Happy To See 2011 Go

So, this past season was pretty much a bust. Nothing too impressive or anything to report on the triathlon front. I did make a big decision though…IMFL 2012 here I come! When is started thinking about the 2010 season compared with the 2011 season, several things jumped out at me. The main one being how much healthier I was in 2010 and how being healthier and more active made me a lot happier and focused. Not only am I racing; my sister is too. I’m going to do my best to coach her and guide through the season. She has been doing a ton of running the past couple of years so if I’m lucky, she will pull me thru the marathon at IMFL.

This past year has definitely been a difficult year. My grandmother (Mamaw) was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer at the end of the summer. She had surgery to have a mass removed and the treatments have been going well. The doctors have been wonderful. We had a team to run in the PanCan 5k event in November. Our team raised over $700! We were so humbled to have so much support. I’m sorry that I haven’t gotten a chance to thank everyone properly, but please know that you are all very much appreciated!
As many of you know, my mother-in-law, Toni, was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer in early Spring of 2009. She fought a long hard battle with more grace and bravery than I could ever hope to have. On November 13th, she passed away. It has been a difficult time, but we do find comfort in knowing that she is no longer suffering and that she is up there watching over us all. I’ve decided to use my training and competing in IMFL as a way to honor both Mamaw and Toni. I will be raising for two local charities that support awareness for these two cancers…The Laura Crandall Brown Ovarian Cancer Foundation ( www.thinkoflaura.org ) and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network local affiliate ( http://www.facebook.com/PanCAN.Birmingham ). I had discussed the fundraising idea with a close friend of mine, Jeff. His family has been impacted by two other diseases: Juvenile Diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis. We decided to combine our effort and raise money for all four! We still have a lot of details to iron out. I will post a link to our webpage once it is up and running. We will post our story…why we are raising money..how you can join us…how you can help, as well as, pictures, training updates, rants, stories, etc..

As far as events on the horizon, the Mercedes Half Marathon is on February 12th. I’ve got a lot of running to do to get ready for that race (55 days…gulp!). My goal is to work a lot on weight loss and my running form between now and April. I’m hoping to race NOLA 70.3 in April. The rest of the season is up in the air so be sure to check back for updates.

I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

WDE!
-E


Eric’s Link of the Day: http://sabanonashelf.tumblr.com - you’ll thank me

Frustration...

Long time no post! There is a reason that I haven’t posted much over the past couple of months…..I haven’t been doing much training at all. I’m not sure why. I want to train and race (or at least I think I want to train and race). I make up a training plan. Hell, I even load up my bike some mornings so I can ride after work. Then whether it be work, rain, family, or any other excuse at that time I find myself ditching my plan. I’ll swim a couple times and then miss a week or two. I’ll ride on the trainer or do some elliptical work then I’ll stop for a week or two. The only thing that is halfway consistent is my core and strength training. Usually what tends to happen is that I do pretty good Monday thru Wednesday. Then Thursday thru Sunday, I’ll be a pretty big slacker.
It’s starting to get very frustrating. I’ve only done 1 multisport race so far this year. I’ve got one more on the calendar for 7/16 (Wet Dog Sprint). I might can talk myself into doing Mt. Lakes in August and maybe another sprint in September. But before I can really get into planning another race, I really need to figure out what is wrong.

Why am I struggling so much this year? Did I get burned out last year getting ready for IMFL? Why do I get so easily frustrated? Why do I just expect to be able to pick right back up where I left off with my training in the fall? I find myself comparing where I am right now and where I was this time last year. Well, I was about 20lbs lighter and a lot more motivated. There are really only 2 things that I regret so far in my life. The first regret is not studying harder and doing better in my first degree at Auburn. The second is that I just kinda let myself go after crossing that finish line at IMFL in November. During these past couple of years in triathlon, I always heard about how some people will be “one and done.” They will finish an IM and then just stop. All that hard work, training, sacrifice, time just gone. I told myself that I wouldn’t be like that….oops.

OK, venting over. Here is a tentative plan for the rest of this year.
-Train for two more races (Mt. Lakes & Frantic Frog)
-Focus on nutrition (need to focus on weight loss and running this off season)
-Realize that the base training and fitness I had for IMFL is not going to magically reappear overnight (this will probably be the hardest)

I’ll have the opportunity to sit down and actually plan out the rest of the season soon. Right now, I need to keep my legs loose for my race on Saturday.

I hope that everyone has an awesome week.

