Open Letter to Myself...

So here we are. 1 day before you turn 41 and 2 days before your big race of 2012. It has been a long year leading up to this point, but you (I) am ready. You can do this, and this is not a "yeah, you can do it" patronizing letter, but this is more of a Ray Lewis in your face "You can do this". I expect you to do this.

I know you have trained hard with tons of miles on the bike, tons of miles on the road and thousands (and thousands) of yards in the pool. There have been early mornings. And I am talking about early, but you loved it. Do not deny it. There was a definite purpose I saw in myself by getting up that early. The darkness of morning was special. I know you have no regrets.

I know this year has been more about competing rather than completing races for you. You have done better if just about every race you have raced this year and there is no reason why you should not expect the same results. I think it is time that you start believing in the results you have gotten. You are faster than you think. You ride faster than you realize, you run faster than your pace states and you swim faster than you ever have. It is time for you to believe that you are not a 10 minute miler, that is not acceptable. So believe in your training, trust your plan, run your race.

So let's talk about goals for this race. You have a 70.3 race under your belt already, so you have an idea of where you stood a year ago, so we will base goals off those numbers. Last year your total 70.3 time was 7:35. We have to beat that time this year, and we will. Here is my goals for you:

Swim: under 45 minutes for a 1.2 swim is totally doable, if it is wetsuit legal, than I expect closer to 40 minutes.

Bike: 3:10-:3:20. Last year at Branson, you did the 56 miles in 3:55, but there will be significantly less hills on this course, so i want to see time improvement. This is totally achievable

Run: No more 3 hour half marathons Ford! Anything under 2:30 will be awesome.

Total Time: I expect to be in the 6-6:30 hour range.

Let's do this. Let's expect this. Let's not race to complete. Let's race to compete! I know you are looking forward to racing, we have been waiting and training all year for this race. we can use this to build on our marathon coming up in December and then use this as a step towards the ultimate goal!  IRONMAN! I believe in myself, I have confidence in myself and I am not nervous or scared of the course, it should be scared of me.

This will be a great birthday present. A new PB at the 70.3 distance. Let's do it!