*RACE SCHEDULE* update (first half of 2018)

The first half of the year is already technically underway after my 5th place finish at Ironman 70.3 South Africa in January but the "official" start to my 2018 season still awaits. Below is my plan of attack for the remaining first half of 2018 including why I chose that particular race.

April 7- Ironman 70.3 Oceanside

Considered the North American season opener, this race will be ultra competitive. In previous years I have shied away from this event because everyone seems to be in great shape and a serious performance is required to get an early season paycheck. I think this year I am in an entirely different space in terms of my physical and mental preparedness. A hard early season hit out will be a good indication of where I stack up against some of the best as well as help me sort out exactly how I need to prepare for the 70.3 World Championships later in the year.

Photo: Tristan Brown

April 14- Ironman 70.3 Liuzhou

~6 days after Oceanside, I'll be racing another 70.3 but this time a little bit further away from home. I can't seem to stay away from toeing the line in China! I have raced in China 4x, two of times it has gone great and the other two it went poorly. That being said, I feel like I am starting to understand the China travel and racing dynamic. I had the opportunity from Ironman to come back to this race and with relatively easy travel from LAX, I decided to go for it. I used miles to book a business class ticket (my first business class flight) which I think will make a big difference. I also think there is a huge benefit to racing back to back weekends as it clears out chronic training fatigue while maintaining fitness from the hard race-day effort. I am really looking forward to this one.

May 5- Ironman 70.3 St. George

One of my favorite races on the circuit, driving distance from Boulder and another very competitive event. It will have a similar dynamic to Oceanside and the 70.3 World Championship. I hope to be in really good form after the Oceanside-Liuzhou double and look forward to a return to Utah. I did this race in 2016, skipped it in 2017 and regretted it. The harder the course and conditions, the better it is for me. St. George always delivers a massive challenge so it made a lot of sense for me to give it a crack this year.

St. George 2016. Picture: Tristan Brown

June 10- Ironman Boulder 

The race on the schedule that is giving me the most amount of motivation in my training. Up until St. George, I am giving 100% of my attention to half-distance preparation. But with my consistently high training volume and intensity, the switch to a short Ironman focus after St. George will not be very different. The minute I started triathlon over 10 years ago, I have wanted to race an Ironman. I have suppressed my urges to race one in the past few years out of fear it will impact my overall career development. I will be 25 on race day which is still relatively young in terms of Ironman racing but my years of consistent and balanced training have me in a spot to be very competitive. I think it takes a very unique athlete to do well at an Ironman and in particular an Ironman at 5500 feet. I check all the boxes to have a strong first attempt at Ironman Boulder and get excited just thinking about this one.

Picture: Timothy Carlson/ Slowtwitch

The remainder of the year is still TBD. The only race I have penciled in is the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The remainder will be a combination of domestic and international 70.3 events.

Thanks for following along and see you at the races.

JM