1.29.13 Track Run

We are supposed to have bad storms today and I wasn't sure when they were rolling in.  I woke up at 5am but thought I could rest another 30 minutes before I started to move.  Next thing I knew, it was 6:30.  I looked outside and it was overcast but dry.  I put on my running stuff and moved out.  I can't find my plan for this week from Jeff.  I don't know if I lost it or he forgot to send it.  I pulled my track workout from two weeks ago and decided to go with that.  Basically, run the 1.5 miles to the track and then run five 800s at 3:40-3:50.  I hit the targets and the last 800 was at 3:31.  Since I was late getting started the track team at the middle school showed up at the very end.  The coach was nice enough to let me stay and get my last 800 in.  My injury is getting better.  I was able to bend over and stretch a little today.  I need to get in touch with Jeff today for my workouts this week.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/267361414

1.28.13 Back in the Water

I wasn't up to boot camp today so I decided to resume my morning swimming routine at the CARC.  After riding the bike and trail running this weekend, I have declared myself fit for training again after last Monday's injury.  I don't feel great but you have to get going again at some point.  This was my first swim since the injury on 1/21.  I was surprised at how much core work there is in swimming.  You never really know how much you use a muscle group until you have to use it when your injured.  All of the core body rotation in the swim stroke was more difficult today than I had anticipated.  Running and riding the bike was not near as bad.  Not that this was bad, it was just more noticable.  I never felt like I needed to stop but my pace was somewhat restrained since I wasn't able to really pull through the entire stroke on my left side.  Another problem was my right side was 100% so there was some drifting issues to the right.  I do feel improved from last week but I am definitely not fully recovered.  I told Jeff to work up a normal plan for me this week and I would make it work.  I was supposed to get a recovery week plan last week so hopefully I didn't lose too much for the 4 days off.

1.27.13 Northshore Trail Run

We had a big crew to start the day.  Matrix, Joe, Hammer, Joe's neighbor Fred, and me.  Fun to run with a bigger group, the time passes fast.  Hammer tripped on a rock in a nasty section of the trail and had to turn back a couple mile in so we were one down.  About 40 minutes in, Joe and Fred turned back.  I needed at least 1.5 hours so Rich went with me to the chair and then we turned back.  I ended up covering 8.2 miles in right at 90 minutes.  At about a half mile to go, I clipped a rock with my dreaded right toe.  Always the right toe and went down.  Man, I was pissed.  Matrix dug up the rock and threw it in the woods for me.  After I was able to walk off the pain, we hammered it pretty good on the way in.  Once we hit the trail head and got on concrete again, we were right at 8 minute pace or less the rest of the way in.  I wanted off that foot.  I can't seem to get a break lately.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/266570346

1.26.13 Back at It

Last night I decided to go for a short run.  I went for 3.5 miles and didn't feel too bad.  My muscle strain mostly hurts now when bending at the waist.  My speed was good after three days off.  I covered the first 5k in about 26 minutes and it wasn't that difficult.  My pace was a little faster the rest of the way home.  I built speed as I went since I wasn't sure what to expect.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/265933071

Since that went well, I decided to get up this morning and ride.  Jeff was doing a running clinic at 11:30 so I wanted to get to that.  I left about 8:20 this morning.  It was a raw day.  Cold, overcast, a little wind from the NE accompanied by some Seattle like rain most of the morning.  Nothing heavy, but enough rain to make things uncomfortable.  Didn't really hurt too much on the ride and my speed was pretty good.  I rode with another guy for about 3-4 miles on Royal Lane.  Nice to have the company for a few miles.  I ended up covering 42 mile in a little over 2.5 hours.  I was supposed to go 3 hours today but I didn't want to push it too hard and have a problem.  When I got home, I was able to make it to the Middle School track in time for Jeff's running clinic.  We ran another couple miles up there.  I think I am ready for the trail run tomorrow with Joe and the Matrix.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/266214613

1.25.13 Still Injured

Very frustrating week.  Still not working out.  I haven't done anything since Monday morning.  Whatever this muscle is above my hip is a core muscle that affects anything I do.  Hurts to swim, hurts to bike, hurts to run.  I may try to get in a soft 3 miles tonight when I get home.  If I can't run, I'm going to have to walk.  I need to do something.  The down time is killing me.

