How do you go about planning your racing? See a race you fancy and enter it a few days in advance? For the past few weeks I’ve added a new phrase into my running vocabulary: race calendar.

It makes me sound like an elite, or at least like I should have a manager negotiating race appearance fees – unfortunately neither of these things are true. All it means is I’m doing a little forward planning.

This year entries for the 2013 Berlin Marathon sold out within hours. It was like you’d get a personal hug from Haile Gebrselassie on the finish line the speed those things sold. Maybe it’s just the German efficiency on display but the lesson to be learned is – if there’s a race you want to do, don’t put it off or you may be disappointed.

When planning a race calendar, start with your goals and work backwards. So my goals for 2013 are to get a London ‘Good For Age’ qualifying time and complete my first triathlon.

The Good For Age deadline is usually around July so I needed a fast spring marathon. The Greater Manchester Marathon boasts the flattest course in the UK and, as it’s in April, leaves enough time for a second crack at sub-3:50 if the worst happens come race day.

After the marathon is done and dusted it’s all out triathlon training. First I’ll start out with a sprint distance triathlon in St Neots. Hopefully I’ll achieve my race goal of surviving the river swim.

Then, a month later, I’ll pretending my surname is Brownlee as I take on an Olympic distance race in Marlow. This time I’ll be swimming in the Thames and the goal for the race is slightly bigger – I want to finish it.

So there we have the bare bones of my 2013 race calendar. Now all I need is a training plan. Oh, and a wetsuit.