A lot of our athletes have had their eyes on signing up for races next season, so in this episode we're deep diving on the most important things to think about when planning your race calendar. Highlights include: an honest evaluation of your skills and experience level, your life commitments, finding your why, race logistics, cost, and more. We also answer some fun listener questions on aligning high-volume training with busy lives, how to tap into different swim speeds, how to get more comfortable on the bike, and what our podcasting process looks like. Check it out!
Coaching & Training Insights
Katie: Thoughts on ways to “touch” speed without overloading or taxing the body as the off season progresses
4-8 x 25 fast in the pool
4-6 x strides at the end of a run
4-6 x 30” high cadence pickups at end of ride
4-6 x 20-30” sprint pickups during a ride
All organic and only if feeling like it, but realizing that ALL Z1/2 ALL the time can leave you feeling a bit sluggish
Jim: Speed is easy come, easy go. Light touches 2X-3X per week keeps the brain-to-fast twitch muscle connection.
My pool/gym is a 15’ walk away from my apartment. Didn’t realize, but this has been an incredible organic warm-up for swimming and strength. Recently I was in a situation where my gym was close by and I rolled right into strength without the 15’ walk and felt terrible!
Warm-ups do not have to be complicated; if you can walk for even 5-10’ before you start any activity, it makes a huge difference with how the entire workout is going to feel. If short on time, better to shorten the main set than skip the W
Jim: My favorite run warmup is a 10’ walk uphill.
Psychology segment of the podcast: thoughts on vulnerability in sport
I’ve been listening to a lot of Brené Brown (professor and researcher at UT Austin, motivational speaker, etc.) -- studies courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy
Here are her TED talks and she has a million books/audiobooks, a Netflix special, and other speaking engagements:
Vulnerability is: uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure
Unstable feeling we get when outside of our comfort zone
Racing is vulnerability in a huge way!
Uncertainty: we don’t know what the race outcome is going to be
Risk: we may have a good outcome and we may have a bad outcome; we may win, we may lose; we may PR, we may blow up. Toeing the line is a risk
Emotional exposure: if anyone else knows that we are racing (most of the time, people do!), they will see us perform (and will see the emotions associated with that) -- joy, disappointment, fear, etc.
Vulnerability can take two routes:
If met with secrecy, silence, judgment → can lead to shame (feeling of not being enough; not being worthy of connection; etc.)
If met with empathy and understanding → can lead to connection, joy, etc.
So! What do we do? In racing and life context:
Self-kindness and compassion -- what would you say to a friend?
Common humanity -- everyone deals with this in different ways!
Mindfulness (without over-identification) -- observe feelings but don’t judge them
Lean on your support squad to accept empathy
Jim: Following up on racing and vulnerability, I was talking to one of my athletes this week about racing and looking at the big picture. We talked about how you want to feel in 5,10,20 years. This puts a one day event in perspective and context. What I ultimately want from sport in three buckets in this priority order:
Bucket 1: Fitness, wellness, social connection and adventure - probably drives over 80% of motivation
Bucket 2: Strength, mobility and longevity - ~20% of motivation.
Bucket 3: Race results. Less than 1% of motivation!
Fun weekend watching UTMB - 100 mile trail race around Mont Blanc and listening to follow up podcasts with David Roche breaking down his Leadville 100 win. This is my reminder that long course triathletes can take a lot of lessons from ultra runners particularly around building run durability, fueling for long distance, pacing, strength training, etc.
And reminders that big breakthrough performances like David at Leadville and Katie Schide at UTMB have been over a decade in the making. See the 10,000-Hour Rule: “the ten-thousand-hour research reminds us that the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play."
Or as Brad Stulberg writes:
Pick your thing.
Pick a good system for your thing.
Surround yourself with people who support you doing your thing.
Do your thing for a decade.
Bike maintenance: Regular ride went from 1:15 to 1:10 to 1:05 with some basic bike maintenance.
Also, you can use off season easy rides to work on skills. I’ve been working on a better aero position on the road bike. Thinking and acting fast is a skill not necessarily more watts.
I receive a weekly email from a very reputable podcast platform which often includes swim/bike/run workouts. The run workout this week was:
16 miles with 8 miles at threshold pace
A 5K pyramid workout that had nearly 30’ at 5K pace
Both of these workouts are VERY advanced. No context was given for the workouts and there was no mention of scaling them for various levels of abilities. While I respect this platform and benefit from their knowledge, these types of workouts can lead one to think they aren’t doing enough or don’t have the ability to do hard workouts. Just remember, we are all at a level appropriate for us now and working toward a better athletic self at our own pace. Take a big grain of salt when looking at workouts from elites.
