Winner Take All

I'm embarking on a big year of training and racing with some very ambitious goals. I've been going back and forth with my coach and some friends trying to decide on what races to do, in the context of my goals. Everything came together yesterday, and it felt to me like the universe was telling me it's ready for me to begin. 

The series of events were uncanny--I'd decided to reorganize my house and garage to make it easier to sew (in the case of the house) and keep clean (in the case of the garage). My best male friend (is that BMF? Really he's a BAMF!), Brad, called and said he and his wife want to come visit me for the Labor Day weekend. Good thing I got my guest bedroom in order! This weekend is when I'd planned to do the International Day of Suffering (see sidebar of races/events), so now Brad and I will do it together! That is going to be so much fun! 

I found out that a double Iron distance race that I was considering doing solo allows teams, and I started planting the seed with Brad last week that maybe we could do it together. Yesterday Brad tells me he's in for the double team thing, which is great, because he's moving to Portland and the race is like an hour from his new house, so I tell him I need to check with my coach.

Then I had found another marathon, the LA marathon, that was good timing post-Disney for me to get the BQ. Brad said he would do that, too. 

I had studied up the Kona qualification data, and it looked to me that Ironman Wisconsin would be a great place for me to qualify, plus it's in my back yard and I can train up there all summer. I ran this by my coach a few days ago, together with where I'm at, fitness-wise, in running and what time I'd need to do to get the slot at Wisconsin.

All that was left was to gain approval from my coach, Nick, to put these races on the table, and we chatted last night and it's a go! So now you can see on my sidebar what I've got planned for 2017--Disney in January, LA marathon in March (although Nick thinks I might BQ at Disney), Volcano Olympic Triathlon in Lanzarote in April (more of a vacation than anything else), team double Iron in July, and then Ironman Wisconsin in September.

I know I am going to need to buckle in for this ride and be prepared for many ups and downs. Goes with the territory. I'm already lining up people to "stalk" me during the marathon at Ironman Wisconsin. I've done this for other friends of mine where they just see me and I yell motivational things at them like Harden The Fuck Up to keep them motivated. It's time to call in some favors and have it done for me. 

Things are a ways off yet, but I know from past experience that once you sketch out the ATP (Annual Training Plan), you have a good idea of what's about to happen and it ain't going to be easy!

But I am so excited and ready for this. I've been training for all this for years. It's going to be a wild ride--I just hope it's not like this:

Stay tuned, and check the sidebar if you want to learn more about the races I'm doing.