Debating the 2017 Season

For the first time in a long time, I’ve hit November and don’t have a big race planned.  Don’t get me wrong, I have a few races already scheduled (Donna, Rev 3 Williamsburg Oly) and a few more that I’m hoping to get into (Cherry Blossom, Army Ten Miler), but I don’t have a goal race yet.

I’m up in the air about doing a 70.3 this year, and a big part of that is scheduling.  I want to pick a good race, but I also want to make sure that it fits in with the other things I already have scheduled (family trip, and a friend’s wedding, date TBD).  I can race anytime, but big events and trips definitely come first.

I really enjoyed the training this year.  It was hard, but I liked it.  It wasn’t like marathon training where I just felt like I was running all. the. time.  It did take up a lot of time, but it wasn’t time I dreaded.  I just wished I had more time for the other things I wanted to do.

Now that I know what I’m doing with a 70.3 and how my body will react, I can really set goals.  I can really work on improvement.  Before this year, I think my longest bike ride was about 50 miles, and it was a day long adventure with a lot of breaks.  This year, I topped that many, many times.  Suddenly, a 40 mile ride was a stepback week.  So mentally, I think the next season will be easier.

But having a rebuilding year wouldn’t be so bad either.  Step back, really work on short distances, focus on dropping some weight and improving my speed.

So it’s something I’ll have to debate over the next few months.  A big part of it is just going to be scheduling.  I’m not just going to do any race – I want it to be the right race with the right timing.  I have some ideas.  We’ll just see where I land.