Let’s use this topic to share your race plans for 2024. We might be able to meet up somewhere.
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I will start. Big races for me are;
**21/4 70.3 IM Valencia **
2/6 Grandfondo 3 ballons
I somehow agreed with some cyclists to ride this one. It is in the French Vosges and is a 178 km ride with approx 4000 meter elevation gain. My longest ride ever has been 121km on flat terrain. So this is a scary one.
27/10 70.3 IM Marbella
I was doing this one 2 years ago, but got Corona the day before the start while already in Spain. So should be better this time.
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Big ones for me are:
Venloop half-marathon in March (Venlo, NL)
Mallorca312 in April… 312 KM, >5000m Elevation, already tried it last year and missed the second cutt-off by 20 minutes… So I have to be stronger (and waste less time) this year 
Rund um Köln (Cologne, Germany) in May, 130k bike race
La Stelvio Santini in June, 130 k bike race that will finish at the top of stelvio
Audi Triathlon Ingolstadt… Middle Distance. in June
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Fun! Here’s mine:
March 2nd: The Woodlands Marathon, Texas, USA DNS 
April 27th: Ironman Texas, USA 
May: maybe Calgary Marathon Canada -
Kids triathlons with my kiddos may&june
Kids are off for summer - I know better not to try race then
Second part of the year wide open but hopefully a marathon and
Ironman Florida
Happy to meet up with any other Athletica athletes so if you have anything planned in Texas let me know!
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All gravel races with some possibilities of road racing, depending on my health!
April 13 Hell of the Wind, IL (Big River Gravel)
April 20 Barry Roubaix, Michigan
May 11 Hungry Bear, WI
July 13 Burning Quad, IL (Big River Gravel)
August 17 Core 4, Iowa City
Sept. 7 1904, Iowa (Big River Gravel)
October 13-19 Big Sugar, AR with USA Cycling conference
November 2 Turkey Burner, IL (Big River Gravel)
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I’m hoping this is going to be the year where I properly start to focus on triathlons without pesky marathons getting in the way!
Starting the year off with Lisbon Half Marathon in 3 weeks however, but then it is:
- April - IM 70.3 Valencia (see you there @Antonie)
- May - Outlaw Half Triathlon Nottingham
- July - T100 Series London - then watching the triathlon at the Olympics hopefully and then perhaps a little trip to the Pyrenees for some cycling
- September - T100 Series Ibiza
Those are the big ones but tempted to throw in another 70.3 somewhere if the first 2 go well. Was contemplating doing a full this year again but I want to dial in my training first.
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Yes! Let’s meet up somewhere. At least one person to greet and cheer on during the race!
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Mine:
April - either a half marathon or (more likely) just a team 50mi gravel event
June - Mountain Mayhem - race where you trail run and/or MTB up the ski area
June - a GORUCK basic in Maine
July - Maine Summer Adventure race (8 hour)
July - IRONMAN 70.3 Maine
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You should take out the ‘maybe’ for the Calgary Marathon 
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Taking a break from Triathlon this year to try out some other fun races:
May 12- Salty Dog 6 hour Enduro Mtn bike race
May 26 - Calgary Marathon
Sep 22- Belgian Waffle Gravel Race on Vancouver Island - 218 km gravel race
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My main event is the Wild Atlantic Way Audax (WAWA) which is a single stage 2,134km bike event. It’s basically the entire west coast of Ireland south to north, every headland, every inlet.
Here’s an outline I put together in 2020 before the pandemic cancelled it. It first ran in 2016 and I took part and loved it, and I plan to be there again for the second edition.
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Wow … this is another level. Intrigued and scared s$%tless at the same time. Impressive @Phil
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You just ride in the moment, at least I do. The next hill, the next bend in the road, the next village. Take care of yourself, deal with issues early rather than letting them become ride ending. You have to be able do the riding day after day, in this case 7-8 back to back days of 240 - 300km per day. Plus take in the scenery and realise how lucky you are to get to do it. You don’t think about the whole as that would be overwhelming and mostly means you aren’t concentrating on ensuring you focus on where you are and what you need to do now, not what you need to do in 12,24, 48, 96 hours later etc.
It’s summed up as ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Plus for most part remaining humble about it. It’s like a secret club.
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Great schedule, Ashley! Looks like a fun summer!
@Phil, the WAWA looks amazing. I’m guessing you prepare for that by doing a lot of miles and eating a lot!
Reasonable volume but not excessively so. I average around 12.5 hours a week over the year and peak at an average of about 15 hours a week leading into my events.
The main event preparation, occurs in the 3-4 months leading up to it, and is to do what is called a Super Randonneur series of 200, 300, 400, 600km events. Outside of that period I don’t usually go much beyond 7-8 hours in duration in a single ride. Most long rides tapping out at 5-6 hours, the rest of the year,
My build (this year) includes 200, 400, 200, 400km then I have a 3 x 240km / day practise run about 3 weeks before WAWA. Then I’ll go back to my typical weekly distance / taper.
The build events are as much as reinforcing the mental side, as well as refreshing all the things you forget year to year. The aim when you get to the main event is that everything is once again second nature and you have faith in your fitness to go with it. The less cognitive load you have, the more resilient you are what these events throw at you.
There’s also a maxim that applies to these events. No matter how well prepared you are, you will experience lows during the event, but if you can keep going, the lows will pass. Another maximum is never to quit till you’ve eaten, drunk, and had a rest or sleep. Quitting is often like flicking a switch. If you can keep your hands away from the switch, you might just turn it around. You can be strong fitness and physically wise, but if you haven’t got your head in the game, you’re not going to get through the lows that are inevitable over such long durations.
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Love that one @Phil … couldn’t agree more. Wise words for all.
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I really like this @Phil! I like how you talk about the mental side of the long rides. Even with a four hour gravel race, I feel that mental fatigue. So it’s something to practice during training rides. Thanks for this!
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A little late to the party, but mine looks like this:
May Calgary, AB Half Marathon
July Drumheller, AB Badlands Fondo
August Edmonton, AB Marathon
September Cranbrook, BC Kootenay Rockies Gran Fondo
October Edmontonish, AB Croken Classic (gravel)
October St George, Utah Tour of St George (shorter distance)
Doing the shorter distance in St George as we (buddy and I) fly out the next day early from Vegas so have to take the bikes apart and put them back in the bike box after the ride. We plan to ride all week leading up to the event until we can’t ride anymore. Plan to ride to Zion, park and ride up Bryce, and also plan to ride the Valley of Fire outside of Vegas.
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