I met with my coach earlier this week to recap the season, look at upcoming plans and decide whether or not I was going to continue to utilize her services over the coming year since, when I first hired her, we'd only discussed her getting me through Ironman.  I gave her a copy of my planned activities, which I've listed below, and I started thinking about what kind of improvement I expected to see over this year's and previous performance.  Oh, she also brought up the issue of my weight, which I wholeheartedly agree is slowing me down and that a good 20 lbs. would make a huge dent in my cycling and running ability.  I decided not to let my feelings get hurt (I was going to bring it up in our meeting, she just beat me to it) and emailed her by the end of the week to let her know that I was onboard.

So, here's the plan and, though it doesn't look like it, it's much scaled back from this last year and I've left most of the summer open, leaving room for much family time -- hiking, camping, yardwork, home improvements, etc.

11/05 – Seattle ½ Marathon

02/06 – Chilly Hilly (33 mile ride, Bainbridge Isl., WA)

03/06 – St Patty’s Day Dash (3.5 mile run, Seattle, WA)

05/06 – Vancouver ½ Marathon (Vancouver, BC)

05/06 – 11 Hills of Kirkland (75 mile ride, Kirkland, WA)

06/06 – New Balance Half Iron Triathlon (Victoria, BC)

08/06 – Ride the Ironman Canada course & volunteer (Penticton, BC)

09/06 – Black Hills Olympic-distance Triathlon (Olympia, WA)

09/06 – Kirkland (WA) Sprint-distance Triathlon

10/06 – Nike Women's Marathon (San Francisco, CA)

08/07 – Ironman Canada

Yes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger...or further proves that you're crazy.  In either case, I intend to go up again this next August and sign up for THE race in 2007.