Thinking ahead...and thinking about

Is it too soon to be thinking about 2014? I have been. A lot. Mostly thinking about which big races I'd like to target and how to plan them.

This has led to some good emailing between me and TH, mostly me spilling my thoughts into an email, but it has me thinking nonetheless. What's on the brain?

My endurance lifestyle. How do people like EK and JP do it? They seem to either race every weekend or do lots of big races all summer long, but don't seem to hit the burn-out or "meh" that I get. For me, a big race is a Big Build-Up followed by a Big Crash. I lose energy and motivation. That's probably normal--it is a recovery time after all. But it's the mental energy that bothers me the most.

So how in the world can I plan the MT50, 3 Days of Syallamo, MiTi, and B2B for the next 18 months with that problem? By thinking my way through it and trying to figure out what I can make changes.

The problem is that I target a big race as The End of something, instead of a step into something else. For example, I keep thinking the September MT50 is the end of my 2013 race season. It should be a build into 3DOS, with me finishing the MT50 having learned something and improved my fitness, resting, then building into Syallamo. The rest should include cross training like cyclocross and shorter fun races. That's problem #1--big peaks and valleys instead of little rollers.

Problem #2 is that I exclude all the fun stuff because "it doesn't fit my training plan". Stuff like Tour de Donut, a half marathon, a relay, an OWS, hell even cyclocross! I get stuck on the idea that I need specific training to build into these races, but then I don't have much fun. The weekend at LBL is a perfect example. We went, had fun, but kept going in our training. Damn that was a FUN weekend! I need to do that more!

Problem #3 is that training spills over into the rest of my life such that I'm On or Off. I go for a hard run then I want to rest the remainder of the day. I've been yearning for a Lifestyle Change, sometimes I hit it and sometimes I don't. I'm talking about bike commuting instead of driving, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, getting dedicated rest instead of sitting at a desk to rest. Also balancing the training life with the rest of life. Going to visit friends and family more, spending time away from training goals, and the like.

I've mention a few biggies for 2014, what and when are they?
Mid March: 3 Days of Syllamo 50K, 50M, and 20K in one weekend
Late August: Michigan Titanium 140.6
Late October: another 140.6 if it falls on my birthday.

There are 26 weeks between MT50 and 3DOoS. (I just realized that...really?...yup!) So half a year to include recover and build. I have a plan picked out that is for a 100 miler. I like it, it has a F-S-S or S-S running pattern.

To build into an October 140.6 I'd need to start training (according to my plan) one month before 3DOS. That's OK, the fitness from 3DOS will carry over. MiTi could be 24 weeks after 3DOS, and the Birthday Iron 7-9 weeks after that, depending on whether or not it falls on or near the birthday. MiTi is a great time of year for 140.6, similar timecourse as IMWI and Redman, just a little earlier.

This sounds like where I want to go, but I need to get the lifestyle and attitude thinking in line. I keep staring at an Excel planning sheet, filling in the needed half iron prep races and listing those "fun" events I should be doing. These include: Cutting Edge Half in early June, RAIN or RAIL bike rides, 3 State/3 Mountain in Tennessee in May (better yet and cheaper would be Vino Fondo!), and the like.

Maybe I shouldn't skip over the rest of 2013 in doing so! McNot Again 30M is in early November. Cyclocross season starts mid-October.

Lots to think about, not sure how to organize the thinking and goal setting.

Or is over-thinking and goal setting part of my problem?