Quick reminder: Often September races start quite cold. Bring a warm jacket, hat, gloves and tights for race morning.
Main Content
Start with an honest assessment of your current triathlon skills and experience. This is critical to choosing the appropriate goals and races for the upcoming season.
To provide some guidance, here are five levels with corresponding goals:
Level 1:
Overview: You are new to the sport of triathlon. You may know nothing about any of the sports or gear or you may have come from one of the sports in HS / college. This is the most important level in your development as a triathlete. Do not rush through this phase. It’s OK to be at this level for 2 - 3 years.
You have 4 - 8 hours per week to train.
Swim Skills/Gear:
Learn how to swim
Learn how to open water swim
Learn how to open water sight / navigation
Own a wetsuit
Swim goals:
You should be able to swim 1700 yards continuously in open water in a wetsuit sighting every 7 - 9 strokes.
Bike Skills/Gear:
Own a road or TT bike.
Able to clip in/out safely with clipless pedals
Comfortable riding on the open road
Able to drink from water bottle and eat while riding
Bike Goals:
You can safely ride 25 miles on the open road, navigating traffic, other riders and be able to drink from your water bottle and eat while riding.
Run: You can run at least 6 miles at a Z2 HR.
Appropriate races: Complete your first Sprint and Olympic triathlons
After you have completed 2 - 5 Sprints and 1-2 Olympics and all of the above skills, you advance to Level 2.
If you take away one thing from this podcast today, it is this: Level 1 athletes should NOT sign up for Half Ironman or Ironman races.
If you sign up for an IM as Level 1, you will spend 6 - 9 months fighting your physical and mental skills and being. We want to see you have long term enjoyment and success in your sport. Our recreational pursuits should make us happy, not stressed. Happy = long term, sustainable fun.
Level 2:
You have a fundamental grasp on the above skills and fitness and are confidently doing triathlons. You are consolidating the skills from Level 1. This level is mostly about accumulating experience and starting to see the nuance of your sport. You might spend 1 - 2 years at this level. Lots of racing at sprint/Olympic level will provide you with a solid foundation to move to the next level. We often see these triathletes doing other races like run and bike races to improve their skills/experience and transfer that single sport race/focus back into triathlon.
Regularly training 7 - 10 hours per week.
We recommend sprint/Olympic races at this level. A Half Ironman is also an appropriate stretch goal.
Level 3:
Overview: You are very familiar with triathlon and are looking to become competitive in your Age Group or finish fairly high overall in local triathlons. You have been racing for 2 - 4 years and have a developed sense of racing.
You have 9 - 12 hours a week to train on average, for months at a time, and ability to train up to 15 hours per week during big weeks.
Level 3 athletes are doing sprint/Olympic/70.3 and Ironman races.
Level 4:
Overview: You are a competitive age grouper and compete for top 10 positions in local to regional triathlons. You are looking to win your Age Group at local/regional Sprint/Olympic/HIM/IM races.
You have 12 - 20 hours a week to train on average, for months at a time, and ability to train up to 25 hours per week during big weeks.
Level 5:
Overview: You are an elite or professional triathlete.
You have 20-30 hours a week to train on average, for months/years at a time.
Through all levels you also want to consider the following factors:
Finding your WHY: Deep--and specific--dive on what you actually enjoy doing. Fun and enjoyment is key for sustainability. If you really don’t like one of the sports then maybe consider other types of events. (A person who really doesn’t like to swim but loves to run maybe focuses on becoming a better marathoner, ultra-runner, etc)
Helps to get really specific. Why are you swimming? Why are you biking? Why are you running? Why are you strength training?
Honest evaluation of your schedule and life commitments. How much are you actually able to train? Do you have regular access to a pool? Do you have a safe place to ride your bike? Is your support network in alignment with your goals?
Related: Calendar mapping in the context of work, travel, life commitments
For many of our late 20s through 30s audience, weddings, bachelorette parties, baby showers, graduations, etc., take up a LOT of weekends. Keep in mind that if you have many of these events during the specific prep phase and work full time M-F, it will be hard to get your big days in for IM and 70.3 and it may be better to focus on shorter distance training.
I usually look at my calendar for the entire year and add in when big weekends will happen (i.e., 4, 8, and 12 weeks out from race day). There is some flexibility (big days 3-5, 7-9, and 11-13 weeks out can work) but in general the specific prep phase should be pretty protected.
Do not underestimate the LSS toll of weekend travel, especially air travel or car trips over 3 hours.
Cost--keep in mind the many hidden costs of races. Budget considerations are HUGE in triathlon. It is a very expensive sport initially and all along the journey. That giant sucking sound you hear is the triathlon industry taking away all your disposable income!
