourself of anything else that may positively or negatively influence your season. This is extremely personal when it comes to reflecting on your season but you can think about anything physical, emotional or hormonal that affected your season around/during/after races.
With the available time that you now have left on your annual plan, do you feel comfortable with the timeline that you gave yourself to peak appropriately for your key races? Are you racing too much with not enough available time to consistently train? Do you have key races planned too close to stressful events or travel which may cause you to feel overwhelmed about training or your race performance? Are your races too close together that you are not giving yourself enough time to recover from your races which may increase the risk of burnout, sickness or injury? Are you trying to be superhuman and beat the odds of what is physically possible by your body?

Plan your season goals
 It's likely that you picked your top priority races with a goal or two in mind. Next to all of your races, it is important to properly define the outcome of the race. Now here is where athletes often make mistakes. Perhaps you only have one or two top priority races but you may find yourself putting too much pressure or unrealistic (and unnecessary goals) on yourself at your races. The reason why I feel this is a big problem for athletes is because there is a B or even C race on the schedule but the athlete may feel competitive pressure or feel there is something to prove and instead of sticking to the plan that may be of lower intensity or it may be specific to practicing certain things on race day (like pacing, nutrition, transitions) the athlete may end up racing balls to the wall and essentially, expecting an effort and performance that would be worthy of a high priority race. If you are a competitive person and struggle holding back, I recommend picking very low key races (perhaps races that do not provide a purse prize, fancy awards or qualifying spots for a national or world event) for B races (which are often tune-up races) where you do not feel pressure to prove anything.
Now back to goal setting. There is a reason why you are not reaching your goals right now or you haven't reached them ever before. You want your goals to be challenging so you are motivated to work hard but they should also be timely, realistic and very specific.
Having a goal of winning a race or placing on the podium is extremely tough as you may not be able to always predict who shows up on race day. Race time goals are also difficult for race day because although you can certainly train yourself to become faster and stronger and set yourself up to be able to execute to achieve a certain time goal on race day, there are many variables that are out of your control (ex. weather) that may affect your time but may not negatively affect your overall performance. Many times, it is best to chase your closest competition instead of a time goal. I find athletes find success this way as a time on a piece of paper doesn't always tell the entire race story.
Aside from A-races, not every other race  needs a goal or a specific defined outcome. However, for athletes who struggle with season planning or haven't yet figured out how to peak properly, I do recommend to be precise with your race goals, even for B and C priority races so that you can identify what it is you want to achieve at the race which will ultimately helps you move closer to your high priority season goals.
Bottom line - be OK with not being your fittest at every race. You also do not need to justify your performance at every race based on the race priority. Just know that you are doing exactly what works best for you.  Check your ego at the door and be happy for those who are racing with you in their A-priority races when you are saving your best performance for another race. Accept the process that is needed to peak appropriately so you save your best performance for when it really counts. 

Periodize your training for the seasonOnce you have everything in front of you (yes, can you believe you mapped out the entire year?!) now it's time to periodize your training for the season. This may require the help of a coach as this is not easy to schedule appropriate workouts to fall at appropriate times throughout the season. There are helpful tools, books and suggestions as to the phases of the season (ex. off season, transition, base, build, peak, recovery) and specific workouts, so I recommend to do your best to give yourself a few weeks for each phase of the season to help you prepare (slowly) for your races. If you follow the Trimarni approach to training, we believe in building a strong foundation and that is getting our athletes stronger while focusing on skills and form prior to getting faster. Then, when the fast foundation is built, we go longer. 

Print your plan and save a copy for edits If you think your awesome, well-planned schedule is perfect, you may be right. But if you think that your schedule is not going to change throughout the year, sadly, you are wrong. Life changes, injuries (and niggles) happen and just when everything is going as planned, yep, it happens. This is all part of being an athlete but let's turn that frown upside down. Being in charge of your flexible schedule is extremely important as you have the ability  to keep yourself moving forward.  Having access to your schedule is critical for season success because you must rethink your plan every time "life happens". Stay on top of your season highlights but also any setbacks that require you to be proactive and reactive, all at the same time. Adjust and modify your schedule however you need to keep yourself moving closer to success. 

