Where to start on what went right and was good? Family are all relatively healthy, I'm employed, completed my eighteenth year on the ski patrol, help remodel an animal shelter, got to race a lot, went cycling with an old friend, didn't have to travel too much for work, got to build some cat shelters for a feral colony, was sponsored by Wheaties Fuel, won several races, had a few seconds, and a few thirds, got paid to go to the gym.
Ok, I didn't win Powerball or MegaMillions but the odds are pretty high against that.
On the 0 - 10 scale with 10 being great, 2011 was probably an 8. I don't know how it could get better but there can always be improvement.
Showing posts with label Resolutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resolutions. Show all posts
Sunday, January 1, 2012
2011 - The Bad
They say in every life a little rain must fall but looking back at 2011, I think most days were clear with lots of sunshine. I am trying to think of anything really bad that happened and I can't really think of anything too bad.
There might have been a race or two I wanted to do but I really can't think of one and even if I did miss one I wanted to do, is that really that bad? I did at least ten races and that's quite a bit.
Ok, there were a couple tough workouts that I suffered through and didn't do as well as I would have liked. Is that really bad or just life and tough workouts?
On a scale of 0 - 10 with 10 being Sith Lord bad, 2011 was probably a 0.
There might have been a race or two I wanted to do but I really can't think of one and even if I did miss one I wanted to do, is that really that bad? I did at least ten races and that's quite a bit.
Ok, there were a couple tough workouts that I suffered through and didn't do as well as I would have liked. Is that really bad or just life and tough workouts?
On a scale of 0 - 10 with 10 being Sith Lord bad, 2011 was probably a 0.
2011 - The Ugly
Looking back at 2011, I don't think anything went truly ugly. I learned that Clif Bar is no longer making my favorite recovery drink but when I contacted them, they sent me sample Clif Roks which are now one of my favorites.
The closest thing to ugly was the water in the Potomac when I went to do the Nation's Triathlon in DC. After torrential rains and a hurricane, the Potomac was muddy with a lot of debris. To their credit, the race cancelled the swim and other than running through the muddy transition area, everything else was perfect.
About the only ugly thing was the case of distemper that attacked the kittens we were fostering. Without the valiant efforts of a few people thinks could have been horrible. As it was a few kittens didn't survive but it could have been so much worse.
On a scale of 0 - 10 with 10 being Cthulhu ugly, 2011 was a 3.
The closest thing to ugly was the water in the Potomac when I went to do the Nation's Triathlon in DC. After torrential rains and a hurricane, the Potomac was muddy with a lot of debris. To their credit, the race cancelled the swim and other than running through the muddy transition area, everything else was perfect.
About the only ugly thing was the case of distemper that attacked the kittens we were fostering. Without the valiant efforts of a few people thinks could have been horrible. As it was a few kittens didn't survive but it could have been so much worse.
On a scale of 0 - 10 with 10 being Cthulhu ugly, 2011 was a 3.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
2009 Goals
Most years I have a list of goals but this year there are only two: qualify for the Ironman World Championship and help Bob complete his first triathlon which happens to be Ironman Florida.
When I competed at Ironman CdA, I was more concerned with finishing than going fast. When the gun went off, I waited on the beach until the crowd had started the swim. On the bike, I tried to be steady and well within my limits. On the run I stopped a few times to say hi to friends and didn't push myself. At the end, while I didn't feel fresh, I didn't feel trashed either.
This year it's going to be different. To improve upon CdA, there are three areas I'll focus on. The first is transition. At CdA, the first transition was around 10 minutes and the second around 6. I have enough experience to know those can both be safely dropped to around 2 - 3 minutes each.
Over the last three years, I've improved my cycling a lot. I've went to holding 19 mph on the rolling Harvest Moon half-iron course to holding 23. I am going to train to be able to hold 23 for the Ironman distance while still having enough in reserve to have a strong run. This will be my biggest challenge, to ride faster and longer while being more efficient and saving more energy for the run.
Compared to the bike, the run should be easy. Last year at Harvest Moon, I held back on the run and finished in 1:38. As long as I don't go too hard on the bike, I should be able to complete the run in 3:15.
Helping Bob may be the bigger challenge this year. Bob is aerobically one of the fittest people I know. The challenge is that he doesn't know how to swim and he signed up for Ironman. If I can get him to finish the swim under the cutoff time, he should be able to finish without any problems. His cycling needs a little work since he mostly uses the bike to cross-train for running and his run needs no work at all.
Just two goals this year but I think both will be very challenging for completely different reasons.
When I competed at Ironman CdA, I was more concerned with finishing than going fast. When the gun went off, I waited on the beach until the crowd had started the swim. On the bike, I tried to be steady and well within my limits. On the run I stopped a few times to say hi to friends and didn't push myself. At the end, while I didn't feel fresh, I didn't feel trashed either.
This year it's going to be different. To improve upon CdA, there are three areas I'll focus on. The first is transition. At CdA, the first transition was around 10 minutes and the second around 6. I have enough experience to know those can both be safely dropped to around 2 - 3 minutes each.
