I'm such a liar...

I’m totally a liar…I told Lee and my boys never to believe anything I say in the weeks after an Ironman.  Some of you may remember my blog post right after Kona where I said I was done with triathlons and putting my bike on eBay.  

What was I thinking...sell Black Beauty on ebay??

This past year I’ve been trying to find my passion and see where my next big thing is calling my name…I believed it was the Olympic Trials in the marathon.  I kept seeking and asking myself….what is that goal that drives me each day.  The thing I think about when I fall asleep at night.  The thought that come to me right after I’ve ran through the boys’ schedules for the next day, what time can we all sit down for dinner, my daily grocery shopping trip, did I get all my work submitted for my graduate courses (yes I have 4 right now), making sure I have my lessons planned and grading done for my real job.  After all of those thoughts leave my head was comes rushing back in?????

 I’ve been working on my run and it’s been slow progress.  Probably because I haven’t been as consistent and been as focused as I was for previous goals.  Why is this?  I have been asking myself this since my PRP injection for hamstring last fall.  

This is my conclusion…I am a triathlete at heart.  I love running, but I just can’t walk away from swimming and biking.  Another thing I learned about myself this year…I love epic stuff.  Running a marathon is a big deal, but I need a little more crazy to go with that run…like swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 first…then I can run a fast marathon.

So, with that being said…I am all in for Honu 70.3 (trying to qualify for 70.3 World Champs in Austria), IM Canada (would love a Kona slot), IM Wisconsin (going to get my CR back), and AG Worlds Oly distance in Chicago (Just want the tri kit that says ANDRES USA).  And don’t think I have forgotten about my marathon Olympic trials qualifying time…this fall sub 2:50 and by spring 2:43.  If I’m planning to be around the 3 hour mark for an IM marathon I need to be able to run around a 2:40 open marathon. Simple as that.

I guess I can’t leave Ironman racing and triathlon.  It’s who am I am.  It’s in me. 

Running stuff…

My mom makes all these donuts from scratch...special family tradition.

Chicago is less than 5 weeks away and I feel I’m so far away from where I wanted to and planned to be.  5 weeks is a long time and I know I have the training under me to get across the line faster than I have ever before.  However, my goal is a sub 2:50 this fall.  This means my average can be no slower than a 6:29 pace per mile.  I’ve done the math for a 2:49:59 and it is 6:29.2 to be exact. I’m right on the edge of knowing it is totally doable.  A huge part is getting on top of my nutrition these next 5 weeks and staying away from the dessert table!  Seriously, carrying just a few extra pounds around for 26 miles makes a big difference.  

I love this guy so darn much!

My struggle…to be honest…is how differently I feel about this goal vs. how I felt with Wisconsin in 2012 and Kona in 2013.  It was a no brainer to make all the sacrifices in terms of training, nutrition, sleep, etc.  But this time, this past year I feel have had no will power in terms of putting certain parts of training in front of other priorities to reach my goals.  Life is all about balance and finding the balance of what truly makes a person happy can be very hard.  There is so much to be learned about ourselves, life, and the people around us through sport.  

Other life news…

Tri for a cause

Race went good…not great in terms of times in the swim, bike, or run, but after a 75 mile run week and adding some biking, swimming, and yoga in there I was a bit on the tired side come Saturday.  Maybe next year I will shoot for my old course record and try to throw down a little speed.  It’s hard training for a marathon and then doing sprint races.  

AG Nationals

I put my write up under race reports.

Fun time for sure...but NOT my favorite distance!

4 weeks of summer

Getting our deer stands ready

There were 4 weeks from when I finished my summer courses until fall classes rolled around and I went back to teaching.  I finally felt like I have a little bit of summer.  Before the school year started we planned camping trip, the State Fair with a Toby Keith concert, a mini vacation at a local resort, drive-in movie theatre, and a 3-D bow shoot. Plus, Grandma is even making her homemade donuts one Sunday!  Fun times for sure!

Mitch and his big bass fishing on our camping trip.The only time the boys are up before me is when we are camping.

Wyatt, Mitch, and I bringing the canoe back across the lake from our campsite.  Lee and Wes are in the boat behind us and I couldn't get Riley and Gavin in the kayaks in the photo.

Annual Labor Day Crab legs...Mitch and I were the last two at the table.  There should be an award for that!

Family dinner campsite style

State Fair...eating and people watching!

3D bow shoot...not bad for my first time.

Bow Hunting
One great thing about the boys getting bigger and getting bigger than me is I’m getting some pretty nice hunting gear hand me downs.  I’ve wanted to start bow hunting and was looking at getting a new bow.  Well, Gavin has outgrown his bow which is perfect for me.  The fall is a busy time in the Andres house.  We all love hunting…duck hunting, bow hunting, pheasant hunting, deer hunting.  Balancing new school schedules with hockey and hunting schedules gets interesting and is always a balancing act.  Throw in a few races of mine and Team Andres loves us some fall. 

Races coming up…
Stillwater 10 mile September 27^th
CHICAGO MARATHON October 12^th (I’ll be able to relax the day before and follow Kona all day in the hotel on my computer)