Stick a fork in me

I raced for 1-1/2-hours last weekend before my mechanical breakdown. Considering my goal was 10:45, the silver lining to my day was that almost no recovery would be required. I could still race this year before shutting it down. I batted around a few ideas... A late season HIM (there's one in NJ this AM) or, possibly, a run at a BQ at the Harrisburg Marathon. Even with a lack of focus at open marathon racing, my Daniels VDot numbers (48) say I could qualify (sub 3:20).

As the week wore on my body & mind were obviously begging me to shut it down for the year. When my heart was giving me problems during the winter I made an oath to always listen to the signals my body was sending. So I'm doing that. I've officially entered my off season.

So 2008 will go down as the season that I didn't finish a single race. Ironically it was also a breakthrough year in my training. As you might imagine, I have mixed feelings about the way it ended. The word that best describes my thoughts about Chesapeakeman is "disgust." But beyond that sense of unfulfilled potential, there is a huge sense of satisfaction with the season. I am sitting on a new plateau. My fitness gains are still outpacing the effects of aging. IOW - I'm faster than I've ever been (excluding, of course, my ability to run short distances really fast 20+ years ago).

I set a pre-season goal of reaching 4.0 watts per kg on the bike. I didn't quite make it (263 watts over 69.1 kg = 3.81), but I worked awfully hard to get there. Last year I peaked at 3.65 w/kg. 4.0 will now be my goal for '09. I had intended on getting there by working on the numerator AND denominator of that equation. My preseason goal was to show up on race day at 65.9 kg. That would have resulted in a 3.99 at 263 watts. It's become apparent to me that dipping below 69 kg is an uncomfortable place. I'm better off focusing on boosting watts and allowing my weight to fluctuate naturally. I don't struggle with body comp, so I should just let it go.

When I cognitively review my season I'm left with a smile on my face. Focusing on that will help me overcome the race day disappointment in short order. I'm very, very thankful that my atrial fibrillation went into hibernation as the spring of '08 arrived. The one change I'll make in my next training cycle is pre-planning my recovery cycles. I reached a new level of accumulated fatigue in August and September. I think that could have been avoided.

Moving forward I've decided to take a year off of Iron distance training. I signed up for Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island in July 2009. That will be my "A" race. Then, perhaps, a competitive run at IM Lake Placid in 2010. I'm hoping Joe Ruiz will let me tag along on some of his Ironman training rides next spring.

Enough blogging for today. Life is good.