Welcome to the 2013 Season!

Welcome to 2013! I'm the "Sleepy Tri Dad" - I'm a single father of three teens working a full-time job and doing all the other things that come with being an adult in this crazy world. The photo here is of me and my second son, who just took first in his age and 4th overall in the Layton mini-sprint triathlon.

A year ago I made a couple of insane goals toward becoming extremely fit. I went at those goals in fits and starts through late 2011 and early 2012. In March, I started working individually with a coach who encouraged me to join her tri team. Lora, AKA "The Blonde Runner," (http://www.blonderunner.com) proved to be an excellent coach. I really benefited from her insight and coaching, going from a bottom 10th finish in my first event (the Legacy Duathlon run-bike-run) in April to taking first in my age group in the Sprint distance Bear Lake Brawl in August. The benefit to having a coach was that all I had to do was show up--Lora did all the 'heavy lifting'. When I got to practice, I ran as fast as she said to run, I swam as far as she said to swim, and I biked as hard as she said to bike. Motivation? Built in. Periodization? Built in. Recovery? Built in. Results? Speak for themselves!

Unfortunately time, money and circumstance preclude me from signing up with Team Blonde Runner again for the 2013 season, which means I need to get awfully serious about my own training. It means learning a lot about triathlon training, it means learning a lot more about myself and how I respond to training, and it means learning a lot of self-discipline. In fact, developing self-discipline is one of hte key goals for me this season. My goals for 2013 are:

• Develop the self-discipline to stick to my training plan, accomplishing 80% or more of each week's training activities, even if I'm traveling.
• Complete and compete the St. George half-ironman Saturday May 4, with swim > 1 hour, bike > 2 hours, run > 2 hours. Complete means to finish, compete means to finish strong. This is my A-event, for the entire season.
• Complete the "Crusher in the Tushar" 70-mile event July 13, 2013 in 6.5 hours or less.
• Take first in my age category in at least one Olympic-distance triathlon.
• Train year-round, with varying intensity.
• Compete monthly starting in April with the Legacy Duathlon, wrapping in December with the completion of the cyclocross season.

This blog is my planning palette as well as my accountability. Hopefully I'll share something here that will help motivate you. Check here for training reports, comments on what worked and didn't work, and event reports too!