Year Re-cap

What a year it has been!!! Tour de Cure 63 miler, the Lake Placid 1/2 marathon in June, Tinman 70.3 in June, Ironman in July, and the NYC marathon in November, as well as every traing day in between. My goal was to not overtrain for Ironman like I did last year and thus my numbers are lower this year than they were last year. This is a lot of racing (313.2 miles in those races alone). I remember the feeling of complete excitement that I did the Lake Placid 1/2 marathon in the fastest time I have ever done that race. I remember the sinking feeling when I woke up the day of Tour de Cure to very cold temps and driving rain and instead of the 100 miler I did the 63 miler (good thing too, they cleared the course before I would have finished due to a tornado warning). I remember feeling fabulous after taking time off from last years time at Tinman and knowing I was in great shape even though I tore my leg up in the process (Joe's comment was "Your missing a chunk of your leg. Oh, there it is on your other leg!") I gave back to the running community by volunteering at the No Boundaries program and met really fabulous mentees (Ron, Eeyore, Daci, Jess, and Janice) even though the rest of the experience was a little interesting. I went into Ironman having swapped out my bike seat knowing that I couldn't ride it anymore and ended up with major lower back and IT band issues 1 week before the Ironman. I also knew my training was great up until then. On Ironman day, we were given a perfect day (thanks Melinda). I was going to the start knowing that Christine, Melinda, Kate, and Joe out there as well as many other people I had met on my journey to the starting line and knowing that I was a veteran of Ironman and have accomplished this before. My parents, Alynn, Erin, Sam, and Daci were all there to cheer us on and Jenn and Andrew surprised me on the hill out of Lake Placid. It wasn't exactly my day with my swim being a little slower than last year (the extra people in the water were noticeable) and my bike being exactly the same as last year. I realized that being a seasoned Ironman, it also allowed you to feel this one more since you have been here and didn't have as much adrenaline running through your body the 2nd time around. My run was horrible (although faster than last year)and I remember telling my dad when we were walking back into town that "I need one more shot at this race as I do not have the training down yet and think I have learned a lot over the past two years." I left Ironman with a 16:09 finishing time (15 min faster than last time) and even though I said never again all through training, I now had a vision of doing 5 of these and then calling it quits (haha - those of you who know me know I dream of doing an Ironman when I am 80). I took August extremely easily and then ramped up for marathon training. Then I got strep and had a pretty big set-back. NYC marathon was amazing any way you look at it even though it wasn't fast (I was just getting my money's worth). It was one of the most amazing experiences outside of Ironman. From there I decided to do 30 min of activity 5 days a week for the remainder of the year. I ended the year running again. I ended the year biking again. I haven't quite gotten up to swimming yet but it is on the way. I ended the year excited about my prospects for the new year.

In the new year, I have deemed it the year of speed!!! I can't wait to do an olympic distance triathlon (I don't know when I did this distance last). I will use my time this summer to nurture my garden and keep fit and fast. I started the year on the correct foot in my year of speed. I ran a 3.5 miler today with Jenn and ran it in a 35:35!!! That is by far the fastest I have run in recent history. In the year ahead, I will be going to Jamaica in February with Joe, Kate, and Jeff. This will be our first actual vacation since our honeymoon in 2007! I will be heading off to Boston in April to see the Boston marathon, Shauna, Brenda, Scott, and their new baby. I will be heading to Nashville for the first time ever to do the Country Music Marathon with many friends including Kim - I will be running with her since this is her 1st 1/2 marathon and I always said I would run with her when she decided to do her first 1/2. Joe and I are hoping to do a 1/2 marathon in early April where he can qualify for NYC again and I can get a PR! The Lake Placid 1/2 marathon, Boilermaker, Tour de Cure 50 miler, the Lake George Olympic distance triathlon, and the HMRRC 1/2 marathon in October are also on the list. I expect this year to be full of excitement and enjoyment. I am looking forward to fun runs with friends since I can do any distance short of 13.1 whenever I want to! I am looking forward to volunteering and signing up for the Ironman again too. This will be a great year!

Stats for 2010:
278 days of working out (that I logged)
Swim distance of 44.74 miles
Swim time: 30 hrs 15 min
Bike distance of 1847.66 miles
Bike time: 139 hrs 44 min
Run distance of 568.05 miles
Run time: 108 hrs 43 min
Other distance (elliptical) 10.27 miles
Other time: 10 hrs 4 min
Total distance:2470.74 miles
Total workout time: 288 hrs 45min (12 full days of working out)