2010 Schedule

This blog's been neglected of late. Since my last update I've ramped up training significantly sans a 7-day bout with bronchitis. I've been up to 17,000 yards per week in the pool, been throwing in actual workouts on the trainer (a foreign concept to me until this winter), and getting in some decent long runs. And I did my first speed workout on KSU's indoor track on Monday - 3 x 1 mile with 150 jog rest at a comfortable 5:35 average effort. Mostly a progress check to make sure I'm on track for my first race April 24th.

Last weekend I signed up for my first two races of the 2010 calendar. The first isn't so much a race as it is a progress check. It's a 1650 swim at CMU on February 28th. My sister lives in Pittsburgh and she's a pretty good ex-collegiate swimmer, so she convinced me to do it. Should be interesting and fun, although I've never gone off the blocks before. I'm thinking of cannonballing in to avoid losing my goggles, but we'll see. Ha.

The second and more serious race is the National Duathlon Championships in Richmond on April 24th. I did this last year and contemplated skipping it, but it's a good way to get into an early season race to check my fitness level. The distance has changed since last year to a 5k-40k-5k (from 10k-40k-5k), but I should still be able to gauge my fitness over last year on the bike. That's the key for me this year.

Otherwise, my calendar for the year is as follows:

• April 22: Duathlon Nationals
• June 19: Michigan Qualifier for USAT Olympic Age Group Nationals
• July 18: Racine, WI 70.3
• Aug 8: Greater Cleveland Triathlon
• August 29: Chicago Triathlon - Elite Amateur Race
• September 25: USAT Olympic Age Group Nationals in Tuscaloosa, AL (if I qualify)

I might fill in the gaps with a few local races but these are my focus races. I'm of the opinion that an athlete can't focus on more than 6-8 races in a season without blowing up. I think I have some good ones and can't tell you how anxious I am to pull on a wetsuit.