Let’s Go!

It’s time to start training!  Well, I should have started last week, but I screwed up and got complacent.  I blame this never-ending winter. 

I remember that I started training for Rockford last year around this time, so when I checked, I realized that I had forgotten that Ironman moved Rockford up a week on the calendar.  I’m guessing that it was due to them adding Omaha, Nebraska, to the 70.3 circuit, which is a week earlier, and the traveling Ironman circus can just pack up from there and head to Rockford.  But it’s not like I haven’t been running and being active, and my training plan has less activity in the first week than I normally do anyway.  I really haven’t missed much, but it is time to begin following my plan.  

Racing the 70.3 in Rockford will be my main focus for the first half of the year, but I have two other races that have been added to my race calendar.

First up is a new event that is much like a backyard ultra, but it’s not a last runner standing format.  I will be running in the Texas Outlaw Outlast Chicago in Palatine, Illinois.  The format for this race is one 5K every hour for 6 hours.  The quickest cumulative time for each 5K will be the winner.  I’m really just using it to have some fun and start building endurance and speed for my later races.  My son will be joining me, and I look forward to watching him compete.  The race is on May 2.  Here’s the link to sign up if you would like to join in the fun:  Outlast Chicago

Next up will be Ironman Rockford 70.3 on June 14.  I have some unfinished business there and a score to settle.  Last year was brutally hot, and I didn’t do as well as I had hoped.  I wanted to be under six hours last year, but barely survived the seven and a half hours it took me to get it done.  Hopefully, the weather will be less of a factor this year.

After some recovery after Rockford, the focus will be on long, slow running and making a serious attempt at getting deep into the night at Broken Anvil Backyard Ultra in West Point, Iowa, in September.  This will be my sixth time at this fun and well-run backyard ultra, and I intend to push myself past the mental roadblocks that always seem to make me quit before I should.  My advancing age is making it more difficult to get that 100-mile finish, and I hope to accomplish it at Broken Anvil.  Here’s the link to sign up:  Broken Anvil BYU

 

That’s the plan for this year right now.  I may add a race here or there, but the focus will be on the above three races.

As for my expectations for the year, my running outlook greatly improved after having a routine physical in February.  My doctor advised that my blood draw showed that my vitamin B-12 levels were really low and suggested that I take a supplement.  I ordered some B-12 gummies and some multi-vitamin gummies and have been taking them daily.  Since taking them, the soreness in my quad muscles that I had dealt with for the past year or longer just went away.  Apparently, vitamin B-12 is vital to muscle repair and overall health.  The more you know.  Routine physicals are so important.  Don’t skip them!

Time to hit the trail and get some miles in.  Let’s go!