Exciting

The 2009 race season is almost over, just Manor Mouse to go and then we're into the winter races, starting with Tinto.

So, I get to indulge myself by picking the races I was to do next year.  This year, my big target was to complete at least 5 SHR Long Classic hill races, which I have indeed managed (Stuc a' Chroin, Jura, Loch Lochy, Glen Rosa, Two Breweries and Pentland on Sunday).  Next year, I was thinking about doing something big again but some of the things I want to do (like the WHW race or another Ironman) are probably a bit ambitious (time-wise), given my work and family commitments.

Anyway, discussions with a work colleague piqued my interest in a race I'd looked at previously and my major (late summer) race has picked itself.  With that in mind, my current race season for 2010 looks like this:

So, a nice mix of hill races and other bits, with the standout being the trip to Switzerland to do Powerman, which I'm pretty damned excited about.  Mind, it's still some time away, so plenty to focus on until then.  Also, a few races I've done before and some new stuff, mostly big English hill races.

I'll focus on my run and bike base over the winter and try to do a fair bit of racing - the Edinburgh RC duathlons, the Glentress Duathlons and Edinburgh Parkrun.  I shouldn't have to do anything special to get ready for Edale and the Three Peaks and I'll pick up the long running from March to get ready for Jura, which will be my big early race.  I'd like to do well there after getting round ok this year and suffering in the bad weather.  I'll do some swimming from May to get ready for Bala and then once the weather gets decent, I'll start riding my triathlon bike outside for longer and longer distances to get ready for Powerman in September.  From May and June, I'll try to as much evening time trialling and hill racing as I can squeeze in.  And then, finally, I'll do a couple of long races I've done already at the end of the season.

So, there's a fair amount of racing in there but no more than I did this year but perhaps a bit more variety.  I'm keen to try to avoid any major down time like I did this year, which I downed tools in August (work, flu).  I think I'll deliberately have extended easy periods throughout the year to keep myself from flaming out.  Probably after Bala and Powerman, when I'll be goosed.