Setting My 2013 Race Calendar

I've been thinking a lot since my last post, where I pondered what athletic endeavors I would do in 2013.  Although I still have not made my final decisions, I have gained more and more clarity as to what I want to do.  I think the answers lie in my goals, which are to push myself , do new things, stay fit and have fun.

I am still planning on the 6 half marathons I discussed in my last post. I love half marathons, and may even add a 7th if I can find one next fall that doesn't entail travel expense.  But I was still unsure about my triathlon plans. That decision I have made for sure: I will NOT be doing another half-Ironman (70.3 miles) in 2013. However, I loved the training I did for SuperFrog, and was so proud of myself when I finished, so there will most likely be another one in my future. As I wrote before, there are only two 70.3 races in San Diego: SuperFrog and the Ironman-branded Ironman California, which is in Oceanside. Given that I want to do new things, I think I want to skip SuperFrog next year, and sign up for Oceanside 70.3 in 2014 (it's already sold out for 2013).  So that big decision is out of the way. I am nervous about it, especially the hilly bike ride and the hard 8-hour cutoff that Ironman mandates, but I think I can do it.  I know I'll try my best, regardless.

So, what else will I be doing in 2013? Well, I decided that this year I want to do something in each sport that scares me.  I loved conquering my fear of doing a 70.3 this past year, and want to smash through other fears. These are my proposed plans:

SWIM:

I am 99% sure that I will be signing up for the Tiki Swim, which is in September.  This is a 2.4 mile point-to-point swim (full Ironman distance) in Oceanside.  Yes, there is a 1.2 mile option, but I've done that---my half-Ironman was 1.2 miles. I know I can easily swim 1.2 miles, and building up to roughly 4200 yards shouldn't be that much more of a stretch (I've done 3000 yards without too much difficulty) yet still a challenge for me.  I think the biggest challenge will be fighting boredom---after 2500 or 3000 yards swimming in the pool my mind goes numb with staring at the black line.  But I'm excited about the race.  There is a 2 hour, 20 minute cutoff, which I should be able to do (I did the 1.2 mile swim at SuperFrog in less than an hour, and that included fighting those huge 6-foot waves twice in the double-looped swim).  I also hear there is an aid station on a kayak about halfway through, which should be interesting.  So while the Tiki Swim scares me, I'm also excited about it.

RUN:

I am also 99% sure that I will be signing up for the Xterra Mission Gorge Tail Run in February. While the distance doesn't scare me (it's 15k, or 9.3 mile) the terrain terrifies me.  I don't run on trails. I am pretty clumsy and am sure I'm going to hurt myself. In fact, years ago, back in 2003 I did a 4 mile trail race (this was while I was in the middle of training for the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon) and I twisted my ankle on some rocks.  However, a friend of mine has been pressuring me to run this with him, and I finally relented.  He promised me he would help me up and down the hills. So, in the name of doing something that scares me, this trail run is it. I guess I need to start training on some trails over the next few months. I have been running a bit on some horse trails lately, but I need to really get out to the real hill trails to train.

BIKE:

This is where things get fuzzy for me. Most things involving the bike scare me. It's no secret the bike has always been my weakest leg in triathlon.  When I was training for SuperFrog, my longest training ride was 60 miles and I promised myself that I wouldn't ever have to bike one mile further. Well, now I'm reconsidering.  I'm thinking about doing a century (100 mile ride).  The San Diego Century is in June, and while it offers shorter distances (33 and 67 miles) I would do the full, which is actually 103 miles.  The distance itself isn't the scariest part---it's the hills.  This ride goes over hills so steep (for me) and so long that I'm truthfully not sure I can do. If I sign up, I need to commit to major hill training over the next 6 months.  Ideally I would have a better bike; that's not in our budget right now but I think I can do the ride on my current bike. I'm about 50/50 right now on signing up for this.  The idea alone frightens me.

TRIATHLON:

So, if I'm not doing a 70.3 this year, will I do any triathlons at all?  I want to do at least one.  There are many in San Diego that I haven't done, but will probably only do one in the interest of my race budget. I'm eying the Chula Vista Challenge, an Olympic-distance triathlon in August.  I can't see spending the money for a sprint this year, especially since I'm training for much longer distances with my runs, bikes and swims. 

So, that's my proposed race schedule for 2013.  I will most likely throw in a few more 5ks to do with my son, since he likes to do them, and if the Awesome 80's Run comes to San Diego again I would once again do the 10k since I loved the medal (and the new-to-me distance).  The thing about San Diego is that there are no shortage of races to do---whether running or triathlon, and any distance (except for full-Ironman distance) but I can't do them all.  Seeing what my goals were--especially the "try new things that scare me" part--is helping to whittle down the list.