I hope you found this helpful. This is how we coach our athletes and this is how Karel and I are able to increase the odds of peaking appropriately at our key races, season after season.
It's important that you take the necessary time to plan out your season so you know where all that hard work is going AND so you can increase the odds of finding success in your 2015 racing season. 

Happy Training and Racing!

Triathlon racing - how to plan your season

You may be asking yourself why I am writing about planning your triathlon season now, instead of waiting until the off-season?

Back in November, I wrote a blog about our racing season as well as 10 tips on planning your season. 

Although this blog was written just before the New Year, Karel and I actually discussed our 2014 season back in the Spring 2013. 

For triathletes who are choosing to do an Ironman, it's likely that you have to sign up in a year in advance. So if the Ironman is your ultimate goal (or a half IM), it is important to consider how you are going to plan your season. And you may want to consider your season planning before you register for your endurance race. 

I realize that a lot can occur in a year, most of which is out of your control especially if you are unable to plan for it to happen (or not happen). 

Over the past three years, I have been able to peak appropriately for my races (despite overcoming some obstacles along the way) all because of how my season was laid out for my body, my racing goals and my life (that of which I could control). 

If you are interested in reading any of my race reports from the past few years, you can visit my website to read more about how the races went down. 

But there are a few considerations that I would like to discuss to help you better plan your season. 

RACE PLANNING
-It's very easy to register for a race, especially if it is new, your friends are doing it or if it is in a cool location. However, consider the timing of the race, where the race occurs and any logistics that may impact your racing experience. 

-If you are considering a long distance triathlon in Feb - June as part of your season, consider how you will prep for the race as well as any other races that will occur after that early season race. I find for many athletes, it is too early to peak appropriately for an early season race that occurs before late Spring and even if you race it for fun or as a tune-up, it's very easy to skip over important parts of a periodized training plan that will help you properly peak for the more important races later on in the year. Now, this may be no big deal to race in an early season race just for fun but also consider the time and money that you are spending on a "fun" race so early in the year and the impact that it may have on your more important, later season races. As an athlete, you have to think long term and not just stay in the moment when it comes to planning races. 

-If you are training indoors throughout the cold winter months, how many outdoor workouts will you be able to perform before your key race? These outdoor workouts with "real" course situations are very important to help with acclimating to the heat, dialing in pacing, nutrition and mental focus.  

-As mentioned before, an early season race may force you to skimp on base training (ex. speed work, strength work, weaknesses) and you may find yourself with a 1 month off season and then right into heavy training again. You need to build a strong foundation if you want to prep appropriately for your key race and you may find yourself a bit burnt out if you start your season training in Dec/Jan and have another key race planned for March and then another in Sept, October or November. Consider putting your key races within a 14-16 week time frame so that you minimize the chance of burn out (or peaking too early). Tune-up races are encouraged to practice transitions, pacing, nutrition, etc but with this comes removing pressure of "what if I qualify" for another race, PR's or specific time goals. Consider tune-up races as part of the bigger picture. 

-You can't control life but if you have a stable life (ex. a routine with family/work, etc.), consider races that work with your "normal" life. If your job/family requires more from you at certain times of the year, that is a big sign that you should not be peaking for a race during that time. Sure, it can be done but it's a short line to balance on to ensure that you do not get injured, burn out or too fatigued. 

-Ever athlete wants to peak at the right time. Be sure not to put too much pressure on yourself that you have to PR at every race. Keep your focus on your season goal that means the most to you. If you are aiming to qualify for a World or National event or place on the podium or PR, all of your training and racing should be designed in a way that you have the opportunity to put that hard work to the test, when it counts. 

-I am constantly finding athletes racing on courses that are not best suited for their strengths. There's nothing wrong with stepping outside of the comfort zone but before you sign up for a race because it is local or a race because it is a destination, do your research to ensure that things like weather, terrain, altitude, travel logistics, competition, etc. will not negatively affect your performance. You deserve to do well in your races based on your prior dedication to training so be sure to pick a race that suits your strengths. Additionally, if you love the course that you get to race on and you know it's the "right" course for you, you will find yourself with less stress/anxiety going into the race. 

-As an age group athlete, it's unlikely that your life revolves just around you. You have responsibilities, bills to pay and it's hard to balance it all. Racing triathlons (and training) is expensive and cutting corners does not give better positive outcomes. Embrace the journey which requires time, patience and the ability to understand how your body adapts to training stress. 

