The Calendar

Mark Allen writes in the current issue of Lava magazine about putting together a race calendar. (Mark Allen is one of two six-time winners at the Ironman World Championships, in Hawaii, and a successful triathlon coach who usually has something worthwhile to say.) He argues an athlete can schedule "A" races three months apart, suggesting two such races in a year. I'm a skeptic on the notion of an A race for the recreational athlete. Our performance is so variable that running a PR means signing up for a bunch of races and hoping one will go well.

But I do agree with the notion of rest and recovery in endurance sports, so I'm following Mark Allen's advice in putting together my calendar -- sort of. Here are the "A" races: the Boston Marathon (April 18), the Vineman Triathlon (July 30), and some as-yet-undecided ultra-run in October. I'd like to PR in the first two, and for the third, finish at a distance at which I have not succeeded in the past (thus, necessarily a PR). I'm then filling in the interstices with shorter-term goals, which are smaller events. Except for one: today I send in my registration for the Big Wild Ride 1200K in Alaska. I'll attempt that with my brother, an experienced ultra-cyclist. It's not a race so much as it is a long bike tour with little down-time.