Sunday, December 29, 2013

2013 Year in Review

2013 was my return to full blown triathlons....  as in full blown ironman, full blown triathlon bike, and fully blown bank account!


Races from 2013!
Lesson's Learned:

  • Not really new but confirmed.  Cross-training rules.  I finally hit my sub-20 5k and now I'm thinking sub-19 is a possibility.  BQ is becoming a goal in 2014.  It's funny how training for an ironman has massively helped my short distance running, which makes me think I can hit a huge long distance running goal.  It all seems rather backward but in November I ran 20 miles at the pace of completing a 3:15 marathon, so it gave me hopes.
  • Nutrition is key for those endurance triathlons.  I had two completely different brick workouts a week apart.  Both were 5+ hours bike and a 1 hour run.  The first week I did not follow my nutrition plan and completely blew up on the run.  The next week I followed my plant to a "T" and had one of the best runs, ever.
  • Listen to your body and do something about it.  I had a nagging foot issue that started in June.  It didn't really slow me down until I did a 15 mile run in November and it hurt so much I had to call TKB to pick me up.  Back in June I started noticing an annoying foot discomfort while on the bike and it eventually converted to a run discomfort.  As it turned out, the new cleats I had installed back in February were too far forward creating additional stress on my foot that led to a neuroma.  Fortunately I caught it early enough that a short trip to a podiatrist and some adjustments to my cleat and running shoe should resolve it.
  • Doing this with friends are so much better!  In January and August I completed the Disney Coast-to-Coast challenge by running the Goofy Challenge in January at DisneyWorld and Dumbo Double Dare in August at Disneyland.  It was so much fun running these with TKB, Joe VI, Lauren, Rebecca, Jill, Ronnie, Jess, Jaimee, and many others!  Joe VI and Lauren's costumes were a huge hit as we got plenty of publicity from the runDisney people.

Image found on runDisney media page



  • Ironman is possible.  Being able to train for an ironman race and completing it with joy makes me think doing another one is possible.  Possibly 2015?  We shall see.

2014
My year is starting to take shape in terms of schedule.  I have already cancelled my first race of 2014, Phoenix Marathon.  After the my foot issue started to escalate, I wasn't able to get passed 12 miles without having to stop, take my shoe off, and rub on it for a minute.  This isn't going to help my Boston qualify (BQ) chances.  I'm hoping I've got that on the mend now.  

My "A" triathlon race is Chicago Triathlon in August and I'm also looking to BQ, which may be goals that are hard to achieve together.  I'm looking at my first BQ attempt in April, which gives 4 months to focus on Chicago.  But if I don't BQ in April, I'm looking at a second attempt in October.  That's only 2 months after Chicago.  Can I get my run endurance up in time?

I'm planning to continue my strength training program and add in a masters swimming class.  I've been tossing around the idea of getting a coach as well but not sure if that will fit into the budget.  We'll see.


Update:
So I was reading my Pigman Tri 70.3 race report and found that I had typed this line:
"This does NOT mean I'm going to do a 10 hour, 32 minute ironman in October.  If I did that at some Ironman-branded races I would qualify for Kona.  Not. Going. To. Happen."
True...  but I didn't do 10:32.  I did 10:24.

 Maybe 2014 needs to be the year of doing a better job estimating my race finishes.
Posted by ScottyB at 3:11 PM

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