2010!!

This year has gotten off to a crazy start.

Having signed up for an early season IRONMAN in St. George, Utah, I really had to kick it into gear early this year after taking a couple months off in the fall. Thanks again for warning me about the torture of 5+ hour trainer rides in prep for these early races Chad. ::shaking head::

Last season ended up on a disappointing note. After finishing my first IRONMAN in Lake Placid on July 26th in a disappointing 12:54, I began my focus towards the Finger Lakes Triathlon. First I had to endure physical therapy twice a week for my right IT band that flared up during the marathon of Placid.

The Finger Lakes Tri didn't go as hoped. I had plans of going in and winning the race, but due to my lack of run training (I had only run 9.3 miles in the 2 months leading up to the race due to my IT band,) and falling into an overall post ironman funk, I was only able to manage an 18th overall and a win in my age group. It was tough to gauge where the other athletes were due to the wave starts... so although i crossed the line 2nd, i was bumped down time after time as the athletes crossed.

I decided to take some time off and actually, the last time (before this week) that i was on my bike outside was on October 14th. Crazy. I continued to go to PT twice a week and only recently i was able to cut down to once a week and now it's down to once every other week.

Things started to really ramp up after the new year, really focusing on my running more than anything. I feel like my run fitness is at a point far above last year already, so i'm really looking forward to the late season races!

The long hours have taken their toll on me though.... after work every day it's hard to find the time and motivation to train 20 hours a week as well. Fortunately i've been lucky enough to have great friends like Matty Mo and Chad to torture me, whether it's at CrossFit / Boot Camp sessions or epic swim sets. I'm looking forward to later in the season when we put those long bike sessions on the docket.

One of the more memorable sessions we had was a Saturday morning 7am Top Gun Boot Camp and Club One. After an hour and a half of craziness (which was made harder by the fact i had been boozing the night before,) Matty decided that it was a great idea to do a set in the pool as well. It was the closest to feeling like death i've been this season.

Oh... and lets not forget a swim session with Matty Mo when we were supposed to do 100 yard repeats at an "easy" pace. The first 100 was done in 6:56... NOT an easy pace. With his massive 6' 4" frame i swear he has an easier time going faster than i do! We continued to descend for a few sets and then he decided "lets go sub 7 by just pulling."

These are the types of people I train with and who make me better every day.

So now we're coming down to just about a month until St. George. Hotel booked. Plane tickets purchased. Training in progress.

I'm feeling a little worn out and fatigued at the moment but hopefully all the hard work will pay of in the end. I feel like I need to really prove to myself what i'm capable of after last years weak performance at Placid.

No walking the marathon for me this year.