Yesterday was my first weekend since April that I wasn't out running or otherwise training. It felt great, I don't think I had much run in my anyway, but something was missing.
I miss the routine. The goal. The need to finish something.
It's that time of year when I'm usually in a limbo. Each fall I'm recovering (I'll also note here that one year ago was Redman weekend!) from my year-end A race. The whole taper I'm telling myself about how great it will be to do something else besides the training. Then the race is over and I'm looking to get back into it. Usually I'm wanting back too soon, and I hit a late fall burn-out from jumping back too fast.
But one of my new life goals is to not ride a course of peaks and valleys between races, and instead roll from one to the other in a continuum. So instead of parking on the couch right after MT50, I have the next race/goal in mind--something concrete and defined. Unlike "cyclocross races", and more like "McNot Again 30M".
So yes I have the McNot Again on the calendar. After that? Nothing planned. Maybe some cyclocross races.
After that? Things get a little more specific come the new year. I've pretty much crossed 3DoS off the list for 2014, I just can't balance ultra running with swimming and biking. I haven't seen a pool since late July for Route 66! And I have some pretty big goals for next year without 3DoS! I'm going to put them to paper here in case I need a few laughs later, because these things are always funny to come back and read.
First goal: MiTi in late August. If I start training in mid February, this race will still be within the "build" phase of the training plan which has B2B as the A race. MiTi is a remarkably small race, so much so that shooting for an AG podium ain't all that hard when there's only 3 or so peeps in the AG!! So I decided on a OA podium! Yeah, really, I did! The OA times for the past two years of the race were 11:30. Ha ha ha ha! I'd have to be faster than LC to pull that off.
Why am I laughing? Am I saying I can't do it? 1:30 swim, 6:00 bike, and 4:00 run, plus some T1 and T2 time...ugh...that adds up to about 11:30! It's a flat course too, so that really helps. Based on prior races, that's only a 15 min improvement on the swim, a 45-60 min improvement on the bike, and a 45 min improvement on the run. Hooo, the run, that's a big chunk of time. BUT--I'm a runner, right?!? Am I saying that the lesson learned in Rt 66 this year is not to be counted?!? I'm faster and stronger than I think I am!
Keep in mind that I wanted a 12:30 at Redman and ended with a 13:23. The problem there wasn't realistic training for that goal. To be realistic about this, I'd have to drop the group rides every other weekend and find another gear to train in. I'd have to be serious about it, not so social and having fun.
Second goal: B2B in late October. Birthday Iron!! Less concrete goals for this race. MiTi would the the "troubleshooting race" 8 weeks prior. That's a short turn-around time, so B2B might be less A race than I can hope for. Dammit. Quit doubting, see above! If I missed the 11:30 goal at MiTi, I could shoot for it again here.
Third goal: 5K OWS, no race picked yet. What better way to improve the swim, than to pick a big race and focus on it?
So here I am, dreaming about 2014 already. I re-started P90X this morning. Instead of the Classic I'm doing a plan somewhere between Classic and Lean. I have a training "plan" for McNot Again that gets me on the run again and doing 20 milers on weekends. (BTW--"only" 20 miles, hahahahahah!!). I'd love to do Ride The Rivers, but I don't think I'll be century-fit in 3 weeks. I'll just be injured. I brought my swim gear with me today hoping to squeeze in a swim somewhere, but that's not going to happen.
Lots of mental meandering, all quickly answered. Do I need a new IM training plan? No, cuz I don't follow the one I have very well to take it's full benefit. What swim will I do in 2014? Too early to tell, the calendars aren't populated yet. I'm reading Jurek's Eat & Run right now, how's my nutrition looking? Great, better than ever, aside from a few bad habits that peeked up during recovery week.
Ugh, I miss having running to do!
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