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
