With the racing season fast approaching, triathlete Richard Westover is stepping up his training and making some serious decisions about the races that he’ll be competing in this year. As proud sponsors of Richard’s athletic career, we can’t wait to see how he performs in the incredible challenges he’s about to undertake.
We’re passing the reins over to Richard now, who’s going to tell you all about his plans for the upcoming season.
The Races Richard Westover is Considering
My team and I have three different options for the race plans this season depending on how the year progresses.
Each of these is focused on the Ironman 70.3 race series, which comprises of middle-distance (sometimes known as half-distance) triathlons that are made up of a 1.9km swim, a 90km bike and a 21.1km run.
The first two, and most likely the third, will see me competing in the European series for these events, racing across a number of countries and including the European 70.3 Championships in June.
There is an option to race a full distance Ironman event in August at Ironman Hamburg which we’ll review close to the end of June. This would be the inaugural Ironman Hamburg race, which, having spent so much time in and around the Hamburg area, would almost feel like a home race for me – particularly with the amount of support I’d have out on the course!
Full-distance Ironman races carry a lot more risk however, in terms of the amount of resources that go into being competitive at a race which is double the distance and duration of the 70.3 races, versus the potential reward at the end.
Not only would we need an Ironman-focused block of training before the race, but the recovery time after is also much longer and it can therefore have a big impact on how much I can race around that point in the year.
To stay reactive, we’ll look at how the 70.3 racing is going and if we’re on a good roll, then we might want to stick with that for this year since we can be competitive and, ideally, win a good amount of prize money and world ranking points. On the other hand, if my strength and fitness are looking good and training has stayed consistent without any injury niggles, we might look to the full-distance race as it will be an awesome event, with massive crowds, swimming and running in the city centre as well as riding on roads I know well.
The final option is qualification dependent and would involve racing at the 70.3 World Championships which are held in the US this year. This, even more so, would be a look at the risk/reward scenario due to the nature of such a competitive and resource intensive race.
Either way, August and September will still fature some more 70.3 racing to close out the season with a bang!
Back to bdhSterling
Much like Richard Westover weighing up his options for racing, so much of financial planning is about analysing the possibilities available and making the choice that offers the greatest reward. Of course, Richard doesn’t do this alone. It requires the help of his coach and supportive friends and family.
If you’re currently looking at your own financial planning options (rather than triathlon races!) you can get in touch with the experienced financial advisors at bdhSterling, who will be happy to provide guidance on everything from investments to QROPS.
