Off Season??

I've never really followed Ironman races until I started getting into triathlons. A 1/2 Ironman is one thing, but the full distance is just amazing. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run (marathon). Talk about testing the limits of what the body can do! The 2010 Ironman World Championships came to an end and Chris McCormack ended up winning an exciting race by pulling away at mile 24 of the marathon for the win. All of that at the young age of 37. That's one cool thing about the longer distance triathlons, most of the players are in their 30's.
So as the triathlon season wraps up for the year and off season begins, I feel like I just started. Although I want to push it and get in shape fast, it's time to tone it back a bit and get some good base mileage, strength training and work on form/technique in all three disciplines so I can get ready for my first year as a triathlete. Over the last few weeks I started to get some serious IT band issues and have had to really scale back my training. When I first decided to start training for triathlons specifically, I worked with Trevor Glavin, a local professional Xterra and coach for a few months. I remember he said how important it is for me to get strength & flexibility training into my regime. Unfortunately, I've done very little. Some Pilate's here and there, but definitely not enough to keep me injury free. So this week, I actually got an email from Trevor recommending Rehab United for strength training and also so I can also address my ITB issues. So tomorrow the suffering begins!

I made a few changes to my schedule. The Carlsbad 1/2 already sold out! So my buddy Jayson (who just crushed the Leadville 100) is running the Surf City 1/2 in Huntington Beach in February---so I figured I'd jump in the race too. I also found out that "The Race Across the Sky" which is about the mountain bike portion of the Leadville 100 is premiering in theaters around the US, and one even in Temecula! Let me know if any of you want to go to it with me. Check out the trailer here. I think one day, I'll do it...On that same note, I think I might have talked my older bro Mike to jump in the Racers and Chasers MX/MTB team duathlon's this year. Basically, he would start us off on his motorcycle--- riding for like 40 mins and then transition it off to me where I would finish us with a 15 mile mountain bike ride. Not only does it look like a lot of fun, but it's also like 20 minutes from my house and looks very "grassroots." Camping, riding and beers with family? I'm in!

Last weeks Dirt Dog Series 8k, went just OK. Leading up to the race I swam Monday, worked on the track Tuesday, did a 50 mile bike ride Wednesday and I was feeling my IT band so I decided to take both Thursday and Friday off to see if I'd be able to race Sat. To top it off, I had one of my busiest weeks ever at my work, so I was thrashed come Saturday morning. I woke up to some rain and we decided for me to just head down solo (hence no photos from my awesome wife) for the race. I warmed up, leg was feeling OK, so I decided to race. I haven't done an 8k since college and it was very weird because this was actually a club/college race. Two of the schools I attended were there (CSUSM and CBU). It was very cool to see Cal Baptist there, because shortly after I graduated they cut the running programs. And then about 3 years ago they started them back up.

Just before the gun went off, the college teams started doing their weird chants to get pumped up (I never understood that-even when I used to participate) and then we were off. I went out in the first mile in 5:24 and was WAY back. These kids were flying. The field started to separate and after mile two, I almost immediately started to fade. I was tired and not very sharp from only running once that week. I fought to stay with the pack and ended up finishing in 27:55 (5:36 pace). Finished 6th in my Age Group and as I went to go for a cool down w/Masters winner and Xterra stud Mike Hansen (who crushed me with a 26:28), I felt sharp IT band pain so I called it a day early and hobbled home.

My focus now is to just get my leg better and get ready to start my base build for 2011.