Figure out your budget in advance and then add 1.5x what you think you are going to spend.
Race logistics--driving vs. flying, international vs. national vs. local
Check out Episode 16: So you want to do an Ironman? and Episode 1: Season Planning for more!
Listener Questions
How do you improve balance/stability on the bike? I find fueling and hydrating on the bike very awkward, so would love any tips!
Getting reps in is the best way to get comfy with fueling and hydration on the bike. I recommend finding a flat and quiet road (even in your neighborhood) and going out and literally practicing taking a hand on and off, then hand to touch bottle and back, hand to touch back pocket and back, take bottle out and put it back in, take bar out and unwrap it, etc. etc. etc., “leveling up” in difficulty once the previous step feels easy and comfortable. Once all of that is smooth, you can experiment with doing it at faster paces or on other roads. Like all things, taking it slow and getting reps in (even with short 15-20 min “technique” rides) can lead to some pretty fast progress.
I heard there are 3 paces when it comes to swimming. How can I determine my « fast » pace other than « if i swim x more meters like this I’m gonna be in cardiac arrest »?
Fast - Do as fast as possible 25s.
Threshold - do a Critical Swim Speed test to set your swim threshold.
Moderate/aerobic - ~3-5” slower than your threshold. You probably do most of your training in this area.
Easy - At least 10” slower than your threshold pace and preferably even slower.
I would be interested in how your work/life balance has evolved as you yourselves have evolved as endurance athletes. As a beginner I’m currently doing after school/ after work training and just one of the three sports a day. How did you transition to multiple sessions a day (not sure if you do this necessarily, but i do see other triathletes doing this a lot on instagram) or just generally finding the optimal time that worked for you? Did you find yourselves choosing jobs that allowed you the flexibility to train?
Jim: Great question. Everyone has a little different situation so I encourage athletes to start with the question; what do you really want to accomplish in sport?
And then start work to align your schedule, priorities and actions with those goals. If I’m clear with my mission, my daily decisions and actions just seem to fall into place.
All of my athletes are super busy with work, family, school, and social commitments. If you really start to granularly look at your schedule you probably have more time than you think you have. This might mean going from a non-morning person to a morning person - that’s super hard!
Think about exercise snacks for times of the day that have short windows. A 30’ run done dozens of times per season adds up to HUGE gains. An exercise snack is a great way to enable double workouts in your day.Another consideration: Does social media give you inspiration or anxiety? If the former then it can provide inspiration to get out there when your motivation is lagging. If the latter then consider curating your follows. The last thing you need is to feel bad about your recreation which is supposed to be fun and uplifting.
What is your podcasting process?
One of us will usually come up with an idea and pitch it to the other (for me, those ideas flow the best when swimming, biking, or running). Note that way back in December when originally started the podcast, we made a list of probably 15-20 ideas, but somehow we still keep coming up with fresh ones or new takes on a similar theme.
Next we build out our outline together -- if you didn’t know, we put all of our outlines on our website in the extended show notes so you can see what we’re working off. It isn’t a script but we do spend a lot of time sketching out the points we want to make and refer to it throughout the recording
We record on zoom at least four days before release date because it takes a lot of time to get the episode ready. Katie edits using a platform called Descript. Usually editing takes around 3x the length of the episode, so 3 hours for a one-hour episode! Good excuse to sit in Normatec boots
Then we send off the edited content to an audio engineer who smooths out the audio, normalizes the volume, edits out any stray background noise (dogs etc.)
Finally we prep the episode on Spotify for Podcasters, prep our show notes for the website, and set everything to release at 3am eastern on Thursday mornings
It’s a labor of love! But we love it so we’re rolling with it for now :)
Challenge of the Week
Katie: Something I've done in the last couple of weeks - delaying caffeine intake for about an hour in the morning (not the first thing I do) and having coffee with food. good for cortisol reduction and generally feeling more chill/calm. We often see high HR in our athletes in the morning and some of this could be proximity to caffeine intake!
Jim: Staying on the breakfast / morning routine, I’ve been focusing on big protein in the morning which seems to set me up very well for the rest of the day. My go to is eggs with cottage cheese. Good cottage cheese is my favorite. Their one serving Strawberry Chia and Pineapple make for fantastic snacks or additions to eggs, salad, on toast, post workout, etc.
Gear Pick of the Week
Katie: Snake & Pig goggles -- won these at S2S and was skeptical but love them! Super comfortable goggles (I have graduated from the kids’ speedo goggles I found in the Stanford lost and found in 2019)
Jim: Massage Lacrosse Balls - incredibly effective for muscle massage and release. Try it on your glute max!