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.