I'll show you mine if you show me yours!

[emartin10]

Thought it would be cool to get everyone to post their race seasons, just so we know who to cheer on when. Whatdya say?

June 3 - Steamboat Springs Half Marathon
June 9 - 10 - 24 Hours of Steamboat (Mountain bike race - 12 hour solo ride)
June 17 - 5430 EAS Sprint Triathlon
July 22 - Boulder Peak Triathlon
......
August 3 - 4 - Wild West Relay (12 person teams run from Ft. Collins to Steamboat Springs)
October 7 - Chicago Marathon

That's as of now. I'm going to get one or two more triathlons in there, which I have to plan around marathon training and my wedding. There will also probably be at least one or 2 more running races in there.

What do you guys and gals have planned?

E

[drew]

Here's my schedule (so far it only includes triathlons):

April 1st - Lavaman Triathlon, Kona, HI (Olympic)
June 10th - Metroplex Sprint Triathlon, Grand Prairie, TX (Sprint)
July 8th - Disco Triathlon, Denton, TX (Olympic)
August 26th - Rockwall Sprint Triathlon, Rockwall, TX (Sprint)
September 16th - Texas Man Triathlon, Irving, TX (Olympic)

I always run a couple of 10K's and a couple of other running races as well (i.e The Turkey Trot, Dallas White Rock Marathon (either the half or the relay)).

E - are any of those HIM's? Do you ever plan to do the full IM?

[emartin10]

Drew - no HIM's this summer - I am focusing on getting ready for an Ironman in 2008 - starting with the marathon. I am trying to decide on a few century rides this summer, and I have an Ironman friend that is going to do a few LONG open water swims with me this summer. I'm just going to see how my body responds to this much training, but I don't want a HIM looming if I get tired or burned out and need to take a break for a few days. So there's that.

E

[drew]

That's probably a good idea. Sounds like you've definitely thought it through.

I haven't decided if I even want to move up to HIM or IM. I just think about how much I train now and the fact that I would most likely have to double that!! So much respect for you taking on the commitment and the challenge.

[emartin10]

That was my other thought - the time. I want to do an Ironman just to be able to tell myself that I achieved the ultimate in this sport. I think once I complete an Ironman - I'll really just focus on doing Olympic distance races, since that is my favorite distance. But we'll see, I could get addicted to Ironman just like everyone else does.

E

[drew]

I think I will really like the Olympic distance, and therefore will stick with it for a long time. I definitely like the Sprint distance because I have a strong preference for short and fast vs. long and slow.

[Kevin Littler]

Originally Posted by emartin10

I think once I complete an Ironman - I'll really just focus on doing Olympic distance races, since that is my favorite distance.

Dream on Eric - you'll be hooked!!!

I must say that the Ironman is what lured me to the sport in the first place. I remember watching it for the first time thinking during the first 5 mins 'there's no way someone can go that distance'. Halfway through, this had evolved to 'man, these guys and gals are awesome'. By the end of the program, I was thinking 'I HAVE to do that one day.'

There's no better experience than that last few hundred metres, thousands of spectators screaming their heads off, and the pain of 140.6 miles disappearing. While it's kinda cool having other people acknowledge your efforts, the best thing is catching the M-dot permanently tatooed on my ankle at times during the day and remembering...'Yeah, I'm an Ironman'.

If I never do another race again, it would be ok, but if I do, it will either be an Ironman, or in prep for another Ironman. E, I truly hope you do complete an Ironman, and we would all love to come on the journey. Maybe swapping your last sticky for your IM log...

[Kevin Littler]

Sorry, got carried away and forgot to post races ...see, Ironman is addictive. Of course, I am going into our Winter now, so I won't have any tri's until at least October. My main goal for the winter is (apart from get back in shape - still having to wear my 'fat pants') to break my half marathon PB, which is 1:30:40ish. I hope to break 90 mins.

May 20th. Whyalla Half Marathon. Current projected goal: 96mins.
Potential PB's:
July 15th. Melbourne Sri Chimnoy Half Marathon. Current projected goal: 1:29:00. Failing this:
Aug 26. Adelaide Festival Half Marathon. No real hills, but small undulations mess up your rhythm, so I hope I don't have to do this one.

I would also like to break 49:00 at:
Sep 23rd. Adelaide City-Bay 12km Fun Run. This is Australia's 2nd biggest fun run, so always a buzz to be a part of.

There will be weekly races of 5-10km at the local running club, which I basically use for a hard training session.

[ODB]

Tentative:

• Arkansas River Canoe Race - June 2nd (North Little Rock, AR)
• Dawg Dayz Xterra Tri - June 23rd (North Little Rock, AR)
• Big Dam Bridge Duathlon - July 22nd (Little Rock, AR)
• DeGray Lake Sprint Tri - August 19th (DeGray Lake Resort State Park, AR)
• CATS Sprint Tri - September 16th (Conway, AR)
• Big Dam Bridge 100 - September 29th (Little Rock, AR)
• Rugged Man Tri - October 13th (Glenwood, AR)

All that said, I may throw in a bike race or adventure race or two. One of the promoters still owes me an entry. Plus I'm always up for Raid-the-Rock Adventure Race but it ain't cheap and I'll only do it if I can get a team together ane we have some time to train.

I don't do a lot of the 5k runs anymore as I don't need the t-shirts and I can run a 5k without spending $25.

[finboy]

I'm signed up for the Cactus Challenge but haven't been able to train for the last two weeks because of my back. Hopefully next week I can start to ease back in and I'll take it easy during this event. The rest is tentative:

• Cactus Challenge Triathlon: April 15, 500MS/20KB/5KR (Austin, TX)
• Hill Country Ride for AIDS: April 28, 50M Bike Ride in the hill country west of Austin.
• Belterra Sprint: June 30, 400MS/10MB/4MR (Austin, TX)
• Marble Falls Triathlon: July 22, 1KS/23MB/4.4MR (Marble Falls, TX) - this one is a bitch: hilly bike ride, summer in central Texas...true test of your fitness!
• Burnet Tri-hard Challenge: Sept 23, 800MS/18MB/5KR (Inks Lake State Park near Burnet, TX) - This is a great venue and nice little race, this would be my third time at the event.

Maybe there will be one other event in Denver on Sept 1???