1.23.13 Injured

On Monday morning I did something to myself at boot camp and am really hurting.  I pulled a muscle above my left hip.  It hurts like hell.  I finished boot camp on Monday with the exception of the stretching at the end.  I couldn't bend anymore.  It was a really tough day at work on Monday and I got almost no sleep on Monday night due to the pain.  Last night was a little better.  It is improving but I don't know how long it will take to get back to some semblence of normal.  I may try to swim tonight but I'm not going to push very hard.  I'm really bummed out about this but what can you do.  Stuff happens.

1.20.13 River Bottom Run

This morning the Matrix and I tried something a little different.  We ran the Trinity River bottoms today.  It's basically running the levee area of the Trinity River.  We started around Regal Row and I35 and started running towards downtown.  When we got about 45 minutes in, we turned around and came back.  The ground was pretty soft down the levee on the river side and the gravel jeep road was pretty smooth on top.  We saw one truck, someone contemplating the meaning of life on the side of the levee, and one other runner today.  Otherwise, it was me, Rich, and a bunch of birds.  We were surprised how clean the area was for being so close to downtown.  It didn't smell and we didn't see any dead bodies so I guess that was good.  Looked like there were a few good places for homeless hideouts under the bridges that cross over the river.  Overall, not bad, and you can run a long way down there.  Rich has another spot for next week on the south side of Lake Grapevine.  This variety thing is kind of cool and we're having fun with that.  We covered about 9.6 miles in 1.5 hours.  The river bottoms gives you alot of options.  You can do hills if you run the levee or you can do speed work on the flats.  Good area for running.  I think we'll be back.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/264177986

1.19.13 Bike

Looks like this is the first weekend in January with decent weather.  It was sunny and about 45 when I got up this morning.  The high today is supposed to be in the 60s.  The only bad thing about today was the wind.  It was blowing at least 15 from the S/SW.  When I took off today, I ran into Justin's friend Brandon who was meeting Joel.  These guys are pretty fast so I decided to ride with them today and see how long I could hang in there.  We rode to the Whitehouse and back.  I stayed pretty close to them on the way out.  When we turned to come home, the hills and wind made it more difficult to stay in contact.  I did ok until I missed a light they went through.  I was about to divert paths anyway.  I needed a little extra distance to make my target of 3 hours today.  I tacked on a detour through Murrell park at Lake Grapevine and that was almost perfect.  I covered 49.6 miles in 2 hours and 56 minutes.  Considering the very windy conditions, this was really fast for me.  It was good to ride with someone else today for awhile.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/263776044

1.17.13 Tempo Run

My plan called for a Tempo Run today.  I have to be at work early on Thursday so I ran when I got home today.  The weather was a lot warmer this evening.  It has been really cold for the last week and I was finally able to run in shorts today.  I was to run a warm up mile, a cool down mile and eight 2 minute efforts at 7:30 pace with 2 minute recovery jogs in between.  It was dark and kind of hard to see where I was going in the park.  There are not a lot of lights in the park so sometimes I was a little slow if I couldn't figure out what I was stepping on.  My fast two minute runs were at 7:52, 7:36, 7:25, 7:31, 7:37, 7:39, 7:36, and 7:18 pace.  Pretty close to right on.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/263216119

1.15.13 Thunder Snow

I woke up at about 5am this morning to the sound of thunder this morning.  I looked outside and it looked wet but it was hard to see in the dark.  Since the thunder was rattling around, I decided to get back in the bed.  I checked again about 6:30 and there was snow outside.  At this point, I turned on the TV and we were getting pretty good sleet and snow showers.  I'm not going to run when the temps are in the 20s and we are in the middle of a sleet/snow thunderstorm.  The snow and ice melted this afternoon and things were pretty dry when I got home from work, so I decided to change into my running clothes and knock out the track workout Jeff gave me.  Besides the usual warm up and cool down, my plan called for running five 800s between between 3:40-3:50.  This would equate to 7:20-7:40 paced miles.  My intervals were 3:51, 3:45, 3:41, 3:41, and 3:38.  It was really cold and dark at the track.  I was bundled up pretty good so it was an uneasy feeling running with extra layers of clothes.  It was pretty tough meeting the workout times today but I got the work in.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/262589957

1.14.13

Monday's are typically a slower rest day for me.  However, I'm still doing boot camp on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Today was pretty tough at boot camp.  We did alot of strength and cardio work in a station style format.  My arms and abs were burning pretty good. I didn't have time to swim in the morning so I had to do that tonight.  After an early morning and long day at work it is a little hard to get going out of the house for the swim workout.  Once I get there, it is business as usual.  The workout was 2400 yards today with quite a bit of kick board work tonight.  I felt a little sluggish but made it through fine.  I got this week's workouts from Jeff today but haven't had a chance to really review whats in store for me this week.

