Sunday, August 1, 2010

What's Next??

August is here!  As summer will begin to wind down, fall approaches.  You know what that means?  The triathlon season is almost over and runners will be taking over the roads :)    Now is a great time to reflect over the last 7 months of the year to see where you've come.

I think that it's kind of funny, November is when I started my training plan for Ironman Racine.  This November, I will start the same basic periodization plan.  However I will be staring with my basic volume the same as it is right now.   I'm excited to think about next year's training and racing, even though it's still several months away.  I'm not ruling my tri season over yet, but September offers the last of the local tri's - so it's not far out.

With the August calendar now on the refrigerator, I look forward to this new page.

To me this is great for a few reasons:
  • I chose to start a marathon training plan and I plan to run the Grand Rapids Marathon on October 17th... this year!  I'll be running it with a friend who is hoping for a BQ time, she's got to finish under 3:45, so we'll be training to finish at 3:30.  Just FYI - my BQ time would be 3:10... not happening!
  • I am participating in a study at Michigan State University.  I will be one of a handful of people to be subjected to some pretty crazy testing that includes data tracking for 2 weeks of workouts, 1 week at a volume over 15 hours and a second week at a volume under 10 hours.  There will be a nutrition/metabolism and threshold/ VO2 Max treadmill tests and blood testing before and after the study.  It'll tell me a LOT about where I am, as well as where I could be in training intensity.
  • September is the Rev3 Cedar Point half distance triathlon.  But due to some family happenings, I may not be able to run this race.  I'm waiting for word back from Rev3 about a couple of options for me to get in to this event.  Whether I do or do not do race this event, my training will have to peak during the same time frame due to the MSU study.
  • Lastly, August marks the month that I hired in to the fire department - this year I become Senior Firefighter... which is a fancy way to say that I get a significant pay raise!  Sadly, I only have 1 person below me in seniority due to budget 'shortfalls'  The 2011 budget will be tight, but word is - 2012 will be worse for the area that I work.  Who knows.  Right now, I'm good.
Due to the Ironman Racine triathlon and the tapering for that race, my total training volume and distances for last month are lower than normal.  However my run totals are still higher than what I wrote down for monthly totals at the beginning of this year.  Last month I surpassed my total time swimming from all of 2009 and in August I will surpass my 2009 run total of 500 miles.  I'm very close to passing the 2009 total distance on the bike as well, maybe in September I will break that mark.

SO, where are you in your fitness?  Do you have a goal?  What motivates you?  What do you want to do this year or even next year?  Get healthy, stay healthy!  Live life to the fullest knowing that every step you take will influence someone close to you!!

A HUGE congratulations to The Nature Conservancy, Michigan Chapter (Lansing Office) for committing 5 people to run the Grand Rapids Marathon as a relay this year!  My wife will be on that team with 4 of her coworkers.  That's a huge step to take and I'm soooper proud of all of you.  Train like you want to win and represent TNC with pride!!












2 comments:

Stacey Molenda said...

Jeremy---Greg is also running the Grand Rapids Marathon as well as the Fallsburg Marathon which is in two weeks. So, we'll maybe see you in GR!

Jeremy Hagerman said...

Very cool Stacey! What pace does he plan to run at? If he wants company occasionally on some long runs, give him my info.