2011 Race Calendar

Conveniently, I have 13 races/events in my schedule for 2011 so this doubles as my Thursday Thirteen.

1. Jan/Feb - Red Nose Run Series – there are actually three races, 30 Jan, 13 Feb, and 19 Feb co-sponsored by Team Z. The distance varies based on what you are suppose to run for the week so mine will be 14, 16, 18 mile races. The catch is you are racing against your predicted time so watches are not allowed. Well, sorry folks, I’m cheating. These are very important training runs for me and I need heart rate data. To off-set my cheating I will submit an 8-minute mile pace for my prediction so there is no chance that I’ll win.

2. Feb - Freezin’ For A Reason – Not a race, but a fun-event to raise money for Camp Sunshine. And an excuse to bring out the FEXX costume, jump in a frozen lake, then party like a rockstar.

3. Mar - National Marathon – This was supposed to be an “A” race but the plague that hit me in December moved this to a “C” race. I hope to finish and really hope to break the 5-hour mark.

4. Apr - Face Of America – This is my charity event for the year. It’s a 2-day ~100 mile ride from D.C. to Gettysberg, PA in support of disabled service men and women. The injured soldiers ride on hand bikes and other modified bikes so “we” are there to help them on the hills. Check out World T.E.A.M. Sports for info. Please make a donation here. Or join our team, T.E.A.M Steel Wheels. (Sadly I will miss RumpASS in The BumpASS this year)

5. May - Kinetic Half – I wasn’t planning on this race but it showed up on the Team Z race calendar. And I have a beef with this race after my injury in 2009. It’s early season so I’m not expecting much besides shaking the cobwebs out.

6. May - Wilderness Ride – Again not something in my original plans but another Team Z Race/Event. It’s not a race, just a hilly ride. Not sure what distance I will do yet.

7. Jun - Super Double Top Secret Olympic Distance (Relay) – There’s a new race series starting but we don’t know the details yet but this showed up on the Team Calendar. If relays are allowed I’ll do the run. And for the record, the wetsuit and bike will be left at home. NO CHANCE of doing the whole dang thing.

8. Jul - Micro-Mussel – I just have to beat Cheater! Oh, and I need to find a new tricycle or preferably a Big Wheel!

9. Jul – Musselman Half – This is my “A-“ race. My goal is to beat last year’s time, PR a half, and still make a homemade ravioli dinner for my housemates.

10. Aug – Lancaster County Covered Bridge Metric Century – This is a very well organized metric century that Dude and I missed out on in 2010 because it sold out. Hopefully we will make it this year.

11. Early October Half Ironman – This is TBD but it will either be the weekend of 1-2 Oct or 8-9 October. And it will be somewhere relatively close-by. Goal is to reel in my Ironman Plan.

12. Oct – Great Pumpkin Metric Century – This is one of my annual rides that I’ve only missed once in the five years that I’ve lived here. Truth be told, I do it for “all-things pumpkin” at the rest stops (soup, cake, pie, cookies, etc.)!

13. Nov – IRONMAN ARIZONA – Holy cow, I’m doing another Ironman! My only published goal is “to beat my IM-Switzerland time”. By how much…well, that’s my secret.

2010 - Year in Review

Or Better Late Then Never...

2010 will not go down in any record books for me. Truth be told, I'm just glad that it's over. This is also delayed because the year ended with me sick...sick almost consistently from 7 December until YESTERDAY (I did have a 5-day break in there, but still) a MONTH of sinus infections, ear infections, walking pneumonia, and bronchitis. Apparently my immune system went on holiday.

Rather then go month by month, here's a summary:

- I did my first Polar Plunge, and will be repeating it in 2011.
- I ran my first half-marathon, guess you could call that a PR!
- I participated in one Relay (should have been two but more on that in a bit) and did one Oly - did NOT PR in either.
- I did two 70.3's. One in Hell (Florida) and one at a fantastic venue (Musselman - Lake Seneca, New York) that I'll be returning to in 2011. Did NOT PR in either.
- I got robbed in the MicroMussell and will redeem myself in 2011.
- I did not do Marine Corp Marathon (but if you look at my results you'll see that "I" finished in 4:08 - that was actually my ROCKSTAR cousin who came down here with 3 days notice and still finished in 4:08. BTW, she's also skinnier and prettier then me...BIATCH).
- I ran the Marine Corp 10K against Doctor's orders. Did NOT PR.
- I travelled to North Carolina to do an Ironman Relay and ended up attempting the whole dang thing. I got to the halfway point in the marathon and called it a day (and I am STILL kicking myself for not finishing)!!!!

If you remember my Motivation Plan, I was to "give myself" $5 for every workout I did. Well, I "made" $605 - that is sadly 2.32 workouts a week which is almost exactly what IM AZ costs. Convenient!

In total...
I swam 52,365 meters, or 12.4 Iron-Distance swims,
I biked 1,217 miles, or 10.85 Iron-Distance bike rides, and
I ran 445 miles, or 16.97 marathons.

Compared to 2009 (which I quit tracking in Sep 2009):
I swam 100,312 meters, or 23.75 Iron-Distance swims,
I biked 1,518 miles, or 13.53 Iron-Distance bike rides, and
I ran 512 miles, or 19.52 marathons.

