Okay, clearly there's over four months left in 2006, but my racing season is over. I might do a night-or-two at Seward but that's not a big deal, it'll just be for fun. I've been hard at it since November and it's truely time for a break.
This morning was the Beaver Lake Triathlon, which is always a lot of fun, and probably my favorite of the sprints. This was my third time. It was an OK race for me. My swim continues to improve, bit by bit, took a minute off my bike time from last year, and slowed up on the run quite a bit when my knee started bothering me. Better to coast it in than to push it and cause real problems, it's just not worth it.
It's been a heck of a year, with some trials and tribulations:
February:
* Trubulation: Got sick with a fever for almost a week. I haven't had a fever in years. Not good for training.
* Racing: Jack Frost TT
March:
* Tribulation: Got sick again, not quite so bad this time
* Racing: Icebreaker TT, Mason Lake #3 Road Race, Market Street Road Race
April:
* Tribulation: Two days after a 6-mile run, my right Achilles tendon flared up badly with tendonitis where it attaches on the outside of the heel. No running for about 6 weeks, walking was bad for about two weeks, but fortunately it didn't affect me on the bike much. That would have truely sucked.
* Racing: Tahyua-Seabeck-Tahya (TST) which was the single more miserable experience I've ever had in my life (it was below 40 and pouring rain/snow the whole time, what were we thinking?). No one had fun that day, in fact half the bike racers around here have PTSD from it. Methow Valley Stage Race in Winthrop, WA. Good times.
May:
* Tribulations: At Enumclaw, I had my semi-annual lower back meltdown, but finished the race. Only lasted about a week and wasn't nearly as bad as the one in November (see, 6-months, I told you), and I think I was back on the bike pretty quickly. The half-full on this one is that it really helped me gain a better understanding about what my back issue is. My chiropractor was running out things to do with me and suggested a 10-week Rolfing (deep tissue torture massage) program to try to reboot my Psoas, which is the major culprit. Oh, that's 10 weeks with no training. Obviously that's a big bet, so I kind of went back to basics. Since that day I have spent about 10 minutes every day agressively stretching my hamstrings, hips, and lower back. Result: massive, massive improvement, inch by inch over the next 2 months. I can now do things (pain free) I haven't been able to do for 10 years, like stand up straight and raise my right leg to a 90 degree angle. Super-bonus result: I've lowered the bars on my TT bike about an inch and raised the saddle about half an inch, which much improved my aero position. That's good, hopefully it keeps up (commiting it to my blog won't help).
* Racing: State Championship RR, Mutual of Enumclaw State Race.
* At the end of May I was able to start running again, which was good because that's when my focus "officially" shifted from bike racing to tri's, mainly the Lake Stevens 1/2 Ironman.
June:
* Tribulations: None
* Racing: None
* Conicedence: Yes
July:
* Tribulations: None
* Racing: Redmond Derby Days Criterium, Seafair Sprint Triathlon, Lake Stevens 1/2 Ironman, Silverdale Crit (rained, crashed, went to lunch instead).
August:
* Tribulations: Starting to have some right knee pain, involving medial hamstring tendons.
* Racing: State Team Time Trial, Beaver Lake Triathlon
So by my count that's 17 events, plus 'training races' like Seward and Pacific Raceways. That's a solid year, and I'm so ready for a break. Of course, I'm not right in the head, so a "break" means training only 5 or 6 hours a week. But it'll be different stuff. Very little running, weekend rides on the bike. Maybe some yoga, some swimming, some elliptical, and definitely some dietary indiscretions.
The clock is already ticking. Ironmand Arizona is 8 months away, which in Ironman training terms, isn't that far away (most people train 9-12 months for an IM event). So stopping now is good because it'll give me enough time to spin down and then start ramping back up again. Deb and I are going up to Penticton next weekend to watch some friends do Ironman Canada, so that should be some good inspiration.
Rock and roll.