Well folks, it’s time to step-up to the plate and reveal the races that I (with the aid of The Puppeteer) have decided to participate in during 2011. This is important in a couple of ways….
Firstly, by making this public I am relying on all of you to “keep the pressure on” if I start to lose motivation or slack-off in my training. I don’t think that this is likely (especially with The Puppeteer pulling strings and cracking whips!) but I know that I can be sure that I have many friends who are prepared to ridicule me mercilessly if I fail in my mission! J
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, by laying out the calendar now, The Puppeteer can design a training schedule using various cycles that will hopefully have me in peak form for my two “A” races.
After quite a bit of consideration I have decided that my major objective of the year should be to complete a half ironman event in a respectable time for my age group. For the uninitiated, a half ironman consists of a 1.2 mile open water swim, followed by 56 miles on the bike, followed by a full 13.1 mile half marathon. I’m highly confident (after having already done them) that I can finish each of the individual disciplines, the question is: can I put it all together and can I turn in a respectable time? What is a respectable time? I hear you ask…. The answer at the moment is that I don’t know. Top age groupers will finish a half ironman in about 4 hours. “Middle of the pack” age groupers in my age group finish somewhere around 6 hours.
I will also be doing a half marathon in March and a number of shorter triathlons throughout the season. Each is rated an “A”, “B” or “C” in terms of the priority and training effort that it will be given. Here’s what I have picked:
A local 10k race sometime in February if I can find one. This is proving to be a challenge!
The American Tobacco Trail Half Marathon. March 20, 2011. Cary, NC. (B) This will basically be a training race. Not out to break any records, just finish in a respectable time.
Over the Mountain Olympic distance triathlon. May 21, 2011. Kings Mountain, NC. (A) This will be my first Olympic distance event (1.5k swim; 45k bike; 10k run). Kings Mountain is located fairly close to Charlotte, NC. The name sounds a bit daunting! The scenic event starts with a swim in Lake Moss and is followed by a relatively hilly bike course and a “rolling” run course. We will apparently travel through two state parks and one national park!
Triangle Triathlon Sprint. July 10, 2011. Raleigh, NC. (C). A nice local short distance event to stretch it out and have fun!
Lake Logan Olympic Distance Triathlon. August 7, 2011. Canton, NC. (B). I’m especially looking forward to this event as we’re planning to get together with The Sneak and her family and go white water rafting the day after the race! Canton, NC is located west of Asheville, NC in the Great Smokey Mountains – definitely a family trip!
Outer Banks Olympic Distance Triathlon. September 17, 2011. Manteo, NC. (C). A good excuse to get to the coast and a nice warm-up for the Half Ironman in October!
Beach-to-Battleship Half Ironman. October 29, 2011. Wilmington, NC. (A). The big one! More on ths one later.
Full details of each race are available in the links under “Upcoming Events” in the right hand column.
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