shout it from the rooftops...

over the past few years, i have made it an absolute priority to do exactly what i said i was going to do.  it may sound very easy and basic, but it's not.  so many of us have such great goals and aspirations, and they begin to fall the wayside as life rolls on.  not me....

as i prepare to turn 30 this year, i am starting to make a 'to-do' list for the next decade.  (in a future post, i will share the entire '30 for 30') and one of the first things on my list is 'earn my entry into the world championships in kona, hawaii'.

when i first took up the sport of triathlon, i scoured the internet for as much information as possible.  but, most of the time, i sat, teary-eyed, watching youtube videos of the ironman race in kona.  i have thought about it every day since.  even now, when i need some inspiration, i watch the finishers cross that line in kona.  you should check it out, truly amazing.  therefore, as i enter my third year in the sport, my sole objective is to qualify for kona.  how the hell am i going to do this???

this year is shaping up to be extraordinary.  roselle and i are in the final planning stages of our wedding and i am considering a career move.  planning a wedding is, let's just say, interesting.  so we are having two weddings, yup, two.  the first one is a destination wedding in st. maarten, and the local celebration will follow a month later.  once we had the date set, i started my plan of attack for racing/qualifying for kona.  (and this is one of the many reasons why i knew this girl was the girl)  i propositioned this to roselle, 'a week after our destination nuptials, ironman 70.3 st. croix is only a 30 minute plane ride away and would serve a nice start to the honeymoon.'  and she bought it!!!  the race in st. croix is one the few half-ironman distances with qualifying spots for kona.  it is one of the oldest and toughest races on the 70.3 circuit.  check it!  still, the question arises, how the hell am i going to do this???

this is what planning a wedding looks like!

loterie farms nature reserve st. martin (french-side)

where i will have my last supper before the 'beast'

in 2013, i took an hour off my overall half-ironman distance time.  that is quite a bit, but let's face it, my first 70.3 in 2012 wasn't anything special.  but, in early 2013, i did my best to not miss an opportunity to improve.  i certainly made vast improvements, but in order to qualify for a race like kona, i needed to mentally and physically be at a world championship level.  therefore, in the fall of 2013, i enlisted the guidance of scott at go fast get fit, llc and established a route to kona.  honestly, i have never pushed myself harder than i do now.  this winter, i have built a fantastic base and we are now entering the build for st. croix.  it is super exciting and physically draining, and i love it.  so, in future entries i will lay out my race plan for st. croix, workouts and let you in on my mental and physical states.  the data may be boring, but the mental part might be exciting for any psychiatrists or therapists out there...

january totals

swim - 24.1 miles
bike - 425 miles
run - 93.3 miles
strength - 10.25 hours
mental state - pretty good, losing my patience with winter

stay tuned for further updates!