I believe that I have narrowed down my race schedule a bit and with that am getting closer to an actual training plan. After much debate I think I am going to target ChesapeakeMan as the 1/2 Iron distance race for this year. The main factor that played into this decision was the fact that the race takes place late in September and it will give me an extra week or two of preparation (looking at around 14 weeks of training). Now it is time to back fill with other races, probably two sprints and one Olympic. I hate to say it, but I think I am going to pass on NJ State this year because of the cost and the fact that the Atlantic City International Tri is so close to my "A" race makes it unlikely as well. I have highlighted the races in ORANGE that I will most likely participate in below:
July
20th - NJ State Triathlon, Mercer County, NJ - Sprint ($125)
July
27th - Born To Tri, Asbury Park, NJ - Sprint ($85)
August 4th - Belmar
Tri, Belmar, PA - Sprint ($80)
August
11th - Steelman Tri, Quakertown, PA - Sprint or Olympic ($80 - $100)
August 17th - Tri
the Woods, Wildwood, NJ - Sprint ($109)
August 18th - Wilkes-Barre Triathlon - Olympic ($75)
August 25th -
TriRock Asbury, Asbury Park, NJ - Sprint ($120)
September 8th -
Skylands Tri, Clinton, NJ - Sprint (TBD)
September 15th -
Atlantic City International Tri, Atlantic City, NJ - Olympic ($149)
September 21st
- ChesapeakeMan, Cambridge, MD - 1/2 Iron Distance ("A" race) ($195)
Now it is time to find an appropriate training plan and I hope that all of the races fall into place.
Lastly, I actually had a decent week of swimming, biking and running. My lower back is still giving me problems, but I think that as I lose weight and strengthen my core, the pain will subside. I was amazed that my first 100 yds in the pool was done in 1:34 (super fast for me). I have been consistently around 1:42/100 which is good for me considering I haven't been in the water since last September. Also, I had a decent bike on Saturday which at a mere 20 miles was a bit short, but I felt good from start to finish and had some good climbs mixed in which built some confidence.
That's it for now....time to get some work done...aw, who am I kidding.
I have been silent for quite a while now; I have been trying to build up some sort of base fitness, which hasn't been all too successfully. I think my issue is the fact that I don't have any target races and don't have a training plan in place. So with that said, I have to pick my races and sign up for them (also decide if I should renew my USA Triathlon membership).
Here is the list of races I have to choose from (favorites in blue):
- July 20th - NJ State Triathlon, Mercer County, NJ - Sprint
- July 27th - Born To Tri, Asbury Park, NJ - Sprint
- August 4th - Belmar Tri, Belmar, PA - Sprint
- August 11th - Steelman Tri, Quakertown, PA - Olympic
- August 17th - Tri the Woods, Wildwood, NJ - Sprint
- August 25th - TriRock Asbury, Asbury Park, NJ - Sprint
- August 25th - North East Tri, North East, MD - Olympic
- September 7th - Shoreman Half Distance Tri, Port Republic, NJ - 1/2 Iron Distance
- September 8th - Skylands Tri, Clinton, NJ - Sprint
- September 8th - Diamondman, Lums Pond State Park, DE - 1/2 Iron Distance
- September 15th - Atlantic City International Tri, Atlantic City, NJ - Olympic
- September 15th - Savageman Tri, Swindon, MD - 1/2 Iron Distance
- September 21st - ChesapeakeMan, Cambridge, MD - 1/2 Iron Distance
- September 22nd - Bethany Beach Tri, Bethany Beach, DE - Sprint/Olympic
- October 13th - Dottie's House Tri, Island Beach State Park, NJ - Sprint
I think I should be putting a 1/2 IM distance race on the calendar for September and then back fill the rest of my summer calendar from there. Based on where I live and other factors, either DiamondMan, ShoreMan or ChesapeakeMan will be that race (SavageMan is 5 HOURS from my home). Because of Hurricane Sandy, most of the races that would have happened along the Jersey Shore are taking this year off. DiamondMan and ShoreMan might just be too close, not leaving me to train adequately, thus making ChesapeakeMan the front runner at this point in time.
If anyone has any thoughts (that is if anyone reads this anymore), I am open to suggestions or even let me know if there are other races out there that I am missing. Cheers!
