It’s late Monday night and instead of writing about a slow but successful return to training, my mind can’t stop thinking about next year’s race schedule. Just today, registration opened up for Ironman Lake Placid, and while I forced myself not to sign up, it couldn’t prevent me from thinking about and setting some tentative plans for next summer’s racing.
Depending on how you look at it, this season could be seen as my first or second season racing triathlons. The way I see it is – last season was my introduction and time to make all the mistakes imaginable and this season wasn’t so much a season as it was a build up to one day, one race. So that brings me to next year.
After successfully fighting the urge to break my tentative 2011 plans and sign up for Ironman Lake Placid, I took some time to sit down and plan out which races I want as my “A” races for next year. There’s no doubt that I’ll be throwing down at one, if not two, Ironman events but the big question is which ones. And if everything goes well at the Marine Corp Marathon (reach my goal of qualifying for Boston in 2010), then I’ll have plenty of freedom to race a complete schedule and train with the purpose of standing on one or two podiums.
Here are the possible options for “A” races next year. The two important things I’m looking for are difficult bike courses (to play on my strengths) and a good location. Disclaimer: this could change at any moment.
Ironman Louisville, August 2011 – Pros: driving distance, easy to sign up for online; Cons: not a scenic course, no tough climbs on bike
Ironman Canada, August 2011 – Pros: amazing location, perfectly tough hills/climbing on bike course; Cons: far far away, early in season, hard to sign up for online
Ironman Wisconsin, September 2011 – Pros: driving distance, close to family in Minnesota, time of year; Cons: no tough climbs on bike, potentially hard to sign up for online
ChesapeakMan (Cambridge, MD), September 2011 – Pros: driving distance, very close to DC, easy to sign up online and late in 2011; Cons: not IM branded, small event
Beach 2 Battleship (Wilmington, NC), November 2011 – Pros: driving distance, close to home in Greensboro, great race to break my PR, perfect time of year; Cons: not IM branded
Thanks for the update ... now we know what to possibly plan for. Another date to keep open is October 8, 2011 ... Jordan and BC RVTown at Notre Dame his senior year ... gotta be there. Hope your knee gets fully healed soon, as well as your foot. Stay on the recovery plan and don't push the knee. Long road ahead (pun is intended). One last comment: No Ironman CDA pix on slideshow? Weak.
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