As my regular readers know, this is one of my favorite themes/topics, one that I have turned to on a regular basis for just about as long as I have been writing about our sport. For I think that doing so — that is setting goals that work for you — is the key to having fun in the races, whether you are fast, slow or in between. As I have said many times, if they are to work for you, the central element is that the goals that you set have to be rational and realistic, for you. 

On Sept. 25, 2016, I reached a milestone in our sport: closing in on the end of my 34th season, I did my 250th multisport event. For those of you who know me or follow my columns, in recent years I have been getting even slower. As I approach membership in the 80-84 age group, I have also been going shorter than I did for the bulk of my career. You also know that 2014 and 2015 were not great seasons for several reasons. And finally, you’ll recall that at the beginning of my first race this year, I was actually thinking of packing it all in. But everything turned around during that race, and it has been a great summer. 

BY DR. STEVE JONAS | SEPT. 27, 2016, 5:49 P.M. (ET)

The 2016 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships were held at Omaha, Nebraska, on August 13-14. I have been lucky enough to have been able to go to a number of triathlon national championships, beginning with St. Joseph, Missouri in 1999. But for a variety of reasons, I had not been to one since 2012. So this year was special for me.

I first did the sprint at CGI’s New Jersey State Championships at Princeton, New Jersey, in 2012. I did it again the next year, but then I missed it until I was able to get to it once again this season. There are two events, a sprint and an Olympic-distance race. Since 2009, they have been run on separate days, like a National Championship. Since then, both races have been sold out. The race is centered in Mercer County Park, outside of Princeton. 

Last month I wrote about getting renewed in our sport. As it turned out, that happened in the Pawling Triathlon, an unofficial race for me in which I only did the bike and the run (with the permission of the race director, Dan Honig). The goal was to get my feet wet for the season — without actually getting my feet wet. At any rate, I did get renewed, and so off I went to the USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championships in Bend, Oregon for my sixth Duathlon Nationals.

I started racing in triathlons in September 1983 at the second running of the Mighty Hamptons Triathlon, the first in Sag Harbor, New York. At age 79, this season is my 34th, and I have done a total of 243 triathlons and duathlons. Starting at the end of last season I was already looking forward to this one. Depending upon how I felt and the weather (last year I lost two planned races to bad weather, plus one to car trouble) perhaps I could make it to 250 this year, while at the same time qualifying for USA Triathlon’s Duathlon Century Club. (Back in 2012, I was a very happy member of the inaugural group for the USA Triathlon Century Club.

Last year we talked about the “Basic Eight of Regular Exercise.” In summary they are:

1. The hard part of regular exercise is the regular, not the exercise.

2. The best exercise routine for you is the exercise routine that is best for you.

3. There are many reasons for exercising regularly, other than for race training. For example, there’s feeling better and feeling better about yourself and helping you organize other areas of your life.

Well, spring is here (in most parts of the country), and the tri/duathlete’s thoughts turn to a variety of things: the race schedule for the upcoming season, the training program that will get you ready for the races that you are planning to do, and yes, equipment. Race schedules and training programs are constants from season-to-season, of course. Thoughts on equipment vary, depending how long you have been in the sport, how much equipment you already have, what kind of shape it is in, and so on and so forth. This column is primarily aimed more at those who are new or relatively new to the sport, but there are a few words of advice that might help out some of the more experienced types as well.

Last month, I began Part I of this series by noting that some folks make New Year’s resolutions and some don’t. One reason that the “don’t do it” group doesn’t is that failure to keep has not been an uncommon experience. Last month’s column contained some general principles for resolution-making that in my experience can help you to succeed. This month we are turning to some particulars, particularly in the area of mobilizing motivation. As regular readers of my columns know, this is one of my favorite topics.

Some folks make New Year’s resolutions and some don’t. One reason that the “don’t do it” group doesn’t is that failure to keep has not been an uncommon experience. This column, Part I of a two-part series, contains some general principles for resolution-making that in my experience can help you to succeed. Next month we shall turn to some particulars, particularly in the area of mobilizing motivation.

Tri/duathletes sometimes wonder “why am I doing this?” This can happen on a hot day about halfway through the run, on a windy day when you’ve been riding into a stiff headwind for half an hour, or, let’s say, a third of the way into a rather cold-water swim. I’ve had all three experiences, more than once. At the end of my 33rd season in multisport, I thought to share some thoughts on the subject with you, as well as to bring into the discussion, my other sport, downhill skiing.

