12 Months of Racing

Time to Re-Define What's Possible....

After my recent triathlon I was completely inspired to get back into triathlons and actually train for them in the future.   I surprised myself on how well I did, maybe my age group wasn't as competitive as before, maybe I was fast, maybe it was a combination - either way I was stoked with a 5th place finish in a field of close to 150.  It led me to think that I could really compete at triathlons, even if just for fun - it fueled me so much that I decided I want to do an Ironman - why the heck not?  It's official, last week I registered for Ironman St. George in Utah on May 7th - super excited about it.  An Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run - a full marathon at the end - saving the best for last.  why the heck not - i've heard its beautiful in Utah and this is one of the toughest IM events - BRING IT!

For the next couple of months I will continue to crossfit 4-6 x week, and 1 CFE run workout, 1 CFE Bike workout and 1 CFE swim per week.  I'll bump it up to 2 per sport per week when the new year rolls around.  I am also in the process of purchasing a tri bike - it's one of the things that was on my 100 things I want to do before passing on, so I figured this would be perfect timing.

In the course of all this madness I decided to put together a full 12 month race schedule - here's what it looks like:
November - Turkey Trot 5k
December - last year I did Bumble Bee 5k on the 30th and love the race course although I am considering going up to SF for new years, so this is undecided for now
January - nothing planned yet :)
February 13th - San Dieguito 1/2 Marathon
March 6th - Palm Springs Triathlon (International Distance)
April 3rd - Carlsbad 5000 - one of my favorite races, home course :)
May 7th - Ironman St. George, Utah
May 28th - Tough Mudder - http://toughmudder.com/events
June 5th -11th - AIDS LifeCycle - 545 miles - 7 days from SF to LA
July - Crossfit Games?
possibly will do Solana Beach Tri - i've done it in the past and its super fun, although I am not super motivated and dying to do it...
October - Los Angeles Triathlon (Olympic distance)
November - NY Marathon - because it sounds awesome!!!!!

Its a pretty jam packed year up ahead - I picked races that were going to be fun and were going to be challenging - let's make 2011 even more unbelievable than 2010!

Goals for this week

I love to travel, whether its for work or for fun because it typically gives me a time to reflect about what's going on in my life, read lots, and write out some goals.  Here's what I came up with from this weekends trip to Florida.

Personal Goals -

• Read a book in the next week: form a book club....I already have a few people in mind that I am going to email this week, but if you are interested please let me know.  
• Costco shopping trip?

Career Goals - Empower, Encourage, Elevate

1. Close out business account - done tuesday :)
2. Email Eli about CFE - done tuesday :)
3. Program clients training for the week - done monday night :)
4. Ask about investing - in the process of gathering information about this, asked my bank about opening a brokerage account - any suggestions?  Etrade?  Scottrade?

Heal Goals -

• Medidate for 10 minutes every morning - missed tuesday, got it done today :)
• 4 Crossfit workouts + 1 Bike, 1 Run and 1 Swim
• Share my goals on my blog :)

I am seriously considering doing Ironman St. George - I will most likely sign up for it before the end of this month.  I'm excited about the challenge, doing something new and completely different.  I know this will test me beyond anything that I have done before and just waiting for a few things to fall in place before committing.

Reducing carbon footprint

It wasn't long ago that I was driving around town in my Toyota Yaris - i do miss it at times, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be.  I had it for a little over a year and then someone decided to run a stop sign without looking to the right and this was the result.

Luckily I wasn't seriously hurt - I did get some whiplash, but fortunately that went away pretty quickly.  The first few days I wanted nothing to do with cars, and saw it as an opportunity to get my bike out of the closet.  I ended up getting a rental for a few weeks, while the insurance settlement was taking place and before the end of the June I found myself without a car. 

I decided not to get a car before i left on my trip to Europe - it made no sense, i was going to be gone for 6 weeks.   Once I got back from my trip, I decided I could live without a car for awhile - so nowadays you will catch me riding my bike around town mostly, walking from time to time, and you may even see me running as well.

San Diego is not an ideal city to not have a car, but its totally doable!  The only minor challenge is getting groceries - i don't live close enough to be able to talk, but luckily I know enough people that it has been pretty easy to ask someone for help going to the store or picking up a few items for me.

The winter will be interesting without a car - i think I can do it, my goal is to go a full year without one, which means till next summer.  The accident happened right after I began my 101 things I wanted to do before i move on....little did I know I'd have an opportunity to scratch this off the list right away.

I really enjoy not having a car payment, insurance, having to pay for gas, etc...In that regard I am totally stoked to be able to allocated my money in different directions for this next year.  I am super lucky to be able to ride my bike to Crossfit Invictus which is where I coach.  Aside from that I travel quite a bit for Crossfit Endurance, so I can really justify not having a car.  It would make things easier from time to time, but this sacrifice I think is worth making and I am confident I will truly reap from the benefits of not having a car for a year - not only that but I am also reducing the carbon footprint on this wonderful universe  of ours :)

What are you doing nowadays to reduce the carbon footprint - you sharing rides to work?  Riding your bike one day a week?  I want to know how you are making a difference in creating a healthy environment for all :)

101 Things to do before i move on...

In no particular order of priority....

1. Live in Miami
2. Live in Portugal
3. Be completely debt free
4. Have kids - i am thinking 3 at least :)
5. Teach PE
6. Write a book
7. Go to Italy & Greece - this will most likely happen next year!
8. Fall in love again
9. Speak to my family on the phone every week
10. Live for a year without a car (currently doing so - see if i can hold out till June next year)
11. Brazil - need i say more here?
12. Take care of my brother
13. Own a temperpeudic bed
14. Tri Bike
15. Read 1,000 books

That's as far as I've gotten - I had this list in a past journal and thought I would put it out there into the universe