Thanksgiving and 2009 Thoughts

Thanksgiving was awesome this year! I woke up and headed to the start line of the annual Drumstick Dash. It is literally 400 meters from my house. It sure doesn't get any easier than that! I was hoping to break 7:00's for the 4.5 mile race and had a plan. Did I stick the plan? Nope, I went out way to hard like I always do. I clocked in at a 6:20 for mile 1. Oops! Mile 2, I was at 13:15, getting warmer. Mile 3 was at a 20:30, uh oh, slowing down. Mile 4 I was maintaining and I ended up with a 6:55 pace. I can deal with that, but I wanted to go a little faster. I really wanted to be around 6:45, because I know that I should be able to hold that. I really think I just need to work on my pacing and it will all come together.
After the race, I cooled down with my friends and then I headed to Bloomington for dinner with the family. We ate at 3:30 and I was on my bike at 3:50! Jason and I met up and rode for a little over an hour. It felt so good to be on my bike and I love the Bloomington terrain. It is ideal for cycling and I get in so much hill work.
I spent the night at mom's and woke up and got in a great long swim today. I actually had no time constraints, so I swam the entire workout, warm up to cool down, with no modifications. It felt so good and I had lots of motivation which is always a plus when in the pool. I have set some specific swim goals for myself this winter and I think that I should be able to achieve them if I am consistent enough with my swimming. That basically means I need to get in the pool more than 2 times a week.
This brings me to the 2009 race season. I am still waiting for the Xterra schedule to come out so I can start shaping my race schedule. I am going to try and get in enough xterras to qualify for the USA national championships and I am going to try to get qualified for the 70.3 World Championships. I will still go for that Kona slot in Louisville, but I am not going to stress over it. It comes to you when it is ready for you and all I can do is work hard and be patient. A girl could lose her hair stressing out about that freak'n slot.
I have lots of mountain bike/trail races on the schedule for spring and early summer. I am sure we will be doing a lot of adventure races throughout the year as well. I strongly feel that the off road challenges that I do, are the secret to my personal emotional happiness and balance. I love the feeling of the trails and the smell of the woods. There is no place I'd rather be.
So, hopefully I'll have a race schedule to post soon, but until then...I can look forward to the 2008 Tecumseh Trail Marathon. It will be extremely hilly (southern Indiana), but it will be a great off season challenge to keep the spirit alive.
My work schedule will be picking up next week and I sure hope I am prepared for it. I start a new part time job very soon (at the Runners Forum) and my new power tap classes start on Monday. If you are interested in doing them, they are open to nonmembers and it is a 12 week session with 2 classes a week. Happy training!