FEATURES

Planning Your 2017 Race Calendar...

Friday, 03 March 2017 23:10

By Allie Burdick (teamusa.org)

The simple answer to planning your 2017 race calendar is: carefully. How many times this past year did you say or think, “Oh I wish I had planned on doing that race!” and missed out on it once again? Now is the time to start planning, training and budgeting for your best racing year yet!

Step One: Goal Setting
Think hard about what your goals are for the year — to run your first-ever triathlon race? Olympic distance? Half IRONMAN? IRONMAN? Set a new PR? Where do you see yourself racing and with whom? Once you have the answers to these questions, the planning will be a lot easier.

Step Two: Budgeting
How much are you willing to spend, and maybe sacrifice, on your racing dreams? The bigger the race, the more expensive it can get, and if you need to travel and ship equipment, be sure to budget in those costs as well....

Look for opportunities to save money either by driving versus flying or maybe staying with a friend or a group of friends instead of a solo, costly hotel room. You may also look into renting a bike locally instead of shipping your own or purchasing a travel container. Also, a lot of races increase the fee as the race date approaches so the sooner you decide you want in, the more cost effective it will be.

Step Three: Size Matters
Once you have established your goals and budget, think about the pros and cons of racing with 2,000 other athletes or just 200. The bigger the race, the more planning, money and time will need to be invested, but the return on the investment can be huge. On the other hand, smaller races are more easily navigated, can be less expensive and involve a lot less planning.

Step Four: Choose Wisely
The year is wide open, so plan accordingly. If your goal is a long-distance event, you may want to line up some shorter-distance races in the weeks leading up to your goal race. If your goal is a fast half IRONMAN, you may want to race in a few Olympic-distance events prior to race day and maybe even a sprint or two. When you start with your goal race and work backward, it becomes a lot easier to fill in the blanks.  READ MORE