2013 was a great year but 2014 has the potential to be even better. First, lets get the goals out of the way for 2014:
Sub 2hr Half Marathon
Sub 3hr Olympic Triathlon
Complete IMFL
Sub 4:10 marathon
1300 miles running
I wish I could have some biking goals but because of my travel, measuring bike distance will be tough. As I write this I already accomplished the first goal which will be in an upcoming race report for this past weekend. I knew I could achieve it since during my marathon I crossed the midpoint right at 2 hours. For my olympic triathlon, because the Moss Park tri cuts the run short and still calls it an Olympic I’ve decided it would be dishonest to call that my olympic PR. At TriRock I managed a few seconds over 3 hours so this is something I can do. I can probably do it without a lot of work either. My swimming is simply atrocious and if I can shave 5 – 10 minutes there with nothing else, I’ll do it. I actually think I can shave about 7 there, my bike is already getting much faster and my run is solid. I also transition well so I could see hitting 2:45 – 2:50 next time.
My big challenge this year will be training for Ironman while on the road. I’m going to try and document it here if I have the time. Fitting the training, work/travel, life and sleep in is tough. I’ve started the year with 60+ hour weeks so far so I’m not going to have an abundance of time. But I am on the plane now writing this at least!
Running is always the easiest thing to do. No matter where I am, a pair of shoes is all I need. (Well, as my girlfriend likes to point out that’s not all I seem to need since I come equiped with many accessories for running!) A hotel will at least have a treadmill if nothing else. Doing runs of 6 or more miles on a treadmill sucks but sometimes that’s all I got. Swimming is my weakness and I need to have at least 2 but preferably 3 sessions a week. I’m an LA Fitness member so if there is one around then I can use that. If there isn’t then I need to find a gym that I can use since hotel pools are generally too small for me to do laps. The toughest thing is the bike. I’m going to have to accept that during the week, I may get little riding in. Maybe a spin class. But I’ll be a weekend warrior on the bike. Fortunately I’m a decent cyclist so while I won’t achieve my potential there I also will get by.
Combine all that with the fact that when I’m on the road Mon – Thur, I generally have to work 10 hour days or so. Of course since I travel Monday & Thursday that usually means Tuesday and Wednesday could be 12 hour days or longer! My only choice at that point is to wake up between 5 & 6 to get some of this in. I need 90 minutes for a long weekday run so I need to fit it in when I can.
Its going to be interesting. I have some big races and they’re coming up soon. My A-race half marathon was this past weekend already. My first triathlon is an insane half-Iron course that is actually just a training race to see how I do at the distance before my real half-Iron A-race at Augusta. I have an Olympic tri booked for the summer up in Jacksonville which I want to be my Oly PR. And then of course, the big Kahuna – Ironman Florida the weekend of November 1st.
There’s other races mixed in there but those are the big ones. I’ll do Spacecoast again since I need the medal and that will be my only shot at a sub 4:10 marathon. If I don’t do it I won’t mind since I can’t know how I’ll feel a month after IMFL.
So a very busy year planned! I’m both excited and nervous for IMFL. I need to do a lot more swimming so I can feel better about that part of the race. I’d hate to DNF because I couldn’t finish the swim in time – especially since the other events I’ll be fine.