2014 for new challenges!

So here it is, 2014 underway and I'm excited to say, I bought a bike!! it is a sweet Cannondale CAAD 10, 2013 model. I bought it in December, I followed my heart, took a HUGE leap of faith and went for it (sometimes that's just how you have to do things!).

Since I got it late in december, I went ahead and bought a trainer as well, since the cold weather has been a bit insane around here.
Having the bike meant one thing. Time for triathlons and time to pursue my dream of completing an Ironman! but like everything, before you walk, you have to crawl and learn new things..
I started looking for local races and found that Ironman has a race series in Colorado the entire month of june that leads up to Boulder Ironman in August, so on December 31st, I closed the year by registering to my first triathlon: the Boulder Sprint Triathlon.
Looking for training plans online, I found a found on Beginner Triathlete's website and started building some time on the bike. I've already been running and adding mileage,  since I'll be running the Colfax Marathon on May 18th, and I'm hoping to beat my PR since I'll be racing a flat course (compared to my previous races).

My schedule of training started on January 6th for the tri, and has looked something like this:

Yes, there's no swimming there yet, I'm aware I'm still missing a sport (hehe) but since I started swimming at age 3, and competed until I was 12, I'm a bit comfortable with it than let's say, the bike!



I've been involved with Team In Training and have participated in many of their events since 2010, and in fact, thanks to their coaching, I successfully completed my 1st marathon (San Diego) and now, 5 marathons and 14 marathons later, I started thinking that perhaps the best way to be successful this time around with my 1st triathlon, was to train with them again, and raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
I looked at their calendar and found they have an event listed a few weeks after my first triathlon.  The opportunity to train and raise funds came in the way of the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon.
So here I am, on "pre-season" training for 1 marathon and 2 triathlons (a sprint and an olympic), and officially starting a training program (swimming included) on February 1st.
I'm excited and a bit scared, since it is a new challenge.  Something good for 2014!

Here's the link to my fundraising page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/rm/llltri14/dvasqued2j
Please consider making a donation!