I have a tendency to want to do it all. Now. I'm an immediate gratification type of person, which is not always the best attitude in endurance sports. Considering I was not born to be an athlete... it takes a lot of time to see improvements and gain fitness. Because I was never athletic prior to about 7 years ago, I have actually made some pretty huge gains in a short period of time. That being said, I know that I can't to it all, and get the results that I want. So I've put some thought into what I want out of the next year or so, what's important to me, and here's what I've come up with.
1. Mountain Man 1/2 Ironman: To race hard, to finish well and to improve my time from last year... all with a good attitude! (see last year's race report for evidence of how I don't want my attitude to be!!!)
2. Ironman Canada: To finish with a smile on my face and feel grateful for being able to race in a part of the world that is new to me.
3. Nike Women's Marathon: To run hard and have a good time. Initially I had wanted to try to qualify for Boston again at Nike, but after giving this a lot of thought, I realized that my heart is not in it. The amount of training and effort that it took me in training the first time I qualified is more than I am capable of committing to at this time. My body is not holding up to the cycling mileage as well as I would like it to, and therefore I am not able to hit my target paces in my run workouts. I plan on going hard from the get go, and if I qualify, fabulous. But if not, I'm not going to be disappointed. Consider it icing on the cake of a very long year if it all works out. I realistically think I'll have a similar finish time as I did in Big Sur which would be beyond fantastic.
4. Las Vegas marathon/ 1/2 marathon: At this point I am considering racing a really hard half. Going for a PR. I will have a huge mileage base leading up to this. Tacking on some speed for this short of a distance might be doable. If I feel fast at a longer distance, I may try the full.
5. PF Chang's Rock and Roll AZ 1/2 Marathon: Again hard 1/2 marathon with the goal of PR. This is a fast course, in my backyard. Weather is usually good for a fast day.
6. Pemberton 50k: This is not a for sure thing. It's going to be a night race. If I decide to do it, it will be my first official ultramarathon! PR no matter what!
7. Oceanside 70.3: Hard 1/2 Ironman- go hard from the get go until I fall over or I cross the finish line. PR all the way. Improve my bike time, improve my run time. Push! push! push! This will be a big training day leading up to my IM race.
8. Big Sur Marathon: Have fun! Enjoy the scenery! Support my family who are walking the 10.6 miler!
9. Ironman Coeur D'Alene: HAVE A FANTASTIC RUN! I have always wanted to have a strong run at Ironman and it's never happened. In order to do this I need to be really strong on the bike so I have energy to run how I know I am capable of running. This will come back to my plans for this fall. After Canada I'm going to spend a lot of time on the bike. I would like to PR, but beyond that I want to run well! Sub 4:30!
10: Tahoe Rim Trail Ultra 50 miler: OMG! What am I thinking? Can I really do this? Time will tell...
Someday, I will revisit the marathon and I will commit myself to running the fastest marathon that I am capable of. I thought that this is what I wanted to do this fall, but I don't think I'm ready for that again so soon after Boston. My body needs to recover, and rebuild, and I need to allow the time for that to happen.
2 comments:
I've been linked to your blog :-) This post looks similar to my plan! I'm doing a lot of the same races as you. IM canada, Oceanside 70.3 & IM CDA next year!
Not all that runnin in between tho :-)
I enjoyed reading your goals. Its important to have, no matter what they are. Just make sure you always have fun with what you are doing! Oh and just make sure to always include me. bwwhahahahaha.
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