Looking forward to 2015

2014 is pretty much “in the books” and while there were lots of great things that happened, I did not make the progress that I wanted towards completion of my first Ironman Triathlon.

In fact, I haven’t run for weeks now which is not a good sign.  OK, I’ve done some aggressive yardwork that might be considered “cross training” but nothing that helped that much in the Ironman department.

2015 will be different.

6 month Ironman Training PlanFor one thing, my financial situation will be changing.  I have a number of different “opportunities” or changes of direction which should make it easier financially and consequently easier to find time to train for an Ironman.  If 2014 taught me anything it is that I need to rearrange my business life!

I’ve also signed up for the Boston Buildup Series which is a series of races which go from 10K to 25K over the course of a couple months in increments of 5K per race.  I’ve done them in the past and while some of the winter races are VERY COLD, I’ve found that having a race on my schedule makes me much more likely to do the runs to support them.

2015 Training Plan (so far):

Sunday Long Runs…

This page will be updated as the plan comes together…

Dec. 21 – local long run – 4 mile loop (or 5K race?)

Dec. 28 local long run – 6 mile loop

Jan.  4th Boston Buildup Series – 10K, Norwalk, CT

Jan. 11th

Jan. 18th Boston Buildup Series – 15K, Ridgefield, CT

Jan. 25th

Feb.  1st

Feb. 8th  Boston Buildup Series – 20K, Fairfield, CT

Feb. 15th

Feb. 22nd

Mar. 1  Boston Buildup Series – 25K, Norwalk, CT

Mar. 8th

Mar. 15th

Mar. 22nd

Mar. 29th Danbury Half Marathon (13.1 miles), Danbury, CT

Apr. 5th

Apr. 12th

Apr. 19th

Apr. 26th

May 3rd, Redding Half Marathon, Redding, CT

May 10th,

May 17th,

May 24th,

May 31st

Jun 7th,

Jun 14th

Jun 21st

Jun 28th,

Jul 5th,

Jul 12th,

Jul 19th,

Jul 26th,

Aug 2nd

Aug 9th,

Aug 16th,

Aug 23rd,

Aug 30th,

Sep 6th,

Sep 13th

Sep 20th

Sep 27th

Oct 4th

Oct 11th

Oct 18th

Oct 25th

Nov 1st

Nov 8th

Nov 15th

Nov 22nd

Nov 29th

Dec

Dec

Dec

Dec

 

I also found this 6 month training schedule for my first Ironman race and my plan is to sign up for a race this year, complete at least one (maybe two) marathons this year and prepare for the BIG race in 2016.

Wish me luck !

What do you have planned for 2015 athletically (or otherwise)?

I would love to hear what you have planned as well as any ideas you might have that could “kick me in the butt” a little bit.  I’m happy to hold you accountable to your goals as well… just leave them in the comments below !

<-----[ Guest Post ]-----> You ARE good enough – by Doug Comstock

1621904_10204360068654352_2522504863274472563_nThe following is reprinted from Doug’s post on Facebook, Oct. 2014

I arrived at the Kona Ironman HQ office for the mandatory athlete check-in two weeks prior to the actual World Championship Triathlon in October of 1993.

I was greeted by a nice enough fellow that quickly asked me; “What division are you in?”

To which I replied “I don’t know”.

I couldn’t help but notice that he scanned me from head to toe. I have to confess it was a little disconcerting having him gawk at my clean shaven legs.

He quickly asked “How much do you weigh?”

To which I responded “240 pounds”

1016594_10204360072694453_4383170939813621392_nWith a snicker on his face he said; “Oh, you’re a CLYDESDALE!”

Its important to understand….

The Hawaii Ironman Triathlon is recognized as the pinnacle of all Ironman races in the world. A race reserved for the best of the best. It is a race intended for THROUGHBREDS and here I was a freaking CLYDESDALE!

