Here We Go Again

It's been a wonderful off season.  I've been in the pool once since August.  I've been on my bike a handful of times - including a really fun 20 miler on the backroads of farm country with Mr. R&R and YadaYada.  Yes, YadaYada still knows all the best cow shit covered routes and I only half died trying to chase the boys.


Mr. R&R and I spent the week of Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains hiking, reading, and just generally unwinding from a very busy year.

On Thanksgiving Day we hiked to Charlie's Bunion via the Appalachian Trail.  I can't wait to do it again!

 And of course, I've spent load of time with my boys.

But the off season is over. It's time to train again.  I've got my eye on two 70.3 races in 2018: Ironman 70.3 Wisconsin in June and Ironman 70.3 Muncie in July.  Each of these courses presents a unique challenge.  Wisconsin is very early in the season (June 10th), so the water is likely to be quite cold and I'll have very few chances to get used to open water swimming.  Also, the bike course shares part of the Ironman Wisconsin bike course - which is notoriously hilly.

Muncie will be challenging because it's a reservoir swim - and that reservoir often gets too warm to be wetsuit legal.  I guess I'd better figure out how to skin swim a mile in open water by mid-July.  The bike and the run courses look quite appealing.

As of right now, I think Wisconsin will be my B race and Muncie will be my A race, but that could change as time goes on.

I'm experimenting with a slightly different schedule for the first few weeks of training this time.  I'll be doing an extra double day each week, but I'll also get a second rest day each week.  I think this might be a good fit because although I love how I feel when I'm training, it's exhausting!

So here we go...time to chase the finish line high!