-Avoid haphazard training. Your training plan should have a purpose, just like your workouts. If you want to be a runner, train like a runner. If you want to be a triathlete, dedicate your training to three sports so that by race day you are strong enough in each discipline to put everything together. 

-Be extremely careful when it comes to planned or unplanned races. Every time you "last minute" decide to do a race, it has the potential to impact your training and health. Furthermore, if you have a race on your schedule that you feel you are not prepared for (or in the best health), it's always better to play it smart than risk long term damage to your season or health.  

Before every season, Karel and I develop a ATP (Annual Training Plan) for every one of our athletes which maps out the entire season and along with the scheduling of races (and priorities), we have a tentative plan written out as to when the athletes will build, recover, peak and taper as well as any other potential conflicts such as vacations, travel/work events, family obligations, etc. This way, we are able to create a training plan that is specific to our athletes goals and to help our athletes peak appropriately. This ATP is never set in stone for when it comes to one-on-one coaching, we are constantly adjusting training when life happens. 

-Having raced triathlons competitively as an age group endurance athlete for the past 8 years, finished 8 IM's (with 3 recent PR performances) and won a few races (2012 Iron Girl Clearwater Half Marathon overall winner, Branson 70.3 overall female amateur, HITS Ocala half ironman overall female) I have also had my share of races where I have learned and grown from a race performance. I never put race expectations on myself that are so big that I am hard on myself for not being more prepared. If I have a plan, I know where I am going and even if training doesn't go as planned on the plan, I still focus on how I can keep myself moving forward. Ultimately, every race day plan is based on my current level of fitness ON race day. 

A successful performance can be defined in many ways and many times, it does not happen when an athlete chases a finishing time. I encourage you to plan a racing schedule that allows you to peak at the race that maters the most and if there are two key races on your schedule, be sure you understand how to structure your training so that you can excel when it really matters. Many times this means scheduling breaks in your season so that you avoid overtraining and burnout. I see far too many athletes put in so much work in training (along with spending lots of money) and they are unable to put the training to the test on race day. Now, there are many situations as to why an athlete may not perform to an optimal level on race day (and it's not always within your control) but your odds of reaching success are much greater if you have a plan so you know, not only where you are going but also when your hard work will eventually get to pay off. 

Happy Race Season Planning!

Triathlon season planning - top 10 tips

I grew up traveling a lot.

 My parents sacrificed a lot for my brother and I to do what we loved with our bodies. Almost every weekend, we would be at a swim meet or gymnastic meet. 

This is a video of my amazing younger brother Aaron (University of Michigan gymnastics team) performing his high bar routine at the 2007 Big Ten Championships in his senior year. After this routine, he became the 2007 Big Ten High Bar Champion. 

What a rock star! Still so proud of him!

Almost 10 years since I graduated from college where I swam competitively all through College, I still enjoy traveling to race....or I guess you could say that I LOVE to race to travel. 

So - for next season, Karel and I have decided on four key races to take our love of traveling to the next level as we use our active bodies to cross finishing lines in new places. 

MAY 4th, 2014 - Me and Karel

June 1st, 2014 - Karel (I will spectate/sherpa)

June 29th, 2014 - Me and Karel

September 7th, 2014 - Me and Karel 

Signing up for races is easy - you must have your credit card handy and hit submit after you fill out your registration. 

I find that many athletes jump the gun when signing up for races and do not consider the time, money and energy that it takes for participating in a race. Not only the effort that is needed to train for the race, but also the mental toughness that is needed for obstacles and setbacks.

But more than anything - you must pick the right races. You may never know if the race is exactly what you plan for it to be on race day but with a little thinking ahead, you can set yourself up for a great racing season to execute on race day and put all that training to good use. 

Here are my top 10 suggestions for picking your races for next year (in no particular order)

1) Decide on 1-2 KEY races within 6 months. It's suggested that these races are around 3-4 months apart so that you can peak appropriately for both of those races and recover properly after the first race.

2) Consider your personal short and long term goals for each race. Are you chasing a time goal or PR, an age group/overall place, a qualification to another race or something personal?

