Preparing For Your Next Race Season

Written by Brian Nath - Coach

Wednesday, 18 November 2009 00:00

As the 2009 racing season comes to an end it is time to begin thinking about the off-season, your personal goals, and race schedule for 2010. The off-season is the time to recover physically and mentally. It is the time to work on strength training and your individual weaknesses. It is also the best time to start thinking about your goals and races for the next season.

In November of 2008 GEC Coach Bill Daniell wrote a great article; “The Dreaded Off-Season And How To Embrace It”. Bill’s article addresses the importance of an off-season and what can be accomplished during those months to help get you ready for the next race season.

I know what you are thinking… “Brian, it is only November, why should I start thinking about my goals and races for next year?” There are many reasons to start this process now. We will go into some of those reasons below.

Challenging but realistic goals are something that all athletes no matter their ability should develop for their race season. Here are some guidelines to follow when setting your training and race goals.

1. Set goals that are measurable by some objective standard.

Swim a sub 24:00 in the Olympic distance at Deuces Wild

Increase to an FTP of 230 watts on the bike

Complete the Tucson Triathlon under 1:15

Complete the Olympic Distance at Deuces Wild in under 2:25

As you can see each of those goals are measurable by time or power or something measurable.

2.   Set goals that measure your success (performance goals) independently of the performance of others (outcome goals).    For example, the goal to “Win the Mountain Man Olympic race” may be within your physical ability. Even though you might have the ability to win that race, this outcome goal depends upon the performance of other athletes. A better goal would be to set your time goal based upon past winners’ times. If you reach that goal and win the race great!

3.   Set goals that challenge your ability. A goal that is too easy is like having no goal at all. An athlete that has been racing sprints for a number of years should never have the goal “Complete the Tucson Triathlon Sprint”. Set your goals so that when you reach them you feel a sense of accomplishment.

Coach Daniell’s article mentions “working on individual weaknesses” during the off-season . Goal setting is one way to help you identify areas you may need to work on. For example, an athlete may not be a strong swimmer but sets a goal for the next race season to have a sub 24 minute Olympic swim split which is three minutes faster than their previous best swim split. This goal is measurable by time, does not rely on the performance of another and is challenging, yet achievable.

Using the off-season to focus on swimming is one thing this athlete can do to help them reach their goal. Does this mean dropping the other two sports for the winter? No, but the athlete might add a few extra swim workouts per week or take some lessons during the off-season. To help find your weaknesses ask yourself “What is keeping me from reaching my goals?” Once you identify your weakness you can determine what you need to do to turn it into a strength.

The off season is a time to not only add a few swim sessions to work on this goal, but to change the way you train or the way you swim as well. This athlete would do well to focus on form improvements and make fundamental changes in his swim stroke over simply adding yardage.

Another great thing to do during the off-season is to plan your race schedule for the next year. Some things to keep in mind when planning your schedule are:

1.   Prioritize your races as A, B, C races.

“A” races are the highest priority races. They are the ones that you want to do well in. All of your training is designed to prepare you to perform your best at these races. Select no more than two or three “A” races per year. These races should be separated by eight or more weeks.

“B” races are important to you and you want to do well but they are not as important as the “A” races. Most athletes have no more than six of these per season.

“C” races are used as hard workouts, for progress testing, for fun, or as tune-ups for an “A” race. Does this mean that you go into the race without a goal? No, these are perfect races to work on things that will help with your “A” races. For example, an athlete may struggle with transitions so a “C” race is the perfect time to focus on transitions.

2.   Pick races that suit you as an athlete. For instance, if your race performance suffers in the heat then do not pick an “A” race in southern Arizona in May--racing somewhere cooler would get you one step closer to having a successful race.   As another example, an athlete trying to select an Ironman for an “A” race should not choose Ironman St. George if they are not a strong climber. Ironman Florida may be a better choice for them.

3.   Consider the smaller races. Not every race has to be a world-renowned event. There are a lot of smaller, well run races that offer you an opportunity to race without the pressure of a huge event.   These are great events to put on your schedule as “C” races.

4.   Choose a variety of events. Don’t just put triathlon races on the schedule. Running, swimming, duathlons, aquathlons, and cycling events should not be ignored. Putting an open water swim race on your schedule is a good event to practice your open water swimming.

Every athlete has many things to consider when preparing for the next race season. Using your off-season time to set goals and lay out your plan for your next race season will help you make it your best ever.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 November 2009 23:53