Going “All In”

At some point, there comes a moment when what you originally decided was acceptable is, well, no longer acceptable. When I signed up for IMLP my first thought was, “I’m going to complete an Ironman.” That quickly didn’t seem like enough so I through out a number that seemed like a stretch, 12 hours. I was happy with this because my fastest 70.3 to date is 6:16:00 so in order to hit 12 hours I’d have to improve enough to not only be faster than that my current best HIM time, but do it for twice as long. I was ok with this. Anyone who finishes an IM period, much less in 12 hours, has every reason to be ecstatic about what they just accomplished.

And then it happened ...

One night I’m having a few beers and catching up with a dear friend who I hadn’t seen in a long time. We are catching up on all kinds of stuff, her racing, my racing, life in general, and a lot of laughing and poking fun at each other for the routes we had chosen the last few years. So we get on the topic of me doing IMLP and she looks at me and asks what my goal time is. I say 12 hours and without missing a beat she says, “ok, now what do you really want to finish in?” I was confused so she clarified. “Twelve hours is what you tell people, but deep down what do you secretly want to hit?” Until this moment I’d never really thought about it. But the wheels started to turn and all of a sudden 12 hours was no longer acceptable. If I’m going to do this, I’m going all in. I’m going to do everything in my power to put myself in the best position to be as fast as I can.

Enter Team FeXY. I had seen the name at races but never really thought much of it. This team was also brought up during the aforementioned dinner as well as the thought that it would be a good fit for me. So I call up a fraternity brother who races for them and get to talking. They have a good group of racers who focus on IM and a group of really great coaches. So a phone call led to an email which led to a happy hour with my soon to be coach which led to a team happy hour and me getting the thumbs up to join the team.

This all came together so fast and just how I think everything should be, EASY. I couldn’t be happier with the decision and I’m excited for the race season and to race for Team FeXY. The best part is the team has 20 other members competing in Lake Placid. I won't be going at this alone. Weekly trainer sessions and track workouts will all be other teammates working towards the same goal.

So after a relatively short off season (November and December), some baseline fitness testing, and some goal setting (full set of goals to be revealed after the season) it is now time to get to work. Weekly training schedules are already being provided and the race schedule is set.

Jan 6 – Feb 3: FeXY Coaching Swim Clinic
Mar 6: B&A Trail Marathon
Mar 17: Rock and Roll Marathon DC
Apr 14/15: Rumpuss Double
May 10: White Lake 70.3
May 18-20: American Triple T (Ohio)
Jun ~14-~17: Lake Placid Training Camp
Jul 7: General Smallwood Olympic
July 22: IMLP

So there it is, my next 7 months.

"I never said it was going to be easy, I said it was going to be worth it."