Now it is time to start looking forward to 2010 and begin making plans. If all goes well, here are my:

Goals for 2010

  • Martian Half-Marathon 4-10
    • Finish
    • Goal Time 2:15 (Made the Half in the 2009 Detroit Marathon in 2:33)
  • Racing for Recovery Half-Ironman 6-6
    • Finish
    • Goal Time: 7:00
  • Tawas Triathlon Festival Half-Ironman 9-10
    • Finish
    • Goal Time: 7:00
  • Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon 10-17

    • Finish
    • Goal Time: 5:00 (45 minute improvement)

Now the question is how do I accomplish this. The road I intend to take starts Tuesday Jan 5th. I will begin executing a Half-Marathon Training Plan that I found on the GoUltraSports web site. This is what I will work to until March 9th except I plan to either swim and/or bike on 2 of the 3 off days. On March 9th, I am switching over to an Ironman Training Plan by Gale Bernhardt that I found in her book Training Plans for Multisport Athletes. I am using an Ironman Training Plan because the plan is time based and I am slow, so I don’t believe I get sufficient distance volume by executing to a Half IM plan.

My intent is to use the Martian Half Marathon on 4/10 as a training race. If I can get under 2:15, I think I will be set up very well for an under 7 hour Half IM. I am thinking 7 hours for the HIM based on a 1:00 swim, 3:30 bike and 2:30 run. I think I can do 1:00 on the swim after doing 28 minutes on a 1000m swim in the Sprint Tri. I won’t have much if any open water practice before June, but I will have much better swim fitness than I did for the Sprint Tri. A 3:30 bike is a 16 mph average and have no problem maintaining that pace on my road bike. I have been reviewing my old rides on Garmin Connect and I have a similar ride on my road bike that included a 10 minute stop at a store to restock water and food. The 2:30 run is based on the first half the Free Press Marathon. If I can keep the transitions fairly quick, 7 hours is a very real possibility.

The Racing for Recovery Half Ironman on June 6th is an important race to me because it takes place in my hometown of Monroe, MI. I also completed my first and only outdoor triathlon in the Racing for Recovery Sprint Triathlon in 2009. After the R4R HIM, I have 8 days scheduled off before starting the same Ironman training plan to prepare for the Tawas Half Ironman on 9/11. Following Tawas, I will have about 4 weeks to prepare for the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon.

I do have some limitations that could impact these goals. First is the nature of my job. I am a manager who is on call 24×7 and never know when I might have to work outside of my normal hours. This may mean I have to miss my workout because I am working or because I have too little sleep to work out on. The other limitation is that during the week, I only have the early morning before I go to work available to work out. On the weekend I am fairly flexible until Soccer Season starts. Since I am an Assistant Coach on my daughter’s team, I have to work around the Soccer Schedule. This year it may mean I am running home from the game. I also will not miss Church to train so that does place a limit on what I can do on Sundays.

I am starting the year at 229 pounds, which is up 15 pounds from what I was on Thanksgiving Day, but down 30 pounds from where I was this time in 2009. I hope that I can drop at least the 15 by the R4R HIM. I will still be a Clydesdale but I think 215 will be a decent place to race from. Ultimately, my goal weight is around 200-205 which isn’t bad for a 6′ 3″ former football player who was at 280 in 2003. I played high school football at 185 and was quite skinny. I don’t think I could ever get that small and if I did I would be concerned about how much muscle I would have to give up to get there.

I am looking forward to giving 2010 a strong effort. I just have to remember that I can only control what I can control, the rest is just stuff I have to work with/around.