What's Next

I have high hopes for 2011 being a really good year (the power of positive thinking?).  Looking ahead here is a run down of some highlights both racing and non-racing related.

My sister is due to have her baby any day now.  Another neice or nephew will be arriving to dote on.  I'm a super-duper Auntie so this is exciting for me.  In February my youngest sister is visiting from BC with my neice.  I'm SO excited to see them.  Mya is turning two in a couple of days and she's at that really fun age where their little personalities are coming out and they say the most hilarious things!

In April I'm running the Point Pelee Half Marathon.  I'm a little nervous to be running a race of that distance so early in the easy but if my coach says I can do it, then I can do it.  I secretly (well maybe not so secretly now) have a goal of beating my time from October.  We'll see.  My running has been in the crapper the last two months so perhaps my goal should be just to finish it!

May will bring our cycling trip to Italy!  Paul and are going with a group of friends and we'll be staying on an olive farm in Tuscany.  For real peoples!  We'll spend the days cycling to the various villages where we'll stop to sip espressos and eat on patios.  My (again, not so) secret concern is that everyone will be sitting on those patios sipping espressos without me because I'll be struggling to get up the "hills" - that I actually think are more like mountains in Italy.  Oh yeah, and the downhills that inevitably comes with those uphills scare me.  I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to speed.  My mind automatically pictures a horrific crash and the ensuing damage to myself.  I thank my mom for this particular neurosis of mine.

June brings the first triathlon of the season in Woostock!  This will be a sprint distance.  In July I'm racing the Olympic distance triathlon in Detroit at Belle Isle.  This will be my first Olympic distance.  I've heard from some of the other athletes in the city that the Michigan area triathlons are really well run and alot of fun.  I hope this proves to be true because hopping across the border to do these is a lot more convenient than having to travel 3 plus hours away.

August is the Steelhead Half-Ironman.  Kind of an important one for me! :-)

Although only two weeks later I'm really hoping to do the Bulldog sprint distance triathlon in Chatham.  This is a small, fun race that I did this past summer.  I placed third in my age group (of more than three!) so that might have something to do with why I like this race so much.

The season finale is the Detroit Free Press Marathon!  A.full.marathon.  I would have never thought it was possible and frankly, some days slogging away out there I'm still doubtful it will happen but I really want to complete a marathon.  I'm not sure I'll ever do more than one that isn't at the end of a full Ironman (and I'm only planning on doing one of those) but I want to check it off the bucket list.

That's the rundown for now.  I know you'll all remain riveted to see how this progresses!