Having a great week!

Well I have some of the family in for the week before we head to the mountains (sans bike, sad panda) but we are looking forward to days of gokarts, ziplining, seeing the sights, and generally being touristy. Other than having a full house, with Xavier and Amaya (my nephew and niece) as well as Shell and Bailee (my sister-in-law and adorable niece), things are hunky-dorie in the house. That meaning, I get up in the morning and go run each morning like I should do!

Training has been really week this whole month, even though I started out well with a race (Gull Lake Tri) and a week of riding and swimming, I fell off the wagon (I call it recovery) for about 11 days, which did wonders for my hip (more on that in a second). But getting back into it, running has been a bit hard, with only 11 miles last week, with 37 miles on the bike have put me a bit back in my training, so I am using the rest of this month to rebuild my base so that I can hit the ground running in August. I am planning to start with the masters swim team on post, as well as working into the C4 cycling weekend rides, and getting my running miles in for the Triple T and Army 10 miler later in October. So I do have time to make my “second season” a good one.

As far as my second half of my season, I am cutting waaaaay back on races, with hope that this will set me up for next year’s season (if I don’t deploy!) of racing. Let’s look at my schedule for the remaining few months:

Tri the Worx – 14 Aug 11 – Fuquay-Varina, NC – This is a sprint race that is near my house (within an hour), so I like it, plus I like saying Fuquay-Varina! Even though this is a TTS race, I won’t be able to get the four race minimum for the series, so I will have to plan better next year.

White Lake International – 10 Sep 11 – White Lake, NC – This race might slide off the plate, even though I really like the area, it’s close to home, and I might be able to PR for the distance, but this one might be a “game day decision”, so we will have to see.

Tucker Lake Tri – 24 Sep 11 – Benson, NC – This is another “close to home” race and it is a TTS series race, so I can see how close I would be to the podium for the series. I hear this is another “reboot” of a classic old race, and I am down with that. Plus the next month is going to be heavy, so a sprint is a nice “B” to “C” race leading up to October.

Army 10 Miler – 9 Oct 11 – Washington, DC – I have never raced more than 7 miles before, so this is going to be a good test, plus I would like to say that I have run this race at least once. Going to make a long weekend out of this, take the wife up and meet up with a buddy up in DC. Hope I run into Rainmaker up there!

American Triple T – 14-16 Oct 11 – White Lake, NC – This is going to be “big one”, 4 races in 3 days; a Super Sprint on Friday night, two Olympics on Saturday, and a half on Sunday. Wow, what was I thinking? This will be a fun time though, and will be a great way to finish out my 2011 season. I know as of today, the RD is still looking for a venue at White Lake, so I hope this doesn’t fall by the wayside, but since they had a great deal for military members, I won’t complain too much. This will be a real test of my meddle, so it could be a bonk-fest, or a great race.

A few races didn’t make the cut that I had planned on at the start of the year, either from not enough time, didn’t think I was ready yet, or don’t have the funds for it. Either way, I will have to look at these races next year:

InsideOut Classic – 22 May 11 – Cary, NC – This half marathon I just never got the miles in enough for, but should have done for the training opportunity, going to relook this in 2012.

All the FS Sports open water swims – Yeah, I was not ready for these, so my swimming base needs to get up there starting in the fall of this year. This winter is when I am going to try to make my weakness less of one.

UNC Wellness Super Sprint – 31 Jul 11 – Chapel Hill, NC – This would have been my 4th TTS series race, but family is in town and we are going to the mountains, so this race got nixed. A shame, I hear this is a fast race.

USAT Age Group Nationals – 20 Aug 11 – Burlington, VT – I received a email a few weeks ago saying that I qualified for the age group nationals in Vermont, which is awesome, but the bummer part is that I won’t be able to go this year, but is a great goal for next year, so this one will be penciled in on the calendar, so if I make it next year, I’m going to go!

Pier to Pier Swim – 10 Sep 11 – Wilmington, NC – Again, need to work the swim and become friends with the water, but the idea and challenge is intriguing. Might look at it next year.

Beach2Battleship (half or full) – 29 Oct 11 – Wilmington, NC – Again, time and money are the factors here, plus if I do this, I want to do well in it. But I have heard so many great things about this, this is a no brainer to do next year.

Walt Disney World Marathon – 8 Jan 12 – Lake Buena Vista, FL – This one isn’t completely off the plate, but it is hanging on by it’s fingernails. Would love to do this as my first, but I have heard that it fills up quick, you won’t be able to run fast (which is good for a first marathon, in my opinion) and if I get some more time off for it, so there are a lot of “ifs” on this one.

So, as you can see, my eyes were bigger than my stomach this year, but I didn’t factor in age and staying completely healthy into this. The good news on the hip is that it isn’t anything major, just a tight Iliopsoas – Insertation muscle, so I just need to stretch it prior to running, so thankfully no major damage. Yea! But next year is going to be a more balanced, in scheduling races, training, and my body. I am going to fix the weak hammies and my weak core and come back in better shape, and look at getting down in weight, so that I can fly right out the gate. So to all the folks in my AG next year, look out, next season begins now!

I guess I’ll talk to you all later then, enjoy the rest of your week!