Pre Season Ramblings

I have literally been kicking myself in the rear for 4 whole months to get my act together and write. This blog is going to be a much needed "spew" of everything life has brought the last few months and where it leaves me as I look into the beginning of my season...

Lets see where I left off.....in Offseason. I got fat, out of shape, and really loved it. I was not burned out, and I still wanted to race, but I strategically planned to let my body re-set and build appropriately into the next season with a late Spring start.

January-
January 1 I found myself with 15 days to spare to prepare for the Houston Marathon. Well, I ran the race and I got my BQ....But lets just say running an open marathon ill-prepared is not fun. I stayed in Texas for another 10 days to visit with athletes, swim a little with my old team at Magnolia Masters, and visit my friends. It had been about 6 months since I left Texas and it honestly felt like I never left!

Caitlin and I pre-marathon

A night coaching my old junior elite team!

Me and Kel at the Catapult Gala in January

Twin Bikes for the weekend. Thankful for friends who can get me last minute gear to ride!

From Here I jetted off to Seattle for a week long conference. Being the Coffee, food, and beer connoisseur I am, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip only to return beaten down from a month of travel with some massive fatigue that took about 2 weeks to clear.

Ferris Wheel at Seattle Harbor

Me "working". In my own habitual environment....

February-
As soon as that tired spat ended I was up to my next adventure for a little birthday fun in Breckenridge with old Texas roomie Caitlin. We skiied, fat biked, drank, and celebrated.

View from Room in CO

Fat Biking Fun!

In a common theme up to here, you may notice there is not much talk about workouts as there is on celebrations and eating. Feb 15th marked my turn around and time to get busy with training.....Yes every athlete has to have some good time off but this was getting a little out of hand and it was time to get serious about healthy eating, sleep, and training progression.

March-
I got to kickstart my training with a training camp in Tucson, AZ with new Sponsor Tri-Sports.com. I also got to have a run at traveling with my new Quintana Roo bike and seeing what all the hype was about. The biking and views were amazing while in town and I was sad to return to Virginia. The trip was a reminder as to why I love the sport and how sometimes its great to forget about the numbers and just Swim/bike/run/ with others who love it too, regardless of speed or abilities. Note: this stems from deleting my Mt. Lemmon file at the summit after the climbing the whole dang thing.😫

Some insights from Tucson!

April: My schedule was set to begin in May and as most triathletes know April comes a time where we start to itch and want to get out and race. I didnt have this itch just yet, but I did want to try something new in training. We decided to get out of my comfort zone with a series of run races, swim races, and just plain old remembering how to go hard. With this mini training block I found my "old gears", developed a new mental stamina, and increased my confidence to race again. I also really focused on cleaning up on my diet and shedding those few winter pounds. I gave up desserts and alcohol for lent so that was a really easy first couple pounds.

" I would have won this race in 1973!"

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler with best running friends Caitlin and Kelsey

Swim Bud Shannon and I rocking our Blueseventy gear at the Tribe Classic

The swimmer girls celebrating after the Zones Championship swim meet.

I also traveled back to IMTX to watch friends and athletes race. It was an amazing time and really got me pumped to get back to racing! 

Matt Winning IMTX!

My Old Crew!

May: So I walk away from April actually as the "Zones Swim Champion in the 1650", the "5K reigning champ" of my neighborhood series, and a whole bunch of fun athletic achievements. I can  now say that I am finally ready to race again and see where I can push myself to. Ill be starting off my season in a local Olympic distance event on May 13 (Kinetic Olympic) and then heading to Chattanooga for the Ironman 70.3 on May 22.

Big thanks to all my Sponsors, Coaches, and Training Buds!
Gear: Quintana Roo Tri, Kiwami,
Swim: Blueseventy, SBR Sports
Bike Service:Tri Bonzai
Teams: DCTriElite, TriSports.com
Nutrition/Recovery: Klean Athlete, Rebecca Mohning -Expert Nutrition, District Taco, Elevated Legs
Coach: David Tilbury-Davis, Coach Rich and Club Tribe and Matt Hanson Coaching