3) Consider anything that may affect your entire racing season (and training) and consider a plan B if something good/bad happens at before or after each race. Consider qualifying for another race (money, travel, time, recovery, etc.), recover/prep for races, work/life, traveling, injury/sickness, etc.

4) Think really hard about why you are registering for a race. DO NOT pick a race just because you are feeling the itch because you just watched an Ironman finish or a marathon on TV or because a race is "open for registration". Have your top 5-10 reasons for why you are picking a race (remember, the money, time and effort that is required to get to the starting line).

5) Save your best performance for your key race. Build a foundation if you choose to race more than your 1-2 KEY races and be patient with your fitness. You do not want to peak in May if your KEY race is in August and you do not have to train 20 hours a week in January because you are excited to train after a 4-8 week off season break.

6) After you have selected your key races, decide how you will best utilize your off season and execute the phases of your periodized training plan. Will you use a coach, a pre-built plan or put together your own plan?

7) Before signing up for any race, be sure you have thought about the support you need from family, the time away from work/family for racing/training as well as anything else that will have a positive (or negative) impact on your race day experience. It takes a team to build an athlete but also a great support system to keep you motivated and excited when times get tough.

8) Pick the right course, with the right weather at the right time of the year. Consider indoor vs outdoor training and make sure you can simulate race day in training (ex. pacing and nutrition) well before your race day. A few things to consider about your race, taking into account your weaknesses and strengths:
Swim - wetsuit legel, non wetsuit legal. Lake, ocean. Water temperature. Mass start. In water start. Beach/land start.
Bike - weather. Rolling hills, climbs, flat. Altitude, sea level.
Run - weather. rolling hills, climbs, flat. Altitude, sea level.

Also consider time needed to travel to your event, acclimating to weather/time change or anything else that may affect executing on race day with your current level of fitness.

9) Think again as to why you signed up for your races and be sure to have specific goals for each race that will keep you motivated to wake up every day to properly prepare your body for that race. Be willing to adjust your race day goals based on weather or any setbacks in fitness/training so that you can maintain good health before, during and after your race. Remember - unless you are a professional, training and racing for triathlons is not your job.

10) Have fun with the races you choose. Do not complain about a race that you signed up for and paid money to participate in. Do not stress about things out of your control. Do your research as to how you will get to the race, where will you stay, how long you will be at the race, the day of the race, possible weather for the race, competition at the race (if applicable) and how you will pay for everything. 

To summarize our season - three of our races are Kona qualifiers. 

It is a dream of Karel and I to be able to race in Kona together. 

We will race every race but we do not expect having the chance to Kona qualify at every race we do this coming season.

I realize that the IM distance is exciting but it does take a toll on the body. As an adult age group athlete, I have learned through experience in the past 7 years of racing in endurance races that longer distance races fit the physiology of my body. 

Karel really enjoys the Half Ironman distance. He is still learning about his body now that he has finished 1 full year of triathlon racing (after over 15 years of racing bikes) and has completed one Ironman (IM Placid in 10:03).

I recognized this year that my body did very well with racing two Ironmans close together (within 14 weeks) as oppose to only 1 Ironman a year. Any closer together would be a major strain on my body at this time in my athletic career. I also know I can not race a lot - my body and mind need breaks and time to recover. I want to execute at every race I do and that is why I do not choose to race a lot.

Because of our train smart philosophy, we hope that next year we will be able to execute at every race and recover quickly and after each race we will gain fitness. We don't believe in B races but instead, having a purpose for every race and taking it very seriously as training and racing is not easy, cheap or kind on the body.

Although all of our races are Kona qualifiers, we picked each race for a specific reason..... in addition to the amazing opportunity to travel somewhere exciting.

St. Croix - This race has been on my bucket list for years. We are finally able to make it happen and I couldn't be more excited to share this challenging/beautiful race with Karel and a few of our friends. This race is known as "beauty and the beast" and with our love for challenging courses, I think we will get our money's worth at this race. Our goal at this race is to race strong and leave it all out on the course. I don't mind hot weather and I love hilly courses.  Karel prefers cooler temps over the heat but also love hilly courses. This race will be challenging for us both and we look forward to sharing stories together after the race is over and enjoying a few days on the island to explore a new place.