1.13.13 Cold Sunday Run

My plan called for 110 minute run today.  The trails were all too wet so I had to head out on the concrete today.  It was really cold this morning, in the 20s so I chose to sleep in a little and run later in the afternoon.  I started watching the Seahawks and Falcons and it looked like a blowout so I put my running gear on and the Seahawks started to come back.  I stayed at home until the end of the game and then took off.  It was still in the mid 30s and the wind was strong from the North.  I decided to run to Valley Ranch and take on the hills on the west side of MacArthur.  They are pretty tough and I thought the mileage might be a little short but it would be good work.  I saw a friend on the way to Valley Ranch, Crystal.  She was about two miles from finishing and I was only two miles in.  I didn't see many runners so it was nice to see a friendly face.  I had some sun on the way out and it was actually a little warm.  Once I made it through the hills to MacArthur, I decided to keep on going and word my way around the east side of Valley Ranch and then head home.  The sun was starting to go down and the wind was in my face the rest of the way.  My shirts were wet from sweating on the way out so it was really cold coming home.  I was very happy to make it back to the house.  I covered 12 miles in about one hour and 56 minutes.  I misjudged time and distance in Valley Ranch so I went a little long today.  I have officially had enough of winter and the cold weather.  I'm ready for some warmer temps.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/261866022

1.12.12 Rainy Bike Ride

My plan called for a 3.5 hour ride today.  I didn't check the weather last night so I anticipated going later in the morning when it would be warmer.  My wife woke me up at 8am and said I had better get with it.  It was supposed to start raining and getting colder throughout the day today.  Good thing she said something.  It was a little wet when I left the house at close to 9am and the wind wasn't really blowing too hard.  I took a rain jacket with me and stuffed it in the back of my jersey along with all of my nutrition.  I started to get a little warm over the first 10 miles or so.  It was in the low 60s but I dressed a little warm anticipating the cooler weather.  When I made it out to Lake Grapevine, it started to rain.  I stopped at Twin Coves park and put my rain jacket on.  The wind picked up to at least 15 mph out of the north.  Bummer, for the next hour and a half I would mostly head north and the rain would be stinging my face.  I considered turning around and going home but decided to stick with the program.  If it ever got too bad, I could call somebody to come get me.  The weather started to cool down by the moment as well.  I think the winds brought in the cold front.  It rained almost the entire way to Argyle.  Sucked big time.  When I got out to 377 the rain stopped but the wind was pretty fierce.  Once I got the Argyle police station, I turned around and started heading east and south.  This was much needed and the pace was really fast going back with the wind.  The rain started again once I got to Flower Mound.  It was pretty wet from there on out.  I ended up covering 58.5 hard earned miles in around 3 hours and 45 minutes.  Terrible conditions today for riding.  I didn't see too many people out riding around today.  There were some other die hards out there.  Good to get the miles in.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/261211564

1.10.13 Tempo Run

It has been raining for what seems like two straight days.  The cold and rain is wreaking havoc on my joints.  I felt really sore this morning, especially my knees.  My run today was supposed to be 7 miles.  2 warm up miles, 8:15 mile, 9:00 mile, 8:15 mile and 2 cool down miles.  I was running a little late this morning so I had to cut it back and ended up going 6.12 miles with the last 1.12 miles being my cool down run.  The middle tempo miles were 8:28, 9:06 and 8:05.  I had trouble getting it going today.  The first 8:28 was really hard as was the 9:06 which was more of a recovery.  The 8:05 seemed to go pretty well but I was tapped.  It could be the 8:28 was harder because most of the mile was steadily uphill most of the way.  Not a big climb but enough to slow me down.  My knees are still really sore the evening.  Hopefully, I will feel better tomorrow.  The weather is supposed to improve.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/260583735

1.9.13

I took yesterday off.  I was up late after the Alabama win on Monday night and thought I could run on Tuesday evening.  It started to rain Tuesday afternoon and turned into heavy rain in the afternoon and all night.  This morning I went to boot camp.  Lots of upper body work and I am pretty fatigued tonight.  Wednesday is a swim day so I went to the pool once I arrived home from work.  The pool has swim lessons until about 8pm which gives me an hour to swim.  Jeff gave me a 2800 yard swim for today.  He also had a 3 mile run but it was still raining and extremely wet outside.  I couldn't bring myself to step on a treadmill again this week.  I knocked out the swim in about 65 minutes.  My arms were a little tired from boot camp so I didn't feel great.  Cramped a little in my right foot about half way in and kept giving me problems until I finished.  Tempo Run tomorrow.  We'll see if the Thursday run goes better than last week.

