Planning Your Race Calendar

Let’s talk about your ABCs

It is that time of year. Many of us are laying out our race calendars for next year and checking ultrasignup for when registration opens as well as scouring websites trying to find out if the race we saw all over social media this past year will be happening again. We have a variety of reasons we haven’t run what we wanted to run in the past, and next year, we are going to run everything we can. 

Sure, we recognize that some races mean more to us than others, but we aren’t going to miss out on any this year. Are we? Lets go find all those races we want to do.

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As a coach, I think runners should enjoy running and racing. If there are a lot or races you want to run next year, lay them all out on a calendar and then do yourself (and your coach, if you have one) a favor and prioritize them. I know, I know, they are all important and I don’t mean to act like some are less important than another, but deep down, you know some are more important to you than others. Remember this, if everything is important, nothing is important.

Being able to recognize this priority in planning is critical in your training leading up to and through your full race calendar. The goal of this post is to help you figure out how to prioritize them. As a coach, I have my athletes use A, B, C to designate a priority for a season.

First thing you need to do. Write down ALL of the races you are considering for next year. Whether or not you are registered or not. Write down all those deep dark fantasies of ultra madness that you have been keeping secretly inside you. No need to move on in this until you have done so. Got them? Great, now let's get to those ABCs.

Time to prioritize

A races

These are the highest priority for an upcoming year. What if I told you that you could only have one or two A races in a given year? Okay, don’t panic if you have 5 already that you feel are A races, let’s see about that as we go. But for now, take your list of races you are considering and you are going to pick just one or two. Max two. Yes. TWO. 

How do you pick them? These should be races that you want to accomplish your most important goal, to be as fit as possible for and willing to sacrifice time and put in the work for more than anything else. These races probably require more logistics due to travel, time, schedule, and difficulty. 

These races are those you want to set a PR, be it a distance or time goal. Perhaps you are competing and want to podium. Or perhaps you want to just finish and it is a stretch goal. For some of us, it could be getting a qualifier for Western States lottery, okay, I am guilty of this. But, you get the idea. These races mean something to you. They often have a Why behind them that allow you to get up early in the morning or late at night to get your runs in. 

If you aren’t able to participate in these races, you would feel completely let down and disappointed. Frustration may be palpable. 

Your training should be structured around these races with plans for building and tapering. Everything in your training for the year, including volume/intensity, race specificity, nutrition/hydration, recovery and even mental preparation are all centered around these races. These are the goals for the year. All other races are supportive.

Why only 1-2? Because your body will need recovery time and the intense preparation required to be successful is critical. Yes, we can debate this as I know there are exceptions. But, let’s just relax for a minute and give this exercise a try.

Make sense? Pick those 1-2 races now and write an A next to them. Don’t feel bad about the other races that don’t have a letter next to them. They won’t hate you. 

B races

These are the races that you wanted to be A races also, but I made you mark as something other than A. These are important races, but not as critical as an A race to you when you are honest with yourself. B races serve as a primary stepping stone toward those A races. 

You may have some travel associated with these, but generally, you aren’t trying to ensure the same level of logistical support to help you accomplish these races. You see these races as races you can perform well, but also as a great temperature check to see if your training is moving you in the direction needed for your A race. These B races are great fitness checks or opportunities to let you practice race strategy in preparation of those more important races.

These races are still difficult. That’s why they are close to A races right? They aren’t guarantees, they are still hard. But, the difference is, you are not going to be peaking for these races like you will for an A race. You will still strive to perform well, but not necessarily at the top of your game. 

So timing is key here right? They should be used to support your primary A race, not take away from it. It probably isn’t advisable for many of us to have a 100k race one week prior to our 100 mile A race. Some can do that, but many cannot. Timing of B races matter. Take all that into account and select several of your races as B races now.

Still struggling on any of these being a B race? Reconsider your A races. Looking at your A and B races, ask yourself. If I could only do two, are these still the only two I would do this year? If no other races existed and I could only do these two, which ones are those? Yep, those are your A races and your B races, will be okay being B races. Promise, they won’t hate you for it. They know you still love them.

One note, you may have 1-2 A races, but it doesn’t mean that all of the remaining races get to be B races. Instead, we get to have a third priority for races on your calendar. Those are C races. 

C races

Let’s start with the obvious. C races are important to you. I know that and you know that. We want to do them for a reason and it isn’t because we are just bored, well sometimes they show up because we are, but you understand what I mean.

C races are your lowest priority events. They can be a hard training day or just to gain race experience without any real concerns about how you perform. That’s the difference. If it goes well, then great, if it is a trainwreck, well that is great too because you learned something from it. 

Generally these events are ones you can just show up and are often near you. They should fit easily into your schedule and they don’t require any special preparation or tapering. These races can be as frequent as you like, however, they should not adversely affect your overall training schedule. In other words, if you race one of these and it sidelines you for the next 2 weeks because the effort was too large then you have over-extended on this type of race. Reconsider the C races if you feel that the recovery will potentially impact your training schedule for those A races.

That’s it. Those are the ABCs.

Write them out and put them on a calendar. Prioritize them and get to work. And remember, if everything is important, nothing is important. 

I’d love to hear from you. What are you running next year? How many races are on your calendar and what are those A races?