Hello Everyone!!!!
It sure has been a while since I posted on here. Quite a bit has changed (not in any particular order):
Emy is on the verge of crawling.
Emy wants to walk before she crawls.
The Womack's have moved to England.
I shot (and butchered with much help) my first deer.
Shayna got her T3i Camera (which if you have been reading this blog you already knew)
I got a promotion at work, now I am the IT Project Coordinator.
I had my first
race on gravel roads and a mountain bike at the same time (that was an experience).
I have a training/racing buddy!
That's all I can think of right now, but trust me, there was a lot more going on!
In other news that you can skip over:
Lance Armstrong is planning on admitting that he doped *gasp*!!!! Yes, that was sarcasm. No, I don't expect that it will be a complete confession or that he will be contrite when/if he apologizes to everyone he trampled on the way to the top. And yes, that is all I am going to talk about Lance on here.
The White House is working on ways to restrict gun ownership without involving Congress. This is wrong. This country was built on the idea of checks and balances, that way we can't have one branch completely take over. Either way, that isn't the point, the point is that they (the government) are going about this all the wrong way. By enacting stricter gun laws you will only be causing problems for the people who actually follow the law. And I don't know about you, but if I feel that if someone follows the gun laws, they usually follow all the other laws, particularly the ones about shooting other people. My favorite quote I have seen was in the comments section of an online news paper:
"Oh let's make all guns illegal, because that worked out so great for Meth and other drugs, NO one does drugs anymore because they are illegal!"
If someone really intends to use a gun to harm another person, I seriously doubt that they care if the gun was purchased legally. Look at gangs and the drug cartels, they don't care. Now look at say a hunter, s/he cares about buying his/her gun the right way.
And let's not forget that the two biggest shooting that happened recently involved the mental health system too!
OK, rant over, sorry about that.
So for more fun, Shayna and I have a lot planned for 2013!
We are planning on trying to make it out to Colorado and Pratt more this year, as well as flying across the pond to visit the Womack's in England!
We are working on signing with Emy, so hopefully we will be more fluent by the end of the year.
And I have a full race schedule!
I am going to start my season with a mountain bike race with Ryan (my new race/training partner) and his wife Hayley. The plan is for all of us (Ryan, Hayley, their daughter Elayna, Shayna, Emmalyn, and me) to go to Lawrence together.
That will be on March 24th.
After that, Ryan and I will go do a road race in Bazaar. If you remember, I did this
race last year in 30+ mile an hour winds. That was brutal, but a ton of fun!
That one is some time in mid April.
That will settle the deal Ryan and I have: I will race a MTB race with him, and he will race a road race with me (Ryan is a dirt guy, while I love pavement! I am working on him to try and do a tri as well!)
I don't have anything planned for May as of right now.
Then, in the beginning of June there is a rumor of a big race here in Wichita. That would include a Crit (Short fast laps less than a mile), a road race, and a time trial (think of the guys riding by themselves with funny helmets and handlebars).
Probably going to be the first weekend in June (maybe in conjunction with Riverfest?)
Turn around a few weeks later and I will be back out in El Dorado Lake for the
Oz Endurance Tri.
I am planning on doing the Olympic distance, which means I will be swimming 1500 meters, biking 40 kilometers, and then running 10 kilometers. In standard that will be swimming 1,640 yards, biking 24.9 miles, and running 6.2 miles.
That is on June 23rd
July is another open month as of right now.
Then I plan on doing the DRC's outdoor Tri. The distances will be swim 400 meters, bike 19.3 kilometers, run 5 kilometers. Standard is swim 437 yards, bike 12 miles, run 3.2 miles.
That should be the first weekend in August.
And finally, the big 'un!
To close out my season (as of right now) I plan on doing the
Bike MS in Pratt with my Mom! I have a lot of options on the distance depending on how my fitness is progressing. The first day options are 30, 50, or 80 miles. I would love to do the 80, but I may end up doing the 50 (again, depends on my fitness). The second day options are 30 or 50 miles. On the second day I am doing the 50. Yes, even if I do the 80 on the first day, I am doing the 50 on the second day come Hell or tired muscles!
So basically I am planning on going 100 or 130 miles in two days.
That will be on September 7th and 8th.
As is stands now, that is the race schedule for 2013!
Training for all that:
The plan is for Saturdays and Sundays to be long bike rides (at least 2 hours). Mondays and Fridays are run days after work. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be swimming before work, and Wednesdays are rest.
The training has begun!
I woke up and swam 500 yards both yesterday (13:53) and last Thursday (14:44), with a 2.3 mile run on Friday (23:00). Today is an off day, and tomorrow morning is a swim!
Well, that is all I have for now. I will continue to update with race reports and if I have something major to report about my training. If you want to see my biking and running training you can always check in on
Strava.
Cheers!
Tom
