Year end totals and recap with Goals for next year

Here I sit on New Years Eve reflecting on the incredible year that I have had:
My lovely husband and I were able to take a year off from Ironman training and focus on running, traveling (me more than Joe), and enjoying life. I have had the pleasure of traveling to Jamaica, Boston (three times), Burlington (twice), Utica (not sure that counts as traveling), Nashville, and spending tons of time in Lake Placid! I have a wonderful life and wonderful family and friends. All of these fabulous people have shown how much they mean to us through not only fun times (volunteering and signing up for Ironman together, getting to know a friend while she was mentally preparing for her first Ironman, running together, weddings, dinners, and enjoying time at random breweries), but also through difficult times where we have lost two family members and through flood cleanup. I have watched communities devestated by flooding (Keene, Lake Placid, and Keene Valley mainly although there were many more effected) and the amazing outpouring of volunteer time from people who do not know us well or live in the area at all. Seeing the labor for our neighbor group and the Lowes groups come into Keene Valley and help out our fellow community members that they have never met was heart warming. Although I never want to live through that again, my faith in humans was restored from watching friends, community members, and people we have never met coming to help out in our time of need and check in on us. I know how much fun Joe and I have on a daily basis which makes me extremely happy in life. I have enjoyed learning how much I enjoy gardening, producing my own vegetables, and then cooking wonderful food. I have also learned how much I LOVE training for Ironman! This year felt a little off without Ironman training!

This year brought the fastest run year I have had ever (PRs in the 5K, 10K, and half marathon). I have run more miles this year than any other year of my running career and, with the help of my slightly faster running partners and a new race mantra of "Someone will be at the finish line and take care of me if I pass out so push harder", I have become faster. The only down point was the completion of my 5th marathon which came after a night with 2 hrs of sleep, a skunk spraying our house, a dog loose in my backyard, and an 84 degree day in October - by no means a failure of a day but a disappointment to finish so much slower than my goal time. This year also brought a running streak (motivated by Runners World and my husband) to run at least 1 mile every day from Thanksgiving to New Years. I have been very diligent with this and have found that I really enjoyed it so I will be continuing until we leave for vacation in February but maybe longer (but not past July 22 as July 23 will be a rest day).

For the year ahead, we are planning a lot of fun things aside from training for our 3rd Ironman. We have decided on traveling to Siesta Key, Florida, for our February break so that we can have the ability to run and swim on vacation since we are training for an Ironman. We will also be traveling to Virginia Beach for the Yuengling 1/2 marathon in March where we will meet friends and enjoy St. Patricks Day. There is also a possiblity of traveling to Arizona in November to sign-up for Ironman Arizona 2013! I would love to continue with my hot yoga classes this year as well as do Zumba once in a while to help change things up. I want to become a more efficient swimming through drills and seeing if I can meet up with a swim coach. I need to become a more efficient biker which I am working on with drills and more time on the trainer during the winter and a friend who happens to be an excellent biker and a bike fit specialist! I have spent this year finding a new bike saddle, being refit on the bike, and adapting the bike to make me more efficient to accelerate my bike fitness and efficiency all in hopes that it will help with my training! I also want to keep up my running speed. I believe this will mean more running mileage but I think I can do this! I would also like to try to make sure that I get back to my vegetarian times (I know some of you are freaking out now). I want to have a more plant based diet again with less meat in it - I'm not going vegetarian again, just less meat. I also know now that there are very reliable vendors at the year round farmers market that can help me get good quality meat when I want it. I want to complete my 3rd Ironman in under 16 hrs (meaning a 9min 59 sec improvement from last time). I want to finish the Ironman with no judgement of myself and my training. I want to cross that finish line with a smile on my face and excited that I have managed to do all that I have in the years that I have been trying. I am looking forward to having my nieces and nephews back at the finish line of the Ironman so they can know that anything is possible. I am looking forward to making my mom, dad, and husband proud of my accomplishment again as well. I am expecting a lot from this year and myself. I am excited for all of the possiblities ahead.

I wish all of you a very happy and healthy new year. See you at the pool, biking, or running as that is where I will be most of the time!

December totals (pre-Ironman training with a running streak)
Total miles: 207.83 mi
Swim: 2.11 miles in 1 hr 34 min total (a pace of 44:23 per mile)
Bike: 124 miles (all on the trainer)8 hrs 45 min (a pace of 14.2 mph)
Run: 81.72 miles in 14 hrs 29 min (a pace of 10:35 mph)
Other exercise (yoga and zumba) 3hrs 15 min

Year end totals:
261 workouts total (missing a few in July, August, and September because I didn't have access to daily internet and then forgot to write them down)
Swim: 8.36 miles (sad) time 5 hr 55 min (pace 42:30)
Bike: 1074.83 miles time 77 hrs 18 min (pace 13.9 mph)
Run: 707.46 miles (most ever) time 128 hrs 20 min (pace 10:54 per mile)
Other: (elliptial, zumba, etc) 17.82 miles time 19 hrs 53 min
Total miles: 1808.47 miles in a time of 231 hrs and 26 min (almost 10 days of working out) with about a total calorie burn of 117083.2!!!