Racing in 2021

My last race was in September, 2019. I’m hungry to get back to racing in 2021.

Due to COVID restrictions, my 2020 races were postponed or cancelled. With vaccines and recent successful races during the pandemic, there’s hope for this year, just tempered. I’ll try to stay detached and not be bother should any, or all, these races be postponed or cancelled in 2021. What I’m really training for—to realize my potential, whatever that may be—is bigger than any one race or one year even.

Enough with the preamble! Here are the races on my schedule for 2021:

• Feb 13, Local 5K
• March 14, Local Half Marathon, St Paddy’s
• April 24, Local Olympic Triathlon, Rumpus in the Bumpass
• May 23, IM Chattanooga 70.3
• June 23-27, C26 Triathlon Camp
• Aug 29, IM Maine 70.3
• Late season Olympic triathlon or Marathon (maybe)

I’ve got something to look forward to almost every month through the summer. I’m giving myself a break from events in July, which will be peppered with family vacation time.

My first three races in February, March, and April will be short and local, meaning fewer participants, less travel and preparation, lower stress. This will be my gentle but spirited reintroduction to competition. I go into these events with little expectation other than to have fun and try my best with whatever I have on the day. I doubt Coach Robbie will even give me much, if any, taper, so I don’t even expect to be well-rested for these events.

The first big test is Ironman Chattanooga 70.3. This is a C26 Triathlon team race, so I’m looking forward to catching up with my teammates and coaches for the first time in person almost two years. Given this will be my first half-Ironman since 2019 and I anticipate Chatt will be hot and humid, I don’t expect to be setting any personal records here either. I will go into this race tapered and expect to give my best.

Though it’s not a race, camp with my team requires just as much prep and will demand a lot of my body like a race. It’ll also be a fun getaway. I haven’t been to camp since 2018, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Ironman Maine 70.3 is the main event of the season for me. I’ll have hopefully put a lot of good training in my legs by that point and will have had a good three month break from races by the end of August. Granted I stay healthy and have a good buildup, I think I can perform well at this race. Maine is a great place to visit, so I’m hoping to make a nice vacation of it. Which reminds me, I better get my accommodations in order!

I’ve put a placeholder for one final race in the fall, possibly an Olympic, or, if I’m really hungry for a bigger challenge, a full marathon. My running has been really good to start the year, so a marathon would be a great way to express that fitness if I can keep it up. Whether I do another race at all will depend on many factors—scheduling, health, motivation. I’m giving myself room to be flexible and not to make the path too rigid through the season.

One thing you won’t see on my 2021 schedule is a full-distance Ironman. Though I won’t be “doing the full” this year, there is one on my mental calendar in the not-too-distant future. That’s the race that gets me out of bed. I just don’t know when and where yet. Some day.

Photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash