In recent years I haven’t documented my goals and key races, although I still had a few great years, I feel like I may have lost sight of what was really important to me and that I flew away a little. ! In 2021, I set personal bests in triathlon, ran new distances, and achieved a long term goal: running a sub 4 marathon. In 2022, I have one huge goal and a few smaller goals around which I would like to always give the best of myself. But I think my racing season is pretty well planned out…let’s take a look, shall we?
January – May: Run Focus
First of all, my triathlon season will start a little later this year. If you follow me on social media, you probably already know that my biggest goal of the year is to complete my first Ironman.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYkFCe5LbOV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
With that booked for August, it makes sense to have a spring marathon under my belt. So on May 2 (Bank Holiday Monday) I will be running the Milton Keynes Marathon. With this in mind, my coach will focus more on running in my training. I will still have to try to continue swimming and cycling more than September-October last year, due to how quickly my season will change, but to run a solid marathon I definitely need more kilometers in my legs!
I don’t really have a specific goal for the marathon – I’ll just see how I feel in training beforehand, but I’ve maintained some fitness since Manchester 2021, so I’m hoping I can improve. on my 3:55 p.m. from there.
Before the marathon, I also have two shorter races to work my legs:
*Public relations venue.
It would be nice to get closer to my records at these distances (the London Winter Run is actually where my current 10k record was set), but I’m not holding my breath. This year, it’s endurance rather than speed that is in the spotlight!
And finally, one of the reasons why I am maintaining a higher level of cycling training while preparing for the marathon is that at the end of May I have the Ride London 100 mile sport! It’s part of my main goal to complete the London Classics and, after having a place in 2020 that was canceled, it’s taken a long time. I originally hoped to complete all three London Classics events in one year (2019), but life got in the way and it didn’t work out.
June – August: Ironman Focus
So now, with a marathon and a 100 mile bike ride in the bank, I have 10 weeks after Ride London to get it all together with a 3.8km swim at the start! I’ll be going straight from Ride London to a middle distance triathlon next weekend… but with good training before May I think it should be totally doable.
I had originally planned to run the Cotswolds 113 on this date. But in all honesty, I wanted something a little closer to home. I don’t really want to book hotels and stay away from home for many weekends this year. It’s more time away from family, the stress and effort of packing a high-carb diet as well as all my gear for race day, and it adds costs to an already sport very expensive. And the bonus with Grafman, in particular, is that it’s really close to my mom’s house!
The goal of this one isn’t necessarily a personal best – I think it’s really difficult to compare different races/events in triathlon as they are all quite variable depending on conditions, terrain, distances, etc. . a decent pace and transition practice under my belt, and I’m really adjusting to my nutrition, ready for the challenge ahead.
After Grafman, I have the choice of either competing in another middle distance in July, but treating it like a long training session and not really tapering/recovering, or just continuing with training. I haven’t completely decided yet, but if I do take part in the extra event it will be the Big East middle distance – this year moved to Maldon, which is close to my dad! I did the Maldon Sprint distance last year and really enjoyed it, so it would be good to do an event there again.
- Big East Middle Distance Triathlon (July 10) – unreserved
And my last race of this period is… Ironman! The big one. Everything I have done in the first semester will lead to this and I am beyond nervous and excited. I had a few different Ironman events in mind for August – Finland, Copenhagen or Gdynia. I chose this one because a) the date went perfectly and b) Cloé runs with her friend Mark and their two partners come to support. I’ll be sharing an Air BnB with them, which means lots of triathlon talk, reassurance and support – I’m so grateful to them for taking me under their wing as an IM newbie!
My goal for Ironman? Get it over with, preferably without hating the sport! I know this one is going to be tough – it will definitely be the hardest test I have ever attempted. But I hope I arrive at the red carpet at the finish line knowing that I did everything I could.
September – December: Just for fun!
With the Ironman (hopefully) over, my season is almost over…but I want to finish with two final events…both to have a little fun.
- Swim Serpentine 2 mile swim (date to be confirmed, but usually in September) – not booked
- Outlaw
If the dates don’t clash (and I really hope they don’t!), then the Swim Serpentine should get me my London Classics medal back, and Outlaw X could mean experiencing a race day triathlon with Ian, which I would do. be so happy! I’ve been trying to convince him to do one for a while now (I think he’d be great as he swam at county level, bikes to work a lot and is also a really good runner!). Being able to support each other in sports means a lot to me and we both understand the importance of training, so we make it work even when it’s hard.
After September, it’s kind of over for me for the year! My coach will probably give me an end of season break and then it will be a matter of heading into winter training. I’d like to ride more next winter because this time I’m letting the maintenance side and the cold hold me back… but I think these winter rides really make a difference when it comes to training again. spring, so I’m going to try harder to be ready to ride in winter 2022!
And you…?
So this is my sort of planned year! I haven’t booked everything yet, but the essentials are taking shape and my training is underway. You can keep an eye on my race schedule as some of these are confirmed if you are interested. And let me know if you’ll be doing any of the same races – it would be so nice to say hello and share some nervous pre-race chats!
What do you have lined up in your racing calendar and what are your goals for 2022?