The last ten weeks have been fun, hard, tiring, rewarding, and even sad. I took trips to Michigan, Sweden, Colorado Springs, Crested Butte, Colorado Springs (again), and Breckenridge. I don’t think I spent more than 7 consecutive days in Boulder over the last ten weeks and was gone about 50% of the time. I did spend 120+ hours in classrooms, started working with Endurance Corner, completed a two week course on bike mechanics, and attended a USAT certification course for coaching. I progressed as a person while my life as an athlete was on hold to allow for that.

No worries though; it is a long year and my race season will not even begin until the middle of April. Until then I will be doing what I can during the Boulder winter with some intermittent breaks for training camps in California and Arizona. Next year I will be utilizing the winter a little more for my goals, but this year will be more traditional with less cross training in the snow. (I simply don’t have the gear yet).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My 2008 season will include the following:

April 13 Playtri Half Ironman (Irving, Texas)

May 3 Wildflower Half Ironman (SLO, California)

May 26 BB 10K (Boulder, Colorado)

June 8 Eagleman 70.3, US Long Course Champs (Maryland)

June 29 Buffalo Springs or West Virginia Mountaineer Man HIM (Lubbock, Tx or Morgantown, WV)

July 20 Boulder Peak or Spirit of Racine (Boulder or Racine, Wisconsin)

August 24 Ironman Canada (Penticton, BC; CAN)

October 11 Ironman World Championship (Kona, Hawaii)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A few comments on the above:

I will likely race Buffalo Springs over West Virginia depending on the wetsuit ruling for the 2008 season. 70.3 and IM have gone back and forth as to whether everyone wears wetsuits (because of a “mass start”) or if the pros have different rules than the Age Groupers (a la USAT races). The Buffalo Springs swim is WARM and if they allow wetsuits I’ll likely pass on that race. Overheating in the swim is not fun for me and I’d rather race elsewhere.

On July 20th I’ll race Boulder Peak if I’m less fit or Racine if I’m fit. Essentially, if my form is coming along nicely for IMC I’ll go race Racine and I’ll continue training with a moderate approach for IMC. If I’m behind where I want to be then I will race Boulder Peak within a training block with no additional rest. Some of you might ask: why race at all then? I like to support the local triathlon races when it fits into the schedule (especially 5430 Sports) and it would essentially just be a harder training day for me. The race has such a large pro field that you can treat it however you want. I’d like to improve on my finish last year as well, considering the heat pretty much governed my run effort to a hard jog at most.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Until later,