As this year’s season comes to a close, now is the time to be reviewing your year and setting up your goals and plans for the year ahead. It is worth taking the lead on planning what you want, rather than getting sucked along with what friends and other people are getting into – and not to mention the Early Bird entry prices!

So here are 7 golden questions to ask yourself:

1. Looking back, how do you rate your performances for the year and why?

When you look back at the year – what was the good, the bad and the ugly?

If you ask why, can you see the root cause of what lies behind each of these?

2. What have you improved the most this year?

Triathlon is a complex sport, with much more than swim, bike, run and transitions – there is also the nutrition, mental approach, racing skills, equipment, preparation and recovery.

What have you improved the most this year? And thinking about this – what was it that worked for you?

3. The biggest thing holding me back right now?

When you look at your performances, what do you think is the biggest factor holding you back?

Do you know what to do about this, or do you need some help?

4. What training did you do the most and least across the year?

If you look back (ideally at your records in Garmin/Strava/Training Peaks/Runkeeper etc), what training did you do the most and least across the key sections of the year?

How does that split across swim (pool and open-water), bike (indoor and outdoor), run (indoor and outdoor), bricks, transition and strength/conditioning?

How does it split in intensity across energy zones – aerobic, anaerobic and alactic? (which could be measured through heart-rate, power or Relative Perceived Effort and sometimes pace – depending on your preference).

Did what you do the most drive your biggest improvements? If not, why do you think this was?

5. How did it feel?

Motivation is one of the most important drivers of our training and racing performance. When were the moments that you felt your heart sing?

What were the contributors to that feeling? (For instance, I have athletes for whom a race where they do not know anyone else doing the event is a daunting and empty experience, whilst being a part of a group all looking out for each other is the highlight of their month. Likewise some for whom going out for a solo run in nature is the highlight of their week, whilst others only get motivated for a long run when there is a group going out).

Is there anything that is getting in the way? If there are sessions that you routinely procrastinate or sack off, what is really going on? Sometimes this means going deep – I’ve had athletes who realised that the reason that they did not do their turbo sessions was fear of spiders in the garage. Or fear of swimming hard enough to get short of breath in the pool sub-consciously took them back to school swim lessons where they were always trying to survive the class bully.

We want to harness the positive emotions for motivation, and find ways to avoid the negatives.

6. What did you learn this year?

Learning is a massive part of growing in the sport… so jotting down the biggest learnings that you take into the next year is really powerful.

7. Focus and Goals going forward

So when you put this together, what do you want to focus on as goals for next year?

• What are the 1 or 2 big events (A-races or challenges) that you want to focus on?
• What is the area that you most want to improve?

These 7 questions should set you up for the basis for next steps and a plan to take you forward into 2024 goals, your winter training focus and what the shape of a normal training week will be for you.

If you want more help, have a chat with an Evo Club coach about how club sessions and coaching options could support you to achieve your goals.