Monday, December 10, 2012

Tis the Season!

Well the holidays are upon us.  For many this is a time to reflect, be with friends, family, and those we love most.  For me, its time to go to Mexico!!!  Aimee and I have our 8 year anniversary coming up, so we're both looking forward to the trip.  Hopefully it gets a little colder here in the great white north before we leave, otherwise I'm not sure the trip will feel as worthwhile as it could.

My training is coming along very nicely.  My foot seems to be doing a lot better and I think the problem comes down to shoes.  When I raced that 10k I was in racing shoes without much padding.  I had run in them before, but nothing as hard as a 10k.  So my feet were sore after that race.  Immediately after the race I started running in brand new shoes and I'm pretty sure I had them laced too tight.  I'm not 100% sure that's the problem, but I was able to run hard on Monday with no ill effects.  So for the moment all systems are go.

The crohns appears to be back in remission.  Stress = flare.  That's just how it works.  While some may view the flares as a real negative, I try to take them as a sign that I need to focus on what's really important in life.  Don't get me wrong, the flare ups suck.  But there is always a lesson to be learned.  Sometimes you can't control the external stressors in your life, but other times you can.

I've come to learn that Steelhead 70.3 will not qualify for the 2014 world championships in Vegas.  The race is a couple weeks earlier than than normal so it will qualify for 2013.  As a result I won't be doing that race this year.  I'm not 100% sure what I'll be doing.  But here is a tentative race schedule.

Jhawk Early Bird sprint- April 28
Lake Mills sprint - June 2
Liberty 1/2 Ironman (Minnesota) - June 8
Pleasant Prairie Olympic - June 23 -(try to qual for USAT)
Wisconsin Triterium Olympic - June 29
USAT National Champs - Aug 10
Pigman 1/2 Iron (Iowa) - Aug 18
Austin 70.3 (Texas) - October 27th (Try to qual for vegas 2014)

I'm thinking that this summer of races will really be about having fun and trying to figure out my best pacing strategy.  I don't know that I will really have any specific goals other than going fast and placing as high as I can.  I don't necessarily care about USAT Nationals, it would just be fun.  I will care about Austin 70.3, assuming I end up doing that race.  It would certainly be my A race as it would be nice to spend the end of 2013 and 2014 specifically focusing on the WC's in Vegas. 

With my training going in such a positive direction I'm finding that I already look forward to next season.  But its a long ways out with all of Winter yet to come.  We'll see what happens. 

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