Over the last three years, I've improved my cycling a lot. I've went to holding 19 mph on the rolling Harvest Moon half-iron course to holding 23. I am going to train to be able to hold 23 for the Ironman distance while still having enough in reserve to have a strong run. This will be my biggest challenge, to ride faster and longer while being more efficient and saving more energy for the run.
Compared to the bike, the run should be easy. Last year at Harvest Moon, I held back on the run and finished in 1:38. As long as I don't go too hard on the bike, I should be able to complete the run in 3:15.
Helping Bob may be the bigger challenge this year. Bob is aerobically one of the fittest people I know. The challenge is that he doesn't know how to swim and he signed up for Ironman. If I can get him to finish the swim under the cutoff time, he should be able to finish without any problems. His cycling needs a little work since he mostly uses the bike to cross-train for running and his run needs no work at all.
Just two goals this year but I think both will be very challenging for completely different reasons.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
2007 Resolution Review
It's time to review last year's resolutions to see how I did.
- Complete an ultra - either 50k or 50 miles - This one has been around for awhile and once again, I didn't sign up for anything longer than 26.2. Maybe this year will be the year that I finally go long.
- Complete the Chicago Marathon in under 3 hours - As you've probably heard, Chicago was a sweltering race this year. I was on pace to go sub-3 through the first 20 miles but after that the heat became too much. I was very happy with the sub-3:10.
- Run a 5k in under 18:20 - 3 5ks and neither one was under 19. The first one was on the extremely muddy Big Dry Creek. The mud made the race extremely fun but very slow. The second was the Grand Lake 5k so the altitude and climbing didn't make it possible there. The third was on the new Panerathon and I was pretty tired from a long race season.
- Run a 10k under 38:00 - I only did one 10k, Bolder Boulder and while I was under 40, I didn't get under 38. The triathlon focus didn't allow any other 10ks.
- Average 22 mph on bike during an Olympic distance triathlon - 40k bike - I raced three Olympic distance races, Loveland Lake to Lake, Boulder Peak and Rattlesnake. At L2L, I averaged 21.9 for 30 miles. At Rattlesnake, the average was 21.9 for 25 miles. At Boulder, I finally broke 22 averaging 22.1 over the hilly, rolling 26 miles. Oh yeah, at Harvest Moon, I averaged 23 mph over the rolling 56 mile course.
- Run under 40:00 during an Olympic distance triathlon - 10k run - I was close but didn't quite get there. At Boulder Peak, I ran 41:16, at Rattlesnake it was 42:11 but the really good race was Loveland Lake to Lake. At L2L, I went 40:10.
- Finish under 2:20 at an Olympic distance triathlon - 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run - I probably would have been under 2:20 at Boulder Peak if the bike had been 40k instead of 42k. At Boulder Peak, I finished in 2:20:53 so those 2 extra k's were probably it. At Rattlesnake with a true 40k bike, I shattered the 2:20 mark finishing in 2:15:40.
- Get one new person to complete a triathlon - Not one person but 5 new people joined me this year at Mini Ha Ha.
Overall: 3 successful resolutions out of 8
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Resolutions
Congratulations to everyone with a resolution to take control of their health and become more fit. It's great to see all the new people at the gym and on the bike path. Remember that you didn't lose your fitness over night and it will take time to get it back. Just stick with it and great things will happen.
Monday, January 1, 2007
2006 Resolution Review
In no particular order:
- Run a 5k in under 18:20 - I only ran a couple 5ks so this one didn't happen. I think all the long course training didn't help either.
- Run a 10k under 38:00 - I only ran two 10ks, Boulder and Holy Cow. Boulder isn't fast and it rained heavily during Holy Cow so the course was pure mud.
- Average 21 mph on bike during an Olympic distance triathlon - 40k bike - I held 21.1 at Boulder Peak.
- Run under 40:00 during an Olympic distance triathlon - 10k run - I ran a 41 at Boulder Peak so I wasn't really close.
- Finish under 2:30 at an Olympic distance triathlon - 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run - 2:24:59 at Boulde Peak. The increased bike speed made it happen.
- Complete Ironman Coeur d'Alene - 11:02 - Everything went right.
2007 Resolutions
In no particular order:
- Complete an ultra - either 50k or 50 miles
- Complete the Chicago Marathon in under 3 hours
- Run a 5k in under 18:20
- Run a 10k under 38:00
- Average 22 mph on bike during an Olympic distance triathlon - 40k bike
- Run under 40:00 during an Olympic distance triathlon - 10k run
- Finish under 2:20 at an Olympic distance triathlon - 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run
- Get one new person to complete a triathlon
Sunday, January 1, 2006
2006 Resolutions
In no particular order:
- Run a 5k in under 18:20
- Run a 10k under 38:00
- Average 21 mph on bike during an Olympic distance triathlon - 40k bike
- Run under 40:00 during an Olympic distance triathlon - 10k run
- Finish under 2:30 at an Olympic distance triathlon - 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run
- Complete Ironman Coeur d'Alene
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