There’s nothing that quite matches the sense of accomplishment I get when I finish planning my upcoming season’s race calendar because truth be told, I’m lazy. Had a publisher of a coach-potato oriented magazine approached me to edit it rather than a fitness magazine, I could have very well been writing this from my sofa with a Coke and an open bag of potato chips sitting next to me on the coffee table. Instead, I’m writing this as clearly and concisely and quickly as I can so I can go out and run 9 miles in preparation for the Uwharrie Mountain Run, which hopefully I will have set a new PR on by the time you read this!
Seriously, as someone with a family history of diabetes and heart problems, I made a decision a long time ago to take charge of my health and lead an active life, but I never quite knew how to define it. Then I signed up for an Ironman. Having completed only a handful of triathlons prior, it wasn’t the best decision I ever made, but it roused a need to call a plan into action. As I pieced together my training to accomplish this goal, I started formulating a race schedule so I could run a few triathlons and road races as benchmarks prior to my big race. With the volume of training required for an Ironman, I soon realized that in order to be successful, I would have to structure not only my training, but my life.
As I put together my daunting training and race schedule, I was forced to consider family vacations and work obligations prior to making any race commitment. Surprisingly, those needs opened the doors to include a few “destination” events on my schedule. Without that “limitation” I would never have run the beautiful Boulder Backroads Half Marathon in Colorado and meet up with an online training friend preparing for the same Ironman race. I was also fortunate enough to travel to explore other cool locations, like White Lake, which my wife and I knew nothing about except that there was a race there. To this day, one of my fondest memories of training for Ironman Florida is cooling off in White Lake on our semi-private beach as my family played in the sand and splashed in the crystal clear water beneath the sleepy cypress tress on a beautiful spring day.
I consider that year of Ironman training as one of the most fulfilling years of my life. The race schedule I put together incorporated my personal goal of adventure, my need for a healthy lifestyle and my family’s desire to experience new and exciting places. A good race schedule, I learned, incorporates not just your personal fitness goals, but your overall lifestyle goals as well. A good schedule can help you develop realistic goals for your training which can help you manage stress. A poor schedule, consequently, includes unrealistic goals for training that only generates more stress and leads to both yours and your family’s dissatisfaction with your fitness-oriented lifestyle.
That being said, all our race goals are different. But, I do have some tips to share on how to create a race schedule that keeps you motivated and happy throughout the year:
First and foremost, prior to creating your schedule, evaluate what other things are going on in your life that could affect your races. Consider obligations of your spouse, your children, and your career before committing to any race goal.
Whatever your primary goal is, consider adding 1-2 new races every year. Not knowing what to expect on a new course will keep your training motivation high.
Stretch your comfort zone with a longer distance. Going a little bit farther in a new year is a great personal confidence booster.
Choose at least one destination race a year. Being able to go to a new city and explore new things with your family is a great way to keep your family interested in your racing lifestyle.
So, there you have it – a few basic tips on preparing a simple race schedule. All that remains is your to review our guide and choose from the many local and destination races brought to you by Endurance Magazine and our online registration community resource SPORToften.com!
