Investments

Podcast Version
(With NotebookLM AI)

How to Make Triathlon Investment Decisions Like a Business: ROI, NPV, IRR, PB and BCR

Triathlon isn’t just a sport, it’s a portfolio of investments.

Every week, you're deciding where to allocate your limited time, energy, and money. Do you double down on swim technique? What about that new race wheelset? Invest in coaching? Extend your sleep window? The stakes may not be financial on paper, but they’re personal and real. Note that the returns of our decisions could be future higher benefits or lower cost.

In the business world, we try to reduce the guess work. We evaluate every move based on metrics like ROI (Return on Investment), NPV (Net Present Value), IRR (Internal Rate of Return), and Payback Period (PB), BCR (Benefit-to-Cost Ratio). These metrics help us separate emotion from impact, hype from value. So why not apply the same strategic discipline to your triathlon life in the right way, for the right decision?
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Let’s dive into how each financial decision-making tool can help you train, race, and recover smarter.

1. ROI – Return on Investment

ROI is simple, fast, and popular. It asks: What do I get back compared to what I put in?
In business, this might be extra output from a new machine in manufacturing. In triathlon, it is a bit trickier, because there is no real financial return – unless if you are a pro. However, you could determine personal value to a minute gained. Let’s assume for this purpose we set it at 20 euro/minute.

Formula: ROI = (Total Return on Investment – Initial Investment Cost) / Initial Investment Cost

When to Use It:
ROI is perfect when comparing two competing options in the same period. This avoids the impact of the time difference.

Example:
You consider buying new shoes and plan to wear them in five 70.3 races.

• Pair A are 250 euro super shoes You expect every half marathon to be 10 minutes faster. Hence your benefit will be 5 races x 10 minutes x 20 euro = 1000 euro. Your ROI then is (1000-250)/250 = 300%
• Pair B are 125 euro running shoes. You expect with training to be 3 minutes faster. Hence your benefit is 5 races x 3 minutes x 20 euro = 300 euro. Your ROI is (300-125)/125 = 140%
• Choose Option A in this case.

Watch Out:
ROI can bias you toward fast wins and shiny objects. It rarely accounts for when the return hits or how long it lasts.

2. NPV – Net Present Value

NPV goes deeper. It considers future value, discounted to today's terms at expected average inflation rate. It’s not just about whether something pays off, but how much it’s worth over time once you factor in consistency, risk, and sustainability.

Formula: NPV = Sum of Discounted Net Cash Flows (– Initial Investment Cost)

When to Use It:
Use NPV when the return of your investment is spread in multiple recurring phases over time. The delayed benefits compound over time and need to be taken into account.

Example:
We compare the NPV of our shoes.

• NPV A = ∑(10minutes x 5 races x 20 euro)/ (1.03) – 250 = 665.94 euro.
• NPV B= ∑(3minutes x 5 races x 20 euro)/ (1.03) – 125 = 149.82 euro

Watch Out:
NPV requires some assumptions about what future gains will be worth. Don’t overestimate and check in quarterly to assess actual results.

3. IRR – Internal Rate of Return

IRR tells you how efficient an investment is over time. A higher IRR means a faster or more effective payoff per unit invested. It represents the discount rate which turns the NPV to zero.

Formula: IRR = Discount factor that turns NPV to zero – software support

When to use it:
Use IRR to rank options that offer long-term benefits with different timelines. Camps, coaching, new disciplines (like trail running or cold plunges), or cross-training all have different IRRs based on how often and effectively they get used.

Example:
The IRR on the shoe case would be

• IRR A = 71%
• IRR B = 39%

Watch Out:
IRR does not take into account the investment value. 2 projects could have the same IRR, but one could be a 500 euro investment and the other a 5000 euro cash out. Also, IRR can be misleading if your usage assumptions are wrong. The best investment won’t yield anything if it gathers dust in your garage. 

4. PB – Payback Period

Payback Period focuses on how fast something pays for itself. It’s less about total return and more about recovery speed.