1.7.13 Roll Tide!

Monday is supposed to be a light day to let the legs rest.  I have a swim workout to do but that is probably not going to happen today.  Alabama plays in the national championship tonight and I will be focused on that.  I went to boot camp this morning so I was able to get some core, cardio and strength work in this morning.  That will have to do for today.  Last week was a step up from what I have been doing for the past few weeks so I am a little more sore and fatigued.  I definitely felt it yesterday.  We have a group registered for the Grasslands Half Marathon.  The race is in late March and should be fun.  Link for the race is:

http://www.nttr.org/grasslands/

Roll Tide!

1.6.13 Trail Run

Our Sunday running crew decided to change things up this week and run somewhere different.  We usually run on the Northshore trail at Lake Grapevine.  We decided to drive to Lake Joe Pool in Cedar Hill.  The Texas Parks and Wildlife have a park on the lake named Cedar Hill State Park.  It's about 40 minutes from my house to the park.  The day started cold so we left around 10:15 from my house to Cedar Hill.  I checked on Saturday with the park and they said the trail was open.  It has been listed as closed since the snow we received on Christmas.  When we drove up to the gate, the park ranger told us the trails were closed.  We decided to pay and go in with the intention of checking out the trail for ourselves.  When we reached the trail head, four or five runners were in the parking lot.  I think they do work on the trail and seemed to know everyone.  One of the park rangers followed us to the trail head.  The people there told the ranger it was ok for running but not for bikes.  We were good to go.  There are three loops on the trail: 3 miles, 8 miles, and 12 miles. We were looking to do 10 miles and the people there gave us a route that would put us right at 10 miles.  In fact, they seemed to short cut the trails and beat us to cut off points to show us the way.  Very nice of them to look out for us.  The first two or three miles were fairly flat and then the hills started.  Northshore is a lot of steep but short ups and downs.  Once we started climbing at Cedar Hill, the hills were long ascents that are leg burners.  At the 6 mile mark, Rich was wanting to hammer but the hills had taken too much out of me.  He dropped me and then waited for me and Joe with about 2 miles to go.  We walked for a minute or so to get our breathe back and then ran it in.  I was feeling better after a short rest and finished at a pretty good pace.  The dirt was very soft and was great on the legs.  The trail itself is very smooth, unlike Northshore where your watching for rocks and roots.  In the end, we traded the $21 it cost to get in for a $70 season pass.  We figured to be back so we split the pass fee.  If you have a pass, everyone in the car gets in for free.  It was a great park and a nice run. 

This guy had a rough outing on the trail:

Information for the trail can be found here:

http://www.dorba.org/trail.php?t=5
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/cedar-hill

Garmin information for our run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/259021533

1.5.13 Bike

It was another cold Saturday.  I didn't leave the house on my ride until about 12:30pm today.  I watched the US beat Sweden this morning for the gold medal and wasn't in much of a rush.  It was supposed to reach the 50s this afternoon but it didn't seem like it.  The wind was SSW to dead W.  I rode out to the whitehouse and back with a detour through Twin Coves park by the lake.  The cold and the wind made this a fairly brutal ride today.  My seat on the new bike is not the most comfortable and I am going to have to figure out something.  My ride was about 48 miles today in 3 hours.  It was alot of work today and not much fun today.  Base miles are base miles I guess and I did get the work in.  Tomorrow, I am running with Rich and Joe.  We are going to Cedar Hill State Park in the morning.  It will be cold again but a change of scenary will be nice.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/258416291

1.4.13

I have really got to figure out how to work boot camp into my schedule.  I went this morning to boot camp but it leaves no time for swimming and/or the other part of my triathlon workout in the morning.  As a result, I did my 2400 yard swim workout tonight.  The CARC doesn't have dedicated lap swimming until 8pm which is too late.  I went at 5:45 tonight and it was open swim so the pool was a mess with kids flying around everywhere.  I asked the lifeguard if I should give it up today and she asked if I went to Alabama.  I was wearing my Alabama hoodie.  I said yes and she said she was a sophomore at Alabama and was on Christmas break.  She completely cleared out a lane and let me get my workout in.  Amazing!  I was very grateful.  Jeff also had about a 45 minute bike spin workout but I threw in the towel on that since I should be riding the bike tomorrow.  I plan on watching the US/Sweden gold medal game in the morning at 7am so I probably won't ride until things warm up around lunch time.

