I have been slow getting back into my training. I took November and December off from any type of structured training, ate lots of delicious holiday goodies, slept a lot and caught up on stuff around the house that I put off throughout the training season. Ron and I went to many holiday parties and really enjoyed our time together. He met me in Iowa the last few days I was there but unfortunately, caught the stomach flu bug that was going around. I have to say, I have never seen Ron that sick before and it was a bit scary!
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| Morgan, my mom's dog, trying to make Ron feel better |
We ended up having to cancel our flights and fly home a few days later. After we got back, I caught some type of upper respiratory infection and went on antibiotics. We are finally both healthy and I hope it stays that way! Our illnesses delayed the start of our base training a bit but seems like we are getting on a good schedule now. Ron teaches an indoor bike session for the DC Tri Club every Saturday at the local bike shop, Fresh Bikes. Every Saturday morning at 7am, 50 of us bring our bike trainers, mats and bike for a tough two hour ride that is based around heart rate training. We do single legged drills and work on cadence. It’s quite a site to see 50 people packed in the bike shop sweating away, but it works! We even have a stereo system and mic set up so Ron can yell at us. :)
I’m still working on my race schedule for the year. I signed up for the San Diego Triathlon (international distance) which is May 12th. A lot of DC Tri members are heading out to sunny Cali for this race. The USAT Director came to our DC Tri annual meeting and invited the club to the race. He said if we can at least get 30 people there, then they will provide free shipping for bikes for everyone who comes out to race. Pretty sweet deal! The Board also provided incentive to sign up and paid for over half of the race fee for the first 30 that signed up. I don’t need to have my arm twisted to head to San Diego! Sign me up! I will do the International distance and Ron will be on a relay team. Ron and I are making a mini trip out of it. We got a sweet deal on Travelocity and our flights were just a little over $200 each….that’s unheard of! We jumped on that deal and will be staying at a hotel right by the race site. Very convenient! This triathlon is also a part of the ITU World Triathlon series for the pros and the second of two qualifier events to determine the 2012 Olympic Triathlon Team. The women race on Friday and men on Saturday after the age group race. It will be a treat to watch the pros compete for spots on the Olympic Team!
The other race I am signed up for is the new National Harbor 70.3 on August 5th. Yes, this will most likely be one damn hot race, but I’m up for the challenge. :) Maybe I’ll luck out and have decent weather like Louisville…wouldn’t that be wonderful!! Since it is in DC, I can’t pass up the opportunity to race so close to home and this will actually be my ‘A’ race of the season. I haven’t trained to race just a half Ironman distance hard, so it will be interesting to see what my body is capable of. (The past few years I’ve used the half Ironman distance as part of my Ironman training focus.) I know Coach Mackenzie will push me to my limits. She’s already finding that I’m a horrible procrastinator when it comes to swimming and calls me out on it. That’s exactly what I need because I’m going to make myself get to the pool four times this week.....what?! I know for you swimmers our there, that's nothing but it's a lot for me. I have to do something to get my swim times down and that’s not going to happen just talking about it. Why must I hate swimming so much?! Maybe I’ll start liking it more if I finally start to see some improvements??
I will be sprinkling a few other races in throughout the season including the DC Tri Olympic distance race in June. Other than that, my schedule is a bit up in the air for now. I just need to make sure I don’t sign up for too many races like I did last year and end up not being able to do them all.
This weekend I am volunteering at the Snapple High Cloud half marathon and get to sing the National Anthem again! It might be chilly but will be a good time helping out fellow athletes. I get to help with the pre and post race food/water….someone must know me well and that I like to eat! ;)
Here’s some off season pics fromt he past few months
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| My Mom and I in FL in November |
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| Bill Rogers 'Boston Billy' was at the 10k I ran when I was in FL |
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Indoor Cycling Class taught by Ron |
