No, you aren't crazy. The look of the site DID change, again. My hand was kind of forced, this time.
If you'll check out the tabs at the top of the page, you'll note that a Forum tab has been added. Now, to be honest, I'm posting this before even taking a look at the forum and seeing how it works. So if you see it vanish, or the site revert back to the previous layout, it means I was less than enthused with the addition. I'm hoping it will give people another means of communicating. Sometimes, comments just aren't effective for discussions.
So, stop by the forum and see what's up. I'll be playing with it to get the layout right. Feel free to start a discussion, make comments, ask your own question, or answer that of another person.
One of the gifts I got for Christmas is a new pair of winter running gloves. I used to wear were regular polar fleece gloves, and they were a victim of the 2008 Green Bay Marathon. I wore them to the race and threw them away shortly after the start.
The new gloves my in-laws got are running specific, windproof, and likely to be much better than what I've used in the past. Then again, I haven't been able to try them out, so that's all a guess.
In December, we fought both cold and snow as we experienced records in both. We exceeded previous snowfall records by several inches, and have had several stretches where we don't see the positive side of zero for days.
January is following the same trend with more emphasis on the "below zero" aspect than the snow. And when the air temperature is in the double digits negative, running outside is only an option for the truly hardy (pronounced NUTS). To put it in perspective, my wife was unable to tell me the air temperature one day because the mercury was all in the bulb. That means it was colder than -20F. Wind chills push that down to the -40 to -50F range.
The only running I'm doing in those temps is from my car to the office building. Call it an "out and back" as I do run back to the car.
Between the dangerously cold temperatures and constant snowfall, training outdoors has been seriously curtailed. The up-side is that I have a lot of time on the trainer and in the pool. Running is down as even I have limits to running in circles.
The good news is the temperature has been increasing over the past 24 hours. Sadly, it is snowing, again. If I'm lucky, the snowfall will be minimal and I'll be able to get outside and run.
If I'm unlucky, I'll be back on the trainer or back to running in circles.
The temperature at the Houston Marathon was predicted to be around 40F. What I wouldn't give for that balmy weather!
Well, it's now official. I am registered for the High Cliff half-Ironman on June 20. This was the same race I completed as my first ever half-IM.
Sometimes, you just have to wonder who's minding the store.
With the flurry of activities surrounding Christmas, New Year, work, etc, I seem to have missed an important post. Then again, perhaps it was intentional.
I have officially changed aged groups. Now, to be fair, I actually changed age groups at the beginning of the year (I turned 40). USAT rules state that you are to be assigned to your age group based on your age as of December 31st of the current year. So, I should have been lumped in with the 40+ crowd.
Practice seems to differ from theory, though. Every race I did had me with the 35 year olds. Again, in the name of fairness, it made very little difference. Some quick cross-referencing of the results confirms that I am equally "middle of the pack" in either age group.
As an added bonus, I am now five minutes closer to qualifying for the Boston Marathon. That means I only need to shave about 20 more minutes off my marathon pace to achieve that goal.
This morning, I had what I am calling my first official "40 year old moment." I got to the gym, opened my bag, took out my dress shoes and threw them in the bottom of the locker. I then turned back to the gym bag, looked in it for my dress shows, and started cursing myself out. A friend asked what was up, and I explained I didn't have my dress shoes. I grabbed my street shoes to throw in the locker for after my workout, only to find my dress shoes.
I didn't know whether to be happy or sad...
It seems only fair to review the 2008 goals and accomplishments before moving on to 2009. Besides, it's the "in" thing to do. So here we are, the 2008 facts and figures.
Training Statistics:
Swim - 144,660 yards (just over 89 miles). This was short of my goal of matching my 2007 swim yardage. In retrospect, that was probably unrealistic as 2007 was my debut Ironman year.
Bike - 700 miles (including 130 "estimated" miles on trainer using 15 miles/hour). Way short of my similarly unrealistic mileage goal of 1500 miles.
Run - 1035 miles (my first time breaking 1000 miles in a year). The one distance success for the year, well beyond my 750 miles from last year.
Major Accomplishments:
Trinity Triathlon Sprint PR (this is the same race where I completed my first ever triathlon, breaking my bike chain and running about seven miles of the bike course, finishing dead last).
Marathon PR of 3:41:38 (set at the Green Bay Marathon).
Half-IM PR of 5:27:55 (set at the Spirit of Racine Triathlon).
Completed 40 and 50 mile ultramarathons. The 40-miler was an official marathon completed after running the half-marathon course in reverse to get to the start. The 50-miler was the Fall 50 Endurance Race, complete in 8:58:00.
Looking Forward:
In 2009, I will try to double swim and bike volume. My run goal is to again break 1000 miles. On the race front, I will run one marathon with no time goal whatsoever. I will complete another as a "double" for 52.4 miles. I will race the High Cliff half-IM and attempt to break my PR at the race, though I don't believe I will pursue my overall half-IM PR. It's a tough course.
I will also continue to give back by coaching the youth tri club. I should have three returning members and hope to add several more to that. I also plan on being in Madison to volunteer for IMWI 2009, and hope to have both the funds and approval to sign up for the 2010 race.
That's the "short and sweet" vision for the coming year. I appreciate everyone who has checked in during the past year. Train safe, race hard, and have a great 2009!
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