1.3.13 Tempo Run

It was very cold this morning, like 20s cold.  I wanted to watch the USA/Canada hockey game this morning so I did that and decided to run tonight.  I had to scrape the ice off the windows before heading to work this morning.  Once I arrived home, I changed clothes and headed out on my run.  My tempo run was to be two mile warm up, high 8 minute mile, mid 8 minute mile, 8 minute mile and a cool down mile.  I did not feel great when I left today and that experience never seemed to wane.  My first two miles were 9:25 and 9:30.  It seemed like I was putting in way too much effort to sustain that pace.  I don't know if it was all of the work I have put in over the past two days.  I was very sore from boot camp on Wednesday in my uppper body.  Whatever the reason, I just couldn't get it going.  My next three miles were 9:04, 8:44, and 8:21.  Not exactly what I was hoping for.  I tried to sustain a higher pace and just couldn't at times.  There will be days like this so no need dwelling on it.  Tomorrow is another day.  I will need to find a way to swim tomorrow.  Boot camp is in the morning.  Hopefully, some of the soreness will go away.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/257678829

1.2.13 New Year Begins

Today was the first workout day of the year and it was busy.  Started the morning at boot camp.  It was pretty tough since the days have not been regular with the holidays.  Jeff sent me a plan for this week yesterday.  He is dialing up the intensity this month.  I had a one hour swim and a 3 mile run.  I couldn't work all of this in this morning so I had to go to the Aquatic Center tonight.  Got to the pool at about 8pm and swam 2400 yards.  I was supposed to go 2700 but the pool closes at 9pm and I didn't quite get the whole workout in.  When I was done, I changed clothes and ran 3 miles on the treadmill.  The treadmill sucks.  Maybe the worst possible way to run on the planet but it was cold and I was there so I went ahead and sucked it up.  Plus, I could watch the dumb Gators tank it in the Sugar Bowl while I ran.  Kept the pace comfortable.  I think the treadmill said I was running at 9:31 pace.  On the plus side, we reconfigured the Christmas lights in the front of the house.  Have to get ready for the BCS Championship game on Monday.  Roll Tide!

2012 Looking Back..Ahead with 2013

2012 is done and it's time to figure out what's in the works for 2013.  I thought I had laid down some serious miles in 2011 when I started training.  I hadn't really planned for it to end up like this.  I was out of shape and decided a little running would be good for me.  I still remember that late January morning when I struggled to run the first mile.  I think it was about an 11 or 12 minute mile and I was wheezing most of the way.  I stuck with it and decided to do some swimming as well.  I struggled to make the first 400 yard swim.  Shortly thereafter, I started looking into bikes and found my trusty blue Trek Madone.  My first ride was about 6 miles and slow.  In 2011, I found a training plan on line and started to follow that.  My numbers in 2011 were 85,000 yards swimming, 2.366 miles on the bike and 361 miles running.  I attempted my first triathlon at the end of March.  The Mean Green Sprint in Denton.  I was last in my age group but I made it.  Even though I was last, racing was a hell of a lot of fun.  Even though I finished in the back half of all of my 2011 races, I was making progress.  I really thought my workout numbers were pretty good in 2011 but I was way off.  I didn't know what I was doing and if I ever wanted to be marginally competitive, I needed help. 

