A new season, new goals, new challenges

Well it’s the middle of March and I’m just getting around to putting the final touches on the season plan.  I’ve really delayed doing this because I wanted to focus more on healing my foot – rather than freaking out because it’s not healing fast enough and I’m missing all sorts of training.

The good news is, my next Dr. appointment is in 5 days – and I’m pretty confident I will get the green light to move forward with normal activity.

The bad news is – I haven’t run since November 7th and  I haven’t walked normally since December 14th – in fact I have only been “walking” for about 3.5 weeks; I don’t exactly expect to be able to run on Day 1 (whenever that is).  In fact I’m a bit frightened of running at this point – I have a mental block or two to get over and rebuild my faith and confidence in my foot.  Additional bad news is – I didn’t live up to my expectations of recovery, nutritional habits, etc during this period – so I’m starting from a bit behind where I had hoped.

As for goals this year pretty simple really:

One, no unplanned zero’s – I think that’s pretty self explanatory and straight forward.

Two, run the entire marathon at Ironman Wisconsin.

Three, stay true to the plan.

Four, resist goal inflation.

I was fortunate enough to be invited back as a member Team Gear-Grinder, so I will be racing for them again this year.  I really enjoyed my experienece on the team last year, and look forward to this year again.

Finally, I’ve also finalized my race schedule for this year – there may be a few additions depending on team races that Gear-Grinder participates in, but beyond those I’ll be doing Saint Anthony’s, Triple-T Ohio, Ironman Racine 70.3 (I decided against Door County simple because of the travel and hotel costs; plus Mary preferred it), Pigman, and Ironman Wisconsin.

Depending on luck, I may be doing the Cheq 40 – and if I get impulsive/stupid, I may sign up for an October Marathon.

That’s about it, this year is definately going to be about the journey – and I’m looking forward to it like none other.