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It's been way too long since my last newsletter. I was in the US for an extended vacation after St. George but I'm back in Singapore now, so let's get on with 2023's first issue!

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Hi Fellow Athlete,

2023 Race Planning

As we welcome in the new year, many of us will be thinking about our race calendar.

Here are a few typical approaches:

Slay the Beast.
This is the one where you just want to finish your first race of a certain distance - any distance. It’s significant as those first-time races are landmark events you’ll never forget.

Qualify.
Whether it’s for a full Ironman, half-Ironman, or other race (Boston, for example), achieving this means you’ve raised your game to the next level.

Podium or PR.
Here’s where you try to finish among the top of your age group and/or set a personal time record.

How to get there

Process-based goals.
Anybody can have any goal, but actually attaining them is harder. So, focus on the process to get there. Take many small steps, consistently over days, weeks, and months.

As long as your regular accomplishments (workouts) are achievable and not too overwhelming, you will be likely to meet your goal over time.

I like to further break up those daily workouts instead of thinking about the entire thing. For example, if I have 6 2-minute intervals, I’ll only think about each of the 2-minute periods at a time, and ignore the rest.

It’s amazing how fast you can whittle them away.

Mindset.
Last year, I set a rule that all my training and racing should be fun. I thought this would mean I’d end up skipping out on some dreaded swims, but what actually happened, is I began to enjoy them (sometimes).

You may not choose fun as your mindset goal. You may go for focus, intensity, consistency, happiness, or whatever else.

Another mindset approach is whether you have a growth or a fixed mindset. This concept is explained very well in Carol Dweck’s book here (affiliate link).

The chart below summarizes it:

Accountability.
Having somebody monitor your progress keeps you accountable and in check.

Usually, this is a coach, but it can also be a friend, training partner, significant other, or tri club.

An honest coach or guide will also help you with things like managing optimism bias (see video I did about that here), seeing your strengths and weakness from an objective perspective, and basically keeping you realistic.

Reflection.
Finally, taking stock of what you have achieved, your successes and failures, and basically analyzing your past season or year will help you find areas to do more of and areas to avoid.

I really like Sahil Bloom’s personal annual review template, which could be applied to triathlon. Check it out here. (No affiliation).

Happy race planning for 2023.

Hit reply and let me know your schedule, especially if you are doing any of the races I’m doing.

So far, my schedule looks like this:

2XU Half Marathon, Singapore (April)
Desaru, Malaysia, 70.3 (May)
Bintan, Indonesia 70.3 (if it happens this year!) (August)
Lahti, Finland, 70.3 World Championships (August)
Standard Chartered Marathon, Singapore (December)

I thought I was going to die

Rationally, I knew I was ok. But there was nothing rational about this experience.

Ben & Blue: A Chess Match

I caught up with Ben Kanute after St. George and he told me about his battle with Blu down Diagonal in St. George!

My new favorite shoe

I was hooked on Hokas for years and now I found a shoe that is as good or better than all those Bondis, Arahis, and Cliftons.

Free Tools & Resources

Tri nutrition calculator
Tri pace calculator (add up swim + T1 + bike + T2 + run times)
Running pace chart in km and miles
Tri for beginners (short guide)
Tri book reading list (books I've read and recommend)

Tri Planner App

Need help getting organized for your races?

The IronHacks app allows you to:
1.

Calculate race split times (swim, bike, run, transitions)
2.

Calculate how much of what foods to eat per hour (200+ endurance fuels in the database)
3.

Get organized with a packing checklist

iOS
Android

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