Raleigh 70.3- Karel is looking forward to this race because he wants to stay sharp this coming season. With this year (June 2012- Dec 2013) being his first year of triathlons, he did not race a lot and would like to race a bit more next year for a solid block of racing and training. As a cat 1 cyclist turned triathlete and over 20 years cycling experience, Karel knew exactly what worked for him in cycling races and in cycling - your fitness is only as good as your ability to keep up with the person in the front of the race.

He would race almost every weekend with cycling, often 2-3 races in a weekend. Now, he is learning more about his body as a triathlete. Although he understands there will be risks taken in learning more about his body, he also knows when to back off.  We will both utilize our season to get as strong as possible with strength training and work on all the little things that will help us be consistent with training. I will not do this race because I know from experience that after we race hard at St. Croix, I can not recover in 4 weeks and race again. Karel will not race Raleigh all-out but instead, use it as part of training to build fitness since he will also need to recover from St. Croix properly to ensure good build after Raleigh for IM Austria. As always, the key to any racing plan is to reduce training stress and the risk for injury. It's easy to train hard but the focus is recovery. You are only as good in training as your ability to recover properly from races/training. This won't be a B race but instead, part of the big plan. The bike course will fit Karel very well and I have a few athletes racing which will be great to help them out. I love NC and I can't wait to see the city after the race.

Ironman Austria - Our first international race! Although one would think this would be a tough course, this race is fast. Similar to IMFL, this would be a great course for a PR. My goal at this race is to have a strong run off the bike as 6 out of 7 of my IM races have included hilly bikes and/or hilly runs. Both Karel and I will race this race as a KEY race. We also know this race is beautiful and we are excited about our first destination race. Lastly, we choose this race because it is 5 hours away from Karel's family and we secured an apartment already at the race venue for his family to come and watch us race (they have never seen a triathlon/Ironman before). We look forward to heading to Karel's home town in Znojmo, Czech Republic after the race. Also, as a coach, I love new experiences to better help my athletes. I'm really excited to traveling internationally for a triathlon and the stress/excitement that comes with it. I'm so excited to visit this part of Europe and take lots of pictures and see the sights for 140.6 miles. We do not expect to Kona qualify here because of the competition in Europe but we will give our best effort for two strong performances. We don't want to chase Kona at the expense of enjoying every training and racing journey so we will do out best and see what happens.

IMWI - This is the race that the entire season is building for. I raced IMWI in 2011 and absolutely LOVED the course which is very challenging on the bike and on the run. But, the crowd support is amazing!! Karel has ridden the bike course a few times during his travels to Trek headquarters and for Trek World and he also spectated with my parents when I raced so he knows the best places for beer, ice cream and coffee (not all together).
The wetsuit swim is perfect for Karel and the cooler temps are ideal for us both to race really strong and not be compromised by the heat. Also, IM 70.3 World Champs is the same day so we feel that this will not be a race where the the field will be super deep for Kona contenders (ex. like it would be for Eagleman, St. Croix and IMFL). That doesn't mean that the day will not have amazing competition (which we both love to help us discover new limits with our own fitness) but we feel like we will be able to race strong, not for a PR, but instead for a Kona slot. The entire season will have this race as the priority so we will be very careful to not peak too early and to also adapt with the least amount of training stress to ensure healthy bodies and mind all season. We love the town of Madison and can't wait to enjoy it with the 3000+ other athletes and thousands of cheering students and fans...many of which will be consuming beverages with alcohol in them :)
I have never repeated an IM qualifier race before so this will be the first time I have repeated a race. There were many IM's to choose from for next year and I love traveling to new courses but we both discussed our options after IM Placid and after long consideration, we decided that IMWI would be the best place for us to put everything together and race smart. We will race to the best of our fitness ability next Sept for a possible 2015 Kona slot.

There's not magic ball or perfect training plan so as I lay out our season, I can not predict the future. The number one goal is to maintain balance in life. Training is not my life but instead my lifestyle. I have respect for the body, I love dreaming big, I fuel off real food, I enjoy a wholesome diet and I enjoy a balanced training plan.

But....2014 will  be a year to remember not only for us.....

But also for our athletes.

The 2014 Trimarni Roster is almost complete and we have an amazing team with new and old athletes to be inspired by. We are so excited to use our knowledge and experience to help others reach goals and dreams.

We will also have new Trimarni services, camps, clinics and events so stay tuned over the next few months!