Long overdue post...

Well, it has been a busy month to say the least, which is the reason for the lack of blogging. In fact, it has been a crazy year with plenty of exciting times, successes, and even some failures. In terms of Skinfit it has been a HUGE year. Record sales, lots of travel and networking done, and we are positioned well to have a great 2011.  In terms of training and racing it has been a challenging year. I had big goals and high expectations for myself heading into the year since I had missed all of 2009 b/c of injury. Sadly, I didn't achieve any of those goals b/c I was again dealing with injury and just couldn't seem to get my fitness back to the level it has been in the past. The reality is that I just haven't had enough time to build up my base fitness after my year off.  Plus, when your trying to race you have to do hard workouts and my body never seemed to really absorb these and the workouts always felt like a struggle.
I started back with training in January and races started up in May. Not much time when you have been unable to train for an entire year prior. I thought it would just come back but it never really did. Deep down I knew I wasn't ready to race but I wanted to be out there. I missed the Xterra scene, the other athletes, the competition, etc. so I traveled and gave it my best shot. I can honestly say I raced to the best of my abilities given where I was at in terms of fitness. I could handle shorter events but when it came to sustained race efforts or 2+ hrs I just couldn't manage it.
I have never been big on racing when your not fully ready...it just doesn't work well for me. Racing takes a lot out of you mentally and physically so when your not ready it just beats you down. That's kind of how I felt at the end of June, beat down and tired from trying to force everything. I just needed to take a step back, get back to enjoying the training, get healthy, and stay consistent. Starting in August I finally felt healthy without any injuries. So, for the past 2 1/2 months I have been logging base miles and I am actually starting to feel good. I know though that I am still not ready to race, which is why I skipped Nationals and I have decided to skip Worlds. I was planning on going to Maui but, I think at this point, I have to be realistic with myself and accept that I just don't have the fitness to be competitive. I am really bummed but it is a lot of money to get over there and I would rather save the cash and put it toward next season. 
I am in a good place right now with plenty of time to get ready for next year. I can stay consistent and build up slowly. If I can stay injury free going into races next season I will be happy and no doubt ready to give my best. I would just love to get in one year of racing when I am mentally and physically ready to give it 100%. It has been a while since I have felt this way and I long to feel fit and fast.
I am doing IM St George next year and I think this will do great things for my Xterra racing. I have a lot of fast twitch muscle fibers so developing my endurance and aerobic systems will really help me overall. I have learned a lot about myself this year and I have realized I need a different approach to training....more emphasis on slower, longer workouts and strength. My speed is there, I just need to develop the other components like strength and endurance.
So, that's where I am right now..focused on Skinfit and preparing for next season.  I am doing everything I can to stay healthy and get strong. Lots of time at Rehab United doing functional strength classes, running and riding hills to develop sport specific strength, and, of course, enjoying extra time with friends and family (since it is October afterall).Also been working with a Rolfer every week...crazy what he is doing to get my body in balance. Awesome stuff and he is keeping me healthy, which I am pumped about.  Ironman training officially kicks off Nov 1st and it will be game on.
Off to a training camp in Arizona on Friday. It will be a chance to market and sell Skinfit to the campers and I will be doing some testing and video analysis in all three sports with Adam Zucco and Joe Friel. Should be a great week hopefully without any rain=)
Thanks for reading!