I met Jeff riding my bike with my neighbor.  Jeff took me in and got me on the right path for 2012.  For me, having someone to work with makes me more disciplined.  I feel like I can't let Jeff down so it provides motivation to keep me going on those days that don't go well or I don't feel like working out.  Bottom line is, this is something I want to do but you do need some external motivation at times.  I didn't do near the number of races in 2012 that I had done in 2011.  The schedule would not allow it.  My daughter was graduating from high school and we had lots of commitments in the spring and early summer.  However, I made the commitment to do tougher, longer races in 2012.  I did an Xterra off road race with my friend Joe Currens in the summer.  I started with the Caveman race in April.  It was a chance to see where I was after spending a few months working with Jeff.  I was so much faster, it was amazing.  I was so damn happy after that race.  Things went so well, I just wanted to train my ass off.  Jeff held me back and kept me on plan.  After the Xterra race, I didn't do another triathlon until June.  It was a small Playtri event at Lake Benbrook in Ft. Worth.  There weren't many people entered but I was damn close to placing and my times were really good, especially my running.  I broke the 8 minute mile barrier for a 5k for the first time.  I was looking for a good challenge and settled on the TriWaco olympic distance in July.  I had no idea what I was in for with this one.  Initially, there was swim anxiety to get through.  I had never done a mile open swim in a race without issues.  I really dedicated alot of time in the water this year and was really happy with that aspect of the race.  The heat, rain, and climb up the hill on the river cliffs was hard and made me wonder whether a half iron man was a good choice.  After a few weeks of reflection, I decided to dedicate myself to getting ready for Ironman Austin 70.3.  I really stayed completely focused on that event and did not register for anything else.  Jeff sent the plans and I trusted his judgement.  Once the calendar rolled to October, the training was a little more difficult with a lack of sunlight that mostly affected bike training.  By then, the hay was in the barn and I felt pretty good.  I don't think I have been more nervous for a sporting event in my life.  The weather did not cooperate.  Cold and windy.  This had to be my least favorite combination.  If I didn't care so much, I probably would have packed it in and tried to move my entry fee to another race.  However, I had put so much time in, it was time to go.  I had a brutal swim across Lake Grapevine the week before.  It was really windy and the waves were killing me.  I figured if I could survive that swim, this would be a piece of cake.  I wanted to go under 7 hours and did the race in 6:34.  I think I could have gone under 6 hours, if I really put my mind to it but it was a great learning experience and I have no regrets.  I stopped swimming after the race for about a month and picked up boot camp conditioning.  I have seen my running improve as a result.  What isn't reflected in my distance work is the strength and conditioning work.  I didn't do any S&C in 2011.  I set goals on January 1, 2012 to almost double everything except the bike miles.  I think the original goals were 150k yards swimming, 3k miles on the bike, and 500 miles running.  I shattered all of these goals. In 2012, when all was said and done:
Swim: 263,345 yards or 150.9 miles
Bike: 3,064.6 miles
Run: 912.91 miles
I knew the milage would be higher this year so setting goals for 2012 were more workout related.  Jeff believes in getting some time away in the off season and changing up the types of training so you don't get burnt out.  There is one number on the list above that is tantalizingly close, the run number.  One thousand miles would be nice.....so that brings me to 2013.

I am not going to be concerned with distance or mileage data in 2013 except the running.  I would like to go over 1,000 miles in 2013.  I will do more races in 2013.  Jeff is from Lubbock and always does the Ironman Buffalo Springs 70.3 race in Lubbock at the end of June.  I have told him I will do this race with him this year.  It is apparently a very tough race.  It is very hot, very windy, very hilly, and just damn hard.  I thought about doing the Texas Tri Series last year but could not get aligned schedule wise with getting my daughter ready for her first year of college.  I am interested.  6 races in the Austin area.  They start as Sprints and finish with an Olympic and a half Ironman in Kerrville.  I am thinking about the Ironman Galveston 70.3 in April.  There are not really any full Ironman races available to me this year.  I have a line on a possible entry Jeff gave me for Ironman Florida in November so I am considering that.  I will do the Grasslands half marathon in March with Rich and Joe.  I might consider some of these Ultra trail runs as well or pacing one of them if they do a 100 mile race.  I will be faster.  I will keep working.  In short, at least 6-8 races in varying distances from Sprint to Half Iron and maybe a full Iron.  Trail Running races are in the works.  If I could gather the people, doing one of the long Xterra team off road races would be cool.  They do one every year at Lake Grapevine.  Well, that's what I'm looking forward to if my health stays in tact and my training goes well.  I can't wait for winter to give way to spring.  Oh, one more goal I forgot about.  That first triathlon I ever did in Denton.  I want to go back and crush that sucker.  Being last in anything will eat at you.  I don't need to win but I would like to do really well.  Seems like something I need to do for some reason.