Over the course of the last few weeks while dealing with some challenges in my personal life I have been focusing on my 2016 race schedule. While 2015 is not over yet I consider this year to be a bit of a disappointment in my racing. Sure I finished 2 Ironman races and a 70.3 in June but I didn’t race enough.That will all change next next year.

Lake Placid was something that has eaten at me since I finished at the end of July.  It’s a race that really caters to my strengths. The swim is easy with two loops. You just follow the rope. The bike course is two loops. There is a ton of flats then for the hills you ‘only’ have two sections of it on each loop. My strength on the bike isn’t a constant up and done it’s the course being consistent. The run is boring, mostly flat, and the few hills they have they are good for walking if you want. But Lake Placid has me feeling empty inside like I didn’t do well enough. That was a course I should have broken 13 hours without much struggle had I not failed my nutrition.

That’s why today on my 41st birthday I am announcing that I will be doing Ironman Lake Placid. 

I am already signed up for Ironman Texas in May. I am going to be signing up for Ironman Maryland in early October when it opens up.

Recently I reached out to a few friends including Katie Kinnear and Sue Stockwell for advice. Katie is already signed up again for next year.  She did LP this year and is doing Maryland in a few weeks. I’m still waiting on Sue to sign-up for LP  (no pressure).

While doing research on trying to train for 3 fulls in one year I noticed something. After Texas it’s 10 weeks to Lake Placid then it’s another 10 weeks to Maryland. Most of us who have done some back-to-backs know that 10 weeks in-between means about 5-6 weeks of hard training. The rest is recovery, etc.

Why do three in one year?

Here is my logic:

Currently I have completed 5 IM’s. If I do 2 every year then at the end of 2018 I will be at 11. I can’t get legacy until 12 (Meaning Kona eligible). So I would need to wait until 2020 to apply and I would be at 12 or 13. Plus I am hearing there is at least a year waiting list. If I do one year of 3 IM’s then I can apply in ’19 and then I would be able to do Kona in ’20.

My other logic is I am coming out of a relationship and this is probably the ideal time to do it. No matter who I meet or who I am dating next year it will slowly evolve.

Everyone asks what’s my goal in all of this? Is it to break a certain time or is it just to finish? It’s both. My body is capable of doing sub 13’s at any Ironman event that I have done. My nutrition has prevented me from doing so. :).

Isn’t the goal still to qualify for the Boston Marathon?

Absolutely. My focus is just that. Unfortunately at the moment I am nursing a pretty bad injury that is preventing me to do much running at the moment. I will be running a 1/2 marathon on Monday but I am not optimistic of how I will do.

My plan is/was to try and qualify at the Hartford Marathon on October. As of today I don’t see that happening. I need my leg to heal very soon so I can get in a bunch of runs to give me a chance. My thought process is to do Hartford as a training run. Maybe break 3:40ish then get in a few weeks of hard training and go to Philly in November to give it a try again.

2016 Tentative Race Schedule:

• Deary run in early January (Adam Cohen is talking to me about it)
• Rocky Raccoon -Possibly doing my first 100 mile adventure race in Texas in early February. Talks are progressing. 🙂
• Hyannis 1/2 marathon (If I don’t BQ in ’15 I may be doing the full but I am not sure I will want to)
• March- Stu’s 30K
• April- 1/2 marathon
• May- Ironman Texas
• June- Patriot 1/2 and running a 1/2 marathon with my dad for his 70th birthday.
• July- Ironman Lake Placid
• August- Timberman. I was talked out of this race this year and I wished I did it.
• September- RTB, TFCE (100 mile ride)
• October- Ironman Maryland

I will post this with more details probably early next year.

Training camps:

I learned back in April how important training camps are. Next year I plan to do a training camp in Texas in March. I will take about 4 days to visit Evan and his family for a day or two while I train. Then I will head over to The Woodlands and train with some friends who are going to come to town.

This will be repeated at different points of my training. Most of my training camps will take place at Camp Calumet. End of April, 4th of July weekend, Mid-September. I will also head up to Lake Placid this time for at least one weekend and do at least a lap or two of the course.

Conclusion:

I know doing all of these races will be a challenge but this is a lifestyle that I embrace. I really believe I already have the base to complete three in a year and that I just need to work on a few things so that I can be successful. This is also the reason why I will look to hire a coach in the coming months. They may not agree with my schedule but they can help me get to where I need to be.

I really want to thank my family and friends for their support. They have stood by in times of need but yet had the courage to question me in all of this. I’m looking forward to new relationships and a healthy 2016 of racing.