Aside from racing/training, I had a blast in Vegas with some great friends, I got promoted at work (which includes my very own parking spot), I got a bad-ass tattoo, I went on a non-race related vacation in Grand Cayman and I'm still head over heels, madly in love with Dude.

All in all, LIFE IS GOOD!

BRING IT 2011 - it's time to KICK AZ!!!!

2011 Race Schedule and goals coming soon!

If It's Not One Thing...

…it’s another.

It has been a year of excuses, injuries, sickness, laziness, depression, and restlessness and I can’t seem to get out of this “too {insert excuse} to exercise” mode.

Remember when I said “its all on” about starting training last week? Well that didn’t happen, not even close.

I ran on Monday night, it was about 25 degrees and windy as all get out. I should preface that by saying I left work early because I felt like I was knocking on death’s door.

Well, that cold windy run did a number on me and I spent Tue thru Fri on the couch sneezing, coughing, aching, feverish, and needing rest. By Friday night I had horrible cabin fever so Dude, J, and I went to Borders where I preceded to try to nap in one of their comfy chairs.

Saturday I thought I was feeling a bit better so I went to run errands. Here’s a hint of how bad I felt, I was in and out of Wegman’s fast enough that my coffee that I left in the car did not get cold and it was just below 40 degrees outside. If I’m rushing through my happy place, you know I’m not feeling well.

Sunday was another lounge away and drink Day-Quil day.

So here it is Monday again, it’s 25 degrees and windy as all get out. And yes, I’m going to attempt another run.

Wish me luck!

A Week and A Day

later and I finally have time to announce that YES - I - DID!

I'm signed up for Ironman Arizona! It sold out in less then 40 minutes (further proof that Arizona is better then Cozumel - 24 hours later, Cozumel is still taking registrations!).



I immediately went into full Ironman training by skipping 90% of the training.

I swear, this week I'll do ~60% of the training.

But next week...it's ALL ON!

Thursday 13 - Why Ironman Arizona is better than Ironman Cozumel

The team race next year is (stupid) Cozumel. There are a rogue number of us doing Arizona and there is an on-going battle on why people should do one race over another. Here’s my 13 in support of Arizona.

1. Arizona is wetsuit legal – salt water does not have near the buoyancy to make up for no wetsuit! And drinking salt water = bad.

2. Desert climate so NO humidity in Arizona – the weather should be quite pleasant! Cozumel – hot, humid, sticky!

3. Desert climate so NO bugs in Arizona! Ask Damon Taaffe for his race report and picture of his mosquito devoured back from Cozumel, then remember that he is fast and probably finished a good three + hours before “normal” people do!

4. Far less chance of getting Montezuma’s revenge in Arizona. Imagine, training for 9 months to a year, getting to Cozumel a couple days early and spending the day before (or worse, day of) on the toilet.

5. Race Support Issue One – I’ve vacationed in Mexico, 3 times (oh, and BTW, got Montezuma’s revenge each time, including the trip to Cozumel) and the Mexican people are very…I can’t think of a way to put it without sounding racist (and I swear, I am not racist!!!). I just don’t see how people in a beach resort/vacation area (whether it’s Mexico, Jamaica, Aruba, etc.) can change their sense of immediacy, their response time, their way of life for even one day to support you through the race (as volunteers or as officials).

6. Race Support Issue Two – again, I refer to Damon’s race report. They ran out of liquids, salty products (in a humid environment), – by the time HE GOT THERE! Again, he is fast! Special Needs was OFF the course, and not manned or even really marked so you could find it. The expo had no race gear – trust me, you will forget something and you will want an expo with TRIATHLON stuff – not Mexican art and trinkets.

7. Logistics – trust me, travelling with a bike is a pain in the a$$, refer to this post! As of this year, none of the bike transport companies are sponsored by IM Cozumel. Add that the mechanical support to put your bike back together will be limited in Cozumel (according to Damon’s report).

8. Special needs in Cozumel are actually called Special Food Stations – and it explicitly states “The Special Foods Station is for nutritional purposes ONLY, and ONLY food items will be allowed in the bag” So much for change of clothes, rain gear, lights, etc., all things that you just might want during the race.

9. The Tempe/Scottsdale/Phoenix area is actually quite nice for your support team and there are some incredible spas if they want a resort atmosphere. Add that they can eat/drink ANYTHING they want without fear of the toilet = WIN!

10. THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!! You’ll still be in that post-race calorie burning mode – eat up! Or, you’ll be 3 days pre-race and watching every morsel of food you are putting in your body. Hmm, I’ll take two pieces of pumpkin pie please!

11. It’s not a team race…so what. My first Ironman was not a team race and in a different country and it was still fabulous. We had maybe 9 supporters (7 that I met during the run portion) and I still felt the love! There is at a minimum 10 people racing IM-AZ that will be bringing supporters – you WILL feel the Team Z support! You will still train with the team since their race is the following week. Plus…

12. You can always go to Cozumel with your Finisher’s medal, WATCH, GLOAT, and enjoy copious amounts of margaritas as you cheer your friends on (that’s my plan!).

13. You Are An Ironman sounds so much better than Usted Es (Spanish word es, not my name) Un Ironman!