Winter takes on different weather characteristics in different parts of the Northern Hemisphere (and with climate change will be taking on even more varied aspects). But whatever yours looks like — white, green or in between — it's a good idea to take some down time this time of the year. It might be a week, two weeks or even a month if you’ve raced frequently or have an injury or two that can be healed completely with rest. And whether for injury reasons or not, that’s rest for both your body and your mind.

Periodically (and now is one of those periods), various claims arise from various quarters that regular exercise is a good way to help with weight loss. And further, it is claimed that it is so good a way to lose weight that a person perhaps need not be as concerned as they might be with precisely what they eat (or drink), if only they exercise regularly.  

Just a bit over two years ago, I visited this subject on these pages. A recent editorial in another triathlon magazine made me want to return to it. The author was talking about drawing more women into the sport — certainly a laudatory goal — through a new organization. (Of course the USA Triathlon Women’s Committee has been on the case for many years, and my good and longtime friend and colleague Sally Edwards has been at it even longer, with Trek and Danskin, among others). But what struck me in particular about the column was its emphasis on IRONMAN races.  

The USA Triathlon Century Club — for USAT members who have done 100 or more triathlons — was established in 2011. I was an inaugural member. The USAT Duathlon Century Club was established in 2014. When that notice came into my email inbox, I went to my detailed race record and counted up my duathlons. Being a non-athlete [except for downhill skiing] when I took up triathlon at age 46, I thought, “well, I indeed would like to keep track of my races.” I had no idea that I would get to the number I have reached so far — 240-plus — but since I have gotten there, it is nice to have that record.

Last month I shared with you a narrative of my experience at the USA Triathlon Duathlon Nationals in Saint Paul, Minnesota, this past June. It was, for me, a tough course. I was not concerned about my time, but I really did want to finish, “happily and healthily,” as I like to say.  And I did, as I have done in most of the 240-plus races I have been fortunate to have competed in since I started multisport racing back in 1983. 

Last year, at just about this time, my column focused on my experience at the USA Triathlon Sprint Duathlon National Championships that were held in St. Paul, Minnesota, as the frame for a presentation on five of my long-time “back-of-the-pack” thoughts. For indeed, last year, as is happening with increasing frequency as I get older and slower, I was dead last (which is just fine with me, as long as I finish). This year it was back once again to St. Paul, but this year’s column will focus on the race itself and my experience in it.

Last year, I published a column in this space on getting started as a regular exerciser. So how about getting started in multisport racing? In many parts of the country, we are just now getting to outdoor temperatures and conditions that permit and/or encourage cycling out-of-doors. (Actually, I just read that the day before I sat down to write this column on May 11, 2015, four inches of snow had to be cleared off Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, before a baseball game could be played there.) 

Talking Tri-/Duathlon for Ordinary Mortals®: A Series, (No. 21, 2015, 4-13) by Dr. Steve Jonas

In many parts of the country we are still waiting for spring to arrive, although in certain other parts, summer seems to be here already.  But whatever part we live in, as tri/duathletes, whatever we have done or not done over the winter, we are now getting back into regular exercise. We know that to be a successful tri- or duathlete at any level, we have to train/exercise regularly throughout the season. Many years ago, toward the beginning of my 30-plus years in multisport racing and as a writer on the subject I put together what I call the "Basic Eight of Regular Exercise."  They certainly have helped me to keep on truckin', and given some thought, they might help you too.

Talking Tri-/Duathlon for Ordinary Mortals®: A Series, (No. 20, 2015, 3-3) by Dr. Steve Jonas

Spring is coming.  Really?  If you, like I do, live in a part of the country that has had a very rough winter, especially during the past month of February, you might not actually believe that.  Actually, my part of the country, the New York Metropolitan region (I live in Port Jefferson on Long Island), has not had it nearly as bad as other parts, like New England, the Mid-West, and even much of the South.  But yes, spring will eventually get here and where you live too, and we will be able to start racing again, first, perhaps in a Du or two, and then on to the Tri’s, or perhaps, like me, you will stay mainly with the Du’s for the season.  And so what to do for the upcoming season, in light of the really miserable winter, in terms of the weather, that many of us have had.