For me, being a “CLYDESDALE” was kind of like the Ironman’s way of saying; “YOU DON’T BELONG HERE” in a nice sort of way.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. What he said was, “You’re a Clydesdale”. What I heard was…

”YOU ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!” …I wanted to quit. I wanted to go home, but I didn’t.

How familiar I was with that feeling of not being good enough. A feeling first introduced to me by my third grade teacher at Cherry Brook School eons before.

Once again it was not so much by what she said as much as what I heard.

YOU ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

I have come to understand that each of us has our own version of not being “good enough”. It might be delivered to us in the form of other words like not being “young, pretty, fast, smart, slim, educated, experienced or whatever” enough.

It is not a question on whether that feeling will come to each of us; the question is what we will do when it does. It’s can be a scary time and place.

I have come to understand one thing in life. We can back down at those times we don’t feel that we belong; those times we feel that we are not good enough, or we can advance in the direction of our fears.

Advance you must as your best life is often waiting just beyond your greatest fears.

I completed the race that year. I even returned to Hawaii to race again two years later. That year, 1995, the legendary head winds on the Queen “K” Highway averaged 25 mph with gusts to 70 mph. 25 Athletes were blown off their bikes that day and couldn’t finish the race.

Not one of them was a Clydesdale.

Yes…you ARE good enough!

Ironman Inspiration Oct 2014

I saw this video on my Facebook feed and thought it was inspirational … to go get a chocolate milk !

Aside from the “drink more chocolate milk” message, what other important tips did I pickup?

– Key is to remain injury-free. With my recent “dog walking/jogging” injury, I am chomping at the bit to get back to running, lifting and eventually swimming.

– I need to build a schedule of races leading to the Ironman. 5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon, sprint tri, olympic tri, Century Ride, mile swim, half iron, full iron, did I miss anything?

– Recovery is important for both building up your endurance and also preparing you for upcoming challenges.

What did you get from this video? Any other tips/suggestions?

Ironman update July 2014

In case you are wondering how the Ironman training has been going in July 2014, here is a quick update.  After I did a long run of about 6 miles at the end of June, for some reason, my running habit dried up. Not exactly sure why.  I wasn’t exceptionally sore after that long run.  As a matter of fact, the run was nothing special, except for the fact that it was the first time this year that I did my 6 mile loop.

Whatever the reason, I saw the picture below on Facebook this morning and it got my head back in the Ironman WishBuilder game … so today I will definitely go for a run.

Ironman Triathlon Wont Train For Itself

 

The Real Ironman Challenge…

What do you do to combat boredom during training?  How do you get yourself “out the door” consistently?  I am sure I CAN do it… I need to “just do it”.  Maybe a sponsorship from Nike is the answer. 😉

 

Ironman – Budget – Action#007

Draft Budget IronmanSince I am planning to ask for a Sponsor, it makes sense that I take a stab at a budget.

As you can see from my initial estimates, it will be about a $20K project. Of course most budgets turn out to be woefully inadequate so I should probably double everything, right?

In case you have trouble reading the scanned image from my notebook, the Budget Items Include:
Race Fees, Bike upgrade, Screen Printing & Bike decals (for sponsors), Swim training location, Transportation, Hotels, Performance Food & Supplements, Running Shoes, Food & Misc. (Race/trips), Paper/pins for Cranes, Planning Calendar, Support team at races.

Other items I thought of since I scanned that page include: Video crew (so I can document it and possibly use it for marketing TheWishBuilder.com), Upgraded clothing (since wetsuits might not be allowed at Kona and I may need something different from what I have) and a new hydration system (for the bike).

 

What do you think?

What am I missing?  Should there be more activities / events / budget items related to, and for the benefit of, sponsors?

Speaking of sponsors, is the budget itemized sufficiently that a company can look at the listing and choose to sponsor a particular part of the project?  What can I do to entice sponsors to support the full project?

Budget / Sponsor Ideas?

Obviously I don’t have all the answers and I would welcome anyone who has experience signing up sponsors for individuals or events or even charity fundraising.  Any ideas you have to improve this budget or gain sponsors would be appreciated.  Leave you comments below !