Off season

Well, I've been feeling the off-season blahs already, even though it's hard to say it's really over. I had considered the Nutmeg 1/2 Iron, but when I hurt my shoulder I had a pretty good excuse to not do it. It turned out to be a pretty tough race, so maybe I'm not that sorry I missed it :)

I did get to go out and watch over the weekend as my brother and uncle were racing, and I got a little bit re-energized. I'm about ready to start working on my off-season plan and figuring out what I want to do next year. I have some more broad goals that correspond to events but it won't be a strictly triathlon year I think.

Things on the list TODO:
Mountain bike race, maybe 24 hours or just a regular
More overnight backpacking trips
Volleyball league
Road bike event - Century or two maybe
Running road races, maybe a marathon

Triathlons to do:
Winding Trails - Duh, I have a free pass for the whole year!!
Mooseman 1/2 Iron, always a good weekend!
1 or 2 others, Olympic or 1/2 Iron distance.

Things I won't do next year:
Full Ironman distance - I promised my wife :)

Other goals:
Get under 200 lbs

The big one is the last one, breaking the 200 pound barrier. I'm not going to race any more in the Clydesdale division, and I want to "earn" that right next year. I need to lose 25 pounds to make sure I consistently stay under 200 with a little bit of fluctuation. I'm going to be doing a little bit of posting and planning to figure out how to meet this goal, since it's clearly going to be hard for me to do. I've had generic lose weight goals in the past and have had mixed results so I'm going to need to focus and build a plan. I'm targeting May 1, which requires roughly 4 pounds a month, or 1 pound a week. My initial thoughts include exercise, better diet and I'm going to try a more consistent weight lifting plan this year to build my metabolism. I'm also thinking of commuting to work a couple times a week for as long as I can go until the snow arrives.... all preliminary thoughts so far though, more details to come.

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The Long Trail

I'm working on the planning for my next adventure, and have started to gather supplies and dates for my trip on The Long Trail in Vermont with my uncle. The general idea is to spend the next few years hiking the 270 miles in sections 2-4 days at a time. Of course, who knows if we'll actually finish the entire thing, but it's a nice goal to have, and probably doable with a bit of work. If you figure 20 miles per trip (3 days worth of hiking for 20 miles should be reasonable), then I would need to take 14 trips to complete the whole trail. At 3 times a year, we're looking at 5 years... so again, it's doable.

I've done some backpacking in the past, spending 3 days on the Long Trail in fact after I graduated from college. I really enjoyed it, and always wanted to do more. With my family growing up a bit, and a little more stability I now have a bit more time to pursue things like this. Fortunately, my uncle Steve is also interested, and I have someone to do the hike with. It's much easier to justify the time if I can spend quality time with a family member :)

In other news, still no word on the shoulder, the doc was off yesterday with the Jewish holiday.

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Slideshow...

I just discovered this new feature... enjoy!

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MRI

I got an MRI on my left shoulder this morning... it still hasn't gotten better after I hurt it playing volleyball. It was an interesting experience, I've never had one before. Basically you spend a 1/2 hour in a small tube where you are blasted by weird noises. Not a whole lot of fun, but not too bad either.

I also heard from my swim coach who is going to be starting up the Master's swim program again in the fall... but I'm not sure how much swimming I'm going to be doing until my shoulder gets better.

I also have started to plan the backpacking trip on the Long Trail with my uncle. We're planning to start on the southern most part of the trail and do a few days every once in a while with the hope of eventually doing the whole thing. Its 270 miles, so it'll take a few years, but it's doable. I did order a new sleeping bag, since using my daughter's is not going to cut it anymore :)

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Summer doldrums

Still a bit of a blah feeling going on... I've been slacking a lot on the training since I hurt my shoulder and I haven't really felt motivated. I need to start a regular running schedule again to stay in shape, but I haven't been able to get out the door.

Interesting news was that my swim coach sent an email and they're planning to start the T/Th morning swims in Suffield next month again. Hopefully I'll be able to participate, I have an MRI scheduled for my shoulder next week... it's still not getting better.

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Mt Washington

What a great weekend, I went up to NH with my daughter and a few other family members and hiked Mt Washington. It was a bit chilly on the way up, but while we were on the top the weather turned gorgeous and it was beautiful the rest of the day... Lots of pictures to come, but I like this one a lot to start.

*Edit* Note that if you click on the photo it will take you to the album where all the rest of the pictures that we took are located.

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