Formula: PB = Time needed for Actual Returns to meet Actual investment Cost

When to Use It:
Use PB when the timing matters: solving a problem before race day, recovering from injury quickly, or gaining a short-term edge in a race block.

Example: In the shoe case, the PB would be
PB A = 1.25 years / races
PB B = 2.08 years / races

Watch Out:
A short payback doesn’t mean it’s the best investment, just the fastest. Pair PB with IRR or ROI to see the bigger picture.

5. BCR – Benefit-Cost Ratio

BCR, or Benefit-Cost Ratio, is the underdog of decision metrics,  not as flashy as ROI, but incredibly powerful when the payoff isn’t purely about performance. It measures the total value of benefits (tangible or intangible) compared to the cost. Unlike the first 4 KPI’s, which focus on net returns, BCR helps you answer the broader question: Is this worth it? Especially when your “gains” are emotional, social, or mental, not just physical. It is more comparable to the RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion)

Formula: BCR = Discounted Present Value of Benefits / Discounted Present Value of Costs

When to Use It:
Use BCR when the returns are soft but valuable: Emotional well-being, mental clarity, lifestyle satisfaction. Meditation, breathwork, team training, or even a celebratory post-race trip might not make you faster, but they make the process richer, which fuels long-term consistency.

Example:
​There is a lot to do about shaving before a race. Although the results could be only a few minutes, it could have a great impact on you psychological readiness, confidence and stress reduction. Imagine the 30 minutes spent (invested) shaving, for only 5 minute correlated time gain overall, and a boost in confidence. Versus feeling less confident and maybe losing time because of that.

Watch Out: 
​BCR is subjective, and it’s easy to convince yourself that something “feels worth it” when it’s just indulgent. Be honest with yourself: is this adding value over time, or just distracting you from what matters most? It’s about investing in depth, not just dopamine.

Strategic Implementation for Athletes Who Think Like Executives

1. Think in Portfolios, Not Purchases
   Spread your “investments” across short, medium, and long-term returns. Don’t sink it all into gear. A balanced strategy includes recovery, nutrition, technique, and mindset. Focus on foundational investment over gimmicky equipment.
2. Review Quarterly
   Just like financial forecasting, check your performance ROI every 3 months. What’s delivering? What’s noise? Where are you wasting energy or money?
3. Run Experiments
   Treat your training like A/B testing. Try a new fueling protocol for a block, or change your sleep routine. Measure the difference.
4. Track Non-Financial ROI
   Confidence. Mood. Energy after sessions. These are soft returns — but they fuel long-term consistency, which is the most valuable currency in endurance sport.
5. Kill Your Darlings
   Some things you love (like long Zone 2 rides or fancy gadgets) might be delivering the lowest return. Be honest. Cut the dead weight and reinvest where it counts.

Conclusion
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It is important to determine the right model and the right value for time. As a young athlete with a long career ahead of you the NPV would be recommended, looking for more foundational investements like Tridot Pool School. Older amateurs might prefer BCR, looking at a more expensive racing destination to add a vacation. Pro's might prefer to know the immediate impact better represented by ROI, when discussing altitude camps, wind tunnel aero optimization, nutrition, hypnotherapeutic psycholigists, and more.

Additionally the value of time can hugely differ per person. If you are an age grouper looking to finish, an extra minute might be not valuable at all, but if you are close to making a KONA slot that extra 10 minutes might be worth 1000 euro. If you are pro looking at an overall win, the pay-off might be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

• Identify your top three most expensive next investments and evaluate them as honestly as possible. with the ROI, NPV, IRR, PB and BCR methods.
• Try to determine the value of one minute racing time BEFORE you use the methods in order to tweak the formulas towards your favorite subjective solution. Ask yourself how much would you pay to be 30 - 60 – 90 minutes faster? Calculate your average minute price.
• If you are discussing subjective values. Talk to your partner or other athletes and see if you can come up with good value for those. For instance, the value of one day longer on site in the right time zone?
• Finally, input all the numbers you have into ChatGPT and ask to calculate the KPI's mentioned in the blog for you. Let ChatGPT ask you for more info, if it is missing to calculate it correctly. (Example)

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