No matter how well I try to plan out my racing season, it seems that something always happens to derail it a little. So far, 2 of my major plans for the year have already fallen through, or are likely to fall through.
For starters, my planned "A" race for the year was suppose to be the Des Moines Olympic Distance triathlon on Labor Day weekend. It has come to my attention that the triathlon may fall through and not actually happen this year. I'm not entirely sure the reasoning but the gossip that I have heard is that they don't have a series or sponsor for the race this year.
In addition to that, my goal of qualifying for the Heart of America Triathlon Series championship is most likely not going to happen either. I already knew that I would have to miss one of the races in early August due to a family obligation, but was pretty sure that I could overcome that. When the schedule was released recently, it included 2 additional races that are new to the series and it appears that I won't be able to race in either of those due to other commitments as well. With missing 3 races in the series, I no longer like my chances to win my age group (although I suppose anything is possible).
With these 2 blows, my season has taken quite a hit before it has even started. Without a target race or a focus this season, I've been scrambling to figure out what I want to do. After spending some time talking with Erin, I think the best option is to not worry about it, try to have fun, and maybe shift some of my goals around to compensate. With that, I have decided to shift my focus for the year entirely towards weight loss. As I have stated before, I have some enormous dreams for my future and it will be much easier to accomplish those at a lower weight. So at this point, my goal of weighing under 220 lbs by the end of 2018 has shot up to the top of the list.
Don't worry though, even with the change in focus, I still have a full slate of races to keep me motivated throughout the year. In addition, I plan to stretch out my speed based goals throughout the season and aiming to peek later in the year. It is going to be a great year and I'm very excited to get started with my first race, a 5k road race that is just over a month away.
Now for some updates. My lack of blog posts over the past 2 months does not reflect the work that I have been putting in. Although my distances have decreased, the intensities of my workouts have increased. The only downside has been the weather. Unlike the past few winters that I was able to run almost exclusively outside, high winds, frigid temps, along with snow and ice have forced me to miss some training runs (especially when we have been out of town) and spend a lot more time on the treadmill. With only a couple of weeks left for preseason training, my number of workouts and distances have been gradually increasing and I feel like I am in a decent place with my fitness coming out of winter.
I'm also happy to share that this week marked the start of Erin's 8 week training schedule leading up to her first ever triathlon. She will be participating in the Tri by Knight sprint triathlon at Wartburg college in Waverly on the first weekend in May. This race met her one stipulation of having a pool swim instead of an open water swim (something that I cannot blame her for at all). Once again, spending some time training together is benefiting both of us this year.
With the warmer temps this week, I am hoping that spring weather is here to stay. In the next few weeks I'm hoping to get back outside running and to dust off the road bike and hit the trails. I am very much looking forward to what the season has to offer and will continue to warm up to the idea of focusing on having fun in spite of unexpected changes to my plans.
