Racing Long in 2021 – What can we learn from 2020?
2020 didn’t seem to go to plan, and for many people, this sudden change really undermined their ability to strive forwards. Here Coach Kevin talks us through how we can turn 2020’s frustrations into some key learning points for the New Year.
2020 very likely didn’t follow your plan – so the first thing to consider when thinking about next year is that you should be prepared for 2021 to do the same!
However, we shouldn’t just despair, as 2020 was a great learning opportunity (thrust upon us yes, but an opportunity all the same). Coach Alan recently wrote a great blog about reviewing 2020 – hopefully, you came out of that process with a little more knowledge than you had before. Perhaps one realisation was that you didn’t miss racing as much as you expected, in which case why not continue to add ‘non-race’ goals to your 2021 plan? When looking back at 2020, which of those alternative goals did you really enjoy working towards / hitting – perhaps add in variations of these, even if we are lucky enough to get a decent race calendar available next year.
A lot of us will be looking to get back to racing in 2021 however, so how should we approach this? Well those who are planning to ‘race-long’, are naturally likely to need more build-up, investment, and possibly have less choice of events; therefore, any cancellations might hit harder. Due to this, it’s even more important to have that plan B up your sleeve. First choice plan B’s would probably be another race, though as mentioned for long events, this might not be that likely. A safer alternative would be to have something independent of races going ahead. Perhaps a long two-day bike ride with an overnight stop or climb / run up a mountain, or maybe a virtual race event? Virtual events tend to either come in the form of ‘race distance to be completed within a certain time frame’ or ‘challenges’ that are open to being completed as and when you like. It won’t be the same as lining up on a beach/lakeside with 100’s or 1000’s of other triathletes, but can still offer a significant challenge and therefore the satisfaction of completion vs our targets that many of us look for from races.
A different approach could be to have an annual training plan that works towards you being ‘race-ready’ for a period of time, instead of targeting specific events that may or may not be on the horizon at the moment. The risk of this approach is being able to get into an event relatively last-minute….. so far 2021 race numbers seem to be snapped up pretty quickly, as well as 2020 ‘carry-overs’ filling a lot of the spaces before they even open up to the rest of us. As more event organisers open up races (fingers crossed), this may calm down, however, and mean easier entry.
Having said all that though, something that a number of us learnt from 2020 is that there is a lot more to triathlon training than just race day. If you don’t get to do that ‘A’ event, then I’m sure all of us can still see and feel the benefits that the long, & consistent training needed for long course events brings us. Sometimes those training sessions when you are just flying can bring nearly as much pleasure as performing to the plan on race day. Or when you can finally keep up or / run/ride / swim faster than the training partner you’ve been chasing all year. Whatever floats your boat, hopefully, a little reflection will show how the hard training was still worth it, race or not.
Lastly, we can’t avoid talking about the big C – if covid cases continue to follow the trend, then we could well be dealing with another peak after Christmas. The first part of 2021, post-holiday season, and coming through and out of winter may well mean we will be in a similar position to the first part of 2021 compared to 2020. So perhaps it’s better to assume that there could be a better chance to race later on in 2021 – this also might not be a bad plan if you raced ‘late’ in 2020, as you can then take your time through a steady build-up after some downtime over winter. It may also be wise to prioritise smaller, more local events, as these are less likely to be impacted than the larger ones.
If come race season next year, we are still in the situation where covid is affecting events, then we will still need to be vigilant about our health and protecting our immunity. So if you don’t get to participate in a particular race due to high levels of covid, then the philosophical approach would be to realise perhaps it was for the best. Is racing for fun in a risky environment worth more than your (and your family’s) health? The longer this situation continues, the more likely we are to get to a point where we’ve ‘just had enough’. Therefore it might need some extra focus to ensure that we continue to make sensible decisions, and those social support networks to help us through difficult times will only become more critical.
A final thought - 2020 was the first time around dealing with a global pandemic for most athletes and event organisers. While none of us knows what will happen in the coming year, we are all a little bit wiser, so let’s hope 2021 will be a smoother ride!
Kevin opened a B&B for cyclists in France in 2014, and then a year later decided to start cycle coaching to support his business. An engineer by background, he is happy diving into all sorts of training data, but also understands that coaching is about much more than just the numbers!
Visit Kevin's Coach profile.
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