Happy New Year..!

Please forgive my disorganized thoughts as this was quickly put together as I was pressed for time. I hope you enjoy this blog entry.

As my third season has come to a close it’s time for me to sit and reflect on the year and what a year it was. I’m walking away with several positives which will help me stay motivated for the upcoming 2012 season.

I’d like to thank the active community, without them these events would not be possible. There are many of us who are not the competitive athlete but, want to do some thing to be able to live a healthier lifestyle. This is something that you cannot buy but, rather you have to take and make it happen.

Over the past three years I’ve found that the number one thing that keeps people from taking that initial step is simply the lack of information. It’s understandable as humans we are skeptical when it comes to change. When we do not understand something we will have our guard up and will doubt and question it.

This is one of the very reasons why I started TriLifeBlog.com. I want it to be an informational portal for any person who is interested in making that lifestyle change but, may need a place to start.

Year in review...

Closing out my third season I’ve completed 28 events. There were 12 running events, 13 multisport events and 3 cycling events.

I was fortunate to have met and worked with a running coach earlier this year. He’s been a great mentor who has helped me with my form and my mental mind set. I’ve PR in all my running distances this year. I look forward to learning from him and sharing what I learn with others.

This whole year has been one huge training year leading up to my IM Florida event. It was a different approach to a training season as I did not taper for any of my events along the way. I trained right through all of them. I feel the approach I took paid off.

Despite the IM training taking most of my season from me I still had a great time. I truly enjoyed racing in all the events. Getting out there not only allowed me to break the monotony of constant training it also gave the opportunity to meet more local athletes.

A couple of my most memorable moments took place back in my home town. In March I was able to convince several family members to do a 5K with me and just a couple of days ago I had several high school buddies run a 5K with me. This would rank up there with my IM Florida accomplishment. Neither my family nor my friends train for these events. I was ecstatic and proud of each and every one of them for coming out and participating.

There is very little exposure to these events where I grew up so there are many inactive people. This past year, through the efforts of some local shops there have been more of these events popping up. I’m backing them 100% and hope they keep these events coming. They had their first mud run this year called Hog Dash. I heard it was a huge success.

My hardest event of the year was the To Hell and Back Ride. We road our bikes for three days and covered 287 miles. I used this ride as part of my IM training to get my nutrition down and mind mentally ready for the duration of the IM event. That weekend I spent over 13 hours on the bike. The Tri Junkies came through in a huge way. We had great SAG and I had company to ride with.

Aside from the events I was also very fortunate to be accepted as an active ambassador for Wheaties Fuel. Many of you have seen me passing out the cereal and promoting their product. I still have samples to give a way so look for me in some upcoming events.

I was also very fortunate to be able to be apart of a new chapter of a non profit organization in the Dallas area. Back on My Feet (BOMF) uses a 90 day running program as the first step to help plug the homeless (resident members) community back into society. The Dallas chapter kicked off early this year with an inaugural 1 mile run at 5 a.m. with volunteers and resident members. It was a sight to see. Though my schedule does not allow me to run with the group I still participate in hosting a financial literacy class for the members. Coincidently the director over this program and her husband are both Ironman competitors. It’s a small world, huh? J

What’s new for 2012?

There are several things going on in 2012. I’ve refocused my training on half Ironman events and I’m also starting to coach. Training over at Madison’s for the last four months has inspired me take on a couple of clients. Given I have a full time job my resources to coaching are limited and I’ll probably not take on more than four clients. I’m working with a client now and it’s been a great experience thus far. For more information please send an email to ej@rEvolutionMultisport.com

I’m excited to announce that I’ve been asked to be a coach with rEvoution Multisports. This is a new business which is launching January 2012. The company is headed by Brent Poulsen, a local professional triathlete and his wife. We have a very strong and experience coaching staff. The business will offer several training options. Our clients will range from a person who simply wants to make a healthy life style change or someone who is trying to PR in an IM event. I’ll send out more information as it become’s available.

Thank you for reading this blog entry. As always feel free to email me any questions or comments you may have.

..ej
ej@trilifeblog.com
www.facebook.com/trilifeblog