Progress towards my goals

About to start the race season (Charlotte Duathlon this Saturday) and thought I’d look at my goals and see how I’m progressing towards them.

Qualify for Xterra Worlds:  Haven’t done any races, so hard to really evaluate where I am.  Today I was looking to sign up for the South East Xterra Championship in May and found that there have been some major changes to the race I don’t know if this will make it easier or harder to qualify for Worlds , but it will make it certainly more complicated.  The race has also become the ITU (International Triathlon Union) Cross Tri World Championship, and so I will have to submit an e-mail with a race result to be selected for a slot in the race.  If I don’t qualify through this race I will still have the opportunity to go to Richmond and qualify at the East Championships about three weeks later.

Earn pro mountain bike license:  I’ve taken the first step (and certainly the easiest) to getting my pro license, by getting applying for and receiving my Category 1 upgrade for cross-country mountain biking.  My fitness is solid and I feel like my bike handling is getting better every time I ride.  Starting March 4^th when I go to Sumter, SC for the Killer 3 Mountain Bike Race, I’ll see where I match up with other guys.  The first race will start off with a bang. . .it’s 39 miles long (3+ hours).

Run sub 38 minute 10k:  This is looking pretty good, based on how my running is going right now (and the running chart courtesy of Daniel’s Running Formula) it looks like I’d be able to run in the low 37’s, which I’d be really happy about.

Swim under 6:40 for 500 yards:  I’m making progress with this, but I’m certainly not there yet.  A couple weeks ago I did a swim set where I did 3x150 yards with 1 minute rest, and was able to maintain my goal pace for the 500 on each of the 150’s.  I obviously need to improve and keep getting better to be able to string 3+ of those intervals together without rest, but to be able to maintain that pace for as long as I did was a big step forward.

Preliminary Race Schedule through July (doesn’t include Charlotte Summer Series races)

Feb. 25th Charlotte Duathlon
March 4th Sumter Mountain Bike
April 1st Cool Breeze Triathlon
April 22nd Stumpjump Mountain Bike
May 19th Xterra South East Championship
June 10th Xterra East Championship or Troy NC Mountain Bike
June 24th Clemson Mountain Bike
July 15th Xterra Whitewater