TOTW - the rest of the season

Buckhead Sizzler this weekend (10k)

Silver comet half Oct 25th

Atlanta Half Marathon Thanksgiving

Mr. Brown Dog and I are doing the SC HIM on Sept 28th, and planning on the Atlanta 1/2 marathon on Thanksgiving and the Kiawah Island Marathon on Dec 7th.  Then, we will take a little breather before gearing up for the Atlanta ING marathon/half-marathon in March.

If not for the marathon training, I'd definitely sign up for the Red Top Rumble in November.  It's a 10/11 mile trail race.  Doug ran it last year and it looked like a lot of fun.

My tri season ended over a month ago, so my focus has shifted to running. NYC Marathon, then 5Ks and 10Ks to finish out the year. Then ING HM (maybe Alpharetta HM) and more 5Ks and 10Ks before tri season kicks off next year again. I have to at least run, so I don't get FAT from all the food and drinks I love!

Tri season is over for me, but I do have the Atlanta Half Marathon in November.  I'd like to beat my last 1/2 mary time from March.  I'm also planning on tackling the 3 gap 50 this weekend.  It'll be my first time battling 3 of the beasts.  And if I can find another century that fits into my schedule, I'd like to hit the 100 mile mark before the year is over.  These would all be huge accomplishments for me in addition to all that I've done in my first season. 

I have 5 weeks to get through the peak of my training and then taper for Florida Challenge. My goals right now are to be consistent in my training, hit all of my workouts and continue to see the progress grow. I still have a few long rides and runs left that I want to challenge myself on.  My run times are coming down and I'm seeing a great deal of success as I train for this late season race.

I am also trying to focus on eating as healthy as possible to get to the start line in Clermont feeling good and strong.  

After that, it's the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving. 

What's left...

I just added an Olympic to try and blow off some of the carbon build up from IM training.  So Amelia Island Olympic on Oct 4th.  Goal is to just drill the run and see what is left.

Then Clearwater comes into the cross hairs.  I'd like to have a solid race there and minimize the people that run me down.

Main Goal I've accomplished this year:

Kept it fun.  I show up at a race relaxed and goofy. 

Elusive goal?

Truly leave it all out on the course.  That's the only way to push to the next level.

I still have the Silver Comet Half on Oct 25th where I am shooting for a sub 1:30 time, and then the 70.3 World Championships on November 8th. The off season for me officially starts about 1 pm on the 8th

For next year with the economy being as it is and gas prices through the roof (and if Obama is elected tax increases, cause you know it's "patriotic" to pay more taxes during a recession, but whatever) I am going to keep it somewhat local for races.

2009 Tentative Schedule

Resolution Run 10k- January 1st

Wonderful Days of Winter 5k-January-ish

Tundra TT-February

Alpharetta 1/2 Marathon-March

ING 1/2 Marathon-March

John Tanner Sprint-April

Twilight Criterium-April

Gulf Coast HIM-May

West Point Olympic-June

Chattanooga Olympic-July

HIM Somewhere (?) August

South Carolina Half (maybe)-September

My tri season ended in June :-(  I can't believe I have not raced since then...very sad and not right.  Any way, I am run focused the rest of the year:

Buckhead Sizzler - goal sub :50

Silver Comet 1/2 - goal stay with brett for the first 100 yards, then jump on his back.  He may not get a 1:30, but I know I will PR!  Seriously, just a warm up for next one....

Atlanta 1/2 - goal sub 1:50.  This would be a PR by 7 minutes which may be asking too much.  If I can stay injury free and manage my calf issues better, I think I can do it.  I am hoping I can talk alltom1 into being my pacer.

I am really looking forward to next year and racing more.  This year was a disappointment from that angle even though I made good progress.

My season was supposed to be officially over after Tugaloo, but, I added the Ameliaman Oly in FL. My goals for the rest of the season:

Run a sub 20 5k

PR in 10k and Half Marathon

Run under 50 minutes at Ameliaman.

I hit all my goals for the year (which were to finish all my Tris and improve my palcement/times) and stay healthy. 

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

For those with sub-55:00 10k goals, remember to keep your "official run times" (often a post card sent after the race) for submission for a seeded start number for the Peachtree Road Race.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

My season ended last weekend at the Vidalia Onion Sprint, but probably should have ended earlier.  I did ok in Vidalia (1st swim, 7th bike, 17th run, 7th OA) but running on the knuckle of your big toe to minimize knee pain is just not a good thing.  So, I go Friday to review options for the floater in my knee. I believe it will be a quick resolution and I will be up and running (no pun intended) very quickly. 

According to my coach (you know who you are), I plan on focusing on the run and pedaling technique for the off-season.

At this point, my 2009 plan is to do the TTP series, a spring and fall HIM and Chattanooga. 

I still have a race that is important to me the Last Chance Douglasville Tri.  I really want to do well in the race as an end for this, my very first tri season.  It all started with a dare from my hubby early last spring that I could not finish the Sweetwater Sprint tri.  I had never even heard of a sprint tri before but when I managed to get out of the water before my hubby and soundly beat him for the rest of the race I was hooked forever.  Two new bikes, hours and hours of training, a tri coach and a lot of research on BT later, I now have a whole new life....I also am busy training for the Atlanta half marathon which for me will be one of those lifetime achievement things.  My goal is just to finish it and finish before the street sweeper....

EXCELLENT ... I love reading things like this as the above is exactly what this site is all about. 

Congratulations on the transformation (and serving your husband a hefty dose of humble pie )

There are two things left this season for me:

1) Six Gaps - always wanted to punch this on my race card and this year proved to be opportune timing wise as I had no long distance race to concern myself about trashing my legs on Hogpen.  That said, I am also woefully undertrained for the event as my longest ride this year has been in the 65-70 mile range and I have only been up to the Gaps once this season.  The "Race" is this weekend and will prove to be a sufferfest.

2) Body fat percentage - I made a BF bet with some friends at the beginning of the season about all of us getting back to our race season level of fitness.  At that time my BF% was in the 14-15% range.  The goal is to get it to 11% by November 15th. 

Latest progress report: I "weighed in" at 11.7% last Tuesday night before core class, dropped 6 lbs since May - and 5 of those deemed to be "body fat" by the calculations and attributable to the majority of the loss from the abdomen area.