My six months of training for Ironman Florida will finally start in May.  With that on the horizon I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about goals and expectations for the coming year.  My goals for the coming year come in two different categories: fundraising and performance.

FUNDRAISING

This is my first year as part of a charity team.  Last year Sarah and I were introduced to the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF) by some good friends of ours.  Their family is impacted by Neurofibromatosis (NF) so in the past few years they’ve started racing and raising funds to help find a cure.  Sarah raced with them and CTF last year and it was a fantastic experience.  This year I’m joining their team and looking forward to racing with CTF.

As a part of that I’m committed to raising awareness of NF and and raising funds to help find a cure.  For those of you who know me, I’m not one to just associate myself with any organization or cause.  If I’m going to be a part of something it has to be something that I believe in.  After getting to know some of the CTF folks last year and seeing what their organization was all about I can tell you that this is a first class organization committed to a great cause.

Our team this year has a combined goal of $770k.  My part in that is $5,500.  If you would like to be part of something amazing you can make a donation here.  No amount is too small.  There are real lives that are impacted.  And for any amount you give I am truly thankful.

Let’s do this.

 

PERFORMANCE

Setting goals for long distance races is a tricky thing.  Over the course of a day there are a lot of variables that come into play, with weather and nutrition being on the top of the list.  A combination of the two absolutely buried me at my first 70.3 attempt.  As a result I’ve learned to set a few different levels of expectations.

“Worst Case Scenario” – The official time cutoff for completing the 140.6 miles is 17 hours.  Should the wheels completely fall off and my nutrition go south, there’s the number I need to hit for them to call my name as I cross the finish line.

“Realistic” – For a point of reference, the professionals will finish in just over 8 hours.  In 2013 Hines Ward became the first former NFL player to take on Ironman.  His official finish time was 13 hours 8 minutes.  I figure that if I can match the time of a former Pro-Bowler that would be something respectable.  Based on my race results over the past few years it should be achievable.

  

“If The Stars Align” – I’ve really only hit this goal once in the past five years.  My training was stout.  The weather was fantastic (60’s with zero wind).  My nutrition held up.  On that day I broke the 6 hour mark at the 70.3 distance the only time in my four attempts.  Should the same conditions come together on November 7th I would be absolutely elated to see a 12 hour finish.  Some of what will be required to hit that time is within my control; for those parts I plan to do everything I can to make it happen.  However, there’s a verse in the Bible to the tune of “we often make our plans or set out to do our business, when what we should really be doing is saying IF the Lord wills it, then we can do these things…” (slowpope paraphrase).  Ironman Florida last year is every bit a reminder of this.  The currents were so bad they cancelled the swim and then athletes took off for a 112 mile bike ride in 20 mph winds.  Some days are just not conducive for setting a personal record and there’s not a thing in the world you can do about it.

So there you have it.  My official goals for the year.  Nothing will be achieved overnight, and nothing will come easily.  But the most rewarding things in life seldom do.