Vacation

I need a vacation, like nobody’s business.

                                                   Jim Wann

Two weeks ago I finished the Leadman, my last race of the year. Since then I

have kinda of been taking a vacation from training. Well, I guess I should say,

I’ve been taking a break from the monitoring of my training.

The Tuesday after the race Jaime and I met up to discuss the coming year. We

decided that October 6th would be my start date for Ironman Training.

Specifically, I’d be training for a marathon prior to working the bike and the swim

back into the equation on an equal rotation. He had told me to look for a

marathon earlier when I decided to go after the Ironman brass ring. The race

needed to be in January and I was able to locate one in Redding, California, just

under 5 hours away. It would be held over Martin Luther King weekend so I

wouldn’t need to take time off.

The A (or perhaps Super A) race for the year would be Ironman Coeur d’Alene. I

picked this race because it would occur in June. I knew that July would be taken

up with a trip to New Mexico for my folks 70th Wedding Anniversary. I knew that

this would prove challenging but I didn’t want to have to worry about a race while

I was in New Mexico (such as racing Whistler, another race I had eyed).

February would involve Jaime’s triathlon camp in Tucson and then March and

April would be where my bike training would dramatically increase. In the past I

had done the Beaver Freezer over in Corvallis the first weekend in April but

Jaime put the kibosh on a sprint race. My first race would be an Olympic

distance so I imagine I’ll look at the Oregon Dunes over in Florence. He talked

about wanting me to do the Boise 70.3 and using it as a training race. We’ll use

the time between Oregon Dunes and Boise to see how the body is feeling. My

focus will be Coeur d’Alene and once that is done we’ll regroup and look to finish

out the race year, more than likely with the 70.3 in Lake Stevens and then finish

up with Best in the West and hopefully with the Leadman.

My calendar set. It was time to have a little fun. Jaime had told me that my

workouts for the week after Leadman were optional. I tried my best to stay with

the workout though I made some adjustments. I decided that rather than worry

about pace or heart rate I would just go out and either ride or run. I’m not sure if

that was probably what Jaime had in mind but it was a nice bit of release. A

week following Leadman my wife and I met up with some fellow Bendites at the

north entrance to Crater Lake to ride the road around the lake. The following day

I met up with Jaime and Riley to ride the Twin Bridges route. It was a great

weekend and I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. This past week was run

heavy but I did find some time to sneak off to the pool to swim in the

unseasonably warm weather. I capped off my vacation with a 30-mile mountain

bike ride with Jaime and Riley. I came away from my vacation refreshed,

recharged, and rebooted.

It’s time to get back in the saddle so to speak. I know the journey ahead will be

long, tough, and at times, lonely. For now it will be building up the volume to

successfully run a marathon. From there, the bike and swim will increase in

volume as well. I’m excited about the prospects. Whether or not I’ll be feeling

that way in May or June will remain to be seen. For now it’s the excitement in

going after something new and unknown. For many, the excitement is the build

up to the vacation. For me, it’s the buildup to the Ironman. Let the journey

begin.