Race Planning 2015
So, this year for me has been a strange one. I still don't know what my best/favorite distance is. Mid-season I was still considering anything from sprint to Iron Man as focus for 2015!
Sprint -
Did 1, got DQ'd in it. Lessons learned the hard way however this is probably going to be my best distance in terms of being competitive. Didn't enjoy it as much as I'd have liked - felt very panicky and rushed and never really got into a rythm until the run spread out. Best swim % all year to be fair.
Standard -
Fav distance and likely to qualify for ETU next year again. Swim costs me too much so if I can work on that this winter and get stronger on the bike then I *should* be more competitive. Love standard and would do it whatever I focus on.
Middle -
Best result in AG - 5th in English Champs. Swim appalingly every middle I've ever done, loose too much time on the bike on good riders and this year I ran shocking. Still have ETU champs but looking like middles next year are going to be training days!
Iron -
Err, no. Would love to do Kona one day but my bike / swim needs 2 or 3 more strong seasons before I'd consider it.
Races
I did some great races this year and picked very competitive ones. Shropshire & Bala are good old races with stacked fields. I definitely improved as the season went on though and I'd like to have a crack at Bala again next year. I finished 13th in AG for both of these races and if everything had gone well I could have faired pretty well.
The ETU race was a great experience, shame I lost 2-3 mins dropping the chain but I did much better than expected all things considered and I really enjoyed going abroad to race. The build up was amazing and being part of a 'big' race was a blast. I'm fairly certain I'll qualify for Geneva (currently 24th position). Pretty sure this will be my main focus race of 2015 (IF I qualify!!)
I'll probably get more involved with sprint next year. I'll try to qualify for the Worlds in Chicago and put some work into the Mrs to see if we can go as it's in school term time :/ Will do more local races in 2015 I think. I only did 'big' races this year so had no idea what it feels like to be competitive!
I am drawn to Middles, I feel that I could do well at them if I got my act together. Will do Grafman next year and I fancy a go at 70.3 UK. Would consider a trip to the Worlds if all went well. I'm not going to do Outlaw half next year - it's a great race but after doing it a couple of times it feels 'done'.
Biggest change for me is not doing a marathon next year. It simply takes too much focus away from what I need to be doing - swimming and cycling! I'll do run races but 5k, 10k and half marathon over winter to tick over. I still think I can run 17.30 / 37.00 for tri off minimal training as long as it's the right training. We shall see!!
Plan for 2014 / 2015
Looking at races for the next year, these are the main ones I have outlined! I will probably look at adding a few local races in here and there as 'training'. If my main focus is on Sprint, I should be OK at Standard and use middle as a good solid training day!
Septemper
20th Bedford 10 TT
30th Hunts AC 10k
October
5th Frostbite
12th GER half
18th ETU middle
November
Leeds abbey dash
December
12-26th complete break
February
22nd Nice Tri duathlon
March
29th Nice Tri duathlon
April
Victoria Park 5
19th Nice Tri duathlon
May
10th - BTF Sprint Q - St Neots
30th - Notts Sprint Q
June
7th Nice tri standard
28th Grafman
July
12th - ETU Champs Geneva
26th - Worthing Q Standard
September
6th - Bala Q Standard
15th - Chicago ITU
Looks exciting, hopefully I get myself in better shape for 2015! Training plans are pretty much in place and very simple - GET FASTER !! Plan is to keep running where I am at - I am in around 17 min 5k and 35 min 10k shape. Just keep it there and don't do anything silly. Bike I'm in base mode, just get lots of good miles in and get the consistency up. I've had a dreadful year on two wheels so far. Swim is all about volume and technique right now, I just need to get more pool time in. This isn't going to change till about February time. It's not exciting but it should work.
Comments
Post a Comment