1-16-2009 | Planning a Triathlon Season (Part 2 of 2)
by David Glover

Part II: Create the “Big Picture”

With goals in hand (and hopefully posted somewhere visible), the next step in planning a triathlon season is to create the “big picture.” By big picture, I mean a high level view of the entire training and racing season that fits on one piece of paper. I like to use a spreadsheet with the following column headers:

Week (I usually list my weeks beginning on a Monday – e.g. 1/5/09)
Weeks to Race (countdown # of weeks to key events)
Period (phase of training – e.g. base building, recovery week, taper, etc.). Will be discussed more in next article.
Events (any significant event that week; can be race or non-race like vacation)
Priority (priority of that event – I like to use A, B, C)
Goal (goal for that week – e.g. run focus, work on bike drills, easy week, etc)
Comments

Each row represents a training weeks in order to view the entire year at once (keep it simple). Be sure to note down any known events such as vacation, work travel, weddings, etc – to plan around.

Begin to fill in your races. Here are some important factors to consider:

Timing of event: ability to train for the event for time of year, timing relative to other events, etc.
Location of event: venue, amenities, weather, travel logistics and costs, etc
Course: swim in open water or pool, looped course or out and back, spectator friendly, plays to strengths, etc
Registration: Event registration open and available, qualification needed, etc.

Here are some guidelines for setting up a race schedule
(following the 80/20 principle):

The longer the race distances, the fewer races that you can do (and recover from)
The fewer races you do, the more you can focus on performing your best at those races
Shorter races lead into longer races. For example, if your target race is an international distance, start with a print. If your target race is an Ironman distance, start with an international or half iron distance.

I’ve presented a method and some guidelines for structuring the “Big Picture” of a triathlon training season. Be sure to seek out expert advice from more experienced athletes or a coach if needed. Next step is to break down the “Big Picture” into smaller, more manageable chunks.