2013: The Year of the Relay

In years past for me it's been all about the Ironman, or running two marathons in two weeks, or some other ridiculous task that usually has me in the porta potty the morning of the event because I'm so nervous and limping for days after. This year though, it's all about the relay! Last night I received an email from one of my beloved Banditos (that's what my running group in Chicago calls themselves) about putting together a team for Ragnar Chicago. I don't know about you, but I can't think of anything more fun than spending two days in a van with my best running buds running from Madison, WI to Chicago and listening to Casey's stories like about panning for gold in Mexico back in the day. Best part about training for Ragnar is, apparently it's just like training for a half, which means I can still focus on getting stronger and not give that up because I have to run everyday of the week. 

Banditos running Northerly Island

Most of the Banditos on a freezing cold morning last February

Two months after Ragnar, I'll go back up north to relay the swim portion of Ironman Steelhead 70.3 in Benton Harbor, MI with my Nashville partner in crime, Stephanie, who will rock the bike and her friend Page who will bring it home for us on the run. I've done Steelhead twice before, once in 2007 and again in 2010, and that race is notorious for canceling the swim because of large waves, so I will be pissed if I go all the way up to Michigan my leg of the relay gets cancelled. I think I'm going to use the race as an excuse to buy a new wetsuit. I have been rocking the same entry-level Zoot wetsuit since I started doing triathlons and I had the opportunity to try out the blueseventy Helix in December down in Austin at The Running Event and it blew me away how I amazing it felt in the water while wearing it. I'm also excited to try to beat my existing 1.2 mile swim time of 30 minutes. I honestly don't get in the pool that much, but last year I did a PR in the swim at the Nash Vegas Half and I think it was all because of my strength training, so hopefully with six more months of CrossFit, I'll blow that PR out of the water.

Stephanie is probably going to not be happy that I posted this picture of us acting like idiots from the Swiftwick White Out Party/the birthday party I threw for myself last year

Speaking of CrossFit, this morning's WOD at CrossFit Cool Springs about killed me. My power cleans look like garbage 90% of the time, so I definitely need to work on those and combined with being sore from the tag team Barry's Bootcamp workout yesterday, that minute rest in between cycles was much needed.