Season 2010

So this is the time of year when the typical triathlete (or person in general) gets excited and makes plans for 2010. Training schedules need to be made, goals for the year dreampt up, and friends and family talked into competing with us.

2009 was a bust for me triathlon-wise. I did get out and get one done though - make that two. Nothing like a couple of sprints to keep the interest up. Got a couple of Centuries under my belt as well, and even snuck in a half marathon before the year closed out. Nice.

So what's in store for 2010? I'm looking at a Oly to start - one up in Gainsville, FL - just a few weeks away, and glutton for punishment that I am, I know up front it's gonna be cold as all get-out. But my boy Lee hasn't ever done an Olympic Tri, and this one is more of a confidence builder than anything else. For sure a "C" race.

Gasparilla is next, in late February. Just planning on doing the half marathon - even though this is the last running of the full Marathon here in Tampa, I just don't see myself recovering fast enough for my next race 3-weeks later. I know me. But one thing I'm shooting for is at least getting back down to my Ironman weight by then, and being able to match my PR at that distance of 1:57. You should "reach" for goals, right?

So after that, in March, I plan on doing the Gator Half Marathon down in Sarasota - signing up before New Years Day keeps the price down to $155 - a bargain considering St. Anthony's Oly was that exact same price! Krimeny! The Gator Half has my eye as an early "A" race. My boys Curt and Lee are already planning on coming down with, and I'd like to put in a good showing. PR time. It will be cool, flat as a pancake, and cheap - all of my favorite race-type things.

Next is the typical triathlon season opener - St. Anthony's Olympic. I plan on being in great shape by then - having just PR'd in a Half IM a month earlier (the power of positive thinking at work here). I have a full 4-week training cycle to get some serious speed work in at the OLY distances, and for once I plan on having a great St. Antony. So that's April.

St. Anthony's marks the end of my "regular season", and the beginning of the MNB2B train-up. Yes, you've heard it all before, but this year is going to be different. We are, according to our President and all his Czars, screaming headlong out of this Recession, and what are the first industries to leave the recession? The luxury, big-ticket sales industries - like the RV industry, where I have suffered for the last 12 months, and am ready for the whirlwind of commissions that await me. By March (the deadline for the less-expensive entry fee for MNB2B) I'll need to have saved a benchmark amount of cashola to qualify for the ever-so-trendy "trigger-pull", but I'm pretty confident for this year's economic rebound in the Bigun household.

What's so irregular about the MNB2B you ask? The mighty CANOE! I'll have about 12 weeks to go from zero to hero in the shadow of a 50-mile 2-man canoe jaunt planned for the end of the MNB2B race. I also have to figure out the training specifics for the crazy distances and relay-induced time-trial sets that this race calls for. Fun stuff ahead.

So the MNB2B is at the end of June. 12 weeks away, or so, from the illustrious Beach to Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon. I can't see how that will happen, but if the stars align and the injuries all stay away, the money doesn't run out and we can fit a MUCH NEEDED week long absolutely nothing to do with triathlon or training VACATION (like a cruise or whatnot) in before-hand, like in the summer, around July or August - then there's a chance of signing up for the B2B, if on the off chance that registration hasn't filled up yet. Phew. See that, I committed to a VACATION and was totally uncommitted to the prospect of an Ironman in 2010. But I want to do one.

But I (we, as in Tri-Sherpa Di and I) really, really need a vacation.