It’s that time of year. You’re over your New Year’s resolutions. You have hired a coach or bought a book on how to be a coach. You have a generous and patient loved one who set you up with all kinds of speed-increasing triathlon gear for Christmas/ Hanukkah/ Kwanzaa/ Winterfestival, or you went out and got some new toys for yourself, because triathletes tend to recognize that receiving is as good as giving. Now you have to decide where to use it. It’s time to plan out this year’s race schedule.
We all know the most important race-selection question: Do I want to vacation there? A triathlon is an ideal vacation justification. It’s no coincidence that smart race directors put them in great places. Get a new PR and lose the spandex tan lines you built up training for that PR, all in one week! Get out of work and get your boss to let you off easy and your colleagues to pick up your slack because they feel vaguely sorry for you!
Triathlete: I’m sorry, Boss, but I’m going to need to take the third week in February off. I have to do this thing where I swim, ride a bike, and then run, all in one day.
Boss: That sounds horrible. Why on Earth would you do that?
Triathlete: I’ve been training for it for the past six months.
Boss: Where is it?
Triathlete: Oh, some hot, steamy, jungle country. There are monkeys there that will steal the ice cream right out of your hand!
Boss: (signing vacation request form): Be careful.
Vacationing is important when planning your season. However, there are other considerations to keep in mind. The focused triathlete may choose a series, like the Rev3. One can collect points, money, and progress in distance and/or speed over the course of the year. A more scatterbrained triathlete may hop all over to different series and different distances either at random, or based on a personal set of priorities. In the past I’ve always gone with random. This year, I am going to be focused. I am going to be serious business. I am sitting down and making a list of my own personal set of priorities to help me plan out my season:
- Low cost of travel and race entry*
- Presence of friends or family*
- Lack of presence of friends or family that are faster than me and in my age group
- A long, difficult run
- A place I’ve never been before
- Neil Young playing nearby that weekend**
- Water not so cold that I’ll climb onto the lifeguard’s paddleboard and hyperventilate again
- Prizes and glory
*1 & 2 are pretty much a tie.
** or Mason Jennings. Or Cake.
Time to make your list, put that coach and gear to use, and get out there and vacation like a serious triathlete!
