Race for the destination, for the family trip, for the friends on the start line. All good reasons, and I will not argue you out of any of them. But when the goal is a personal best or a qualifying slot, the course itself becomes a performance variable. I hold performance data on every IRONMAN and 70.3 course and read it against your training profile, your strengths, and your weaknesses, so you can line up somewhere that genuinely suits you.
Not every race suits every athlete. The course chooses winners as much as the training does.
Two courses at the same distance can ask completely different things of you. A flat, still-water, fast course rewards a big sustainable engine and a sharp aero position. A hilly, hot, technical course rewards durability, heat tolerance, and the ability to surge and recover. Put the same athlete on both and the finish times, and the places, can be worlds apart.
Plenty of the best reasons to pick a race have nothing to do with performance. Somewhere you have always wanted to see, a trip the family can build a holiday around, friends on the same start line, a venue that has been on your list for years. Those are good reasons and I am not going to argue you out of any of them.
But when the goal for a given season is a personal best, a podium, or a qualifying slot, the course stops being scenery and becomes a performance variable like any other. It is also one of the few you settle before you run a single session. That is where this comes in: I match you to the courses that suit you, then we build the plan around the choice.
Depending on your goal, you usually want one of these, sometimes both.
The course that flatters your strengths and hides your weaknesses, for an outright personal best. If the goal is a time, a finish, or a story to tell, this is the one. We find the profile of course your numbers are built to attack.
A fast time and a slot are not the same target. A slot depends on your age group, the depth of the field, the gender pool, and how the course thins that field. Sometimes the smart move is a slower course where your relative strengths matter more and the fast specialists stay home.
Your fastest course and your best slot course are often not the same race. A pancake-flat, competitive event might be where you clock a PB, while a brutal, hot, hilly one might be where your durability drags you onto the podium as the fast-but-fragile athletes fall apart. Knowing the difference, and choosing on purpose, is the whole point.
Three inputs, one recommendation you can act on.
The Grepiac questionnaire (your goals, history, life, and constraints), plus as much of your training and racing data as you can bring, the last year at a minimum, ideally the last three. Any Performance Lab numbers you have (VO2max, thresholds, aero, heat and sweat, critical power) sharpen it further. Together these describe what kind of athlete you actually are, not what you wish you were.
I hold performance data on every IRONMAN and 70.3 course: how they ride and run, how times spread, what the fields and conditions look like. That is the reference I read your profile against.
A ranked short list of races with the reasoning behind each: which fit you for a personal best, which fit you for a slot, and what each one will ask of you. Then, if you are coached, we build the season around the target.
This works best when I can see the real you, so come with:
This is not a spreadsheet of slot counts you could look up yourself. Plenty of good analysts will tell you where the slots are. What I add is you: your physiology and your history, read against the course, so the recommendation is about which race your body is built for, not just which race hands out the most tickets.
Book a one-off review, or fold it into a full season. Both start with a message, not a checkout.
Race selection is a standard part of coaching, at no extra charge, because choosing the right race is part of building the right season. And if you book a VO2max or Full-Stack test, ask me to fold a review in, the data is already on the table.
I would rather set the expectation straight than oversell it.
No analysis can promise you a slot or a podium. Fields change, conditions change, and on the day you still have to race well. What this does is stack the odds in your favour by putting you on a course that suits you, instead of leaving the choice to chance.
The more I know about you, the sharper the recommendation. Real lab numbers beat estimates, and honest answers on the questionnaire beat flattering ones. If you have never tested, we can still do good work from training data, it is just a slightly wider aim.
I help you choose the race and understand why. Entering it, travel, and logistics are yours to arrange. If you are coached, the choice flows straight into your plan.
The ones I hear most.
No, but it helps. With VO2max, aero, heat, or critical-power data the match is sharper. Without it, we work from your training data and race history, which is still plenty to point you in the right direction.
The course database is built out fullest for IRONMAN and 70.3, so those are where the analysis is strongest. If you are targeting other events, get in touch and I will tell you honestly how much I can add.
They tell you where the slots are, which is genuinely useful. I read the course against your physiology, so the answer is about which race you are built for, not just which one hands out the most tickets. Different question, and for most athletes the more useful one.
Start with a message, not a checkout. Tell me your goal and where you are in your season, and I will confirm which option fits and how to settle it. Coached athletes pay nothing extra.
Send a short note with your target season, your goal (a time, a finish, a podium, a slot), and any testing you have done. I will reply with which option fits and the next step.
