Things are starting to get rolling again here so I figured it's time to start blogging again. Sorry for the lengthy hiatus.
It's pretty crazy to think that I have been back racing for a year now! Looking back at the last year I'm pretty happy the way my "Comeback" worked out. While the scene was quite different from my past experience I adapted pretty well and think I had a pretty successful season. With that being said the first thing I need to do is thank MY SPONSORS! Without their support I am sure the last 12 months would not have been as successful as they were. I also need to give a shout-out to Adventure World Magazine for picking up some of my blog entries later in the season. Check it out for some great adventure news and stories from around the globe.
So.....after the last few months of being fairly slack, moving (again!) and a week in the sun it's time to get back to the training grind. I've also had plenty of time to think about the last year of racing and what I want to do moving forward in 2010. I'd really like to get back to racing longer"ish" races. Racing those 5 hour sprint races just isn't my thing. They helped get me back into racing last year, but I think they've served their purpose and I've seen the last of them. I've been staring at race schedules for countless hours trying to decide on what to do and I think I've finally figured it out (Check the "Upcoming Races" on the right menu for details). I tracked down what seem to be some good longer races ranging from 12-24 hours so I'm pretty excited, I just hope my body is ready for them.
It also looks like I will be returning to team racing for the first time since my comeback. There is a new race in town, a real race, an old school race.... a REAL race!! No games, no O courses, no BS....just good old fashion AR. We have Bob Miller to thank for this, and I am sure he won't disappoint. Bob was the course designer of last years Frontier Fall Classic and the organizer of Logs Rocks and Steel, and has just about as much AR experience as anyone in the country. I'll have more on this as it develops, in the meantime click below for some basic info.
On the solo front I've tracked down some longer races, mostly in the US. These will be 12 and 24 hour events, but pretty much the opposite kind of race from what I have described above. From what I heard these are excellent races, but have a more orienteering flavor to them (booooo!). This typically means less wilderness and true navigation....beggars can't be choosers I guess. If I have to choose between short races or long races with orienteering, I'll take long every time.
My First race will the season will likely be the Infiterra Spring Fury Elite 12hr race May 22 in Michigan. This race, and a few of the others I think I will be racing, are part of the new Checkpoint Tracker adventure racing series that concludes with a National Championship in Colorado later this fall. While solo races can qualify for the champs, it's the teams that get all the love. Unfortunately, I don't think a trip to CO is in my racing budget anymore either. The series looks great though and nice to see the AR community coming together again.
So I've go some time to start to crank up the training again before it starts to get real in April and May. It's crazy to think that at this point last year I hadn't run 5km in I don't know how long (..Many many years). It will be nice to have a bit more of a base now and be able to crank up the training this year. Last year I logged over 320 hours of training and 3340km of cycling, running and paddling. I don't think it should be too tough to come close to doubling that this year, and I'll need to with the longer races on my schedule. To help I've just added a great new piece of furniture to our spare room.
I picked up a decent used spin bike so I can get off my ass and training again. I'm not a big fan of freezing while running and riding outside in sub-zero temperatures. So this will help me get some serious time in the saddle this winter and I'll will worry about getting on my feet once it warms up a bit. Until then a treadmill session or two a week will have to do the trick.
That's about it for now, but I promise I won't be neglecting m blogging anymore. I've got some great post ideas to help get me though the winter so tune in, it will be interesting.
So.....after the last few months of being fairly slack, moving (again!) and a week in the sun it's time to get back to the training grind. I've also had plenty of time to think about the last year of racing and what I want to do moving forward in 2010. I'd really like to get back to racing longer"ish" races. Racing those 5 hour sprint races just isn't my thing. They helped get me back into racing last year, but I think they've served their purpose and I've seen the last of them. I've been staring at race schedules for countless hours trying to decide on what to do and I think I've finally figured it out (Check the "Upcoming Races" on the right menu for details). I tracked down what seem to be some good longer races ranging from 12-24 hours so I'm pretty excited, I just hope my body is ready for them.
It also looks like I will be returning to team racing for the first time since my comeback. There is a new race in town, a real race, an old school race.... a REAL race!! No games, no O courses, no BS....just good old fashion AR. We have Bob Miller to thank for this, and I am sure he won't disappoint. Bob was the course designer of last years Frontier Fall Classic and the organizer of Logs Rocks and Steel, and has just about as much AR experience as anyone in the country. I'll have more on this as it develops, in the meantime click below for some basic info.
On the solo front I've tracked down some longer races, mostly in the US. These will be 12 and 24 hour events, but pretty much the opposite kind of race from what I have described above. From what I heard these are excellent races, but have a more orienteering flavor to them (booooo!). This typically means less wilderness and true navigation....beggars can't be choosers I guess. If I have to choose between short races or long races with orienteering, I'll take long every time.
My First race will the season will likely be the Infiterra Spring Fury Elite 12hr race May 22 in Michigan. This race, and a few of the others I think I will be racing, are part of the new Checkpoint Tracker adventure racing series that concludes with a National Championship in Colorado later this fall. While solo races can qualify for the champs, it's the teams that get all the love. Unfortunately, I don't think a trip to CO is in my racing budget anymore either. The series looks great though and nice to see the AR community coming together again.
So I've go some time to start to crank up the training again before it starts to get real in April and May. It's crazy to think that at this point last year I hadn't run 5km in I don't know how long (..Many many years). It will be nice to have a bit more of a base now and be able to crank up the training this year. Last year I logged over 320 hours of training and 3340km of cycling, running and paddling. I don't think it should be too tough to come close to doubling that this year, and I'll need to with the longer races on my schedule. To help I've just added a great new piece of furniture to our spare room.
I picked up a decent used spin bike so I can get off my ass and training again. I'm not a big fan of freezing while running and riding outside in sub-zero temperatures. So this will help me get some serious time in the saddle this winter and I'll will worry about getting on my feet once it warms up a bit. Until then a treadmill session or two a week will have to do the trick.
That's about it for now, but I promise I won't be neglecting m blogging anymore. I've got some great post ideas to help get me though the winter so tune in, it will be interesting.
1 comments:
Nice to see your back at it. Good luck with the training
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