Game Time!

It's game time.  Well, not time to race, but time to train.  20 Weeks until Racine!  My racing plans have taken a definitive shape.  Here's the list:

    4/02 Martian Marathon (Not set in stone yet)
    6/05 Hawk Island Tri - Sprint                  
    6/12 Motor City Tri - Olympic                
    7/17 Ironman Racine 70.3                                      
    7/30 Warrior Dash MI
    8/07 Lansing Legislator - Sprint or Olympic                        
    9/11 Rev3 Cedar Point 70.3                          
    10/15 GR or Detroit Marathon
    11/05 Iceman MTB Race - 27 Miles of Pain!!  

To summarize my off season:  October left me spent.  Grand Rapids Marathon was a great race, but I was secretly glad the season was done.  I had hopes to run an ultra marathon, but I needed the rest.  I decided to take December easy, January came quick and I emphasized strength training and stretching.  I did low volume running and no swimming.  February proved to be a challenge to get back into the groove of training.  Many times I had to really make a mental push to get in the workouts. 

Warm weather is close, here in Michigan, and everyday we see more sunlight earlier in the morning.  I'm ready to go, I'm chompin' at the bit!  

I've registered for the Iceman Cometh mountain bike race.  This was my 3rd year thinking about the race, but every year it sells out within hours of opening registration.  This year I got in, the race sold out in 5 hours with 3700 participants.  I'm pretty excited about this race.

Becky and I will be running the Warrior Dash just after Racine.  I'm excited about this one too, it'll be my first adventure race and it will be super fun to run it with Becky!!  Some good friends ran it last year and came back with stories and pictures that you wouldn't believe, I'm stoked to run this one!

Team Motiv8 is well under way!  We're nailing down our sponsors and creating our tri training classes.  We are also readying our childrens programs.  I can't wait to get in with the kids and talk to them about the importance of making healthy nutritional choices and to encourage them to play (like kids should do).  What a great opportunity that we have!  Check out our website at Team-Motiv8.com We'd love for you to join us and run with us across the finish line.  Watch for us at local races and stop by our tent before and after the event!  There will be good stuff happening at our tent!  

As always, thank you to my girls! Becky, Anna and Sophia - you ARE my world! You inspire me to be a better person every day.

February Totals:

Bike:	10h 29m 48s  - 161.55 Mi
Run:	9h 31m 10s  - 53.5 Mi

November 2009 'The Off Season'

November of 2009 has now passed us by. It's time for Christmas and the New Year!

This past month I focused on swimming. I spent more time in the water than I did on my bike (never thought I'd say that). Since I did plan for November to be a month of recovery, I didn't run very much at all. So what did I do?

November's totals:
Bike: 4h 30m 17s - 72.43 Mi
Run: 2h 28m 11s - 14.6 Mi
Swim: 4h 35m 40s - 12650 Yd
Strength: 4h 20m

Next I have my basic plan set up for training to race Ironman 70.3 Racine in July. I'll be doing 9 Weeks Prep, 15 Weeks Base, 6 Weeks Build, 3 Weeks Peak/Race/Taper for Racine. The Prep phase is underway as of this past Sunday. Racine is less than 230 days away. While I want to do really well at this race, my ideal goal will be to qualify for the Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 - November 13, 2010 in Clearwater, Florida.

Finding the Life/Work/Training balance will be tough, especially heading into June where I will be reaching the Critical Volume stage of training. There are 2 weeks of training will be huge, nearing 14,000km swimming, 475 miles biking and 60 miles of running. As always, family first then work followed by training. I've already started to plan my specific day to day training for each Phase of this process. So now I just need to sit back and do it :)

I will be a RACING GREYHOUND again in 2010! A few other Greyhounds will be going long in tri's as well, completing Half Iron distance events and even Ironman Florida (Trish).

I've been blessed to have a few specific people to train with this year. Next year I hope Craig will continue to kick my butt in the water and that Trixie will keep pushing my limits in biking and running (and now strength training too).

I'm lucky to have several people to train with. So a big 'Thank You' to those who choose to put up with me. Also to the great friends at BeginnerTriathlete.com and especially those the in SWBKRUN MG. You guys rock, thanks for continuing to encourage and inspire me.

Lastly, to my family: Thank you for supporting me. Specifically to Becky, Anna and Sophia - I Love you! This year will be highly rewarding for me on a very personal level and I won't be able to do it without you. I am truly blessed.

So how can you help? Give me a call anytime.

June is Here Already

May flew by quick, perhaps it was the 4 races I did. All in all, I have had a great year so far. I only met 1 of my 3 goals for the month, although with the planned races, my goals may have been slightly unrealistic. I wanted to hit 300 miles biking, 50 miles running and 5 hours in the pool.

So what's next? I'm not exactly sure. I'd like to think about another sprint tri as there are two great 3 race series taking place this summer at the Island Lake Rec Area. The way my work schedule falls, I won't be able to make either series, but I could do 2 races of each event. So there is potential for 1 race in June and 1 in July.

August will be the Lansing Legislator (possibly my first Oly tri). September will be the Capital City River Run half mary. And October will be another tri in Las Vegas.

Seems crazy to think about the end of the season so early in the season. But I've learned a few good lessons that I will carry with me for the future. One, for example, is that I cannot afford to race 15 races every year :)

So I need to set goals next year for better performance at longer distances. In this manner I should be able to race my first Half Ironman soon. My 5 year goal of running a full Ironman event seems much more realistic now too. Both of my girls will be in school/pre-school then and I'll have the necessary time to train for this type of endurance event. Man, it's exciting to think about an Ironman!! But, that's still a while away.

Thank you all as always for your support and encouragement! I look forward to the next race with great anticipation, whatever race it may be.