Rise of the Phoenix

Out of the smoke and fire rises the Phoenix.  That's right, this blog was dead, has been for about 7 months now. A lot has happened in that 7 months.  I ran Bix, rode RAGBRAI, did a 5k on labor day, lived through an up and down Hawkeye Football season, survived a 4 day binge of a bachelor party, took 2 trips to San Diego, one of which was for my wedding and honeymoon. 

Through all the busy months of the year my fitness got worse and worse, my workouts got less and less frequent, and I'm basically in the same spot I was a year ago, however, I have a couple things going for me.  I'm not hopelessly out of shape like I was a year ago, I've already learned portion control and workout dedication, and most importantly, I have motivation moving in on Saturday morning.

That's right, my little sister is moving in on Saturday and will be living with us into May.  She is doing 3 rotations to finish up her doctorate in Physical Therapy.  So I will have a training partner for the years undertakings. 

Speaking of undertakings, here is the plan for the year:  Jan-Feb: Lifting Weights 4 to 5 times a week accompanied by running on the treadmill and doing workouts on my bicycle trainer using the DVD series Spintervals.  Lisa and I have registered for the Chili Chase in February, the course runs right past our house.    Mar-Apr: Start increasing my mileage in preparation for the Half Marathon that Lisa, Cassie and I will be doing on Sunday May 8th in Moline, IL.  Apr-June: Triathlon training in preparation for Copper Creek Sprint Tri on Sunday June 26th.  July-Oct: Training for my first Marathon, the Des Moines Marathon is Sunday October 16th.  Along the way to the Marathon, I plan to run Eldridge Moonlight Chase 4 mile, Bix 7 mile, Run with Carl 5k.  In January the RAGBRAI route will be announced, I'm hoping to ride a day or two of the course if it works into my schedule and the route is near home. 

Beyond training this year should be pretty laid back, we have 2 weddings to attend in May, my sister's graduation in May.  I'm taking a boy's weekend trip for the NCAA tourney over St. Patrick's Day Weekend.  No other major trips are planned.  We're hoping to use this year to repaint all the rooms in our house and re-carpet the house. 

So out of the hectic, partially stressful year that was 2010, rises the new Aaron with more time for training and a renewed desire to compete.