Rock the W

Wow, what a great start to my third season as a 'triathlete.'  I recently found out that I was selected to be part of the Wattie Ink Elite Triathlete Team.  I am one of 50 great team members, spread out across the US. It has only been a week since the team announcement and I can already tell this is going to be a great year.  Expect a lot of new PRs from me this season, as my motivation to do well just got cranked up to 11.

Wattie and HJ at OC Tri Club

I am looking forward to wearing the team kit for that first race.  My first race will likely be the Desert Triathlon in March.  Based on timing, it'll be a close call as to whether the gear will be ready by then.  Aside from a couple other teammates racing that weekend, I look forward to also seeing Team Wattie Ink founder, Sean Watkins and top female pro, Heather Jackson, there too.

There are a couple ways to keep up with the Team this year, including it's new rivalry with Team Rev3/Trakkers:
Wattie Ink Elite Team on Facebook
Wattie Ink Elite Team members on Twitter or use #rocktheW

Maybe by the end of the year, I won't feel strange calling myself a triathlete.

2012 Race Plan

This may change as the year progresses, but here's my A, B and C list races for 2012:

A List:
Wildflower Long Course (5/5/12), Goal time: 5:30
I really enjoyed this race in 2011, and my goal is to improve by 30 minutes.  I know I can do better than 5:45, so I want to start with a solid goal.  As my training gets underway, I'll revisit this.

Ironman Arizona (11/18/12), Goal time: 10:59:59
This is going to be my first Ironman distance race.  After Wildflower, I plan to take a short break and then focus on training for Arizona. I think it would be great to break 11 hours, but that may be tough for my first experience at this distance.

B List:
Desert Triathlon (3/3/12)
I've never done this race, but I'd like to check it out this year.
Big Rock Triathlon (4/12/12), Goal 2:30
I've done this race a few times. This will be a good race to help prepare for Wildflower.
Firecracker 5k/10k (7/4/12) I did the 5k in 2011 (2nd in my AG).  Maybe the 10k?
Orangeman (8/19/12) I missed this race in 2011.  It's hard to pass up a chance to do a 70.3 race in Orange County, plus, the bike course is on Ortega Highway.
Pacific Coast Triathlon (9/9/12) Scenic race along the coast.
Big Rock Triathlon (10/13/12) This will be a good chance to break up the Ironman training.

C List:
Redlands Cycle Classic (3/25/12)
I've never done a road bike race, but I'd like to try this one.
Over the Hump Mountain Bike Series (May through August)
Weekly mountain bike races
Camp Pendleton Sprint (8/4/12)

Any other suggestions?

I'll probably come back and add or remove races as the year progresses, but this should be a great plan for 2012.

December Training Wrap-Up

December was a light training month.  When I'm consistent with tracking my training, I use ActiveTrainer.com.  It's free service and it is relatively basic, but I use it just to keep a record of my training and I like the month view.  The volume is pretty low, and likely what I'll do in a week during my peak Ironman training this year. So, here's the final tally:

Swimming: 8.78 miles
I was pretty consistent with 3 days/week of swimming.  I started the month with a mile time trail, which was 32:27.  My swim time has been split about 50/50 between drills and laps (endurance and intervals).  I start most of my swims with a 200yd warm-up, which has been 3:25 to 3:35 on average.  On 12/30, I swam a 3:16 200yd warm-up to start and felt good.  It seems like my pace is slowly improving.


Cycling: 122.5 miles
I've been mixing my bike time between road and mounting bike, so the mileage is a little low.  Plus, I have intentionally been giving extra time to give my left knee to recover.  In December, I discovered Strava.com.  I eventually figured out how to load all of my Garmin data from 2011.  Strava is great for tracking your rides and runs and comparing your times to other people and your past rides.

Running: 17.75 miles
My miles have been cut way back.  I don't want to go into 2012 with knee issues, so I'm taking some time off from running.  I'm trying to keep the fitness up with other options, like the elliptical. 

Cross-Training: 3:00
Mostly time spent on the elliptical, but also some time with the rowing machine and a little bit on the Versa Climber.

Weight Training: 2:40
This time is split 50/50 between legs and everything else.

Weight: 163
I'm 10 lbs over my Wildflower weight from 4/30/11, but I'm still 27 lbs off my all-time high of 190.  It's time to get the diet back in order...