2010 - Decisions, Decisions!

Putting together a competition schedule for next year has not been easy. Many factors have to be considered before making the final commitment to any one event. Most of these have to do with the travel factor. Will these events require more than a one night stay? How far a drive is this event from my home? These are not as big a deal as the fact that work schedule (vacations) and my daughter's senior year (college) soccer (Belmont University Lady Bruins) schedule will have to be seriously considered.

I would like to participate in at least one Marathon, a couple of Half Marathons, one or two 70.3 Ironman Triathlons, one or two Olympic Distance Triathlon and a couple of Sprint Tris. Add to this the obligatory 5 milers to support local causes.

The year will begin in form with the Goofy Race and Half Challenge on January 9&10 at WDW, Orlando. For those that are not familiar with this event it's a Half Marathon on Saturday, January 9th and a Marathon on Sunday, January 10th. This Half and Full will not be counted towards my 2010 goals! Or maybe they will!

First off I have two 70.3 Ironman in my sights. I would like to return to Augusta and I am considering the Steelhead. The Augusta 70.3 simply because I would like to see improvement on this year's time and the Steelhead because the timing and location are right.

The one obstacle with Augusta is that on that same weekend, Belmont Soccer has two games and it would be a big deal (to me) to miss either. The Steelhead is on a date (July 31) with no conflicting events. Additionally, this event is held in Benton Harbor, MI and it would be sort of like a homecoming to me. I went to high school in St Joseph, MI which is the other half of the Twin Cities, St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, MI. The event expo is held at Lake Michigan College, school which I briefly attended. As far as the distance, they're both almost equidistant for driving. 408 miles to Augusta, 459 miles to Benton Harbor. Hotel reservations have been made for both, will make a decision soon.

Regarding shorter distance triathlons, I am looking at Chattanooga Waterfront Tri on July 11th and Music City Triathlon on July 25th. Both of these are Olympic distance events. One issue with these is the timing. If I choose to do the Steelhead (July 31) it would make sense to choose the Chattanooga Waterfront as well.

I will go back to the Mach Tenn Sprint Tri and to the Mountain Lakes Tri. I did both this year and enjoyed them. Again, I'm looking for time improvement.

And as far a running events are concerned, I will run the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville and the St Jude Memphis Half for sure. I have registered for the lottery for the NYC Marathon. A decision on which events I will run will be determined by whether or not my number comes up for NY. Should I not win a slot in NY, I am seriously considering San Antonio, Chicago or the MCM.