Eric’s Quote of the Day: No quote, just a plug. MH has started our family blog back up. Lots of fun pics of little dude in action. http://ericheatheroneal.blogspot.com

Donde Esta Eric

Thought I’d hammer out a quick post while I eat my lunch.
Well, lots of stuff has been going on these past few months…none of it has been training. Only recently has too much been going on to allow any real training time. The rest of the time, my lack of discipline has been the main culprit. I did run the Mercedes Half Marathon. Finished with a time of 2:50:03. I did a run/walk with my sister, Melissa. It was a fun day. I’m supposed to be having a guest blogger for that race report *cough Melissa *cough.
I’ve never been a great runner. I could run pretty good in high school, but thanks to Buffalo Connection, Mike & Ed’s, and Bud Light, that all changed in college. I’m wanting to try to focus on my running this season. If you look back at all of my race results from last year, you can see why. I’d be in the top or middle of my age group in swim times, bike times, and transition times but my run times were always towards the bottom. This is what we would call my “limiter.” So, this year, I don’t foresee me doing any tri’s longer than Olympic distance. The run portion in Oly’s is usually a 10k. There are some that go shorter, but 10k is usually where it’s at. This is a good distance for me. Until I can improve my mechanics and get under that 200 mark, I’d probably have to run/walk anything over 7-8 miles. I ran an 8k back on 4/2. I finished in 49:10 so right around 9:50 min miles. That’s not too bad for me. I’d love to get down to at least 7-8 min miles for this distance.
So here’s the plan…drop weight, get faster, lengthen runs, get faster again. Simple right?
Now for a favor…I’m going to need everyone to stay on my butt about this. At least until I get back in my groove. I got pretty spoiled after IMFL. I started sleeping past 500am every day. Before IM, I was up at 430 or 500 just about every day it seemed. There shouldn’t be any excuses for me not running. You can run anywhere as long as you have your shoes. Don’t worry, I’ll be working on swimming and biking too. It will be fun to see how overall fitness and ability in each discipline increases with a better run.
I’ll start being better about posting too. The blog was a good way for me to hold myself accountable. I guess I’ve rambled on enough. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Easter Weekend! The weather looks like it will be great for going to church and spending time with family. Take care!

Eric’s Clip of the Day: I think I’ve posted this before, but it still cracks me up

Let's Get It Started...

Well, it’s been about 12 weeks since I crossed that finish line in Florida. It’s been nice not waking up at 430 to get to the pool or to get that 60 mile ride in on Saturday mornings, but it’s time to break out the calendar and get this next year planned out. The downside to not training much the past 12 weeks is putting on what some would call “winter weight.” I was right around 219 when I hit the water in Florida. Now I’m hovering around 235. It’s not really fair how hard it is to take weight off and then how quickly it can start piling back on. Hopefully by the time May rolls around I can be at/under the 200 mark.

Here it is less than 3 weeks out from my first race of the year, Mercedes Half Mary, and I’m nowhere near where I should ideally be but oh well. I’ve run a little over the break and that’s pretty much it. These next couple of weeks will be some hardcore running and watching my diet so I can try and dump most of this extra weight by race day. I’m hoping that the endurance I worked so hard to build will come back rather easily (the consensus among of my racing friends is that your body will remember…we will see).

My main goal for the 2011 race season is to qualify for USAT Nationals in Burlington, VT and finish in the top 33% of my age group at that race. I know I can do all of the distances, but I am just too damn slow on the run. I’ve also come to accept the fact that anything over 6-7 miles is going to require me to do a run/walk. This could change as more weight comes off, but for now I’m sticking with the run/walk. Towards the end of last season, my swim and bike times improved greatly from the beginning of the season. My run improved as well, but not as much as I had hoped. This season is going to be focusing on a lot of speed work. This starts to get a little tricky b/c focusing on speed leaves you open for getting injured easily. I talked with Sophia, my sports doc, about getting the OrthoVisc injections again this year. I’m going to go ahead and get both knees done starting the Wednesday after Mercedes. Hopefully the shots will help me get thru the season without tearing my knees up too bad. Below is my tentative race schedule and their priority (A - top priority, the whole season revolves around these races; B - would like to do well but not gonna stress about it; C - treating it as a training event). I haven’t registered for any of the multi-sport races just yet so my schedule could change.

2/13 Mercedes ½ Mary (C)

4/17 NOLA Half IM (B)

5/14 Peachtree International (A) *USAT Special Qualifier

5/30 LJCC Super Sprint (C)

6/11 Buster Britton Sprint (B)

7/10 Chattanooga Waterfront Oly (B)

7/16 Wet Dog Sprint (C)

8/13 Mt. Lakes Sprint (C) *Not too sure about this one

8/20 USAT Nationals (A)

To those have stuck around for the past two years, thanks for rocking along. To any new followers out there, thanks again for following along. This year should be a lot of fun!

Eric’s Quote of the Day: “Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." ~Will Rogers